WrestleMania history
Adam Graham / The Detroit News
For nearly a quarter century, WrestleMania has been the cornerstone event of the sports entertainment world.
Here's a look back at the 22 previous WrestleManias, or what can be viewed as the long road to WrestleMania 23.
WrestleMania
Date : March 31, 1985
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Venue : Madison Square Garden, New York, N.Y.
Attendance : 19,121
Main Event : Hulk Hogan and Mr. T defeated "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Paul Ordorff.
Fun fact : Muhammad Ali acted as special guest referee for the main event match.
WrestleMania II
Date : April 7, 1986
Venue : Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles, Calif.; Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont, Ill.; Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, N.Y.
Attendance : 40,085 (total between the three venues)
Main Event : Hulk Hogan defeated King Kong Bundy in a steel cage match.
Fun fact : The only WrestleMania to occur at more than one venue.
WrestleMania III
Date : March 29, 1987
Venue : Pontiac Silverdome
Attendance : 93,173
Main Event : Hulk Hogan defeated Andre the Giant to retain the championship belt.
Fun fact : Featured appearances from hometown heroes Aretha Franklin (who sang "America the Beautiful") and Alice Cooper (who accompanied Jake "The Snake" Roberts to the ring).
WrestleMania IV
Date : March 27, 1988
Venue : Trump Plaza, Atlantic City, N.J.
Attendance : 18,165
Main Event : Randy "Macho Man" Savage defeated Ted "Million Dollar Man" DiBiase to win the WWF championship.
Fun fact : Featured a rematch of Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant, though both were disqualified for using chairs -- a practice that's practically encouraged nowadays.
WrestleMania V
Date : April 2, 1989
Venue : Trump Plaza, Atlantic City, N.J.
Attendance : 18,946
Main Event : Hulk Hogan defeated Randy "Macho Man" Savage to win the WWF championship.
Fun fact : Shawn Michaels made his WrestleMania debut, losing -- as one-half of the Rockers -- to the Twin Towers.
WrestleMania VI
Date : April 1, 1990
Venue : Skydome, Toronto, Ontario
Attendance : 67,678
Main Event : The Ultimate Warrior defeated Hulk Hogan to win the WWF championship.
Fun fact : The first WrestleMania held outside the United States.
WrestleMania VII
Date : March 24, 1991
Venue : Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles, Calif.
Attendance : 16,158
Main Event : Hulk Hogan defeated Sgt. Slaughter to win the WWF Championship.
Fun fact : The Undertaker made his WrestleMania debut, defeating Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka.
WrestleMania VIII
Date : April 5, 1992
Venue : Hoosier Dome, Indianapolis, Ind.
Attendance : 62,167
Main Event : Hulk Hogan defeated Sid Vicious.
Fun fact : A year after losing a "retirement" match against the Ultimate Warrior, Randy "Macho Man" Savage defeated Ric Flair to win the WWF Championship. So much for continuity.
WrestleMania IX
Date : April 4, 1993
Venue : Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas, Nev.
Attendance : 16,891
Main Event : Hulk Hogan defeated Yokozuna to win the WWF Championship, minutes after Yokozuna won the belt from Bret Hart.
Fun fact : The only WrestleMania ever held outdoors.
WrestleMania X
Date : March 20, 1994
Venue : Madison Square Garden, New York, N.Y.
Attendance : 19,444
Main Event : Bret Hart defeated Yokozuna to win the WWF Championship.
Fun fact : The ladder match between Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels is considered a classic.
WrestleMania XI
Date : April 2, 1995
Venue : Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, Conn.
Attendance : 16,305
Main Event : Lawrence Taylor defeated Bam Bam Bigelow.
Fun fact : Pamela Anderson (with Diesel) and Jenny McCarthy (with Shawn Michaels) appeared as valets at the event, in front of the second smallest WrestleMania crowd ever (behind WrestleMania VII).
WrestleMania XII
Date : March 31, 1996
Venue : Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, Calif.
Attendance : 18,853
Main Event : Shawn Michaels defeated Bret Hart to win the WWF Championship.
Fun fact : Michaels made his way to the ring on a zip line from the top of the arena, in perhaps the most famous ring entrance in WWE history.
WrestleMania XIII
Date : March 23, 1997
Venue : Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont, Ill.
Attendance : 18,197
Main Event : The Undertaker defeated Sycho Sid to win the WWF Championship.
Fun fact : Rocky Maivia -- aka The Rock -- made his WrestleMania debut, defeating the Sultan.
WrestleMania XIV
Date : March 29, 1998
Venue : Fleet Center, Boston, Mass.
Attendance : 19,028
Main Event : "Stone Cold" Steve Austin defeated Shawn Michaels to win the WWF Championship.
Fun fact : Special "guest enforcer" Mike Tyson, thought to be in Michaels' corner for weeks leading up to the event, turned on Michaels after his match against Austin.
WrestleMania XV
Date : March 28, 1999
Venue : First Union Center, Philadelphia, Pa.
Attendance : 19,154
Main Event : Steve Austin defeated The Rock to win the WWF Championship.
Fun fact : The first WrestleMania to feature a hanging: The Undertaker's posse, the Brood (featuring a young Edge) "hung" the Big Boss Man after 'Taker defeated him in a Hell in a Cell match. The incident epitomized the WWF's "Attitude" years.
WrestleMania 2000
Date : April 2, 2000
Venue : Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, Calif.
Attendance : 19,776
Main Event : HHH defeated The Rock, Mick Foley and the Big Show to retain the WWF Championship. Each wrestler had a McMahon in their corner.
Fun fact : For the third straight year, Pete Rose appeared and, for the third straight year, was given a pile driver by Kane for his troubles. Rose was later inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame (it's the least they could do for the poor guy).
WrestleMania X-Seven
Date : April 1, 2001
Venue : Reliant Astrodome, Houston, Texas
Attendance : 67,925
Main Event : "Stone Cold" Steve Austin defeated The Rock to win the WWF Championship.
Fun fact : English metal band Motörhead (!) performed HHH's theme song live.
WrestleMania X8
Date : March 17, 2002
Venue : Skydome, Toronto, Ontario
Attendance : 68,237
Main Event : HHH defeated Chris Jericho to win the WWF Undisputed championship.
Fun fact : The Rock pinned a pre-"Hogan Knows Best" Hulk Hogan in the "Icon vs. Icon" match. But did the Rock ever get his own reality show on VH1? Didn't think so!
WrestleMania XIX
Date : March 30, 2003
Venue : Safeco Field, Seattle, Wash.
Attendance : 54,097
Main Event : Brock Lesnar defeated Kurt Angle to win the WWE championship.
Fun fact : In Hogan's last WrestleMania match to date, he defeated Vince McMahon.
WrestleMania XX
Date : March 14, 2004
Venue : Madison Square Garden, New York, N.Y.
Attendance : 20,000
Main Event : Chris Benoit defeated HHH and Shawn Michaels to win the WWE championship.
Fun fact : Like the upcoming WrestleMania 23, WrestleMania XX also featured Donald Trump -- in a ringside interview with Jesse Ventura -- and a hair vs. hair match, of which Molly Holly ended up on the losing end.
WrestleMania 21
Date : April 3, 2005
Venue : Staples Center, Los Angeles, Calif.
Attendance : 20,193
Main Event : Batista defeated HHH to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
Fun fact : John Cena won the WWE Championship, Batista won the World Heavyweight Championship -- belts they'll both defend at WrestleMania 23.
WrestleMania 22
Date : Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Ill.
Venue : April 2, 2006
Attendance : 17,159
Main Event : John Cena defeated HHH to win the WWE championship.
Fun fact : The Undertaker defeated Mark Henry in a casket match, bringing his WrestleMania record to an impressive 14-0. Bring on Batista!
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