10 Most Fascinating Stories In WrestleMania History

10. WrestleMania: Origins

Vince McMahon mortgaged the entire future of the WWF on the first WrestleMania event.

Shockingly, given his carny mendacity, this is only a slight embellishment. The WWF wouldn't have closed instantly, had the gamble failed. But it is deeply unlikely that the company, as we know it, would thrive in this unthinkable alternate timeline. Dave Meltzer speculated on his superb WrestleMania retrospective with the Lapsed Fan that, to proceed with expansion, McMahon would have had to source outside investment. These great "What if?" scenarios are too fraught with possibility to parse, but everything we know of McMahon's singular iron will renders that fatalistically untenable. Meanwhile, there remained an appetite for pro wrestling, the rich regional traditions of which hadn't yet been lost to time and WWE's subsequent, total monopoly.

In the real timeline, the bet paid off. Vince McMahon sought to coalesce and broaden the splintered identity of pro wrestling to the middle American household, and he did so by inviting major celebrities to sports entertainment's debutante ball. An unprecedented nationwide closed-circuit extravaganza, promoted effectively with both laser-focused broad strokes and not inconsiderable serendipity, WrestleMania I altered the history of the industry forevermore.

This is what Vince McMahon talks about when Vince McMahon talks about his grapefruit-sized balls.