WWE: 29 Iconic WrestleMania Moments

WrestleMania XIV - Mike Tyson At WrestleMania!

For my first official wrestling column one year ago this week (on another site), I chose to write about every musical guest performance at Mania. I remember being torn over whether to count "The DX Band" as special guests. After reviewing the match, I felt they deserved a spot on the list. They made Degeneration X seem like an even bigger deal than they were, and the addition of Iron Mike Tyson upped the ante €“ quite literally. It was public knowledge that Vince had paid Tyson an enormous sum to participate in the event, with Vince crowing proudly that the gamble would pay off in mainstream publicity.

Back in that column about the musical performances, I referred to Iron Mike as "an enthusiastic crotch chopper", as he seemed to relish his role as the newly-heralded member of DX. Tyson wasn't half-assing it for a payday. He looked genuinely pleased to take part in WrestleMania, and I can tell you as a skeptic at that time that he went a long way to elevating the situation. No one will ever know -or be able to quantify - if the money paid for Mike Tyson "paid off". But he did attract a lot of attention to WWE, and he stood as an indicator of the Attitude Era to come. It's interesting, and disturbing, to realize that the Mike Tyson of that time was in a far more stable state than the champion, Shawn Michaels. This grand spectacle served to distract from the issues going on in Shawn's life, as he passed the torch to Steve Austin.