The Complete A-Z Of WrestleMania
14. M - Mike Tyson
If Lawrence Taylor gets credit for the greatest celebrity match, Mike Tyson may lay claim to the award of most important appearance.
Unable to engage too physically thanks to a ban following his infamous ear-biting during a 1997 fight with Evander Holyfield, Tyson was thought to be damaged goods, but Vince McMahon knew otherwise.
An all-or-nothing gamble not unlike the financial risk taken with staging WrestleMania 1, 'Iron Mike' didn't come cheap, but McMahon got an unprecedented return on his investment.
Though disgraced as a fighter for the actions against Holyfield, Tyson was white hot as a personality, and his chequered past and recent transgressions were a remarkably good fit for a wild west WWE product hurtling towards the excesses of the 'Attitude Era'.
As an outside enforcer for the main event pitching D-Generation-X renegade Shawn Michaels and a Steve Austin character embarking on Hulk Hogan levels of popularity, Tyson got to be the man in the middle for all the event's press and publicity, drawing the eyes of the world in ways not experienced for WWE since the late 1980s.
His involvement was a roaring success, with WrestleMania 14 still considered the pivotal event in WWE's eventual rise to dominance over WCW after years of decay.