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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. Now that we're into the Top 100, the criteria becomes more specific. Great performances, headlining positions, the fondness with which a wrestler is held in the memories of fans across the world, victories in major bouts with high stakes, and the like jump to the top of the ranking hierarchy. Number of appearances takes a backseat to quality of appearances in a more pronounced manner. And it's not just about matches; it's about the prominence of role. Enjoy the Countdown!  Snowman is a genius QUESTION OF THE DAY (25): Of everyone on the current NXT roster, who could you most confidently state will be in a WrestleMania headlining match someday? 70. Greg “The Hammer” Valentine 69. Mike “I.R.S.” Rotunda 68. Mr. Fuji 67. The Big Bossman 66. “Ravishing” Rick Rude 65. Jack Swagger 64. X-Pac 63. Alberto Del Rio 62. Mr. Perfect 61. The Legion of Doom 60. “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff 59. Lex Luger 58. Sheamus 57. Goldust 56. Bray Wyatt 60. “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndoff It has proven difficult over the years to fully gauge the impact that Paul Orndorff had on the original WrestleMania main-event. He was definitely a key figure and helped carry a highly entertaining match that featured one non-wrestler. However, it would be fair to state that he was the fourth most important person involved. Hulk Hogan, Mr. T, and Roddy Piper usurped Mr. Wonderful in the pecking order for various reasons, leaving Orndorff the fifth wheel. There’s bitterness in his voice when he describes the whole situation, but that could be because, in hindsight, his career did not quite go as it could have. Orndorff used the credibility gained from being in the main-event at Mania 1 to eventually engage Hogan in a series of title matches in late 1986 and early 1987 that could best be described as, “Huge.” They do not get as much historical shine as they deserve because PPV/special events that generally house major matches today were few and far between back then. Orndorff vs. Hogan could have easily main-evented a WrestleMania (or hypothetical Summerslam or Royal Rumble had they existed during their feud). I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge what he did accomplish, no matter the hierarchy that may clutter his place in Mania 1 history. 59. Lex Luger Compared to what he had been in the NWA/WCW – no less than one of the top 2-3 stars on their roster from the moment he arrived on the scene in 1987 – Lex Luger’s WWE career was a disappointment. Yet, he did make a considerable contribution. It was an eye-opener when he appeared for a segment at Mania VIII. WWE had already acquired Ric Flair. Getting Luger seemed to seal the fate of WCW. His in-ring debut at Mania IX was less than spectacular, which was a shame given that he and Mr. Perfect seemed like ideal opponents. Mania X was sort of a mixed bag for him, too. On the one hand, he did headline the show as co-winner of the Royal Rumble match in 1994 with Bret Hart, giving him a shot at the title in the middle of the MSG-hosted show. Unfortunately, the match with Yokozuna – curiously aided by Mr. Perfect again – was nowhere near the quality of their often unfairly maligned Summerslam ’93 match. Perhaps Luger allowed the reality to sink in that he was not going to be able to achieve in WWE all that he had hoped to achieve; or maybe it was just that Yokozuna was too damn big to work with 8 months after their initial encounter. No matter what, only a handful of wrestlers have competed for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania and Luger is one of them. 58. Sheamus Not many wrestlers in WWE history can say that they have defeated the World Champion in 18 seconds at the most watched WrestleMania of all-time and headlined another WrestleMania with a wrestler the caliber of Triple H. Sheamus has rather quietly put together a very good resume in his short career. His debut at Mania was against The Game and he quickly made it known that he does not have stage fright. In fact, the Celtic Warrior has made a habit out of stepping up when the spotlight gets brighter. Unfortunately, he has had just that one chance to exemplify that statement. His defeat of Daniel Bryan was in 18-seconds, after all – both a blessing and a curse. A month later, they had a match destined to be a forgotten gem at Extreme Rules. Sheamus has also been left off of the Mania card when he was fully healthy and previously booked to appear, which does not speak well of his overall stature, but in the context of his entire career, it would seem that Mania 27’s scratched Sheamus-Bryan match was merely a minor hiccup. At Mania 29, he fought hard and well against The Shield and was one of the final three competitors in the first Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, helping the, perhaps annual, tradition to get off the ground. 57. Goldust In hindsight, I’m not sure if Goldust wasn’t supposed to be a short-term, shock-value-laced superstar to gain WWE some mainstream exposure by any means necessary. Looking back, it just doesn’t seem like the type of character that should have had any sort of shelf life in pro wrestling. As controversial as it was, Goldust seemed well-suited to explode onto the scene, open eyes, and then fade into the background – one of Vince McMahon’s classic side projects that he obsesses over for a while until it reaches its WrestleMania peak (think Fandango in the modern era). Something strange happened after Goldust wrestled Roddy Piper in one of the featured attraction matches at WrestleMania XII – the character endured. Here we are almost twenty years later and it continues to endure. Dustin Rhodes deserves all the credit in the world. He’s an interesting guy and, during an era in which interesting back stories of complex characters were dissected on live TV, he became more than a one-hit wonder. He was featured at Manias 13-15. He later came back to mentor young talent and compete at last year’s Mania XXX Andre the Giant Battle Royal. Cheers to him… 56. Bray Wyatt Bray Wyatt may have only competed at one WrestleMania to date, but he made an impact in New Orleans last year that left a considerable impression. If his career ended tomorrow, he would always be in the discussion as one the top 100 Mania performers just because he took the face of a generation to the limits and stole his thunder. I know that I will remember Cena vs. Wyatt not for the fact that “The Golden Boy” won, but for Bray’s presentation and the crowd response that he was able to evoke. “He’s got the whole world in his hands” was an appropriate song to have been sung by Mania XXX’s excitable audience, as it seemed that Wyatt had captured the imaginations of the WWE fanbase coming out of “The Show of Shows.” Time will tell what becomes of Wyatt in the years to come, but it’s rare that a talent can lose and still appear to have won. I championed Bray’s cause to emerge victorious that night, feeling that a defeat of Cena would set Wyatt up for life. As it would turn out, he might end up set for life, anyway. Performances like his and the emotions he stirred aren’t soon forgotten. 65. Jack Swagger I think I might be the biggest Jack Swagger mark on LOP. I championed him becoming a major player from the first time that I saw him on ECW in 2008. I saw the pedigree and the skills and thought he could replace Kurt Angle. The Olympic Hero he never turned out to be, but he did turn out to be a very good performer who had an underrated run in the early part of this decade. In his first Mania match, he won the Money in the Bank contract leading to his only World title victory. I was thrilled. My wife liked him, too. She still asks about the Jack Swagger Screaming Eagle – the Sweagle, as she calls it. I loved his title reign. Well, Jack, at least one person did. I was quite pleasantly surprised to see WWE treat him decently by making him Michael Cole’s trainer in a prominent match for Mania 27 and was even more pleasantly surprised when they had him wrestle for the World Championship at a Mania that I attended in 2013. That’s a pretty solid couple of resume builders – the Money in the Bank Ladder match victory and a World Heavyweight Championship match. He also wrestled on the winning team to give Johnny Ace control of both Raw and Smackdown GM jobs in 2012. 64. X-Pac In my book, I made a strong reference to X-Pac’s success and the friends that he made during his early years in WWE. I think that’s fair. The old saying goes that, “You can get into this business to make friends or to make money.” Thanks to making good friends with the right people, Pac made a lot of money. I mean that not as a derogatory statement, by the way. Rather, I believe it accurately sets the stage for this next statement: X-Pac was such a good performer that he was able to make the most of the opportunities afforded to him by his associations. Let’s face it; he was a tiny little guy. He is one of the least imposing figures in the history of pro wrestling, but he could flat out get the job done in between the ropes, as evidenced best, in my opinion, by his borderline classic match with Shane McMahon at WrestleMania XV. It was that match that got him a spot in the top 20% of all Mania performers in history. That was my favorite match on that card, by the way, eclipsing even Rock vs. Austin. I’m such a fanboy for that match. The only other things that X-Pac did at Mania were accompany Razor Ramon to the ring at Mania XI and tag with Road Dogg to face Kane and Rikishi in 2000. 63. Alberto Del Rio If I have anything to say about it, then Alberto Del Rio is going to be remembered far more what he was than what he wasn’t. The LOP community seemed to latch onto Al Laiman’s statements about Del Rio being the black hole of charisma, helping to popularize a stigma about him that he was less deserving of being in the spot that he occupied for the bulk of his WWE tenure. All due respect to Al, but I never much cared that Del Rio was not overly entertaining on a microphone because of how easily he could perform memorable matches. He did his storytelling in the ring and didn’t need to talk. The Right Side of the Pond’s ‘Plan might agree that he was kind of a poor man’s Bret Hart. So, let us praise Del Rio, who contributed quite a bit to the three WrestleManias at which he performed. I feel privileged to have seen his match with Edge in Atlanta, which has aged well and taken on the historical significance of being Edge’s last match. I was also there for his outing against Jack Swagger in New York – another mid-card gem destined to boost a Mania’s profile. Much like Sheamus and Kofi Kingston, he also was vital to the success of the first Andre Battle Royal at Mania XXX. Del Rio was the king of the 3-to-3.5 star match and I’ll fondly remember him for it. 62. Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig was an interesting case in Mania history. He never actually headlined the event, despite being one of the top wrestlers in the company for several years. Yet, he was always doing something important at Mania, too. It represents one of the most difficult cases in this entire ranking process. What he did accomplish was providing very good mid-card matches against the likes of Owen Hart (under the Blue Blazer gimmick) at Mania V, Brutus Beefcake (who shockingly ended his undefeated record), Big Bossman, and Lex Luger. If he had added nothing else to his resume, then he probably would have ended up a little further back. As it was, he was a major factor in the Ric Flair storyline with Macho Man that gave us the WWE Championship match for WrestleMania VIII. Perfect and Flair, along with Bobby Heenan, had an amazing dynamic between them well showcased in Indianapolis. He was also a special guest referee at WrestleMania X. WWE regularly made it clear in the early 1990s that Mr. Perfect was a big deal, be it as a wrestler, a manager/confidant, or a commentator. That was what made the ultimate difference in comparing him with the last two guys on the list who did headline Mania. 61. The Legion of Doom Road Warriors Hawk and Animal were a major force in professional wrestling in the 1980s. They made their name in the National Wrestling Alliance, headlining several Starrcades and influencing the ability of the NWA to compete with WWE. Yet, when the money became so much better in WWE, it was only a matter of time before they migrated to greener pastures. Once in WWE, they were marketed properly and quickly rose to the top of the food chain. All the while, it took them several years to really make an impact at WrestleMania. They squashed Power and Glory at Mania VII, but simply made an appearance at Mania VIII before disappearing for years. When they came back, they offered their two most important contributions to the “Show of Shows” franchise. The Nation of Domination was a force in its own right back in 1997. Led by Ron Simmons, the N.O.D. got hot enough to headline Mania 13 in Chicago, where their chief rival, Ahmed Johnson, asked for Hawk and Animal’s help in a Street Fight. It was an innovative match that showed signs of things to come in the Attitude Era. A year later, L.O.D., rebranded with the addition of “2000” to their name, won the Tag Team Battle Royal that opened the show in Boston. The Road Warriors are best remembered for what they did outside of WWE, but their Mania track record was not too shabby, either. 70. Greg “The Hammer” Valentine “The Hammer” was one of WrestleMania’s early staples. Do you remember the role that Chris Benoit filled for the bulk of his grand stage career – more than adequately filling the gaps on the card in various roles? That was Valentine. His run as IC Champion would have been best served at Mania 1 if it had featured the crescendo of his feud with Tito Santana, but it was undeniably an important part of filling the card and finding a spot for the very popular JYD. A year later, Hammer reached his WWE peak, stealing the three-citied show in the classic Tag Team Championship match alongside Brutus Beefcake against the British Bulldogs. It wasn’t treated as a main-event, but it has often been remembered as such. He was a key cog in the Randy Savage-to-the-top wheel at Mania IV, ousting Ricky Steamboat to advance to the quarterfinals of the title tournament and doing the job during Macho Man’s run to the WWE Championship. Then, he transitioned to more of a comedic role and excelled as a quiet backup singer for Honky Tonk Man in Rhythm and Blues. He capped off his career at Mania as a jobber to the stars. The Hammer was as consistent a presence as any non-main-eventer during that era. 69. Mike “I.R.S.” Rotunda Bray Wyatt’s dad was more than just an annoying portrayal of the dreaded governmental tax service. He was an accomplished collegiate wrestler. He was one half of the duo that used to come out to “Real American” before Hulk Hogan adopted it and made it famous. The U.S. Express, the tag team that Rotunda formed with Barry Windham, dropped the Tag Team gold in the very first title change in Mania history. Though he is most famous for his second WWE stint that found him calling out tax cheats, cavorting with “the president,” and winning further tag team gold with Million Dollar Man, he was quite the grappler in the NWA. Frankly, Rotunda’s career is flat out underrated. When he came back to WWE in the early 1990s as Irwin R. Schyster, he embraced the opportunity and it led him to one of the feature matches at a WrestleMania – Mania IX, to be specific, defending the WWE Tag Team Championships against Hulk Hogan, of all people. That was a big deal. I look back on that match, sometimes, and consider it a true moment in the history of the Tag Team titles, as there have been so few times when those belts were at such a pivotal position on a Mania card. IRS was right in that mix and would continue to be a featured player until he and WWE again parted ways. 68. Mr. Fuji The WWE Hall of Famer qualified for this position by way of his participation in a handicap tag team title match at Mania V, where he and his new cronies did battle with his former disciples, Demolition. He more than earned his place on this list with all of his other contributions to Mania lore. From Mania 2 onward for a decade, Fuji was a featured act at Mania. First with Don Muraco and then with Demolition and the Powers of Pain in Tag Team Championship situations, Fuji was one of the greatest managers during an era where managers were aplenty. It was Heenan. And then it was Fuji. By the early 1990s, when Heenan left for WCW, Fuji graduated to the top flight of the managerial positions, steering the mighty Yokozuna to two consecutive WrestleManias with the WWE Championship up for grabs. He was not the type of manager who sat idly by in the background, either. He was front and center for these matches, as much a part of the finishes and major plot points as the men he was offering his expertise. It’s been nice to see guys like Paul Heyman and Zeb Colter in the mix recently, as it’s a reminder to modern fans what a manager can add to the product. Fuji’s 2010 HOF induction was long overdue, in my opinion. He’s a legend from the WWE’s first boom period and the New Generation. 67. The Big Bossman For the enforcer of law, order, and justice (can’t you just see him half-yelling that in your mind right now?), we begin with the top billed match of his entire career: against the Undertaker at WrestleMania XV, representing the Corporation in a Hell in a Cell match. Forget that it was largely regarded as the worst Cell match of all-time and remember that it was a huge night in the career of Ray Traylor. I bet his check for that night far outweighed any cries of critical defamation. That was the second biggest match on the show. Now, rewind back to the earlier part of his career, when Bossman was an aspiring big man looking to make an impact as one half of the Twin Towers with Akeem and the subsequent split that put them at odds. People don’t often think of Bossman when they think of the guys that worked their way up, but they should. He was in a tag team, which split and found him the top star to awake from its ashes. He competed with Mr. Perfect for the IC title at Mania VII and maintained a cushy mid-card spot until leaving WWE for WCW. When he came back, he was a slimmed down version of the bulky grappler we once knew, but he still had his credibility from his days as a corrections officer, making him the perfect “muscle” for McMahon’s Corporate Empire. 66. “Ravishing” Rick Rude It would have made my day to rank Rude in the top 50. I’m a huge mark for the guy. When I went to Mania 29, I went to Fan Axxess for the first time and was hoping that they might have one of those opportunities to do an entrance. I picked Rude’s in advance, but sadly that wasn’t an attraction. Alas, Rude left his mark for me. Back when I was a kid, there was no more dastardly a heel than “Ravishing” Rick. His Mania exploits were particularly nerve racking when I was a little Warrior. Rude and Bobby Heenan combining to take the Intercontinental Championship from Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania V was one of the first moments where wrestling became more than just something that was visually captivating for me. I found myself emotionally enraptured, angered by the actions of the bad guys and resonating with the plight of the protagonist. It was a step in my wrestling fan evolution that I’ve not forgotten. That just so happened to be the biggest victory of Rude’s career and the most significant contribution that he made to the Mania stage. His only other matches at Mania were an opening round draw in the WrestleMania IV title tournament against Jake Roberts and a squash victory over Jimmy Snuka at WrestleMania VI. The match with Warrior drew second billing on a wildly successful show.
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