32 Things You Didn’t Know About ‘WrestleMania’
If this were WrestleMania 31, we might borrow a Baskin-Robbins motif and assign a specific flavor to each superstar setting foot in the ring (Roman Reigns would be Butter Pecan, because nobody likes him).
Alas, it’s WrestleMania 32, and there aren’t a lot of ways to get cute with the number 32. You might say it’s an almost trivial number, or go a step further and suggest that inherent triviality has trickled down to the mediocrity of this year’s ‘Mania card. From where we sit, that makes this Sunday’s brouhaha in Dallas the perfect opportunity to inundate you with trivial information spanning the event’s three-plus decades of grappling and grandeur. Specifically, 32 pieces of obscure, esoteric and extraordinary WrestleMania facts dating back to 1985 that illustrate how WWE’s signature event has come to exemplify the company’s beguiling marriage of sports and entertainment.
Now, if you’ll excuse us – we’re going to track down some of those Superstars Ice Cream Bars.
The T and T Connection
Plenty of celebrities and/or celeb athletes have participated in WrestleMania over the years. But only two have pulled on tights to compete in a ‘Mania main event. Mr. T teamed up with Hulk Hogan to topple Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff and close out WrestleMania I. (Mr. T returned the following year, too, earning a victory in a boxing match against Piper by DQ.) Ten years later, at WrestleMania XI, L.T. (aka ex-New York Giants great Lawrence Taylor) improbably put down the mighty Bam Bam Bigelow to wrap up the night. And who said wrestling’s not realistic?
Styles’ Clashes
The “Phenomenal” A.J. Styles is making his WrestleMania debut against Chris Jericho this week, a rite of passage that puts him in elite company alongside, uh, Fandango. What really distinguishes Styles’ appearance is that it puts him in a unique category of one. After Sunday, the globetrotting, 38-year-old Georgia native will be one of a handful of wrestlers to have competed in WWE, TNA and New Japan’s flagship PPV shows (Mania, Lockdown and Wrestle Kingdom, respectively). Before him, Jeff Jarrett was the most recent to accomplish the feat when he worked WK 9.
Page-ing a Chauffeur
Never subtle, Jimmy Hart titled his entrance theme for Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine, aka Rhythm & Blues, “Honka Honka Honka Honky Love.” The pair debuted their “hit” – which, incongruously, was already honored with a gold record – at WrestleMania VI on April 1, 1990. And driving their vintage Caddy down the ramp was none other than Diamond Dallas Page, then a fledgling manager and sometime wrestler for AWA and other promotions. The next time he made his way through the curtain and toward a ‘Mania ring was 12 years later as WWF European Champion. Diamond, apparently, is forever.
Playboy or Bust
Historically, WWE has rarely shied away from soliciting audiences with attractive women, but only a handful of ‘Mania‘s celebrity guest stars had posed for Playboy prior to making a cameo at Vince McMahon’s premiere gala. Vanna White showed up on a cover in 1987, prior to signing on as guest time-keeper at WrestleMania IV the next spring; 20 years later, Kim Kardashian parlayed her sex-tape infamy into a December 2007 Playboy cover, E! TV show and, in March 2008, an inexplicable role as “host” of WrestleMania XXIV; Late-night seductress Rhonda Shear (who’s no Renee Young) graced the mag’s pages in 1991, and kept time at WrestleMania X in ’94; Jenny McCarthy memorably valeted Shawn Michaels to his title match against Razor Ramon at WrestleMania XI in April ’95, just a couple years removed from being named Playboy‘s Playmate of the Year; and in her opposite corner at ‘Mania XI, accompanying eventual victor Diesel, was none other than Pamela Anderson, whose first Playboy pictorial hit stands way back in 1989. And no, Clara Peller never stripped down for a payday.
Queen of Soul’s Double Take
“America the Beautiful” is always a prominent WrestleMania moment, and WWE’s managed to recruit everyone from Ray Charles to John Legend for the performing honors. But only one world-famous recording artist has stepped behind the microphone twice for the occasion (no offense to Lilian Garcia), and it might be our greatest living vocalist: Ms. Aretha Franklin. The Queen of Soul brought the Silverdome to its feet at WrestleMania III, and waited 20 years for her encore at ‘Mania 23. In retrospect, it’s rather unfortunate that during the latter, she wailed her ode to our country’s greatness while sharing an arena with this guy.