40 Years Of Fascinating WWE WrestleMania Facts (Part 1)

The first decade of WrestleMania built the WWE empire that will simply never fall, although Vince McMahon really did seem to try doing that towards the end there.

Corny was in in the 1980s, and, in the most glorious of ways, the WWF was corny. Bathed under blinding lights and enveloped within a red, white and azure blue aesthetic, Hulk Hogan could simply shake his head from side to side and power up and make thousands upon thousands of people go wild with delight at the prospect of a vengeful hero delivering a reckoning. It was so easy and so simple and enchanting. A racist golden retriever hybrid awkwardly flinging his foot high into the air was once enough to make people think everything was going to be OK.

It was a time of enterprising thought and more than one shortcut. Vince happened upon the idea of having celebrities endorse this thing that you inbred yokels called wrestling, but he called sports entertainment.

The use of celebs launched WrestleMania, yes, but, in an echo of an eternal truth, a long-term, intricate story generated the most business. Vince tried everything to make WrestleMania feel like WrestleMania over the years. Celebs. Grand set designs. His large adult hyperhidrosis-afflicted son.

But a personal issue drew the most money...

It's difficult to get an interesting "Ooh, didn't know that!" fact out of WrestleMania I because more people are familiar with the trivia and lore behind the show than they are about the show itself.

If you were to read that Mikel Scicluna went over the Destroyer in seven minutes in the third match, which Dave Meltzer rated *1/2, you might say "I remember that, it was nothing special", even though it didn't happen. Many people have simply pretended to have watched the first show and wouldn't actually go back and watch it because it was a bit rubbish.

You know that Hulk Hogan accidentally choking out Richard Belzer drove interest on an "all publicity is good publicity" basis. You know that WrestleMania I needed to be a financial success, otherwise Vince would have to rely on third-party investment to finance the WWF.

You may also know the following fact, but it bears repeating: Vince McMahon wanted to call his mega event 'The Colossal Tussle' until Howard Finkel intervened and, drawing inspiration from the Beatles, pitched 'WrestleMania'. The decades-old reference suited Vince down to the ground.

Finkel was a wonderful, legendary ring announcer who created an enduring intonation borrowed by every last one of his predecessors, and was a lovely well-meaning bloke, but was bullied relentlessly by Vince McMahon and his toxic inner circle, and deserves to get put over wherever possible.