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Check Out Wrestling Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with LordsofPain on BlogTalkRadio The Doc and Xanman's WrestleMania Recall Follow @TheDocLOP Welcome back to the Road to WrestleMania 31. Hundreds of men and women have performed on the grandest stage over the course of its rich history. For the next few months, we will celebrate them all…from worst to best. Anyone who has ever had the honor of competing on a Mania card has joined an elite group of pro wrestlers. I salute them all. As we get closer to the Top 100, the criteria has shifted to favor more appearances and something that stood out amongst those appearances, be it involvement in a celebrity angle, a tremendous match, a historically important accolade, and the like. Enjoy the Countdown!  Snowman is a genius QUESTION OF THE DAY (18): What do you feel is the most underrated WrestleMania event of all-time? 119. Ken Shamrock 118. (Tie) Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik 116. The Fabulous Moolah 115. John Morrison 114. Cody Rhodes 113. Jeff Jarrett 112. The Honky Tonk Man 111. Sable 110. Albert/A-Train 109. (Tie) Snookie and Maria Menounos 107. Savio Vega 106. Jim Cornette 105. Giant Gonzalez 104. Michael Cole 103. Finlay 102. Wendi Richter 101. Terry Funk 110. Albert / A-Train Best known to modern fans as Lord Tensai, the dominant pseudo-Japanese big man turned dancing fool turned occasional WWE panelist, Matt Bloom had his biggest run of pro wrestling success in Japan. He starred there as Giant Bernard, but initially made his name in the business as an intriguing, hairy prospect managed by Trish Stratus as one half of T&A (Test and Albert). I say “intriguing” because he seemed to possess a lot of the physical tools necessary to become an old school hoss with new school talent. His Mania debut at 2000 in a tag team victory over Head Cheese was nothing to write home about, but his only other appearance on the grand stage was as one of the 21 in the Undertaker’s all-time level impressive 21-1 record. It was in 2003 that A-Train, as he was known by then, started to put it together in the ring. As a result, he landed himself a match with Taker in a handicap effort also involving Big Show. The University of Pittsburgh graduate briefly played in the NFL, so he was a lot more like Vader as an athlete than, say, Earthquake. The things that he could do – the bicycle kick that Sheamus now uses as a finisher, for instance – were something to marvel at back then. The success never really translated in America like it ultimately did in Japan, but the man most famous for being jeered with “Shave Your Back” chants did wrestle Taker at WrestleMania. 109. (Tie) Snooki and Maria Menounos I can imagine the steam blowing out of some of your ears! Look, celebrities at WrestleMania matter. They were the foundation upon which the Mania formula was built. Mania was not intended to be just the Super Bowl of professional wrestling, but a pop culture phenomenon that bridged the gap between the wrestling world and the entertainment world. It was celebrity-involvement that made WWE “sports entertainment.” Snooki and Menounos were the next in a long line of celebs to join the Mania fray and, to their credit, both did well in their limited roles. People like them will always deserve a higher place in the pecking order on lists like mine because their few minutes of air-time were a far more significant contribution to the bottom line than someone like, say, Boogeyman’s. Jersey Shore was a hot topic in 2011. WWE were smart to capitalize on it in any way that they could. I thought that they could’ve done more, there. Mike “The Situation” was the topic of a column that I wrote in 2010, suggesting that he be signed by WWE. Maria outperformed Snooki, despite not being as big of a star in 2012 as Snooki was in 2011. Hell, they both actually participated in a match! Move over Vanna White… 107. Savio Vega We moved around a lot when I was a kid. My folks had about a three year pattern of changing locations on me, leaving me bouncing to various schools and making a lot of new friends seemingly all the time. In one school system, we took French as our second language requirement. Then, we moved to a district where Spanish, far more logically, was the foreign language taken. To be honest, Savio Vega was my introduction to Spanish. I had absolutely no idea what he was saying in his promos. I remember me and a friend of mine, who also enjoyed wrestling, sitting around one day watching Raw during the “Gang Wars” period in WWE history. He and I would recite back and forth to each other how we interpreted Vega’s interviews toward his biker-attired rival, Crush. It went a little something like this: “Avu deva lita abida, Savio Vega! Avu deva lita abida, Crush!” The memories. Any of my Spanish speaking readers remember what he was saying in those promos? It would answer one of my life’s forgotten questions. Vega had a decent run at Mania, becoming the first opponent for Steve Austin on the grand stage, headlining Mania 13 with the rest of the Nation of Domination (before they split into three different factions), and taking part in the mess of a battle royal in Boston. 106. Jim Cornette Made eligible by his appearance in the WrestleMania X-Seven Gimmick Battle Royal, James E was best known for his managerial role in the 1990s. The Southern-drawled, tennis racket-wielding annoyance was very good at his job. He helped Yokozuna continue a dominant run as World Champion through to WrestleMania X. His management of Yoko eventually led to a Tag Team title run for the former WWE Champ and Owen Hart, which spiraled into what became known as “Camp Cornette” – a stable that included Owen, British Bulldog, and Vader. Manias 10-12 featured Cornette in prominent roles as a manager. He also brought back a new version of the team that had made him famous in the 1980s, the Midnight Express, for a Mania XIV role in the 1998 Boston Battle Royal. Basically, Cornette picked up where Bobby Heenan had left off when “The Brain” moved to WCW. He did a lot for WWE for a long-time, but as a TV character peaked with a memorable run from 1994-1998. 105. Giant Gonzalez Alright, we’re going to get this out of the way. I very much appreciate the fact that Gonzalez headlined in his only Mania appearance. His match with Taker was hyped as one of the top three matches on the card, with a storyline starting at Royal Rumble and advancing from there. It was pretty terrible all the way around, as you may recall. The match is considered to be one of the worst matches of all-time by many. Looking back, the whole presentation of the character was hilarious. He was so skinny that they had to put a ridiculous body suit on him that had airbrushed muscles all over it and, probably the best part, little pockets of hair. Just look at this…  (credit onlineworldofwrestling.com) We’ll end it there. 104. Michael Cole Speaking of horrible matches… I give a lot of credit to headlining matches at Mania. I also pay a lot of negative attention to lousy matches. Michael Cole – lead announcer for the recent past and foreseeable future – did, indeed, headline a WrestleMania somehow, but he wrestled Jerry Lawler to a total dud of a match that drags down the overall perception of an otherwise good show that I had the privilege of seeing live in Atlanta. I guess I should give credit where it is due: Cole bided his time, worked hard, paid his dues, and earned the spot he now occupies. When he’s on his game, he’s actually quite a good announcer. I thought his partnerships as the lead guy on Smackdown were better than the Raw counterparts for most of the Brand Extension Era. However, there was no excuse for his match with Lawler being booked so poorly and at such a God-awful length. I don’t hate many things in this life, but I hate that match. 103. Finlay He loved to fight, but was primarily the “glue guy” in half of the Money in the Bank Ladder matches in WrestleMania’s history. Every Ladder match with more than a few participants has one – a stabilizing presence who is smart enough to get everyone organized and keep the spots flowing. Finlay was great in that role, but it left him as a background presence in three out of the four Manias that he wrestled on from 2006-2009. I cannot readily recall much of what he did during those bouts. I simply recall him holding ladders and taking bumps. His little buddy, Hornswoggle, even stole some of his thunder. This is our chance to celebrate Fit for doing his job so well. I view him on a similar level as William Regal. He had a unique brawling and grappling style in his own right, which is what made his Hardcore-esque match with JBL in 2008 so entertaining to me. They did well to take that crap angle involving Horny as Vince’s illegitimate child and make something of it. Finlay did a lot of really good work during his tenure as a WWE performer, but little of it took place at Mania. He was, however, largely responsible for the Trish and Lita-led era of the women’s division (as their trainer). 102. Wendi Richter You can forgive the average fan for looking at the current state of women’s wrestling in WWE and not fully comprehending the importance of women’s wrestling on the WWE as we know it. Rewind the clock three decades and women’s wrestling was at the forefront of the surging popularity of the World Wrestling Federation. Wendi Richter was the lead protagonist of the movement, providing a physical manifestation of Cyndi’s Lauper’s celebrity. Since Lauper was the bridge that connected the wrestling to the rock to create the “Rock ‘n Wrestling Connection,” someone needed to do some wrestling on her behalf. Richter filled that role as well as could have been expected. Both of them benefitted, but WWE was the biggest beneficiary. Google “The Brawl to End it All,” one of the two MTV precursors to the original WrestleMania. The success of that show, main-evented by Richter defeating Fabulous Moolah to win the Women’s Championship, was the launching pad for the box office appeal of WrestleMania several months later. Think of Richter as the third or fourth best swimmer on a gold medal-winning relay team. It really doesn’t matter that she had two or three better peers; she was still a part of something extremely significant. 101. Terry Funk More an NWA legend, Terry Funk had two matches at WrestleMania separated by twelve years, each leaving an indelible mark in history. At Mania 2, Funk teamed with his brother to combat Tito Santana and Junkyard Dog in a match that was far, far ahead of its time. The Funks combined to use one of their opponents to break a ringside table in a stunt that would not be used on a mainstream WWE show for another decade. It proved too far ahead of its time to leave a lasting impression on the in-ring style that would eventually become so popular – and that Funk helped popularize. The wrestling world was better prepared for Funk’s match at Mania XIV – a Dumpster match wrestled alongside Mick Foley as Cactus Jack in a successful attempt at winning the Tag Team Championships. The Dumpster match was an era-specific concept that, in the right context, has a glorious appeal when watched today. It was so unique, but it was also very well executed to the point that I’m sort of surprised that we never saw that gimmick take off. Funk did more in his two matches at Mania than many have done in double or triple. 119. Ken Shamrock We begin today as we ended yesterday - with a discussion of a star that greatly benefitted from the era in which he most prominently competed. Ken Shamrock was an interesting story. He needed pro wrestling, despite being a renowned MMA fighter. Nowadays, the roles have reversed for pro wrestling and MMA, but back in 1997, MMA was nearly put to pasture by government officials that felt it was too violent. Shamrock made a successful transition to wrestling at the right time. He was a quick learner. I found him to be an outstanding addition to the roster. He made his debut at Mania 13, refereeing the classic Hart-Austin match. Shortly after, he began his wrestling career and, by 1997’s end, was a Heavyweight title contender. Attitude really had it all, didn’t it? Even an MMA fighter that could legitimately kick someone’s ass. He kicked The Rock’s candy ass at Mania XIV in a relatively major match for the IC title, losing via DQ after initially submitting him but refusing to break the ankle lock. That was a good feud. A year later, he tried to win the title as a member of the Corporation, but was unsuccessful again. I’d be curious to know how you view Shamrock, historically. 118. (Tie) Nikolai Volkoff and Iron Sheik The WWE Tag Team Championship match at the original WrestleMania was one of the top secondary selling points of the show, as it featured past WWE Champion, Iron Sheik, who formed a hated duo with Volkoff. Nikolai would sing the Soviet anthem before each match during a period in American history in which the country was as patriotic as many of us have seen in our lifetimes. Their defeat of the US Express put them at the forefront of early Mania Era antagonists. Volkoff would parlay their success into a Flag match at Mania 2 before rejoining Sheik for a match at Mania III. Their respective runs in WWE essentially ended at that point. Sheik came back for Mania 13 to accompany Rikishi’s Sultan character and then they both returned in 2001 for the Gimmick Battle Royal and in 2005 for their respective inductions into the WWE Hall of Fame. 116. The Fabulous Moolah Arguably the greatest Women’s Champion of all-time, Moolah made her presence felt early and often during the WrestleMania Era. She was in Leilani Kai’s corner at WrestleMania for the Women’s title match that headlined with Cyndi Lauper’s involvement. She actually defended the title a year later at Mania 2. More than anything, she was one of the rare women to be treated as a significant attraction in the modern era. Whenever she showed up – and she did so sporadically until her death in 2007 – WWE made a big deal of it. That speaks volumes… 115. John Morrison Reflecting back, I thought that Morrison had a chance to become his generation’s version of RVD. Only a few of his offensive maneuvers looked as though they could inflict legitimate damage, but boy did he ever embody the athleticism and excitement expected from a modern WWE Superstar. He stood out amongst his peers with a parkour-inspired repertoire that dazzled fans that appreciate aesthetically pleasing tactics. Reads a lot like RVD doesn’t it? Alas, he never really amounted to much past a perennial mid-carder in a time when it wasn’t that great to be a mid-carder. His claims to fame at Mania should have included a very enjoyable Tag Team Championship Unification match at Mania 25, but it got cut at the last minute for a lousy, time-consuming Kid Rock concert. He did offer one incredible Mania moment, though. And isn’t that what Mania is all about these days? The moments… At Mania 24 – one of just 3 Manias for him along with a 3-minute match to open Mania XXVI and a spot in the Snooki match at Mania XXVII – he took a ladder with him to the top rope during the Money in the Bank match. He proceeded to back flip with the ladder in hand onto a group of awaiting opponents on the floor. That spot is one of the reasons why I feel that the 4th MITB match is the finest of the entire lot (at Mania, at least). 114. Cody Rhodes In some ways, I feel as though the youngest of the Rhodes’ legacy has done quite a lot at Mania. For a three year stretch, he managed to do something very rare in the modern era: stake his claim as a consistent exemplary mid-card wrestler. He wrestled Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, and Big Show (one third of the top 30 performers of The WrestleMania Era) at consecutive Manias. Two of the three matches had well executed back stories and were quite good and given the time to stand out. He built a solid foundation for himself. Unfortunately, he hasn’t really done much at Mania since 2012. Two Manias have passed and Cody has been virtually irrelevant, making his three year stretch look like a distant memory. So, which wins out in ranking him? The three year stretch or the recent run of irrelevance? As the ranking suggests, I decided to go with cautious optimism and give him (and WWE) the benefit of the doubt. This will look much better if he ends up doing something reasonably important in San Francisco. I foresee Rhodes being a well-remembered mid-carder for this era. 113. Jeff Jarrett In Jeff Jarrett’s two WrestleMania matches – at WrestleMania XI and WrestleMania XV – he retained the Intercontinental Championship and Tag Team Championships. That’s not bad for a guy that doesn’t exactly evoke the fondest of memories for WWE officials. He has become somewhat notorious in his later years, but I commend him for what he did in the Monday Night Wars, leveraging his way to the company that he best felt would utilize his considerable skill set. In WWE, Jarrett was an on-again, off-again star that underachieved in many ways. Yet, in limited Mania appearances, he did what he came to do. He makes it this high up the list because of Mania XI. Razor Ramon was one of the company’s biggest stars in 1995. The distribution of talent across that Mania card was historically underrated in its utilization. WWE found a suitable dance partner for Razor in Jarrett. The duo had several very good matches for the IC title, with their Mania XI scrap being the highest in profile as the fourth biggest match on the card. 112. The Honky Tonk Man Wayne Ferris accomplished quite a bit as the evil Elvis impersonator in the Hulkamania Era, earning a spot in my book as one of the most accomplished 90 grapplers of the entire WrestleMania Era. His WrestleMania accolades fell in a category in which he could have been pushed up a little higher or easily have fallen down a little lower than his eventual placement. He started off quite well, facing Jake Roberts at Mania III in a celebrity-enhanced angle and defending the Intercontinental Championship at Mania IV in the midst of his still record run with the strap. Rhythm and Blues, the follow-up to the series of feuds over the IC title that made him famous, was not as big of a hit. His tandem with Greg Valentine was more comedic than serious, though it did earn him two more Mania appearances to bring his final tally to four. 111. Sable This is for all the women who wanted to be her and all the men that came to see her… Sable was not the woman who pioneered the “Diva” in WWE as we know it today (that would be Sunny), but she was the woman who took it to the highest level that it could in the Attitude Era. With her Playboy spread, she added another dimension to the role of the female in wrestling’s most glorified period. She debuted at WrestleMania XII with a young HHH, but her role quickly expanded beyond just that of a valet. Funny…you could easily see her becoming the next Miss Elizabeth if it had been on the cusp of an era besides Attitude. She wound up lighting the wrestling world on fire with her scantily-clad antics in 1998, which was the year that she earned her first of three Mania matches. She was a fairly solid performer. Her mixed tag match in Boston with Marc Mero against Goldust and Luna Vachon was highly entertaining. Tori, Stacy, and Jackie did not give her suitable dance partners with whom to recreate that magic in Philly or New York, but history will remember Sable for what she looked like all dolled up and without clothing more than it will her in-ring exploits.
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