Packed AT&T Stadium crowd watching WrestleMania 32 with blue stage lighting and WrestleMania logo on jumbotron

Wrestlemania

1985eventclassic

Published October 8, 2026

Wrestlemania is WWE's annual pay-per-view spectacular that debuted on March 31, 1985 at Madison Square Garden. The show grew into pro wrestling's biggest night of the year and spawned decades of highlight clips, botches, crowd chants, and fan reaction edits that still circulate online every spring.

wrestling memes annual tradition memes sports memes fandom hype memes fail memes

Overview

Wrestlemania is WWE's yearly supercard, pitched by fans as "the show of shows" or "the grandest stage of them all," where title matches cap off storylines the company built across the previous twelve months3. The weekend expanded well past a single pay-per-view and picked up the WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony and a pay-per-view for the NXT developmental brand4. Celebrity appearances and musical guests are a regular fixture of the main card, pulling mainstream attention toward each year's show.

Online, Wrestlemania powers a steady stream of GIFs, reaction edits, botch compilations, and fan threads. Match reviewers grade every bout afterward, with outlets like Cageside Seats describing crowd chants of "This is awful!" and "Boring!" during the Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns main event of Wrestlemania 342. Entrances, finishes, and crowd moments from each year get re-uploaded to YouTube and keep circulating long after the show ends5.

Origin & Background

Platform
WWE pay-per-view (TV) / YouTube and wrestling forums (online spread)
Creator
Vince McMahon; name coined by Howard Finkel
Date
1985

The first Wrestlemania was held on March 31, 1985 at Madison Square Garden in New York and was the first pay-per-view event in WWE (then WWF) history1. The main event paired Hulk Hogan with Mr. T against Rowdy Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff1. Vince McMahon conceptualized the show as a wrestling supercard that could reach beyond hardcore fans into mainstream entertainment, and the Wrestlemania name itself was coined by longtime WWE ring announcer Howard Finkel3.

How It Spread

Across the following decades Wrestlemania grew into the biggest annual wrestling event in the United States, and the KYM entry notes that Wrestlemania III drew an audience of over 93,000 people4. The show expanded into a full weekend of surrounding events: the Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday and the NXT TakeOver pay-per-view the night before the main card4.

By Wrestlemania 34 on April 8, 2018 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, the card featured Ronda Rousey's debut match, Charlotte Flair ending Asuka's two-plus-year undefeated streak, and Matt Hardy winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royale with a surprise assist from Bray Wyatt2. The main event of Lesnar vs. Reigns drew widely panned reviews from wrestling writers, with chants of "Delete!" and "This is awful!" from the New Orleans crowd2. Highlight uploads from the night remain embedded on wrestling YouTube channels5.

The word Wrestlemania also seeped into broader internet slang. Urban Dictionary submissions call it "the greatest time of the year" and the "show of shows," while a tongue-in-cheek party entry uses the yell "Wrestlemania!" as a joke callout, showing how the brand name bled into everyday online jargon6.

Timeline

1985-03-31

The first Wrestlemania is held at Madison Square Garden; main event is Hulk Hogan and Mr. T vs. Rowdy Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff.

1987

Wrestlemania III draws a reported attendance of over 93,000, among the largest crowds in the event's history.

2018-04-08

Wrestlemania 34 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans features Ronda Rousey's debut and a widely panned Lesnar vs. Reigns main event.

Frequently Asked Questions