My wife does not care for wrestling, but over the years she has seen a few WrestleManias. Most of them she ended up watching because I bothered her until she gave in, but I like to think she was interested in one or two. I recently asked her if she wanted to watch this year’s Mania to which she gave me an unmistakable “NO!”, but she was more than willing to share her WrestleMania memories with me.

“That crazy match with Edge and Christian”

Is there anyone who watched Tables, Ladders, Chairs II at WrestleMania X-Seven who can ever forget it? The Dudley Boyz defended the WWF Tag Team Titles against The Hardy Boyz and Edge and Christian in the match that made them all superstars. The idea had not yet been beaten into the ground and everything the six did was innovative. Add Spike Dudley, Lita, and Rhyno to the match, and “even people who aren’t in the match are really getting hurt,” as my wife put it. It does not take a wrestling fan to recognize a WrestleMania Moment when they see one.

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“When Molly won the Hardcore Title”

The Hardcore Title was a cool and funny idea for the time, but it had a short shelf life. Once the title was defended at an arcade, there really was not much more that could be done. At WrestleMania X8, the Hardcore Title match started as Maven defending the belt against Goldust. The match ended within five minutes after Spike Dudley pinned Maven. My wife was confused at first, but quickly caught on when Crash Holly came out and started chasing Dudley. Dudley managed to fight off Holly, Golddust, Maven, and Al Snow before Hurricane came swinging in on a rope and kicked Dudley before pinning him for the belt. No Molly though.

“Funny dances”

WrestleMania is not all about drama; a lot of times it can be downright silly. At WrestleMania XX, Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty defended the WWE Tag Team Championship against the APA, the Bashams, and the World’s Greatest Tag Team. It took a little over six minutes for the champions to retain and afterwards they performed a memorable dance routine.

“The time Edge and Booker T fought over a bottle of shampoo”

My wife’s memory was a little off here, but not by much. Edge was the reigning King of the Ring while Booker was a former five time WCW World Heavyweight Champion and since the two had nothing to do going into WrestleMania X8, they were given this. Booker was looking to supplement his income by appearing in a Japanese shampoo commercial. Unfortunately for the future King, Japanese fans had fallen in love with Edge’s hair during a recent Asian tour so he was given the commercial instead. The two had an average match that for whatever reason wasn’t even Hair vs Hair.

Following the match, Molly pinned the Hurricane backstage to win the Hardcore Title in a moment more memorable to my wife than the actual Hardcore Title match.

“The Rock and Ric Flair are the funniest wrestlers.”

The Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection teamed to take on Ric Flair, Randy Orton, and Batista at WrestleMania XX in a handicap match. Talk about star power. The feud between Mick Foley and Randy Orton were at the center of the story. The two had been feuding for months with the Legend Killer always getting the upper hand. When Evolution got involved, Foley called on his old partner, The Rock. The match was heated but had possibly the funniest moment in Mania history. Humor is subjective, but my wife was right: at WrestleMania XX, Flair and The Rock were the funniest wrestlers.

WrestleMania is more defined by moments than it is by matches and non-fans have memories just as strong as lifelong fans do. With another Mania just around the corner, there will certainly be more memories made for anyone who watches the event.

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