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The main events: ladies and gentlemen, may we present the 25 most memorable matches in the last 25 years
Wrestling Digest, Dec, 2002 by Kevin Eck
5 HULK HOGAN & MR. T vs. RODDY PIPER & PAUL ORNDORFF (March 31, 1985)
The main event of the inaugural Wrestlemania, the WWF's first closed-circuit extravaganza, was perhaps the most hyped match in wrestling history. At the time, Hogan was enjoying tremendous mainstream popularity and Mr. T was the hottest star on television. To add to the pageantry, celebrities such as Liberace and Billy Martin took part in the show, and Muhammad Ali was a special referee. The match itself was' far from a technical-wrestling classic, but it delivered in terms of entertaining the crowd. Hogan and Mr. T scored the win after "Cowboy" Bob Orton missed in his attempt to hit Hogan with the cast on his forearm and instead leveled Orndorff, who was pinned by Hogan.
6 HULK HOGAN vs. THE IRON SHEIK (January 23, 1984)
"Hulkamania" was born on this night. A month earlier, the Iron Sheik had stunned the wrestling world when he ended Bob Backlund's WWF world-rifle reign of nearly six years. When an injured Backlund was unable to compete in the rematch, Hogan was given the ride shot As Hogan entered the ring to Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger," the crowd at Madison Square Garden was abuzz, sensing something truly special was unfolding in front of their eyes. The Iron Sheik gained an early advantage, but, in what would become his trademark, Hogan "hulked up." A Hogan boot to the face was followed by a leg drop and a three count In just five minutes and 40 seconds, Hogan had deposed the Iron Sheik to become the new WWF world champion.
7 THE ROCK vs. HULK HOGAN (March 17, 2002)
It was the dream match wrestling fans never thought they would see, pitting the industry's two biggest crossover celebrities against one another. Weeks before the match at Wrestlemania X-8, Hogan and his New World Order cronies, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, had left the Rock for dead after assaulting him with a hammer and then ramming an 18-wheeler into an ambulance with the Rock trapped inside. Yet despite those heinous actions, the crowd of 68,237 at SkyDome in Toronto (the live gate was an industry-record 83.9 million) was overwhelmingly behind Hogan. The Rock and Hogan both hit all of their signature maneuvers before "the People's Champion" landed the Rock Bottom for the victory. Hogan shook the Rock's hand after the match, prompting Nash and Hall to come out and attack Hogan. The Rock made the save, and then encouraged Hogan to do his pose-down routine. Hogan obliged, sending file crowd into a frenzy.
8 RICK STEAMBOAT vs. RANDY SAVAGE (March 29, 1987)
The Hulk Hogan-Andre the Giant match was the box-office draw for Wrestlemania III, but the intercontinental rifle bout between Steamboat and Savage arguably stole the show. "The Dragon" and the "Macho Man" battled back-and-forth during a fast-paced, 15-minute match that included one near fall after another and left the crowd breathless. When Savage went to leap off the top role with the ringside bell in his hands as a weapon, George "the Animal" Steele, who had developed a crush on Savage's manager, Elizabeth, and was in Steamboat's corner, knocked the "Macho Man" from his perch. Steamboat then wrapped up Savage in a small package for the pin and won the title.
