WWE: 18 Most Important Decisions In History Of WrestleMania

17. The Inclusion Of Celebrities - WrestleMania 1

McMahon knew WrestleMania had to be something more than just a wrestling show, he had to take it further than the usual if he was to make extraordinary success. His innovation was to mix his world of wrestling with the world of entertainment, what became termed 'rock and wrestling'. He achieved huge exposure for WrestleMania by cross promoting his WWF machine with another 1980's pop culture phenomenon, MTV. The WWF had two specials on MTV before the first Mania, grabbing into popular consciousness and using the colourful Hulk Hogan to sell the WWF brand. Vince knew that he couldn't make traditional pro-wrestling popular, but human super heroes like Hogan and top profile celebrities would certainly sell his tickets. The result was WrestleMania 1 was booked as a celebrity heavy show. Muhammad Ali, Cyndi Lauper, Liberace and of course Mr T appeared at the event. The main event was utilising Mr T as a key aspect of the show, Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer recently referenced this as one of the key reasons WrestleMania succeeded. Celebrity usage was one of the best WWE decisions ever, even in the modern day we have seen Donald Trump and Floyd Mayweather adding significantly bigger buy-rates from their name being attached to WrestleMania.