35 Years Of WWE WrestleMania Mistakes
25. WrestleMania XI - Lawrence Taylor
In 1995, WWF really was at rock bottom. Most of the company's established stars had departed both as a result of the steroid trial and by the lure of Eric Bischoff's chequebook, leaving Vince McMahon struggling to establish his 'New Generation'.
The Diesel experiment was failing, and with no bona-fide drawing power, McMahon couldn't rely on 'Big Daddy Cool' as the main attraction for WrestleMania XI. Instead, he reverted to his usual fall-back: celebrities. Vince hoped to add glamour to the dismal card with B-list personalities such as Nicholas Turturro, Salt-n-Peppa, and Pamela Anderson. But the biggest lure of all - he hoped - was pitting Bam Bam Bigelow against NFL star Lawrence Taylor in the main event.
Though Taylor put in a surprisingly good performance - largely helped by veteran Bam Bam - McMahon's decision to put a football player over a wrestler was met with widespread derision. Punters were equally unimpressed, as the Taylor-headlined WrestleMania recorded just 340,000 buys - a record low.