Despite being a completely pre-determined contest, wrestling stats and facts are still a useful tool to fans and critics alike. Or at least, that’s what I tell myself to justify hours of searching through Wikipedia to see which WWE wrestlers have had the most title matches on Pay-Per-View. Sigh, the life of a writer. One of the more interesting areas of wrestling statistics is wins and losses, especially when it comes to The Grandest Stage of Them All – WrestleMania. One of the main reasons The Undertaker will go down in WWE history is because he was undefeated in 21 WrestleMania matches and The Rock’s victory over Steve Austin at Mania XIX felt important, because Rock had never beaten Austin at Mania until that point. Also, it was Austin’s last match, but that doesn’t help my argument, so shush. Wins and losses at WrestleMania are a big deal in the wrestling, so it may surprise you to know which of your favourite superstars are unbeaten at The Showcase of the Immortals and which ones are yet to notch a single “W” at the show. So, from your friendly neighbourhood statistician here at The Sportster, here are some of the best and worst track records at WWE’s biggest show of the year.
15 15. UNDEFEATED: Goldberg (1-0 at Mania)
We’ll begin with one that not going to be relevant after WrestleMania 33.
Before his completely insane return run in late 2016/early 2017, Goldberg had competed in WWE for one, solitary year. He ran through opponents like The Rock, Christian and Chris Jericho, won the World Heavyweight Championship and became another stepping stone on Triple H’s rise to being the biggest douche in wrestling. And yes, I will fight him over that if I have to. On WWE 2K17.
Goldberg’s sole Mania match to date came against the man he is gearing up to face at this year’s supercard, Brock Lesnar. Their feud began at the Royal Rumble 2004, in which Lesnar interfered to cost Goldberg to match. Then, at No Way Out, Goldberg returned the favour by costing Lesnar his WWE Championship against Eddie Guerrero. If you’re thinking this is pretty similar to how Goldberg won the Universal Championship against Kevin Owens, then you are completely right. Brock and Bill (which sounds like a children’s TV show) did battle in one of the most panned Mania matches of all time. Both men knew this was to be their final match in the company for the foreseeable future, so put zero effort into this tussle and, boy, did the crowd know it. The match was subjected to Roman Reigns levels of booing and not even special guest referee, Steve Austin, could prevent this match going over like a lead balloon. Goldberg won with a Spear and a Jackhammer and the match was put to bed. I’d like to say that their WrestleMania 33 match will go better, but, honestly, that’d probably be a lie.
14 14. NEVER WON: William Regal (0-6 at Mania)
Oh, William Regal, you deserved far better.
One of my personal favourites, Regal has had a career spanning over two decades and taking him from the carnie circuits of England to WCW and, finally, to the WWE, where he has been a reliable performer and backstage talent for over fifteen years. A multi-time Intercontinental, European and Tag Team Champion (as well as a King of the Ring), Regal’s been involved in some truly memorable moments in WWE history, mostly as an on-air authority figure, but, sadly, these years of hard work were not rewarded with a successful WrestleMania record. Figures.
Regal has competed in six matches at Mania, none of which have ended in victory for the Blackpool Brawler. He failed in two back-to-back Intercontinental Championship matches at Manias X-Seven and X8 (losing to Chris Jericho and Rob Van Dam respectively), was eliminated by Heidenreich in a Battle Royal at WrestleMania 21, by Snitsky in another Battle Royal the next year (wow, what a pair of dubious honours that is), by Finlay in one at XXVI (that’s better) and, finally, he was thrown out in yet another Battle Royal at WrestleMania XXVII. I mean, ok, he’s no Shawn Michaels, but the guy deserved better than this, surely? Surely?
13 13. UNDEFEATED: The Legion of Doom (3-0 at Mania)
The Road Warriors? Never heard of them? Did you mean The Legion of Doom?
Hawk and Animal had an interesting relationship with the WWE. A huge team outside of the WWE, when the duo finally made their way to the Stanford-based company, they were treated like just another tag team. Yes, they had a few tag title reigns, but they were also given a puppet to work with. An actual puppet. Why? Why would you do this?
Their Mania record, however, is pretty solid. They squashed Power and Glory (Hercules and Paul Roma) in under a minute at WrestleMania VII, teamed up with Ahmed Johnson (who, apparently, stole the shoulder pads given to him by LOD after their match) to battle The Nation of Domination at Mania 13 and made their surprise return at Mania XIV as “Legion of Doom 2000” to win a tag team Battle Royal. Nothing too special, but hey, at least they were only in one Battle Royal. Poor Regal.
12 12. NEVER WON: Bob Backlund (0-2 at Mania)
That’s Mr. Backlund, to you!
Before he was the crazy old man who couldn’t take his own shirt off without looking stupid (see Battleground 2016), Bob Backlund reigned for over 2,000 days as WWE Champion in the 1970s and 80s. He would also reign again the 90s, but we don’t need to hear about that now, or, in fact, ever. He would also reign as one half of the World Tag Team Champions for a single day in 1980 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2013. Besides all of this, he was still completely crazy, however.
It’s worth noting that, at the time of Backlund’s first Mania appearance in 1993, he was 43 years of age, so a win was highly unlikely. However, he is not forgiven for putting on some of the worst and most pointless WrestleMania matches of all time. His first was a pointless affair with Razor Ramon at WrestleMania IX, which he lost in 3:45, but it is his second which is most often recalled. It came a Mania XI in an I Quit Match against Bret “The Hitman” Hart, whom he had been feuding with on and off throughout 1994. The match is famous for its ridiculous ending, in which guest referee, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, interpreted Backlund’s screams as an “I Quit”, even though he absolutely did not say that whatsoever. For a former WWE Champion, it is amazing that Backlund’s only two Mania appearances came at two of the absolute worst WrestleManias of all time. And he didn’t even win. What a state.
11 11. UNDEFEATED: AJ Lee (2-0 at Mania)
Well, this is awkward, all things considered.
If you’d have said AJ Lee was going to become one of the most successful, popular and recognisable women’s performers of her era even as late as 2012, I’d have laughed in your face. Portrayed mainly as a valet/love interest, AJ found herself on the arm of performers such as Daniel Bryan, Primo and Dolph Ziggler, before finally moving into a more high-profile role as Raw General Manager. I said high-profile, not good. She began to win fans over with her “anti-Diva” persona, lambasting the “traditional” look of WWE’s women and bringing up real issues of how women are treated and presented within the WWE. This risky tactic (risky because she was, you know, insulting her employers) paid off big time and Lee was rewarded with 3 Divas Championships (the joint most ever) and a then-record reign of 296 days. This was all removed from history as soon as she left the company, but hey, it was fun while it lasted.
Lee wrestled just two matches at WrestleMania, but both were fairly significant. Ok, that’s a lie, the second was total trash. The first was the first and only time the Divas Championship was defended at WrestleMania; a Vickie Guerrero Invitational that involved every other available woman on the roster in a big, story-less mess that had the unenviable task of coming directly after Brock Lesnar beat The Streak. #GiveDivasAChance indeed. The second and final match in Lee’s Mania resume came the next year, in which she and Paige teamed up to defeat Brie Bella and her sister, the Divas Champion, Nikki. AJ would hang up her boots just a week later, meaning that this match was as pointless as it was dull. When you complain about the Women’s division nowadays, just remember, at least it isn’t this anymore.
10 10. NEVER WON: Bray Wyatt (0-2 at Mania)
This probably isn’t going to get any better for Bray, is it?
Bray Wyatt began life in the WWE as “The Army Tank With A Ferrari Engine” (yes, that was an actual nickname used by WWE), Husky Harris, a part of The Nexus faction that had so much to give, yet, was so cruelly mishandled. He re-debuted as Bray Wyatt, the creepy cult leader we all know and love, in 2013 and has since gone on to be involved with numerous high-profile wrestlers such as Kane, The Undertaker, John Cena, The Rock, Brock Lesnar and, most impressively of all, Ryback. A real who’s who there.
The current WWE Champion is 0-2 at Mania, but both loses have come against some pretty impressive opponents. Wyatt lost his Mania debut to John Cena, a man who has only been involved in two non-title WrestleMania matches ever (the other one against the freakin’ Rock, not too bad there, Bray) and he became the first man beaten by The Undertaker following the loss of his Streak, after taking numerous Tombstones at WrestleMania 31. With his current showdown with Randy Orton set to once again go against The Eater of Worlds, it’ll have to be another time when we take Bray off this list. Ah well, at least he hasn’t been verbally destroyed by a part-timer at WrestleMania yet - oh, right, never mind...
9 9. UNDEFEATED: Sable (3-0 at Mania)
Say what you want about Sable, the stats don’t lie. Actually, don’t say what you want about Sabel – I know what you lot are like. Disgusting.
Sable earned a lot of attention in the Attitude Era for her sexy figure, willingness to disrobe and backstage pull. Along with women like Jacqueline, she would be the very essence of how women were portrayed in Attitude Era WWE. Regardless of your opinion on that, however, Sable was treated very well when it came to title reigns, holding the Women’s title for 176 days in 1998/1999 and becoming one of the most popular women in WWE amongst a, umm, “certain demographic”. You know who you are.
Sable’s WrestleMania career began as one half of a mixed tag team match alongside then-husband Marc Mero. The pair successfully overcame The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust and Luna Vachon at Mania XIV in a pretty decent match, thanks in no small part ot Vachon, who was tasked with making the very green Sable look good which, to her credit, she did a good job of. The next year, Sable, this time as Women’s Champion, defended the title against Tori in a short, fairly pointless affair. This match would be Sable’s last Mania bout for five years, before she turned up again at Mania XX, teaming with Torrie Wilson to defeat Stacey Keibler and Miss Jackie in a Playboy Evening Gown match (because this was 2004, after all) to take her record to 3-0, the best winning record of any female competitor in WWE history. Yes, a woman who wrestled a grand total of less than twenty minutes and competed in two tag matches (one of which was a match with “Playboy” in the title) is, officially, the greatest female performer of all time. This is all I have to say, because I feel that I am already in very real danger of receiving an F5 very soon if I carry on writing.
8 8. NEVER WON: Vince McMahon (0-4 at Mania)
This just goes to show; even Big Vince knows when to lie down.
The fact that billionaire media personality and respected businessman, Vince McMahon, has competed four times at WrestleMania makes me very happy. Vince is, as we all know, completely crazy, both physically and mentally, as his 1999 Royal Rumble victory and six-day WWE Championship reign both attest to. And let’s not even start on his time as ECW Champion. However, despite all this, McMahon has never, in his long and illustrious career, booked himself to win at his own finest creation. That’s actually pretty astounding, which says a lot, really.
Continuing the madness, Vince’s first WrestleMania match came against his own son, Shane, at Mania X-Seven. A brutal No Holds Barred match saw Vince take a Coast To Coast, get kicked in the groin by his wife, Linda, and take the loss in this oddly-compelling match. His next battle was an equally bloody, equally oddly-compelling affair at Mania XIX, this time taking on Hulk freakin’ Hogan in a Street Fight. Once again, however, McMahon put the other guy over and left Seattle two matches down at Mania. He took a small hiatus from Mania, until 2006, when he battled Shawn Michaels in, you guessed it, an oddly-compelling Street Fight, which he lost after taking some pretty mental bumps, including a elbow drop from the top of a ladder. Oh, and he had a trash can over his head, too. Mental. Finally, McMahon fought Bret Hart at Mania XXVI in a match that was, unfortunately, just awful. Bret was frail, McMahon was 65-years-old (what?!?!) and the match just sort of collapsed around itself, with Vince eventually tapping to the Sharpshooter. Despite this one blemish, McMahon’s other three Mania matches have, somehow, been great and I can honestly say that Vince has one of the most consistent WrestleMania records of all time.
No, seriously, think about it. Shawn Michaels had a few matches with The Rockers that fell flat, Bret Hart fought Bob Backlund, John Cena and The Miz tanked. Even Undertaker has Giant Gonzalez on his record, for God’s sake. Few men can say they have fought in as many high-profile Mania matches and delivered, but, as crazy as this sounds, Vince is one of them. And you know what; I wouldn’t count the Chairman out of another Mania match just yet. He is, as we’ve found out, completely insane, and you know he wouldn’t be able to resist giving himself a massive Mania send-off. Just watch.
7 7. UNDEFEATED: Ax (3-0 at Mania)
Yes. Just Ax. I thought it was weird too.
Demolition were the hottest team going in the WWE in the late 80s/early 90s. Their feud with the likes of The Powers of Pain and The Hart Foundation allowed Ax, Smash and, later, Crush to demonstrate their in-ring energy and tough, hard-hitting style. They hold the record for most combined days as tag team champions (across all versions of the belt) in WWE, reigning for a combined total of 696 days with the straps. They would hold the record for longest single tag title reign too, but they made the stupid mistake of standing up for themselves and suing WWE. Foolish error, boys, foolish.
As a team, Ax and Smash are one of the most successful in WrestleMania history, being the only duo to leave Mania as tag champs for three consecutive years. The pairing first won the tag titles at WrestleMania IV from Strike Force (Rick Martel and Tito Santana), defending them the enxt year against The Warlord, The Barbarian and Mr. Fuji (don’t ask) in a handicap match and would win the belts for a third time at WrestleMania VI from The Colossal Connection (Andre The Giant and Haku), prompting Andre’s face turn in what would be The Giant’s final match. Ax would leave the group shortly after this, prompting Crush to take his place. This went about as well as trying to light a match in a swimming pool, as the team were jobbed out to Genichiro Tenryu and Koji Kitao in under five minutes at WrestleMania VII, thus ensuring that it would be only Ax’s undefeated record that remained intact. Dammit, Crush. This is why you deserved to be in Kronik!
6 6. NEVER WON: Jeff Hardy (0-5 at Mania)
Despite being involved in some of the show’s craziest moments, The Charismatic Enigma has never walked away a winner.
Jeff Hardy will go down as one of the most successful wrestlers of all time. His willingness to sacrifice his body for the purpose of entertainment earned him a cult following amongst wrestling fans that soon translated into seriosu success. He’s won about every title there is to win in WWE – including the WWE, World Heavyweight, Intercontinental, European, Hardcore, World and WWE Tag Team titles – and has performed in some truly phenomenal matches. This is before you take into account his title reigns in TNA and his role in reshaping the very foundations of the wrestling business, alongside his broken brother. Must. Resist. Urge. To. Say. Delete!
Arguably Hardy’s two most memorable matches at WrestleMania both ended in defeat. The Triangle Ladder match and TLC II at Manias 2000 and X-7 respectively revolutionised tag team wrestling and, alongside The Dudleys and Edge and Christian, Jeff and Matt shaped a generation of performers and set the standards for tag team wrestling to almost-unobtainable heights. Edge and Christian won both of these matches, so Jeff’s already at a disadvantage here. He lost at Mania X8, once again alongside Matt in a four-way tag match, before losing his two singles ventures in the form of a Money in the Bank ladder match at Mania 21 and a hardcore match vs his brother at Mania XXV. With a Mania return possibly on the cards, there is every chance Jeffrey will return to Mania in a winning capacity. Just don’t expect him to be called “Brother Nero”, no, that name has now been... nope, nope, not doing it. I’m not.
5 5. UNDEFEATED: Michael Cole (1-0 at Mania)
Oh, Jesus.
Michael Cole has become one of the most instantly unlikeable figures in wrestling over the past few years. A decent commentator back in the Attitude Era and a respectable anchor of Smackdown during the infancy of the brand split, things fell apart for Mikey when he was anointed the new lead announcer of Raw, thus essentially becoming a human Speak ‘N’ Spell for Vince McMahon. Vince puts the script out, Michael repeats the script and the crowd wish they could listen to literally anything else (including their own loved ones being brutally tortured) than Cole’s uninspired, unoriginal drivel. You could see him reading from the script when Shane jumped off the Cell! What?!
For all the stick I’ve just given Mike, I am at least thankful he isn’t still stuck in his annoying heel mode from around 2010-2012. God, this was dreadful; Cole would clutter up the commentary desk with his biased thoughts regarding the face wrestlers, take up valuable screen time trying to get heat from and crowd who already actually disliked him and his feud with Jerry Lawler. Hold crap, this feud. Not only did it involve Cole insulting Lawler’s deceased mother and referring to his “anal bleeding” (yep, really), Cole actually went over The King at WrestleMania XXVII. Yes, it was due to some chicanery from the Anonymous Raw GM (Lord, 2011 was not a good time to watch WWE), but the record books will forever say that Michael Cole, the human embodiment of the colour beige, is undefeated at WrestleMania and that he beat one of the greatest wrestlers of all time in Lawler. I wasn’t happy then, I’m not happy now and I never will be happy with this absolute nonsense. Moving on, before I punch someone.
4 4. NEVER WON: Dean Ambrose (0-2 in singles matches at Mania)
Dean Ambrose was, for a long time, perceived as the “lost cause” of the former Shield members. When the group disbanded, Roman Reigns was shoved into the world title picture like the metaphorical apple in the cooked pig of his popularity, whilst Seth Rollins was on the receiving end of a push, thanks to his Money in the Bank. As for Dean, well, he, well, he, umm, ummm... I got nothing. This all changed in 2016, however. Fresh off his rise to popularity in the build-up to WrestleMania 32, Ambrose got a huge, huge push when he won the Money in the Bank briefcase at the 2016, cashing it in that same night too unseat former foe, Seth Rollins, to become WWE Champion for the first time in his career; a move many thought the company would never do. Though his title reign was largely forgettable, his feud with AJ Styles (especially their TLC match) was excellent and his current reign as Intercontinental Champion has pretty good too. Good job, Dean, you didn’t flounder and die in the midcard. There’s a compliment in there somewhere, honest.
Including Dean on this list is a little bit cheeky, but there’s a point I wanted to make. In six-man tag action, Ambrose, alongside his former Shield buddies, is unbeaten, taking out the teams of Randy Orton, Big Show and Sheamus at Mania 29 and Kane and The New Age Outlaws at XXX. When it comes to singles action, however, well, Ambrose lacks behind his former brothers-in-arms, unfortunately. Whilst both Reigns and Rollins have both won the WWe Championship at Mania, Ambrose has lost both of his singles matches at The Show of Shows. He failed to capture the Intercontinental Championship at 31, taking a sickening bump through a ladder in the process, and ate a loss to Brock Lesnar at Mania 32 in a thoroughly unimpressive Street Fight. With The Lunatic Fringe set to defend his Intercontinental Championship at Mania 33, there’s every chance this stat could change, but I wouldn’t count on the company putting old Deany boy over just yet. They’ll never forget that Stone Cold Podcast, never.
3 3. UNDEFEATED: Virgil (2-0 at Mania)
Oh, sorry, that should be “Wrestling Superstar, Virgil”. My bad.
Before becoming the biggest meme in wrestling, Virgil was a staple of WWE broadcasting in the 80s and 90s. Despite the slightly dubious nature of his relationship with, umm, “employer”, Ted DiBiase, it did mean that Virgil was front and centre in some of wrestling’s biggest storylines at the time. DiBiase’s attempts to become WWE Champion at Mania IV, his almost-victory in the 1989 Royal Rumble and countless other top-level feuds always saw Virgil there, lurking in the background. You’d think with all that exposure, he’d at least have some savings. Guess not.
Virgil’s first Mania match came against his old, umm, “employer”, DiBiase, at Mania VII, which he won via countout. The following year, Virgil was once again victorious, this time as a part of a eight-man tag team match, pitting Virgil, alongside Big Bossman, Sgt Slaughter and Jim Duggan against the team of Repo Man, The Nasty Boys and The Mountie, united by their common interest... umm, umm, ummmmm... silly names? Sure, that must be it. Virgil even got the pin in this match, so he actually, like, properly won too. Good for you, Virgil. Now, get back to signing those autographs. Poor guy, I really shouldn’t bully him. But it’s just so fun.
2 2. NEVER WON: Goldust (0-9 at Mania)
Like my boy, Regal, Goldie definitely deserved better.
Dustin Runnels has been a part of the wrestling business pretty much his whole life. Son of legendary performer and booker, Dusty Rhodes, Runnels was born into the business and had no chance of ever escaping it. He’s been known as a few things in his time (Dustin Rhodes, Seven, Black Reign, that guy who somehow looks weirder without any face paint), but he is best known as The Bizarre One, Goldust. An on-again, off-again wrestler with the WWE, Goldie has racked up numerous title wins over his long career and is still, somehow, in amazing ring shape today, despite having the notable handicap of being partnered with R-Truth. I’m not even sorry. He is awful.
His first Mania appearance came against Roddy Piper at WrestleMania XII in the now-infamous Hollywood Backlot Brawl, a match that featured footage from the famous O.J. Simpson car chase spliced into it, because why the hell not, I suppose. The year after, Goldust would lose to Triple H in a fairly standard affair, before losing yet again the next year in a mixed tag team match, where he would team with Luna Vachon against Marc Mero and Sable (although we all know who the real loser out of those four was and it isn’t Mrs. Brock Lesnar). Goldust lost an unprecedented fourth year in a row at WrestleMania XV, failing to capture the Intercontinental Championship from Road Dogg in a match also involving Ken Shamrock and Val Venis. Presumably sick of losing, Goldust would take a two-year hiatus from WrestleMania, returning at X8 to lose a Hardcore title match after Spike Dudley interfered, pinning the champion, Maven, which, under 24/7 rules, made him the new champion. It would then be another 8 years before Goldust made another appearance at WrestleMania, getting dumped out of a Battle Royal at XXVI by Mike Knox (remember him) and he has since appeared in all three Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royals, failing to win any of them. So, coming in at a whopping 0-9, Goldust might just be, statistically, the worst performer in WrestleMania history. But, last time i checked, love wasn’t measured in wins and losses, so, for that reason, Goldust is still one of my faves. God bless you, you weirdo.
1 1. UNDEFEATED: Rob Van Dam (4-0 at Mania)
Before you ask, no, the pre-show does not count.
RVD remains one of the most popular wrestlers of all time and certainly one of the most under-utilised in WWE. His early days in ECW established him as a firm fan favourite and he became the breakout star of WWE’s Invasion Angle in 2002, but was sadly not pushed to the heights he deserved. In his time, however, he won numerous titles, including both the WWE and ECW Championship at the same time, the only man in history to do so. He also nearly killed Triple H in the first Elimination Chamber match by crushing his throat, which, depending on your position, will make you hate him or love him even more.
RVD’s polished Mania record is the best of any competitor since Taker’s Streak ended. His run of four wins began at WrestleMania x8, unseating my boy, William Regal, as Intercontinental Champion. At XX, he and Booker T defended their tag team titles successfully and then RVD became the second winner of the Money In The Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 22, in a match involving Ric Flair. Yes. Really. Van Dam’s final appearance at WrestleMania came the year after when he, Sabu, Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman defeated the so-called, “The New Breed” of ECW, Elijah Burke, Marcus Von Cor, Matt Striker and Kevin Thorn in a weird eight-man tag. Van Dam did lose a match on Sunday Night Heat as part of a tag team match, but this isn’t officially WrestleMania and I’d run out of people, so shut up. RVD is a truly talented performer and his Mania matches have usually been pretty spectacular, but it’s weird to think he’s had just one one-on-one match at WrestleMania. Ah well, that’s always a chance RVD could come back and have another incredible Mania match, but, let’s be honest, there’s probably something else Rob would rather be doing. Something green. Sorry, RVD, I just had to make that joke.