WrestleMania By The Numbers: Rich Twilling returns to look at impressive statistics regarding WWE's biggest show of year

By Rich Twilling

The Undertaker’s undefeated WrestleMania streak is not the only impressive and/or intriguing statistic regarding the granddaddy of them all. Here is a closer look at WrestleMania, by the numbers:

-Shawn Michaels is the first person to main event a WrestleMania one year and go into the WWE Hall of Fame the next year.

-Bret Hart had one of the longest droughts between Mania matches. He defeated Steve Austin at Mania 13 and did not appear at another event until he defeated Vince McMahon at Mania 26.

-Hart falls behind Jimmy Snuka. Snuka lost to The Undertaker at Mania 7 (Taker’s first Mania appearance and win) and did not compete again at a WrestleMania until Mania 25.

-However, the record goes to Ricky Steamboat, who competed in the WWE Championship tournament at Mania 4 and did not compete at Mania again for 21 years, losing in a handicap match alongside Roddy Piper and Jimmy Snuka, to Chris Jericho.

-Vince McMahon has never won a WrestleMania match but has been involved in several top bouts. He lost to Shane McMahon at Mania 17, lost to Hulk Hogan at Mania 19, lost to Shawn Michaels at Mania 22, and lost to Bret Hart at Mania 26. He also had his head shaved at Mania 23 by Steve Austin and inducted Austin into the WWE Hall of Fame on the eve of Mania 25.

-Triple H vs. The Undertaker took place ten years ago at WrestleMania 17. Of course, Taker won that match.

-Undertaker has defeated every member of both DX (the latter versions) and Evolution at separate WrestleMania events. He beat Triple H at Mania 17, Ric Flair at Mania 18, Randy Orton at Mania 21, Batista at WrestleMania 23, and Shawn Michaels at Mania 25 and 26.

-After this year’s event, Taker will have faced three men twice at WrestleMania. He beat Triple H at Mania 17 and will face him again at this year’s Mania 27. He defeated Kane at Mania 14 and 20 and Shawn Michaels at Mania 25 and 26.

-John Cena is an impressive 7-1 at WrestleMania and has competed in a title match every time out. He beat Big Show for the United States Title at Mania 20, beat JBL for the WWE Championship at Mania 21, retained the WWE Championship vs. Triple H at Mania 22, retained the WWE Championship vs. Shawn Michaels at Mania 23, beat Edge and Big Show in a triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship at Mania 25, and beat Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship at Mania 26. His lone loss was in a triple threat match at WrestleMania 24 to Randy Orton and Triple H. He faces The Miz for the WWE Championship at this year’s WrestleMania 27.

-Additionally, Cena was left off of the WrestleMania 19 card, despite being a full time member of the WWE roster.

-WWE Hall of Famer and all time great Ric Flair never won a singles match at WrestleMania. He lost to Randy Savage in a WWE Championship match at Mania 8. He lost to The Undertaker at Mania 18 and to Shawn Michaels at Mania 24. He was on the winning team (alongside Batista and Randy Orton) in defeating The Rock and Mick Foley in a handicap match at Mania 20. He also teamed with Carlito in a dark match victory over Gregory Helms and Chavo Guerrero before Mania 23.

-Michaels, who was known as Mr. WrestleMania, amongst many monikers, was 6-11 at WrestleMania. His first three Mania events (5, 6, 7) produced a 1-2 record as a member of The Rockers. He was 5-9 in singles matches. He defeated El Matador (Tito Santana) at Mania 8, Bret Hart at Mania 12, Chris Jericho at Mania 19, Vince McMahon at Mania 22, and Ric Flair at Mania 24.

Michaels, as a singles wrestler at WrestleMania, lost to Tatanka by DQ at Mania 9, to Razor Ramon (Scott Hall) at Mania 10, to Diesel (Kevin Nash) at Mania 11, to Steve Austin at Mania 14, to Chris Benoit (in a triple threat match including Triple H) at Mania 20, to Kurt Angle at Mania 21, to John Cena at Mania 23, and to The Undertaker at Mania 25 and 26.

-Steve Austin has a small WrestleMania resume, going 5-2 during his career. He defeated Savio Vega at Mania 12, Shawn Michaels at Mania 14, The Rock at Mania 15, The Rock at Mania 17, and Scott Hall at Mania 18. He lost to Bret Hart at Mania 13 and The Rock at Mania 19. He played heavy, non-wrestling roles at Mania 20, 23, and 25. He will also be a special guest referee at this year’s event in the Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole match.

-JBL wrestled his first WrestleMania singles match in a WWE Championship match against John Cena at Mania 21. The Miz will repeat that feat this year, again in a title defense against Cena. Miz had his first pay-per-view Mania match (he worked the dark match the year before) in a Tag Team Championship win at last year’s event.

-Steve Austin vs. The Rock took place at three WrestleMania events (15, 17, 19). However, Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna was the only match to main event (close out) two consecutive events (9 and 10). Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker was the only other pair to have a singles match at consecutive events (25 and 26).

-Arguably, the five biggest names and/or legends in WWE history are Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Hulk Hogan, Steve, Austin, and The Rock. The only event where all five of them had matches was WrestleMania 19. Austin faced The Rock. Hogan faced Vince McMahon. Michaels faced Chris Jericho. Taker was supposed to team with Nathan Jones, but Jones was removed from the match, so Taker defeated Big Show and Albert in a handicap match. Taker, Michaels, and Rock all had matches at Mania 20, while Austin was a special referee and Hogan was not a part of the show. All but Michaels had matches at Mania 18.

-WrestleMania 1 was the only event without a WWE Championship match.

-WrestleMania 4 was the only event without an advertised main event. The WWE Championship tournament was the advertised attraction and Randy Savage vs. Ted DiBiase ended up being the main event.

-WrestleMania 9 and 10 were the only two events with more than one WWE Championship match (before the era of a WWE and World Heavyweight Championships).

-Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna was the one advertised WWE Championships match at WrestleMania 9, but after Yokozuna won the title, Hulk Hogan challenged and defeated Yokozuna in the second WWE Championship match of the night.

-WrestleMania 10 had two scheduled WWE Championship matches. The first pitted Yokozuna vs. Lex Luger and the winner of that match facing Bret Hart. Yokozuna advanced but lost the title to Bret Hart in the second WWE Championship match of the event.

-Thirteen (13) men wrestled in the main event (last match or title match) of WrestleMania in their first Mania match. Of course, Hulk Hogan, Mr. T, Paul Orndorff, and Roddy Piper all main evented the first WrestleMania. Ted DiBiase (Mania 4), Sgt. Slaughter (Mania 7), Sid Justice and Ric Flair (Mania 8), Yokozuna (Mania 9), Diesel and Lawrence Taylor (Mania 11), Brock Lesnar (Mania 19), and Alberto Del Rio (this year at Mania 27) are the others.

-The Intercontinental Championship was defended at the first eleven WrestleMania events (Hogan vs. The Ultimate Warrior at Mania 6 was billed as a ‘title for title’ match) and at 17 of the first 18 events. After a one-year layoff, Rocky Maivia (The Rock) successfully defended the belt at Mania 13 (vs. The Sultan (Rikishi). Rock came back at Mania 14 to retain the belt against Ken Shamrock. Shamrock actually made Rock tap out to the ankle lock but was later disqualified for not releasing the hold.

The once prestigious championship was not defended at the next six WrestleMania events, until JBL lost the title to Rey Mysterio at Mania 25. The title was not defended at Mania 26 and is not scheduled to be at this year’s event, as current champion Wade Barrett is involved in an eight man tag team match.

-Razor Ramon (Scott Hall) was featured on the WrestleMania 12 poster although he did not have a match on the card.

-Hulk Hogan wrestled in WWE Championship matches eight times (and eight of the first nine overall) at WrestleMania. He was not scheduled for the main event of Mania 9, but won the WWE Championship in an impromptu match against Yokozuna. He took part in the WWE Championship tournament at Mania 4, but did not advance to the finals.

Additionally, Triple H joins Hogan as having wrestled in the most WWE or World Heavyweight Championship matches at WrestleMania. He did so at Mania 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, and 25. John Cena has seven such matches and will have the most in a row with this year’s match. Cena was in a WWE or World Title match at Mania 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, and will be again this year at Mania 27.

-The Big Show has never won a singles match at WrestleMania. He lost to Mankind (Mick Foley) by DQ at Mania 15, lost a fatal four-way match to The Rock, Triple H, and Mick Foley at Mania 16, lost a triple threat match for the Hardcore Championship to Kane (which also included Raven) at Mania 17, lost a handicap match, in which his partner was Albert, to The Undertaker at Mania 19, lost to John Cena at Mania 20, lost to Akebono in a sumo wrestling match at Mania 21, lost to Floyd Mayweather at Mania 24, lost a triple threat match to John Cena (also including Edge) for the World Heavyweight Championship at Mania 25. Show successfully retained the Tag Team Championships at two WrestleMania events. Alongside Kane, they defeated Chris Masters and Carlito at Mania 22. Alongside The Miz, they defeated John Morrison and R-Truth at Mania 26. All total, Show is 2-8 at WrestleMania.

-Booker T has never won a singles match at WrestleMania. He lost to Edge at Mania 18, lost to Triple H at Mania 19, lost to The Boogeyman at Mania 22, and lost the Money in the Bank Ladder Match at Mania 23. He did retain the World Tag Team Championships (with Rob Van Dam) at Mania 20 and won a dark match battle royal before Mania 21.

-2011 Hall of Fame inductee Jim Duggan last wrestled at Mania 8 in 1992, despite being a member of the active roster (off and on) into 2009.

-Four WrestleMania events have not concluded with a WWE or World Heavyweight Championship match. WrestleMania 1 featured a tag team main event of Hulk Hogan and Mr. T vs. Paul Orndorff and Roddy Piper. WrestleMania 8 concluded with Hulk Hogan vs. Sid Justice (the WWE Championship match of Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair took place earlier in the show). WrestleMania 11 was topped off by Lawrence Taylor vs. Bam Bam Bigelow. WrestleMania 26 was capped by The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels.