If you could choose the most influential out of the last 40 WM events, which one would you choose?
I want to say 3. Not just from a business standpoint, but even the wrestling. It feels like there are 2 paths people will take: Do you want to have the Hogan/Andre match, or the Savage/Steamboat match? You had so many wrestlers, promoters, fans, etc. really start to take notice as to what the WWF were trying to do with wrestling and that they were succeeding.
I'd take the first one as the most influential, because it was so revolutionary to the business. The concept of a widespread closed circuit PPV was such a gamble that financially paid off big time. The celebrity involvement with Cyndi Lauper, Mr. T., Billy Martin, Muhammed Ali, Liberace, helped make it the largest audience to ever see a wrestling event.
Plus, it became the death knell to the territories.
WM III took a then proven product to new levels, but it wouldn't have happened without the first one succeeding.
13
Yeah I tried to stay away from the obvious which would be #1 because we would then get "well 2-41 doesn't happen if 1 isn't successful" I also wasn't sure if WrestleMania was the first closed circuit PPV.Originally Posted by 3puppies
14 was hugely important. It kicked WWE into the attitude era which enabled them to go public.
It also created their biggest star since Hogan. Yes 13 was important for Austin but this one was the one where he really became the top guy.
Just watched the Peacock documentary about WM 9, Becoming a Spectacle. Despite how much I hate Hogan, and did so at the time, the argument can be made about its influence. By transforming the Caesar's parking lot to become a Coliseum, making it the largest toga party ever, bringing in elephants, the vulture for Taker, and of course, Heenan riding backward on the camel, was the first time WrestleMania had its over-the-top vibe to it.
My favorite part was seeing the young Undertaker glaring at the camera guys backstage.
Another thing about 3 was that its success allowed Vince to intimidate the cable networks into running Survivor Series instead of Starrcade that November, with the promise of Wrestlemania 4 as a reward. Another nail in the territories coffin.
17 might be up there too. It was kinda the end of the Attitude Era but also jumpstarted a more “wrestling” era if that makes sense.
17 redefined the expectation of a Wrestlemania. Things had been done before (stadium, longer run time, pop culture theme song, special entrances, legend appearances, the emphasis on it being THE show) but none had wrapped it up at that point like 17 did. So much that the 20-22 arena run looks bonkers looking back. The leap from 16 to 17 in terms of the presentation, given it would have been largely the same crew, is stark. It's the template to every major show since. It set the standard so high that it hurt all other PPV's going forward, as the 'this is the biggest show' promotion after that came off as ridiculous hyperbole. How do you sell Backlash as an industry altering event when there's 50,000 less people and Limp Bizkit isn't the theme song?
Ali vs Inoki was closed circuit around the country, and the first few Starrcades had large distribution areas.
The answer is 1 because if you watch the television of that era and see just how big the WWF was at the time you understand a lot of Vince's mentality going forward chasing that dragon.
WM 1 was the most influential, but lets also remember WM 2 was a disaster. So its a weird case of WM 3 had to be amazing which it was from the jump. Piper coming back to retake the Pit to lead to the Andre/Hogan confrontation there. Then you had Savage/Steel/Steamboat on top of the hot tag teams like the Bulldog and Harts. Minus a few misses here, the build and execution of WM 3 allowed Mania to live as this huge Showcase of the Immortals. I will say that its a combination of WM 1 and 3.
Well 1 is obvious given it’s the first one but like Nash said, I wanted to stay away from the obvious.
I also think with WM 1 there's a difference here between being influential and being important. It was no doubt the most important Mania that we know of. Who knows maybe Mania 14 saved them from WCW taking over lol. But like I said about 3 you have 2 of the biggest matches in wrestling history, you have the giant stadium, they really fine tuned the format of Mania moving forward it seemed.
Interesting that the first Wrestlemania drew a million purchases, and was considered a huge success because of it. This one drew a BILLION views.
41 will be influential on how to not book a Mania, for future Manias.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote