2. WrestleMania
The name WrestleMania stands by itself as the true main event of World Wrestling Entertainment. Next year's event in New Orleans is the 30th WrestleMania. The event is the biggest in the wrestling industry and it's not even close. It makes money for WWE, it makes money for the city that hosts it and it is an event that fans flock to from all over the world. The first WrestleMania I went to was the 27th edition in Atlanta. It took 12 hours to drive there. The show wasn't that great (a truly forgettable main event, plus Snooki & Cole in action), but the experience was something I'll never forget. If you've experienced it then you know how special it is. If you haven't been there it's hard to put it into words except that it's everything that those of us that are diehard wrestling fans hope it would be. The set is amazing. The sound of the pyro will give you that jolt of energy you need to sit there in a stadium for four hours. Are the prices high? Damn right. But WWE knows they can sell tickets at that price, so more power to them. When wrestling fans talk about WrestleMania they speak about those moments that stay with us forever: Hogan and Mr. T at WrestleMania 1. The Steamboat/Savage classic at WrestleMania 3 that was followed up by Hogan's massive slam of Andre the Giant in the main event. That Savage/Warrior story at WrestleMania 7 was an emotional rollercoaster as Savage retired (albeit briefly) and then reunited with Elizabeth in a moment that put fans to tears. WrestleMania 10 had Owen vs. Bret in a technical classic between brothers and then the revolutionary Michaels/Ramon ladder match. Then there were moments like the Ironman, Austin passing out in a pool of blood, the greatness of WM17 in Houston, Hogan's return against Rock at WM18, the Angle/Michaels classic at WM21, McMahon getting his head shaved at WM23 and in my opinion the best WWE match ever, Michaels vs. Undertaker at WM25. There are so many moments that I can remember off the top of my head. I'm sure you can too. It's because WrestleMania stands alone as the most important event in wrestling. The incredible thing is it shows no signs of slowing down. It doesn't matter if the product is down or the matches aren't intriguing. Fans will watch it in person or on television. It's likely going to be a bigger deal in 10 years and even bigger in 20 years. The problem with some WrestleManias in the past few years is that they were not great shows. I didn't like WrestleMania 27 and 29 that much while 28 was pretty good. I feel like sometimes WWE doesn't feel the need to put on a great show because they know they're always going to have 65,000+ people in the building and over 1 million buys on PPV so they don't focus on special matches as much as they should. If you look at every WrestleMania from about 17 (2001) to 25 (2009) they were great shows that were often times the best PPV of the year. WWE needs to get back to making WrestleMania a special show from hour one to hour four rather than an event where there are only one or two memorable matches. It's not wrong for us to expect more out of WrestleMania. That's what WWE should give us. I hope that WrestleMania 30 is an excellent show especially because I plan on being there. I was actually going to list Undertaker's undefeated WrestleMania streak, which now stands at 21-0, as its own thing. However, I feel like it belongs here. You can make a case that The Streak is more over and more renowned than any championship in WWE. I had to capitalize "The Streak" because it's so important! If somebody ended The Streak it would make their career. I don't think it's ever going to happen, but it would be huge. In the near future I'll write a piece for WhatCulture listing every WrestleMania from worst to best. Look for that in early 2014.