10 WWE Gimmicks That Started Elsewhere

3. WrestleMania

Vince McMahon didn't steal WrestleMania. Nor did he bet his entire future on a vision that wasn't entirely his. Quite the opposite - the Chairman had steadfast belief in an ideology that didn't jive with the industry's practices at large.

No, WrestleMania didn't start elsewhere, but the 'Grandaddy Of 'Em All' did. That grandiose subtitle was used for the very first Starrcade two years before Tito Santana and The Executioner kicked off the first ever 'Show Of Shows'. The JCP show (headlined by an epic Harley Race/Ric Flair steel cage match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship) made use of closed circuit viewings in the pre-pay-per-view era, two years before McMahon was able to do the same on an even grander and nationwide scale with his celebrity-infused sports entertainment bonanza.

It's a well-known tidbit at this point but the name itself came from the mind of the late, great Howard Finkel, too. We'd all be talking about a weekend shaped around the Colossal Tussle had McMahon's best effort been the one that stuck.