10 Most Fascinating Stories In WrestleMania History
4. Hulk Hogan: From Ace To Legend
Hulk Hogan's history is mirrored in WrestleMania so much that it informed the artful, reflective build towards WrestleMania XIX - and, while a commercial misfire, his match with Mr. McMahon made for a splendid, only-in-WWE sort of attraction.
Hogan entered the 'Mania stage as the biggest star in the industry. He exploded what the industry itself meant at WrestleMania III, in his mythical tussle with André The Giant. He then put his working boots on in a pair of matches, against Randy Savage and the Ultimate Warrior, that ranged from traditional, emotional WWF classic to something genuinely revolutionary in both all-face dynamic and symmetrical, back-and-forth layout.
Hogan and the WWF's fortunes dwindled in parallel throughout the 1990s; the company leaned too heavily into the Hulkster's patriotism at a time at which the recession rendered the American dream more antiquated than aspirational. And then Hogan left, taking the 'Mania magic with him, rendering the WWF's flagship event a small-time, civic centre shadow of itself by 1995.
The WWF redefined WrestleMania in his absence. WrestleMania didn't need Hogan to flourish - but then, by 2002, we didn't know how much we needed him until he flexed those immortal, 24-inch pythons once again. It was a wonderful moment; a collision of two worlds, an explosion of electricity and nostalgia, a manifested visual of the show's incredible, all-encompassing cachet. Hogan left the 'Mania stage, at time of writing, as the doddering grandad of WWE, misremembering the name of the very building he was inside of.
It was a sweet moment, one that underlined the event's epic maturity.