Wrestling Six Packs: Top Six Candidates for Mr. WrestleMania

Your two best Mr. WM candidates
Photo Credit: WWE.com

I swear to God, I had this topic in mind last week, and then I swear to God, Dave Lagana came out with a topic on who his WrestleMania Mount Rushmore would be. Seriously, I'm not biting. I swear. But yeah, WrestleMania is around the corner. A star performance at the event can make a wrestler. Continual star performances? They make legends. Here are six who are in serious contention for the title of "Mr. WrestleMania" for his continued clutch performances.

1. Shawn Michaels

The WWE gave HBK the title "Mr. WrestleMania", and it's very hard to argue the title. Michaels wrestled a shitload of memorable matches. From his debut with Marty Jannetty against the Twin Towers at WrestleMania V all the way up to his final, memorable match last year against Undertaker, Michaels made his bones on the big stage. His coming out party at the event may have been his best performance ever - the Ladder Match for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania X against Razor Ramon. It's not like he hasn't tried topping himself though. The list of memorable encounters he's had at the Granddaddy of Them All dwarfs some guys' resume of good matches in total. Bret Hart at XII. Steve Austin at XIV. Chris Jericho at XIX. Ric Flair at XXIV. The double shot against Undertaker the last two years. It's amazing.

2. The Undertaker

You might thing that everyone else is gunning for second place to Shawn Michaels. Yeah, try telling that to the one wrestler so important to the event that he's never been booked to lose at WrestleMania and probably never will be. I don't know how the idea started that Taker would never lose, but man, The Streak has become a de facto third title match for the event now. While some of those matches have been pretty bad - Giant Gonzalez anyone? - you can't deny the impact it has had on shaping what the event is right now. Other than the Michaels matches though, he has had some really memorable ones, whether the WWE wants you to recall them or not. He and Triple H had a really fun brawl all the way out into the crowd at X-7. The WWE downplays it now, but it was pretty good. So was his match against Ric Flair and even his brawl against Jake Roberts in the second match of The Streak, before it really became The Streak.

3. "Macho Man" Randy Savage

However, before those two took center stage, there was Macho. In fact, you could argue that Savage was Shawn Michaels before Shawn Michaels really grew into his role as the Showstopper. Between III and VIII, Savage was either in a main event match or a show-stealing match at every single card except one. Five out of six WrestleManias, Savage was the unquestioned star and possible MVP. He was involved in what many consider the best WM match ever, vs. Ricky Steamboat at III, and in perhaps the best carry job in the States ever, vs. The Ultimate Warrior at VII. Because of whatever his beef was with the WWF, we were robbed of an epic passing of the torch from him to Michaels, but I'm grateful for what we got from Macho.

4. Hulk Hogan

Honestly, though, how could you mention WrestleMania and not mention perhaps the one guy who was the most instrumental in making it the spectacle that it is today? You can denigrate his in-ring all you want (although if you do, you miss the point of Hogan in the '80s), but would WrestleMania be the pop culture icon today if he didn't body slam Andre the Giant at III? I mean, that's a seminal moment in pro wrestling history. He was the anchor of the first nine WrestleManias, and a big reason why both the WWF was huge and why he was able to help propel WCW to the top of the ratings. Of course, you can't forget his return to WrestleMania, at X-8 in Toronto against The Rock.

5. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin

It's easy to go down the list and just put guys who were draws in here, but at the same time, Austin was involved in three of the most infamous moments in WWE history. One was at 13, when his double turn with Bret Hart was one of the key events in ringing in the Attitude Era. Two was the next year at XIV, when he won his first WWF Championship and cemented himself as THE man in all pro wrestling. Finally, X-7 was his ill-advised yet wholly memorable heel turn, aligning himself with his mortal enemy, Vince McMahon. There was also his series with The Rock over three WrestleManias, plus his role as the special guest referee for maybe the most infamous WM match of all-time, the Goldberg/Brock Lesnar schlock-fest at XX. He reprises his role as a referee this year for a match that has equal potential for infamy. Hm...

6. The Rock

There were a lot of great choices for this role. John Cena, Bret Hart, Triple H (begrudgingly), Roddy Piper, Edge and Ric Flair are all good choices, but I think I went with Rock because he does have that Michaels-big match quality to his appearance. Starting with his valiant attempts at saving the 2000 main event, Rock would go onto huge main event-type performances. If he had stuck around, he might be approaching Michaels' resume right now. As of right now, he's a fringe candidate. However, the Hogan match, the last two Austin matches and his XX match more than make up for it. Plus, he's a huge reason why WM is so must-see this year. That has to count for something, right?

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!