40 Years Of Fascinating WWE WrestleMania Facts (Part 3)

9. WrestleMania 22 - The End Of An Era

Kurt Angle Shawn Michaels Bobby Heenan
WWE.com

In what is a strange historical irony in retrospect, WrestleMania 22 went "big" for its theme.

'Big Time' was the tagline of the show, and just in case you missed how Big it was, WWE selected Peter Gabriel's 1986 hit 'Big Time' just to drive the point home. That was an odd choice - welcome, but odd. WWE in the 2000s opted for butt rock and, later, a pop hit penned at the time to make its flagship show feel modern and fashionable.

(This odd quality extended to the poster, which for some bizarre reason featured a mundane action shot of John Cena hitting Booker T with a bulldog. This wasn't even a striking enough cover image for WWE Magazine, and Booker T ended up working a comedy match against the Boogeyman on the show itself.)

Despite the tagline, WrestleMania 22 was smaller than every single WrestleMania that followed: held at the Alllstate Arena in Chicago, it was the last 'Mania event to this day (WrestleMania 36 hardly counts) not to take place in a stadium. From 2007 onwards, a huge, cavernous stadium was the backdrop. You'd expect that record to persist for many years yet. WWE would have to botch things very badly to be forced back into a mere "arena" at this stage.

While WrestleMania XX was held in MSG mostly as a concession to reality - XIX was a dismal, shocking failure - WWE never entertained the idea of returning to its spiritual home for sentimental, decadal reasons for WrestleMania XXX.

The stadium era and the bidding rights that drive it is much too lucrative.

 
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Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!