Tossing Salt Presents:
Wrestling Fact or Fiction
All About Wrestlemania
April 2, 2022
DougMaynard.com

It’s Wrestlemania weekend and it’s time to do that Fact or Fiction thing. The statements are courtesy of Jake Chambers, from 411mania.com. The replies that follow, that’s all me. Let’s do this.

Statement #1: You prefer two nights of Wrestlmania over the old one night show.

FACT: The shows were getting longer and longer and approaching nearly 7-8 hours at some point, so a change needed to be made. Now, it’s two nights, running about 4 hours or so each. That’s definitely much easier to handle. 

Statement #2: For the rest of your life, you intend to watch Wrestlemania every year.

FACT: It’s the biggest show of the year and while the others are hit and miss, Wrestlemania rarely fails to deliver. 

Statement #3: A Hulk Hogan vs. Rowdy Roddy Piper singles match should have main event-ed the first Wrestlemania.

FACT: What was the main event? Mr. T? While I appreciate the celebrity value and he was an essential part of Wrestlemania, the top match should always involve two wrestlers, not a wrestler and a wanna-be.

Statement #4: King Kong Bundy was a terrible challenger for the WWF Title at Wrestlemania 2.

FICTION:  At the time, who else did they have that would match up so well against Hogan? He was the right person for that particular time and event.

Statement #5: Wrestlemania III is the most important event in wrestling history.

FICTION: III was very important, but if Wrestlemania I had failed, then III would never have happened. So I get the nod here.

Statement #6: The Savage/Steamboat Intercontinental Title match at Wrestlemania III is overrated.

FICTION: Was it the greatest match in history? Nope, but it was a damn good match and among the best in the careers of both Rick Steamboat and Randy Savage. It deserves all the credit and loves it gets.

Statement #7: AEW will never hold an event on Wrestlemania weekend.

FICTION: AEW may not have technically done it this year, but the ROH Show was a Tony Khan event and featured quite a few AEW stars, so in fact, it’s already happened and will again. Wrestlemania weekend is the largest gathering of wrestling fans in one place every year and to not take advantage and throw out a show or no, that’s not good business.

Statement #8: Wrestlemania IV was boring.

FACT: I had to go back to see what exactly was on the Wrestlemania IV show to try and remember, but now that I see, I’m less than impressed. It’s not one I’ll go out of my way to watch again. 

Statement #9: Macho Man Randy Savage should have retained the WWF Title at Wrestlemania V.

FACT: It may have been the best move for the company at the time, but I’ll never support anyone losing to Hogan, especially not the Macho Man.

Statement #10: You have attended a Wrestlemania live.

FICTION: For some reason, we’ve never had a Wrestlemania here in North Carolina. I think Vince still holds a grudge that this is where the majority of WCW came from and WCW kicked his ass. The Carolinas are NWA/WCW country, even after all these years, and probably always will be. So no Mania for us. But going to Mania is on my bucket list It’ll happen one day.

Statement #11: The Wrestlemania VI main event is the best match of both Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior’s careers.

FACT: It may or may not be, but this is probably the only Warrior match I can remember watching that was almost enjoyable. The same can be said for a Hogan match, although like everyone else, I loved his match with The Rock a decade later. So we’ll give Hogan and Warrior both some kudos here. 

Statement #12: Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura are the greatest commentary team of all time.

FICTION: Personally, I prefer Gorilla & Bobby Heenan or Jim Ross & Lawler for my WWE Commentary. And the greatest of all time? Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan. Not WWE, but still the best. 

Statement #13: You’ve teared up watching the Savage/Elizabeth reunion at Wrestlemania VII. 

FACT: I won’t go so far as to say I teared up, but it was a great moment and my allergies may have been acting up a bit at the time. 

Statement #14: Flair/Savage was a better match than Flair/Hogan would have been at Wrestlemania VIII.

FACT: Do I have to explain why? Flair and Hogan never really gelled and most of their matches sucked. Flair and Savage always worked well together and had good matches. ‘Nuff said!

Statement #15: Wrestlemania IX was actually on track to being a pretty great show until the Money Inc./Mega-Maniacs match ruined everything.

FACT: I don’t remember and don’t feel like looking it up so I’ll take your word for it. 

Statement #16: Bret/Owen is the greatest Wrestlemania opening match.

FACT: No way to argue or disagree with that. A most resounding yes. 

Statement #17: Tito Santana should have gotten a match on the Wrestlemania X card.

FICTION: Was he still even with the company at this point? I think he had already left, but even so, Tito is a good worker, but the show didn’t suffer from his absence, not that I can tell anyhow. 

Statement #18: You respect Lawrence Taylor’s performance in the main event of Wrestlemania XI.

FACT: Taylor looked good, put on a good show, and held up his part of the match quite well. He nailed it.

Statement #19: After the time limit expired in the 60-minute Ironman Match main event of Wrestlemania XII, the match should have been declared a draw with no sudden death overtime.

FACT: I get why they did the overtime, but it wasn’t in the rules as explained for this match and there should never be a management figure (Gorilla Monsoon) making up new rules and stipulations on the spot. Bret got screwed!

Statement #20: Austin/Bret from Wrestlemania 13 is not just the greatest Wrestlemania match ever but it’s simply the best match ever period.

FICTION: I’m a man who has seen Flair/Steamboat live at a house show and have seen The Midnight Express take on The Horsemen. While Austin/Bret is damn good and a match of legendary proportions, , it’s not the best match ever. Not even close.

Statement #21: Kane ending the Undertaker’s streak at Wrestlemania XIV would have been better than ‘taker’s eventual loss to Brock Lesnar years later.

FICTION: Taker should have kept the streak going until he retired, but if he had to lose, Brock was the right choice.

Statement #22: Austin/Rock is the greatest Wrestlemania rivalry of all time. 

FACT: I’ll go along with this simply because I can’t think of any that were better. 

Statement #23: Foley is God.

FICTION: Nah, not even close. I think you’re missing an “o”. 

Statement #24: Wrestlemania 2000 was a dud.

FICTION: It was a good and solid show from top to bottom. Maybe not the best, but I wouldn’t call it a dud by any means. 

Statement #25: That Austin/Rock “My Way” video promo is still awesome.

FACT: I had to go back on YouTube to watch this to remember it, but yeah, it’s pretty damn cool.

Statement #26: When all is said and done, Omega/Hangman will be AEW’s Austin/Rock.

FICTION: I think I’m more inclined to go with CM Punk/MJF than Omega and Page. Omega and Page were okay, but nothing special in my eyes. Maybe it the was Omega factor? Punk and MJF had magic. I’ll go with them instead.

Statement #27: Austin/Angle should have had a match at Wrestlemania X-8.

FACT: What did we get? Angle versus Kane and Austin versus Scott Hall. No offense to Kane or Hall, but at that time, neither was setting the world on fire, and the matches kind of sucked. Angle versus Austin would definitely have been better. 

Statement #28: Wait… Austin/Hogan should have really been the main event of Wrestlemania X-8, right?

FACT: If both men had been willing to work together and play ball, this would have been the ultimate dream match and one of the greatest main events possible. But they weren’t and we got Hogan/Rock instead. That match was beyond good and fun to see, but the idea of Hogan/Austin still kicks ass and should have/would have been the main event. 

Statement #29: Wrestlemania XIX being 19 years ago means something this year.

FACT: It means that it was 19 years ago. Nothing more.

Statement #30: All the Wrestlemanias between 1 and 20 feel distinct and important, while most of the events since 21 blend together in your memory.

FICTION: All the Wrestlemanias are important for one reason or another, but they ALL tend to blur together for me in my memory. 

Statement #31: You could re-watch the Wrestlemania XX main event today without feeling weird.

FICTION: Benoit and Eddie at the end. It still makes me feel a sort of way about what happened wth these two, what could and should have been, etc. Yeah, it’s hard to watch. 

Statement #32: WWE really thought Batista was going to be a bigger star than John Cena at Wrestlemania 21.

FACT: Who would have ever guessed that Cena would end up being as big as he has become? Batista was the more traditional wrestler and I guess the WWE, aka Vince, was in a nostalgic mood for his big men who were more what he liked and was used to. 

Statement #33: TNA/IMPACT Wrestling’s Bound for Glory feels as big as a Wrestlemania to you.

FICTION: Bound For Glory is usually pretty good, but to me, it’s just another PPV on the calendar. Wrestlemania is something to be anticipated and is a must-see, but BGG? It’s just kind of there. 

Statement #34: Rey Mysterio deserved better at Wrestlemania 22.

FICTION: He beat Randy Orton and Kurt Angle to win the World Championship. How much better treatment can he get? Oy vey!

Statement #35: Cena/Michaels at Wrestlemania 23 is an underrated classic.

FACT: Two of the best and it was a damn good match. No complaints here and I liked it.

Statement #36: That “I’m sorry, I love you” to end the Michaels/Flair match at Wrestlemania 24 is really cheesy.

FACT: Really cheesy, but in a good way. It was the perfect way to end the match and (allegedly) the in-ring career of the Nature Boy.

Statement #37: You blame Triple H for his many terrible Wrestlemania main events.

FACT: HHH has to take some of the blame, but I’ll be fair and assign some of the blame to Vince and WWE Creative as well. HHH had some stinkers, but he also had some good matches as well. If left alone, I think we’d see many more good and great rather than the stinker matches, but when too many cooks are in the kitchen, it takes it’s toll and generally tends to have a negative effect.

Statement #38: The Undertaker/Michaels match at Wrestlemania XXVI was better than their match the previous year.

FICTION: Both were excellent and damn fun to watch, but Mania 25 was slightly better than Mania 26 because, at 25, there was at least some doubt as to who would win. At 26, we all knew that the Dead Man was going over.

Statement #39: It’s disappointing that The Miz never main event-ed another Wrestlemania after XXVII.

FACT: The Miz is a damn good worker and every time he’s been given the ball, he scores with it. His career has been, dare I say it, awesome, but a few more big matches in the main event of Mania would have been nice to see. 

Statement #40: The “Once In A Lifetime” Rock/Cena match at Wrestlemania XXVIII was better than the “Twice In A Lifetime” match they would have the next year.

FACT: Rock versus Cena was damn good, both times, but the first one, mainly because it was the first one, just stands out slightly more and as better to me. 

Statement #41: CM Punk should have main event-ed Wrestlemania 30.

FACT: The idea that CM Punk NEVER main-event-ed Wrestlemania is a travesty and miscarriage of justice. No offense to Daniel Bryan, who did end up in the main event spot and did an awesome job, but Punk deserved that spot just as much. 

Statement #42: You can remember all five of Roman Reigns’ Wrestlemania main events.

FICTION: I can barely remember what I had for dinner last night so remembering five Mania main events with Roman? Nah, that just isn’t going to happen.

Statement #43: NXT Stand and Deliver this year, even with the midday start time, will deliver like the Takeovers of old.

FACT: NXT always delivers and it’s a packed show that should exceed all expectations. 

Statement #44: The roll-up ending to the Charlotte/Becky/Rousey main event was lame, but you didn’t care because you just wanted that marathon show to end.

FACT: I have to admit it, I was ready to call it a night and go to bed. The ending was not inspiring, but all that matters is who wins, not how, right?Right!

Statement #45: If Drew McIntyre got his “Wrestlemania Moment” in front of a live audience instead of the empty Performance Center, his career would be different today.

FICTION: He’d still be over like Rover, a former WWE Champion, and still getting the big push, regardless of if there was a crowd or not. He earned that spot and it was his time. ‘Nuff said!

Statement #46: Night 1 was better than Night 2 at last year’s Wrestlemania 37.

FACT: I had to go back and see who wrestled on each night to try and remember, but yes, as near as I can recall, the first night was definitely the better of the two.

Statement #47: Pat MacAfee/Austin Theory will steal the show on Wrestlemania weekend.

FACT: I don’t know if it will steal the show, but I expect it will be the dark horse match of the night and far better than anyone is expecting. I think it will be one of the better matches of the two nights and leave everyone pleasantly surprised. 

Statement #48: Cody Rhodes will do something amazing over Wrestlemania weekend.

FACT: I’m sure that he will. Maybe it’ll be an appearance and debut at Mania. Maybe it’ll be a sex trick for Brandi. But whatever it is that he does this weekend, I’m sure that someone will be amazed. 

Statement #49: Charlotte Flair will make Ronda Rousey tap at Wrestlemania.

FICTION: I’m picking Ronda to win.

Statement #50: Roman Reigns will walk out with the unified WWE World and Universal championships at Wrestlemania.

FICTION: My gut says that Brock will win and the gut is rarely wrong.

And there you go. Fifty statements. Damn, that was long, but we managed to get er’ done. My thanks for reading. Comments, thoughts, and any questions are welcome and appreciated. And thanks to Jake Chambers for the great statements. Until the next time, take care and be good. I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!