2. Tito Santana vs. The Executioner (WrestleMania I)
To date, there have been over 300 matches at WrestleMania, which is a truly astounding stat. Of all those matches, how many people do you reckon fondly remember the very first? Tito Santana may have been a popular star, one who would continue to work for Vince McMahon until 1993, again returning into 1997 to work as a Spanish colour commentator, but this wasn't his finest hour. Sure, Santana was well-liked, but when pitted up against The Executioner, which was actually Buddy Rose under a pretty generic-looking mask, he couldn't hope to be at his best. The first ever 'Mania bout lasted less than 5 minutes, and was won fairly easily by Tito via submission. It was an auspicious start, and looking at it through fresh perspective now, it was a pretty random choice to open things up at the first WrestleMania show. Following that up with a short squash between King Kong Bundy and SD Jones, then another short match between Ricky Steamboat and Matt Borne, shows that the first 'Mania wasn't exactly dripping with memorable matches.
Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.
