4 Ups & 8 Downs From WWE WrestleMania X8

Northern Exposure.

by Michael Hamflett
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WWE

As the company's self-styled season finales once upon a time, WrestleManias used to be ideal snapshots of the company landscape at large.

Most wrestlers hoped to find themselves in the biggest angle of their character's year around Royal Rumble season with an eye on the 'Show Of Shows' windfall. A spot on the 'Grandest Stage' was the biggest money match - a wrestler's raison d'être and rationalised justification for the rigours of the road the rest of the year.

WrestleMania X8 broke that rule, as much due to the chaos that followed the prior year's event. A catastrophic WCW/ECW Invasion angle had put a bullet in the boom, but WWE had the task of using the enormous Toronto supercard to present the facade that all was still well.

They lucked out with one of the greatest Sports Entertainment spectacles in company history. As for the rest of the show though...

(Want more WrestleMania Ups & Downs? We got 'em: I, 2, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, 13, XIV, XV, 2000, X-Seven)

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett