Shawn Michaels has been described as Mr.WrestleMania, but the real embodiment of WWE's annual wrestling extravaganza has to be Vince McMahon. The event is McMahon all over big, brash, colourful and of course hugely successful. WrestleMania has became Vince McMahon's greatest ever achievement, there simply wouldn't be a WWE if he hadn't made Mania. It's the powerful brand his whole empire is fuelled upon, the one night of the year which transcends pro-wrestling into being a mainstream crossover pop culture phenomenon. The decisions Vince made along the way in constructing this brand were vital. The risks were huge. He had no road-map or concept to follow, this was his blind ambition, build a national event that's so powerful it's worth paying for. The basis of this idea is taken for granted now, all monthly wrestling pay per views ended up being based upon the WrestleMania model, few with matched success. WrestleMania is simply the elite of the pro-wrestling industry. Here's 18 important decisions which made it so...
18. The Decision To Build It Around Closed Circuit Television / Pay Per View, 1985
Without doubt the most important decision in Mania history was Vince's initial idea to create a supershow pay per view on closed circuit television. Although Jim Crockett Promotions had dabbled with distributing wrestling content this way, McMahon was really breaking new ground in the way he conceived Mania. It was more than a wrestling show, he was selling a full on 'entertainment event'. It was a risk people didn't believe in. The industry seen Vince as a maverick who had broke unwritten rules and was now pushing his luck too far. Mania was seen as an expensive production, a risk which could sink the WWF. Vince knew better. His distribution method meant he was essentially expanding the arena capacity beyond the arena seats and on to screens WrestleMania 1 ended up being attended by 19,121 fans with a further million people paying to watch on closed circuit television. The model for success was set. Through the years, along with technological advances, WrestleMania became a pay per view sensation. It serves as the inspiration for the business strategy which made the WWE a success. Selling content this way was a superb decision, failing only now in 2014 as WWE moves to the digital Network platform.