When WrestleMania was first conceived, Vince McMahon foresaw an opportunity to be innovative in every way known to the promotion and broadcasting of pro wrestling. There were many firsts in WM lore, but the ‘show of shows’ also helped to elevate other gimmicks that predated the first WrestleMania on March 31, 1985.
For example, the first ladder match took place in September 1972 from the Stampede Wrestling territory of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and the first time the match was utilized as a stipulation in the WWE/WWF was between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels in 1992. Yet many fans growing up assumed that Razor Ramon (the late Scott Hall) held the honor with Michaels as the pair who ushered in that gimmick to the WWE.
For sure, Razor and Shawn raised the bar for the gimmick by putting it on the Mania map, but it also existed as an early ‘trend forecast’ for those spot-fest type ladder matches that would become synonymous with WrestleMania. The match was so iconic that the two WWE legends rematched at SummerSlam later that year, cementing the Gen-1 version of a match that would inspire the evolution of ladder gimmicks at Mania.
From cage matches to battle royals, the high-stakes nature of WrestleMania has a way of delivering on gimmicks both new and those tried and true. The following is a list of gimmick matches elevated by Mania or created for the show, specifically:
Triangle Ladder Match – WrestleMania 2000/TLC II – WrestleMania XVI/XVII (April 2, 2000, April 1, 2001)
THE HARDY BOYZ VS THE DUDLEY BOYZ VS EDGE & CHRISTIAN
If Razor/Shawn exists as the precipice for ladder matches, then the ‘triangle ladder’ match at Wrestle 2000 (the 16th WM installment) between The Hardy Boyz, The Dudley Boyz, and Edge and Christian is Wile E. Coyote’s Acme-branded anvil making mincemeat out of gravity from atop a cliff’s edge.
While acts like The Dudleys were no strangers to chairs, ladders, and even the occasional flaming table, the WWE universe, at that time, was just starting to explore the hardcore elements that defined promotions like ECW. The impact of this match was enough to uplift all three teams, not just the winners, Edge and Christian.
The match was so influential that not even this trio could escape its reverberating effects on the industry. This pressure to further innovate on the innovative spawned the first-ever TLC match at SummerSlam later that year, while its sequel came the very next WrestleMania (17), in what amounted to one of the most iconic moments in Mania history.
The three teams told a story with tables, ladders, and chairs in place of pens, ink, and paper, and what transpired was a crescendo of events that led to the match’s climax. With both Devon and Christian swinging from the tag titles hoisted 15-feet above the mat with nothing but their raw grasps suspending them, Jeff Hardy makes his own dashing attempt after both men fall to the mat.
Finding himself in the same position that Devon and Christian were in, Jeff is ‘speared’ by Edge from atop a ladder, with flash photography adding to the backdrop like fireworks on a Friday night at the ballpark. It instantly became an undeniable addition to every WrestleMania highlight reel thereafter.
NO DQ Submission Match – WrestleMania 13 (March 23, 1997)
BRET ‘THE HITMAN’ HART VS ‘STONE COLD’ STEVE AUSTIN
While a ‘no disqualification’ submission match is redundant, the finish of this match has remained virtually unduplicated in one specific aspect. The match was brutal, the kind of brutality that only a former Mixed Martial Artist could officiate, and that is why former UFC champion Ken Shamrock wore the stripes that night.
The equally iconic shot of Austin writhing in pain as blood streamed down his face and into his teeth was instantly immortalized. Bret, with the sharpshooter locked in tight, held on until Austin no longer could—passing out from the pain and blood loss.
Hart walked into the ring that night, the ‘face’ to Austin’s classic ‘heel’ persona, but a post-match beat down with a chair signified a shift in their characters as Hart left the ring a heel. This switch-a-roo launched Austin 3:16 into the same ‘good guy’ stratosphere as Hulk-A-Mania, and it could be argued that Bret’s legacy in WWE following the “Montreal Screw-Job was delivering WWE its next golden goose capable of putting the competition out of business.
Brawl For All Grand Prize – WrestleMania XV (March 28, 1999)
BART GUNN VS BUTTERBEAN
Innovation is terrific, and you look like a genius when you can pull it off, but you cannot always accurately envision an idea on paper until you see it happen in the ring. In the case of the ‘shoot’ boxing match between ‘Brawl for All’ winner, Bart Gun, and novelty super heavyweight BUTTERBEAN of ‘Toughman’ fame.
It was the late 90’s, and as the world headed into the new millennium, acts like ‘The Smoking Guns’ no longer fit the ‘attitude’ charged era of WWE/WWF. With his tag partner, Billy Gunn, finding success in the form of the New Aged Outlaws, the heavy-fisted Bart Gunn decided to test himself in the ‘Brawl for All’ tourney that took place over the past several weeks on RAW.
Bart’s “reward” for stopping Bradshaw in the finals and ‘Dr. Death’ Steve Williams in the semi finals — he also won a points-decision in the opening round versus Bob Holly—was $75,000 and another shoot fight against a power puncher with actual boxing experience.
Butterbean, real name Eric Scott Esch, came up on the ‘Toughman’ boxing circuit, televised on FX, with the finals appearing on FOX. The gimmick was that ‘Toughman’ would go city to city, signing up the ‘toughest dudes’ in the area. Similar to the structure of Golden Gloves, the ‘champions’ then enter a tournament consisting of all the other regional winners.
After winning five separate Toughman contests and turning pro, Butterbean got the WrestleMania call to fight Bart. That night, Butterbean would go on to dismantle Bart within 38 seconds of the first round, knocking the former co-tag team champion down twice. Aside from exposing Bart’s on-screen character, the business, and lending credence to the narrative of detractors, the 16-man tournament ended with a resonating heat amongst some of the competitors that, in some cases, took a couple of years to square.
Firefly Fun House Match – WrestleMania 36 (April 5, 2020)
JOHN CENA VS BRAY WYATT/THE FIEND
The power of Mania has been tested throughout the years, but no more so than during the pandemic-era WM, which offered an aura-less stadium atmosphere. In pressure situations like that, some minds become more creative and feed off the chaos, and that is exactly what happened in the program involving John Cena and the late Bray Wyatt.
It is hard to argue that this match could have worked in any other moment in WWE history, but the brilliance of cinematically portraying meaningful themes related to the lore of Cena— including a heel turn skit within the match that ended up being 10x better than the 17-time world champion’s actual heel turn in February of 2025. The match felt decades in the making and freshly original all at the same time, and you could look to the ‘Boneyard Match’ that took place the following year between The Undertaker and AJ Styles.
Taker was unable to perform in a typical match, and you could argue the cinematic idea helped to offer ‘The Deadman’ the option for a meaningful final Mania match without any of the risk.
Extreme Rules – WrestleMania 22 (April 2, 2006)
MICK FOLEY VS EDGE
At this point in the mid-nineties, the average wrestling fan was familiar with the ‘hardcore’ element of wrestling, introduced by more than half of it, Mick Foley himself. The Chicago fans in the All-State Arena figured they’d ‘seen it all’ at this point, especially 8 years removed from ‘Mankind’s’ Hell in a Cell match at the ’98 King of the Ring, but the bar was, again, raised— as was the temperature ringside.
The match included the common, everyday hardcore weaponry such as chairs and trash cans with a side of thumbtacks, but the bar was raised with a two-by-four wrapped in barbed wire. However, it was the flaming table that sent this match into the WM stratosphere.
Technically, it was Edge that introduced the lighter fluid, and after a battle for momentum, the stage was set, and so was the table… on fire! With Mick in place, standing on the ring apron, Lita lit the table ablaze for her beau, Edge, to hit his spear on Foley from inside the ring and through the flaming furniture.
In this instance, the match went beyond creating a spot reserved for ‘hardcore’ stipulations at Mania, and, like the TLC gimmick eventually becoming its own branded PLE, Extreme Rules took shape as a yearly event meant to satisfy the wrestling fan’s bloodlust.
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