40 Years Of Fascinating WWE WrestleMania Facts (Part 1)
6. 'Mania V - A Smash Hit
The actual payoff to the Mega Powers Explode match was something of a disappointment artistically; remarkably, the former friends each worked considerably better 'Mania matches against, of all wrestlers, the Ultimate Warrior over the following two years.
Basic in structure, it also played out in front of a casual audience who weren't necessarily in town for the express purpose of watching wrestling. In an incidental trivia note, in the first decade of WrestleMania's existence, no less than three shows were held in front of people who were more interested in gambling than sports entertainment. The match was lacking in the molten atmosphere one would expect, given the smash success of what probably remains Vince McMahon's greatest-ever beginning-to-end story.
In stark contrast, the paying public were interested to a staggering, unprecedented extent.
WrestleMania V drew an absolutely ridiculous 767,000 buys on pay-per-view. This was not surpassed until 1999; the '89 event even out-drew the 1998 coronation of Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania XIV (730,000).
WrestleMania V was held when the wider industry was in much better health than in 2003, and it embarrassed the number generated by the monopoly era WWE's WrestleMania XIX (a paltry 560,000).