10 Most Ridiculous WWE WrestleMania Entrances

It is the biggest occasion, the grandest spectacle in all of sports entertainment: WWE WrestleMania.

The stadium backdrop and the major stakes demand a spectacular entrance. Not necessarily a ridiculous entrance, but a spectacular one, nonetheless. The ‘Mania entrance portrays the performer as a superstar. Accordingly, the inherently absurd theatre of the industry is amplified all the way to epic. The event grows longer and dafter by the year, and so too does the ring walk, which requires a certain self-awareness to not steamroll over the precarious line from epic to overblown. Somehow, the zombie mortician is the one who bests understand this.

To avoid hilarious, counterproductive farce, a performer must ask themselves a question: “Is this a true, albeit very exaggerated reflection of my character…or am I just dressing up as somebody from Game Of Thrones because I really enjoy watching a television show in my personal time?”

Some use this huge platform, to which casual glances are drawn on the one night they deem it socially acceptable to watch professional wrestling, to make professional wrestling more socially inclusive. See: Finn Bálor, WrestleMania 34. Others use it to make a woefully misguided social commentary (Roddy Piper, WrestleMania VI). Others care nothing about social commentary.

Which would be fine—this is wrestling—if it wasn’t All. About. The. Game…

Not altogether ridiculous, on the face of it—it’s not as if Shane McMahon busted out the ultimate rich kid halloween costume, or anything—a certain subtext rare to ‘Mania’s on-the-nose occasion cements this entrance as worthy of inclusion.

Four excitable children—Shane and his three offspring—descended on the Dallas stage. It made sense thematically; Shane had entered this match as a result of his father’s sadism, and the entrance effectively framed him as Vince’s babyface contrast. Hitting a rare note of sweetness—it really was nice of Shane to create a lasting, amazing memory for his kids—this display of father/son bonding became harrowing in retrospect.

A deluge of dollar bill confetti rained from the sky. “It’s OK,” the kids thought. “It doesn’t matter that Daddy has just wasted a big chunk of our inheritance. We care more about him than our future.”

Shane paused on the ramp, gathering his kids for a huddle. “That’s not strictly true. 'We' might not have a future. See that terrifying Cell up there? To defeat this demonic legend, I’m going to have to risk my life and jump off it.”

“Can’t you just go punch for punch with the best pure striker in all of WWE?”

“Of course I can. And I will. But I need the pop, you see.”

“But what if you die, Daddy?”

“Then I shall die a tough guy!”