10 Biggest Challenges WrestleMania Has Ever Faced

On a personal level, the very first WrestleMania was one of the biggest challenges that Vince McMahon has ever faced. If that March 1985 event wasn't a home run, McMahon would be facing up to the very real threat of bankruptcy.

It's easy now to look back and take Vince's risk for granted and maybe underplay the reality of it, but McMahon was gambling with his livelihood and his entire future. Vince invested every single penny he had in attempting to make WrestleMania a success. If 'Mania did well, McMahon was opening the door to a landscape never before seen for the professional wrestling business. If the event bombed, McMahon was heading for his own personal crisis which would see him lose everything.

Never in wrestling had the stakes been so high.

Vince had by this point spent several years hoovering up the best talent from across the country and beyond as he looked to eradicate any rival promotion that he could. And to his credit, he had unheralded success with his oft-questioned approach.

Bringing in big-name celebrities, working closely with MTV, and showcasing some of the biggest names in the wrestling business, McMahon's risk was rewarded in a hugely positive response and broke records on a viewership level - to the point that that first WrestleMania became the most-watched wrestling event in closed-circuit television history.

Here we are 35 years later, with WrestleMania still positioned as the biggest show in the wrestling industry. And that's all because Vince McMahon took on the challenge of a lifetime and emerged victorious.