The 8-Ball 03.22.12: Top 8 Best Wrestlemania Win-Loss Records

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the 8-Ball. I am Ryan Byers, and, this week, our humble column continues its MARCH TOWARDS WRESTLEMANIA~! (Pun fully intended.) Last week, we took a look at the worst win/loss records in the history of WM. For me, the most interesting part of the entire column was the comment section, which proved to me that at least 60% of the people who comment on these columns don’t even read them, as the majority of the comments were people claiming that I got the records wrong when, if they had read the rules for the compilation of records that I posted at the beginning of the column, they would have realized that I was correct within the context of those rules.

That’s not what we’re here to talk about, though. What we’re here to talk about is a new topic for a new week, though it’s a somewhat predictable one . . .

Top 8 Best Wrestlemania Records . . . Other Than the Undertaker

Last week, we look at the worst win/loss records in Wrestlemania history, inspired by the Big Show/Cody Rhodes angle in which Rhodes has made fun of Show’s less-than-spectacular run on the grandest stage of them all. (Though, to make things clear, Show did NOT have one of the top eight worst records . . . he had a 27.7% winning percentage and was only barely edged off the list by Matt Hardy.) Obviously, the flip side of compiling the worst records is compiling the best records, and that is what I have done here. However, even though the selection of this topic may be predictable, I’ve decided to make sure that the number one spot on the list would not be. That’s why I’ve decided to toss out the Undertaker’s streak because, really, who doesn’t know about that one already?

Here are the rules that I used in compiling these records. Read them before commenting to tell me I got something wrong, lest you look like some of the guys from last week who missed the point.

1. In order to keep the list manageable, I am only counting those individuals who have had five or more Wrestlemania matches.
2. Only matches on the main portion of Wrestlemania count. No dark matches, Free for All matches, or Heat matches.
3. A win in a tag team match counts as a win for all members of the team. A loss in a tag team match counts as a loss for all members of the team.
4. Not winning a Money in the Bank Ladder Match or TLC match counts as a loss.
5. Because they usually involve twenty or more men and would therefore be near unmanageable, battles royale were not counted as wins or losses.
6. If two wrestlers have the same winning percentage, the tie will be broken by giving the better ranking to the wrestler who has the higher number of wins. If the wrestlers have the same winning percentage AND the same number of wins, the higher ranking goes to the wrestler with fewer losses. If the tie cannot be broken with either of these methods, it will remain.
7. Changes of the Hardcore Title under 24/7 rules are not counted.

And here we go . . .

8. Randy Savage (7-4; 63.6% Winning Percentage)

“Macho Man” Randy Savage’s crowning achievement at Wrestlemania was capturing the vacant World Wrestling Federation Championship at Wrestlemania IV in a fourteen man tournament. That achievement is also a big part of the reason that Savage makes this list, because it gave him four victories at one single installment of Mania (against Butch Reed, Greg Valentine, One Man Gang, and Ted DiBiase), something that no other person can claim and something that no other person will likely ever be able to claim again. Throw out that night, and the Macho Man actually has a fairly mediocre WM record, with as many wins has he has losses.

Those wins started at the second installment of Wrestlemania, when Savage successfully defended his Intercontinental Title against veteran George “The Animal” Steele. In a feat that would be unheard of in the modern era, Randy’s championship reign actually continued all the way through until Wrestlemania III when, as just about anybody who has been watching wrestling for more than six months can tell you, he dropped the title to Ricky Steamboat in one of the greatest matches in the history of the company. After the big tournament at WMIV, the MegaPowers exploded at Wrestlemania V, dealing Savage another loss as he went down at the hands of Hulk Hogan. After years of being in epic matches at Mania and main events of the show, Savage cycled down to the midcard for a while, and his match at Wrestlemania V was a mixed tag match, teaming with Sensational Sherri against Dusty Rhodes and Sweet Sapphire, with the latter team picking up the win. Another loss followed at Wrestlemania VII, as Macho dropped the fall in a retirement match against the Ultimate Warrior, leading to a somewhat limited hiatus for the former World Wrestling Federation Champion.

Savage wound up on the losing end of things on three consecutive Wrestlemanias, but, fortunately, he got to wind up his run at the big event with a pair of victories. At Wrestlemania VIII, he regained the WWF Title from “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, and, at Wrestlemania X, he put a very personal rivalry with Crush to bed in a falls count anywhere match. And, then, the Madness left the World Wrestling Federation. Unfortunately for Savage, he didn’t get a resurgence in the WWF of the 2000’s as many of his contemporaries from the 1980’s did, so he didn’t have an opportunity to build his record any further. However, it’s still pretty impressive as it stands now.

7. Rey Misterio, Jr. (4-2 Record; 66.7% Winning Percentage)

Rey Misterio, Jr. became a star in the United States in 1996 in World Championship Wrestling, but the World Wrestling Federation didn’t come calling for him until the summer of 2002. Reportedly the delay in signing Rey, even after WCW folded, was due to the fact that the WWE brass didn’t think that a man of Misterio’s relatively small stature could be a star. However, after urging by many who were already in the company, particularly Eddy Guerrero, Rey Rey was signed to a WWE deal and proved his detractors wrong by becoming one of the biggest superstars in the company over the course of the past decade.

Some of the proof of Misterio’s success comes in the form of his win/loss record at Wrestlemania. Though losing in his debut at the show to Matt Hardy in a Cruiserweight Title match, Rey subsequently went on a winning streak in which he got the victory in four consecutive Wrestlemania singles matches. At Wrestlemania XXI, Misterio, again competing in the opener, got the duke over his close backstage friend and long-time onscreen rival Eddy Guerrero in a match that harkened back to their absolute classic at WCW Halloween Havoc 1997. Though that was a big victory, an even bigger victory – perhaps the biggest of Misterio’s career – came at Wrestlemania XXII when he defeated Kurt Angle and Randy Orton in a triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship in what was seen as a tribute to Guerrero after his death. Yet another WM title win came for Rey Rey at Mania XXV, when he defeated John “Bradshaw” Layfield for the Intercontinental Title in a twenty second match that would essentially put an end to JBL’s full-time WWE career. The last match of Misterio’s streak came in 2010 at Wrestlemania XXVI, when he defeated CM Punk despite attempted interference from Punk’s Straight Edge Society. (Hey, remember them?)

As most of our readers will recall, it was Cody Rhodes who put this streak to an end last year when he pinned Rey’s shoulders to the mat. As I write this article, it is debatable whether Misterio will be able to come back from his current injury in order to make the 2012 installment of Wrestlemania. I for one certainly hope that he makes it, because Misterio always adds a little something special to Wrestlemania.

6. Bret Hart (8-4 Record; 66.7% Winning Percentage)

As many people know, Bret Hart’s first big break in the World Wrestling Federation came as a tag team wrestler. Not surprisingly, that is how he spent his first six Wrestlemanias, and he had a fair deal of success in that role. Though they don’t have any bearing on records for the purposes of this column, the Hitman was the runner up in two big battles royale on WMs II and IV, and he did even better in tag matches. In fact, the Hart Foundation of Bret Hart and Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart were undefeated in their first three Wrestlemania appearances as a team. At Wrestlemania III, they, alongside Danny Davis, took out the British Bulldogs and Tito Santana in a six man tag. The team of Rhythm n’ Blues then fell to the Harts at Wrestlemania V, and their next victims were Nikolai Volkoff and Boris Zhukov in Bret’s home country of Canada at Wrestlemania VI. The only WM loss for the Hart Foundation came the next year at Wrestlemania VII, as their former manager Jimmy Hart came back to bite them, interjecting a motorcycle helmet into a match with the Nasty Boys, resulting in the Harts robbing the Nasty Boys of the WWF Tag Team Titles.

After that, Bret began to focus on his singles career. His next three Wrestlemania appearances would involve matches for singles championships. He bested “Rowdy” Roddy Piper for the Intercontinental Title at Wrestlemania VIII, dropped the WWF Title to Yokozuna at Wrestlemania IX, and regained the very same championship from Yoko at Wrestlemania X, though not before losing in the opener to his baby brother Owen. Bret took a year’s hiatus from the title picture after that, instead opting to settle a score with Bob Backlund at Wrestlemania XI in an “I Quit” match, which he did in relatively short order. The pattern repeated itself at the next two Wrestlemanias, with Bret returning to the championship scene at WM XII for his loss in the Iron Man Match against Shawn Michaels and then returning to his championship hiatus for the thirteenth Wrestlemania, where he won his legendary submission match against “Stone Cold” Steve Austin which was one of the big steps to catapulting Austin into superstardom. Of course, that match occurred in 1997, and we all know what occurred in the career of Bret Hart at the end of 1997.

And thus began another hiatus for Bret, though not just a hiatus from the championship scene. He went on a total hiatus from appearing for WWE until 2010, when he defeated Vince McMahon in a rather limited match at Wrestlemania XXVI. The match wasn’t what most fans hoped, but it did allow one last mark to go in the Hitman’s “W” column, finishing him with a respectable 8-4 record.

5. Hulk Hogan (8-3-1 Record; 66.7% Winning Percentage)

It should come as no surprise that Hulk Hogan’s name appears on this list. After all, he was the single biggest name that the early Wrestlemanias were built around. He didn’t just win at seven of the first nine Wrestlemanias. He won the MAIN EVENT of seven of the first nine Wrestlemanias. One of the two exceptions to the “Hogan always wins the main event” rule wasn’t even an outright loss. It was a double disqualification against Andre the Giant in the first round of the WWF Title tournament at Wrestlemania IV. The only time that the Hulkster’s shoulders got pinned to the mat during those early Wrestlemanias was by the Ultimate Warrior, and, even then, the aftermath of the match clearly portrayed Hogan as being the better of the two men. During those early Wrestlemanias, Hogan defeated, in order: “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff, King Kong Bundy, Andre the Giant, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Sergeant Slaughter, Sid Justice, and the mighty Yokozuna. (Of course, on the same event where he won that match against Yokozuna, he also lost via disqualification in a Tag Team Title match against Money Incorporated with his partner Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake, though most histories of Wrestlemania have largely forgotten about that match.)

Then, of course, came Hogan’s departure from the World Wrestling Federation and, a few months thereafter, his jump to World Championship Wrestling. Hogan wouldn’t have another Wrestlemania match until 2002’s Wrestlemania XVIII, when he returned to Toronto, the city in which he lost to the Ultimate Warrior, and ate only his second clean pinfall loss in Wrestlemania history, as he was defeated by the Rock. Fortunately, this time around, the Hulkster didn’t get the better of the guy that he put over in the end. Hogan rebounded the next year with a win over Vince McMahon in a match that many people think was mistakenly promoted as the main event of the show over Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar’s championship encounter.

And, believe it or not, despite the fact that Hulk has almost continuously remained involved in professional wrestling in some form ever since that match in 2003, he has never appeared in the ring for another Wrestlemania match. In fact, given his current alienation from WWE and his physical condition, he may well never compete at Wrestlemania again, so this record is likely locked in place.

4. Steve Austin (5-2 Record; 71.4% Winning Percentage)

Like Hogan, the fact that Austin is on this list shouldn’t be a surprise since he was the biggest babyface of pro wrestling’s biggest era, meaning that he was definitely going to pick up some wins at Wrestlemania somewhere along the way.

The irony of the situation is that Austin didn’t really make himself by winning at Wrestlemania. Though he did get a victory in his Mania debut by beating Savio Vega at WMXII, it was really the aforementioned loss to Bret Hart the next year that propelled Austin into superstardom when he finally and officially turned face and Hart finally and officially turned heel after months of both men walking the line. Austin rode the momentum from that turn into a four match winning streak at Wrestlemania. First off, he gained his first World Wrestling Federation Championship by defeating Shawn Michaels in the main event of Wrestlemania XIV (after HBK allegedly had to be threatened into “doing the right thing” by the Undertaker backstage). He won the belt again – actually beginning his third reign – the next year at Wrestlemania XV by defeating the Rock and, after Stone Cold was forced to take a year away due to a neck injury, the same match for the same championship with the same outcome headlined Wrestlemania XVII. The last win of Austin’s streak came the next year at Wrestlemania XVIII, when he was temporarily bumped out of the main event picture by the prevalence of Hulk Hogan, the Rock, and Triple H, leaving him to win an uneventful midcard match against Scott Hall.

After four strong WM wins in a row, it was long-time rival the Rock who put an end to SCSA’s streak, when he pinned the man from Victoria, Texas at Seattle’s Safeco Field during Wrestlemania XIX. Though Austin has appeared on the majority of the Wrestlemanias since that time, often as a guest referee, he has yet to return to the ring on the big show. Thus, Austin’s exemplary record can likely be attributed not just to the fact that he was a major star but also to the fact that he was a major star for a relatively limited period of time and was able to get his wins and get out without having to endure a period later in his career when he was used to put over younger wrestlers.

3. John Cena (6-2 Record; 75% Winning Percentage)

One of the big criticisms lobbied against John Cena by his detractors, whether it’s well founded or not, is that “Super Cena” virtually never loses. Though it’s not accurate to say he NEVER loses at Wrestlemania, the fact of the matter is that he has won much more than he has lost.

Cena made his television debut with WWE in 2002 but didn’t pop up on Wrestlemania until 2004. That’s a good thing for Cena’s record because, given his status in the company prior to adopting his rapper gimmick, early appearances on the show by Cena likely would have hurt his record. However, by the time that the Massachusetts native walked through the curtain at Wrestlemania, he was already a rising star, and that meant that he won clean in the middle for his first four Wrestlemania matches, all of which were for singles championships. Cena started his ascension up WWE’s cards with a United States Title reign, and that reign began at Wrestlemania XX when he defeated the Big Show in the opener. A year later, Cena would win his first ever WWE Title by ending the lengthy reign of John Bradshaw Layfield. Cena retained that championship in the main event of Wrestlemania XXII, getting a somewhat surprising submission victory over the great Triple H. In another WWE Title defense, HHH’s Degeneration X partner Shawn Michaels would fall to Cena in the main event of WMXXIII.

The four-match win streak ended at the very next Wrestlemania, specifically Mania XXIV. At that time, Cena and Triple H went at it again, though this time with the added twist of being joined in the ring by Randy Orton for a triple threat. Not only did Cena not win that match but, to the surprise of many, he was actually the man who Orton pinned in order to retain his WWE Championship. Cena got back on track at Wrestlemania XXV, redeeming himself in triple threat competition by winning a version of that match against Edge and the Big Show. In doing so, Cena became the World Heavyweight Champion. Cena would put another tally in his win column at WMXVI, once again gaining the WWE Title, this time by defeating Dave Batista as Batista was on his way out of the company.

Then, of course, the most recent installment of Cena’s Wrestlemania series came last year when he was pinned by the Miz. However, it was really the Rock that did the dirty work to bring that match to an end and Miz has been fairly useless ever since, so I wonder if there’s some way that we can petition to have that result retroactively and officially changed.

2. The Ultimate Warrior (4-1 Record; 80% Winning Percentage)

In a way, Warrior lucks out in getting onto this list, because the minimum number of matches to make it was five. He’s got five, and, if he stuck around the WWF to have more than five, chances are good that he would have started losing a lot more of them.

The only blemish on the Warrior’s Wrestlemania record came in his second match on the show, when early rival “Ravishing” Rick Rude defeated him for the Intercontinental Championship at WMV. This match was also billed as the Warrior’s first pinfall loss of any sort in the World Wrestling Federation, and it came when Bobby “The Brain” Heenan grabbed the Warrior’s leg and held it down during a Rude pin attempt. I don’t know why a relatively un-athletic manager like Heenan had the power to do something like that, but I guess that’s why I’m not a professional wrestling booker.

Otherwise, the majority of the Warrior’s Wrestlemania career was built around his ascension to the very top of the World Wrestling Federation. He began with a win at Wrestlemania IV over the mighty Hercules, who was one of UW’s first real rivals after the two had a tug of war over Herc’s chain. (No, seriously.) Wrestlemania VI, as most people reading this will already know, featured Warrior, who had regained the IC Title after losing it to Rude, putting the belt on the line in a title vs. title match against WWF Champ Hulk Hogan. Of course, as was already mentioned in this column, Warrior walked away a winner. At Wrestlemania VII, Warrior cemented his status as one of the biggest stars in all of professional wrestling by pinning the other Mega Power, beating Randy Savage in a retirement match. This meant that the Warrior had defeated the WWF’s two biggest stars in two consecutive years.

And then . . . it sort of all fell apart. Warrior vanished and, though he was involved in a post-main event run-in at Wrestlemania VIII, he vanished again not long after that. Warrior set foot in the ring at one more Wrestlemania with a win over a young HHH at Mania XIII, but (say it with me now) he vanished again not long after that. Since that run in the mid-1990s, Warrior and WWE have refused to do business with one another, so this is yet another record on the list that probably isn’t moving anywhere anytime soon.

1. The Big Bossman (5-1 Record; 83.3% Winning Percentage)

I have to say, when I was compiling the statistics for this list, this result surprised me to no end. Though the Big Bossman had a main event program with Hulk Hogan on a couple of house show loops and on Saturday Night’s Main Event, he was never an a-list main eventer and never a guy who had a major program culminate at Wrestlemania. However, for his first four appearances on the show, he was always racking up victories on the undercard.

The Wrestlemania debut for the Boss came at WMV. At the time, he and Akeem were joined together under the management of Slick as the Twin Towers, and they absolutely squashed the young duo of the Rockers, Marty Jannetty and some guy named Shawn something-or-other. By the time the next year’s Wrestlemania rolled around, Bossman and Akeem’s team had fallen apart and the two were at each other’s throats. This lead to a singles encounter on the undercard of the Hogan/Warrior show, and it was Bossman who came out victorious. In 1991, Bossman was embroiled in a feud with the Heenan Family which came to a head at Wrestlemania VII when the man from Cobb County, Georgia got a disqualification victory over Mr. Perfect in a match for Perfect’s Intercontinental Championship. By Mania VIII, the Bossman had seen his role in the company significantly downsized, as he got shoved into captaining the babyface crew in a throwaway eight man tag team match. The good news is that, despite the unimportance of the match, it did allow the former Big Bubba Rogers to put a fourth Wrestlemania victory on his record.

By the time Wrestlemania IX rolled around, Bossman had left the WWF and moved on to WCW, where he spent the next five years before coming back to the Fed with a retooled gimmick. Traylor’s Attitude era run got him two more appearances on Wrestlemania, the first of which is probably his most memorable match on the show, although not in a good way. Of course, I am talking about Wrestlemania XV, when the Undertaker, despite not really having a strong personal issue with him, defeated the Bossman in a Hell in a Cell match and then HUNG HIM WITH A NOOSE. We never really got a clear explanation as to how Bossman survived that one, but he did, popping up at Mania XVI the next year to win in tag action with partner Bull Buchanan against D-Lo Brown and the Godfather. With that, the man’s Wrestlemania career came to an end.

And that’s it. Yes, the second best Wrestlemania record in history (behind the Undertaker) belongs to the Big Bossman of all people, proving that you don’t necessarily have to be a top guy to have a good streak so long as you hang around the midcard and silently pick up wins.

That will do it for this week. Join us in seven days when the 8-Ball will return with more Wrestlemania content! As always, feel free to drop a topic suggestion in the comments and I will strongly consider turning it into a column in the future.