10 Outrageous WrestleMania Moments That Made Mainstream News

Putting mainstream eyes on the Showcase of the Immortals!

by Andrew Pollard
Wrestlemania is the biggest moment in the wrestling calendar. As such, there are many €˜Mania moments that transcend the professional wrestling industry and reach out to a much wider audience. It€™s rare that the weekly events that happen within this so-called €˜make believe€™ business make a mark in the national and international media, but certain happenings are so monumental that they become mainstream news. The very inception of Wrestlemania itself garnered huge publicity when it debuted back in 1985, with the celebratory input and the €˜Rock €˜n€™ Wrestling Connection€™ angle giving a huge crossover appeal, and some of the following events have had ramifications that reached far further than the wrestling industry. Sometimes it's actual in-ring moments that make mainstream headlines, other times it's the involvement of a well-known celebratory that gives the PPV a huge shot in the arm in terms of relevance and in terms of making it 'must-see'. There are certain Wrestlemania moments that will go down not only as pivotal moments in the wrestling business but as huge happenings that were so outrageous and eye-grabbing that their influence was felt in far more than just wrestling circles. So let's take a look at 10 of the moments that were so influential, shocking, impactful and entertaining that their reach was felt in mainstream media.
Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.