Thank goodness Vince McMahon's stubbornness was often a source of good as well as evil during his national expansion - WrestleMania 2 was the sort of sequel that would nowadays kill a franchise per his fanciful whims.
A case of concept overwhelming execution, the event's aspirations were sound enough but undone by the reality of trying to do far too much with far too little. McMahon himself believed his wrestling empire was already the biggest in the world - he was reminded here that it wasn't huge enough to satisfy three cities.
WrestleMania 2 isn't one mammoth pay-per-view, it's three sh*t ones. All the cards boast something resembling a main event but with very little underneath and even less to saiatie the spare arenas whilst another show's in progress. The card is almost justifiably bad considering how many other things McMahon and his colleagues had to concentrate on. Even now, the prospect of producing something as vast as this is daunting. In 1986, as evidenced, it was impossible.
For all WrestleMania 2 wasn't, the following year's card was. For that, at least, this card remains partially pivotal.
(Playing catch-up? WrestleMania I's Ups & Downs are here)
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
