Photo Source: WWE.com
It looks like The Undertaker will not have an official match at WWE WrestleMania 34. He and Shawn Michaels are generally considered to be the greatest performers in WrestleMania history. But are there any other superstars who can lay claim to the title “Mr. WrestleMania”?
After weeks of build, there still hasn’t been any movement on the Undertaker front heading into WWE WrestleMania 34. John Cena wants a match, Taker isn’t answering, and there’s no more time before New Orleans to make it official. Maybe The Dead Man really is retired, after all.
There’s still a strong likelihood that Undertaker will make an appearance at some point this weekend. After all, he’s practically synonymous with WrestleMania. His undefeated streak that spanned two decades is the kind of achievement not likely to be duplicated. And he’s had his fair share of great matches on The Grandest Stage of Them All.
But not to be outdone is another, officially-retired superstar with the moniker “Mr. WrestleMania” – Shawn Michaels. The Heartbreak Kid had his own stellar run at WrestleMania, from the 1980s until his farewell match against – you guessed it – The Undertaker in 2010.
When WWE or the fans bring up WrestleMania, it’s often Taker or Michaels who are touted as being the epitome of the show. Since Michaels first debuted at WrestleMania V, there’s only been one year without a Mania match from either superstar – WrestleMania 2000. Simply put, WrestleMania without Michaels and Undertaker is a strange concept.
Are Michaels and Undertaker the only superstars worthy of being called “Mr. WrestleMania,” though? Over the years, there’s been well over 300 superstars who have appeared on at least one WrestleMania. Surely there’s some other names who could be considered to be the face of WWE’s biggest annual event, right?
What kind of actual, scientific data can we use to determine the real Mr. WrestleMania? We’ll focus on only those superstars who have appeared on at least five WrestleMania cards – main show only, no Kick Offs. And if you were in a battle royal, it only counts if you won it. Overall card placement over your career, main events, win-loss record, staying power on the card, and Match of the Night honors – mostly objective criteria to come up with our real champion.
Let’s take a look at who has a stake to the claim of being Mr. WrestleMania.
Card Placement – Hulk Hogan
To determine a superstar’s average card placement is pretty simple. Last match on the card? Worth one point. Next to last is worth two, and so on and so forth. Take the average over a superstar’s career, and the lowest score wins. Make sense? For those who had more than one match on a single WrestleMania, latest match on the card takes precedence – so Randy Savage and Ted DiBiase each get one point for WrestleMania IV, Daniel Bryan gets one point for WrestleMania XXX, etc. (Oh, and Hulk Hogan’s little stunt at WrestleMania IX doesn’t count, either – that main event was Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna, because the match ended. Seth Rollins cashing in at WrestleMania 31 does count, because he legally added himself to the main event.)
Overall card placement is a pretty good indicator of just how valuable a particular superstar is to WWE. Would you waste the marquee match of your biggest show of the year on just anybody? It’s not like a retired football ever had a main event Mania match against a career mid-carder, right?
Still, WrestleMania XI aside, the final match of the card is usually what will put the most butts in seats. If you were at the top of WrestleMania cards for an extended period, it means you were the focus of WWE, for better or worse. So who are the top 5 in terms of average card placement at WrestleMania?
- Hulk Hogan
- Steve Austin
- The Rock
- John Cena
- Brock Lesnar
Honestly, there’s no real surprises there. Hogan main evented seven of the first eight WrestleManias. Austin and The Rock main evented twice against each other – as did Cena and The Rock. And though Brock Lesnar has only been in the main event twice, he’s clearly a big money draw.
Finishing the top ten, you have Triple H, Roman Reigns, Undertaker, Kurt Angle, and Batista. Shawn Michaels clocks in at number 13 – no doubt hurt by all those early years as part of The Rockers.
Main Events – Triple H
Sure, overall card placement is nice to look at a “big picture” view of a superstar’s WrestleMania career. But when it comes down to it, tickets are sold on the main event. And despite some of the nonsense about shows having a double or triple main event, it’s the final match of the evening that is the real main event. It’s the difference between being an MVP finalist, and the MVP itself.
To date, there have been 33 WrestleMania main events. Only one was a tag team match, two started out as triple threat matches, and one was a fatal four way. Seth Rollins’s cash-in made another match a triple threat. That makes 73 main event spots over the past three and a half decades. Out of over 300 superstars competing, that’s a pretty select group.
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So if you can get yourself into two different main event matches, it’s pretty impressive. Out of the 53 superstars who have appeared on five or more WrestleManias, 24 have appeared in at least one main event. 13 have appeared in two or more.
The cream of the crop, though, are the five superstars with five or more main events apiece. With seven each are Hulk Hogan and Triple H. And with five are The Rock, John Cena, and Shawn Michaels.
Again, no real surprises there, except for maybe Triple H. Hogan put WrestleMania on the map in the 1980s, The Rock was a huge box office draw, and John Cena was the face of WWE for seemingly forever. Michaels, though, went from being a card opener to main event by his eighth WrestleMania, but made his mark after his 2002 comeback with three main events in the second half of his career.
Undertaker has been in the main event itself four times, including last year in what was likely his final match. But still, Triple H being in seven main events is kind of mind blowing – and he’ll take the lead spot if the mixed tag match closes WrestleMania 34 (a distinct possibility).
Win-Loss Record – Undertaker
After looking at who keeps popping up in main events and high up on the cards, it’s time to look at who actually goes over. Yeah, yeah, it’s pro wrestling, and wins and losses “don’t matter,” I know. But many of these main event matches are championship bouts, and what says “great pro wrestler” more than “lots of titles on my resumé?
Now, I’m not going into every single superstar’s win-loss record. I have a day job, and I’m pretty sure my wife would kill me if I spent that much time going through the record books. But, since this is an exercise in seeing if Michaels and Taker really deserve the Mr. WrestleMania moniker, I’ll list theirs, plus everyone else we’ve come across so far.
So who is the best of the best in terms of actual wins and losses at WrestleMania? Here’s the list, with winning percentages:
- Undertaker, 23-2 (.920)
- Roman Reigns, 4-1 (.800)
- John Cena, 10-3 (.769)
- Steve Austin, 5-2 (.714)
- Hulk Hogan, 7-4* (.636)
- Brock Lesnar, 4-3 (.571)
- The Rock, 6-5 (.545)
- Batista, 3-3 (.500)
- Triple H, 9-12 (.429)
- Kurt Angle, 3-5 (.375)
- Shawn Michaels, 6-11 (.353)
Not so great to be a member of The Kliq, huh? Obviously, just by virtue of The Streak™ Taker would be on top of the list. And maybe there’s something to this whole “LOL Roman Wins” thing, because chances are he’s about to go 5-1. And quick, who can tell me who Cena’s third Mania loss was to – one to The Rock, one to The Miz, and one to who?
Time’s up: it was a triple threat against Randy Orton and Triple H – Orton won.
*: Hogan didn’t win at WrestleMania IV, nor did he officially lose – he and Andre the Giant fought to a double disqualification. Since he didn’t win, and I didn’t feel like doing the winning percentage formula with a draw thrown in there, I counted it as a “loss.”
Total WrestleMania Appearances – Undertaker
Let’s narrow the list down a bit further – staying power in general. While it’s great to be at the top of the card for a long time, how about just being on the card at all? After all, it’s WrestleMania – whether opening the show or being in the main event, it should still be a pretty big deal to make an appearance outside of the battle royal, right?
Out of our list of 11 superstars, six have participated in 10 or more WrestleManias:
- The Undertaker, 25
- Triple H, 21
- Shawn Michaels, 17
- John Cena, 13
- tie – The Rock & Hulk Hogan, 11
Think of just how long your career would need to be in general just to have the chance to get on more than 10 WrestleManias, let alone actually doing it. There’s six other superstars who have done it with much less fanfare – Kane, Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, Big Show, Bret Hart, and Edge. Speaking of little fanfare, would you believe Kane has the most non-battle royal appearances at WrestleMania without ever being in the main event with 16? Crazy.
Anyway, there’s something to watch here in terms of overall WrestleMania appearances. Even if Taker shows up this Sunday, it’s unlikely to be an actual match. I’m firmly in the camp of “Undertaker’s retired, and he’ll show up to say so.” But Triple H has a match scheduled for this year, which brings his total to 22. If Taker is truly retired, there’s a reasonable assumption that Triple H can pass his record for most WrestleMania appearances. H is in phenomenal shape – thanks, part time schedule! – and saves himself for the one or two big matches a year.
Match of the Night – Shawn Michaels
So we’ve done objective measures. Depending on how you look at it, either Hulk Hogan (ugh), Triple H (really?), or The Undertaker stand out as the real Mr. WrestleMania. But despite lousy overall card placement, not being in the most main events, not being on the most cards, and having an awful win-loss record, there’s one place where Shawn Michaels stands above the rest. And even though it’s a subjective criteria, there’s really no way of denying that no one has put on more great WrestleMania matches than The Heartbreak Kid.
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If we go by Dave Meltzer’s star ratings, Shawn Michaels had the best match of the night at WrestleMania a whopping ten times. At WrestleMania IX, the show opened with Michaels and Tatanka battling for the Intercontinental Title. From then on, HBK got a more prime spot on the card. His WrestleMania X ladder match against Razor Ramon is still one of only two Mania matches to be awarded five stars by Meltzer.
Michaels again outperformed the field at Manias XI, XII, and 14, before being forced into retirement due to injury. However, after his comeback, he was somehow better than ever. He ruled the night at WrestleMania XIX, XX, and 21 before putting on possibly his best two matches at 25 and 26 – both against The Undertaker.
Speaking of Undertaker, he’s had the best match at WrestleMania seven times. Besides the two matches with Michaels, his two bouts with Triple H at Manias 27 and 28 were terrific, as was the personal clash with CM Punk at 29. Taker also brought down the house against Edge at WrestleMania 24, and had an okay match with Ric Flair at Mania X-8.
Other superstars on our list of eleven fail to meet the mark set by Michaels and Undertaker. The Rock and Brock Lesnar were in the match of the night twice apiece, as was Kurt Angle. Hogan and Austin made it three times each, Triple H four. Batista and Roman Reigns have one apiece. And John Cena has never once gotten the nod.
Next: Has WrestleMania Gotten Too Big?
In conclusion, if we go strictly objectively, Mr. WrestleMania is The Undertaker, with Triple H looming as a real threat to take over. Subjectively, Shawn Michaels deserves the moniker, even though just looking at the numbers you couldn’t imagine why. Personally, I’m old, so my favorite WrestleMania moments feature Bret Hart and Randy Savage. What about you?