The WORST Moment From Every WWE WrestleMania

There's something about the name WrestleMania that just feels good. It's like a cosy pair of slippers or a hug in pro wrestling form. In WWE circles, you'll see workers stare off into the distance like they're about to go on a movie monologue as they talk about 'Mania being important to their formative years as a fan and the ultimate destination for anyone pulling on a pair of boots.

Binge-watching every show to date is an experience. You'll see some of the best matches in industry history, and there's a truckload of fabulous moments waiting for those who boot up the archives and get stuck in. Despite all of those greatest hits memories WrestleMania has thrown up, there's a flip side.

Welcome to that flip side.

To date, WWE has produced no less than 41 editions of its most famous event. The series began in 1985 with a make or break evening for the McMahon family, and it has blossomed into an international stadium show special that even draws lapsed fans back for another round annually.

All of that gooey positivity surrounding 'Mania? Leave it at the door, then come on in to experience the worst that Vince McMahon's vision (now guided by Triple H and those money-grabbing folks at TKO) has had to offer across 5 different decades.

We're running chronologically here, so things will kick off with the original WrestleMania at Madison Square Garden in the mid-1980s then finish with the latest supershow from April 2025.

Enjoy the ride!

The first WrestleMania is rough to revisit.

There, it's been said. Obviously, anyone interested in the history of WWE or pro wrestling as a whole should endeavour to sit down and give it a watch, but don't go in expecting much. Most of the matches will bore you senseless unless you're content to bask in the retro atmosphere or enjoy how crowds reacted differently in 1985 before they'd seen practically everything the medium has to offer.

Rewatch 'Mania I and you'll almost certainly wonder if Lord Alfred Hayes had been shoved in front of the camera to conduct promos at the eleventh hour. Pretty much all of Alfred's interviews were rushed, poorly-produced and oddly formatted, which is shocking to think about given how much was riding on this show for Vince McMahon.

Throughout the night, Hayes looked for all the world like he was fearing for his life whenever the cams were on him. Worse, he welcomed in one wrestler to scream about their opponent, then immediately brought in said foe to retort. What? So, they'd just been standing idly by watching a rival talk smack about them? Literally a few feet away?!

None of this gave a great first impression for what'd become WWE's calendar focal point. Granted, wrestling didn't quite know how to soup up the TV presentation in '85, but the whole affair was clunky and disjointed. Lord Alfred takes the cake for his frankly bizarre, detached and 'there's a gun to my head' skits too.

Surely there was somebody better for this role than him? A potted plant might've sufficed.