8 Best WWE WrestleMania Title Celebrations
Big Daddy Cool and the Gang.
Celebrations just aren't what they used to be.
For starters, they took the Galaxy Truffle out of there for reasons that can only be attributed to wannabe membership to the League of Evil, and there's no way the Malteaser ratio is anything like in the good ol' days (you know, non-specifically 10 years prior to the current moment, when everything was better).
It's the same story in football. Sheepishly running off with one arm raised, spontaneously disrobing, or screaming maniacally as though in some drug-fuelled trance have all given way to carefully choreographed routines cynically devised with the aim of going viral to 'sell the brand'. Take your daft little heart and shove it up your bum, Gareth (medically unsound as that is).
None of this applies to wrestling, though. The whole industry is predicated on pre-rehearsed drama; ersatz emotion is par for the course. When genuine feeling does manage to slip through the cracks of artifice, it's immediately evident - and immeasurably memorable.
WrestleMania, beyond mere marketing bluster, truly is the place where dreams come true for many a wrestling superstar. As such, it has boasted some of the most heartfelt celebrations in the history of the business - with nary a sponsor's logo in sight.
8. Steve Austin (WrestleMania XIV)
Jim Ross sounded like a malfunctioning meteorologist as he bellowed "Stone Cold!" on repeat, heralding the start of the Austin era. And what better way for wrestling's newest head of state to make a statement than by having his hand raised by the Baddest Man on the Planet?
Mike Tyson had just broke Shawn Michael's heart with a fast count to end his supposed pal's reign. His post-match endorsement of 'Cold Stone' shifted the spotlight; the boxer was the superstar attraction heading into the show, but there was only one man people cared about coming out of it.