50 Must-See WrestleMania Matches

6. Hulk Hogan & Mr. T. Vs. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorff – WrestleMania 1

CM Punk The Undertaker
WWE.com

The main event for the first WrestleMania has to make an appearance inside the top 10.

Quite simply, this was the match on which the entire foundation of WrestleMania was built. The event was sold on the feud between the four, with Mr. T. providing the star power and mainstream credibility. This was the match that helped bring professional wrestling out of the dark gymnasiums and bingo halls and into the limelight.

The match itself was on par with other celebrity matches and the wrestling at the time, but let’s face it, this wasn’t about putting out a technical classic. This was about promoting a match that would make this Vince McMahon experiment work, and it worked so well that it’s still going on 32 years later. For that, you have to tip your cap to this match.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.