Only a few men in history have had the privilege of main eventing the biggest show of the year, WrestleMania.
It's the greatest honour that the boss can place on someone’s shoulders. It not only shows that the company has faith in you, it shows that you have officially made it in the big leagues.
The entire WWE calendar is geared around this one day and the company needs its major players to rise to the occasion and create once in a lifetime memories for the WWE Universe, with their performances.
There have been 32 WrestleManias to date, with the 33rd edition of the event taking place on the 2nd of April, 2017.
It looks as though Goldberg and Brock Lesnar will be headlining the event as they fight for the Universal Championship. Funnily enough, neither of these two mega-stars are in the top 5 men to have main evented the show on the most occasions.
Here are the 5 wrestlers that have main evented WrestleMania the most times.
#5 Shawn Michaels (5)
This list wouldn't be valid without Mr WrestleMania himself. The heartbreak kid has been one of the best performers at the show of shows.
From creating an iconic moment with Razor Ramon at WrestleMania 10 to having the best Mania match ever with Taker at WrestleMania 27, Shawn Michaels has done it all at Mania and he's the one name synonymous with the event.
Also read: 5 shocking mid-carders who headlined WrestleMania
It's almost a shock to see the show-stopper not topping the list, but in reality, any match he's involved in has always been the main event, pretty much.
After years of constant back problems, the wrestling industry finally took its toll on Michaels and his career came to an end in 2011. If it weren't for those problems, I'm sure Mr WrestleMania would have headlined even more glorious spectacles.
#4 The Rock (5)
Despite becoming one of the biggest movie stars in the world, The Rock has still been able to main event WrestleMania on five separate occasions.
This can be credited to the star power of the Brahma Bull. The fact that he has not been a full-time member of the roster for close to 12 years but has still main evented several Manias in that time is incredible.
When it comes to WrestleMania records, all pale in comparison to that of The Rock's. The Great One has beaten John Cena, Hulk Hogan AND Stone Cold Steve Austin on the grandest stage of them all.
Only the chosen ones are allowed to possess such records and The Rock is certainly worthy of holding such an accolade. Every time he's stepped into the main event slot, he has delivered, and it should come as no surprise when he returns to that slot in future Manias to come.
#3 John Cena (5)
The face that runs the place has not seen a WrestleMania main event since WrestleMania 29 in 2013. For someone that has allegedly been 'shoved' down our throats, Cena has only main evented 5 out of 12 WrestleManias, so what's all the complaining about?
The man has only achieved 6 championship wins at the show of shows and has defended his belts twice.
As one of the greatest WWE Superstars in history, it's a travesty that Cena hasn't main evented more Manias in his illustrious career.
However, Cenation members can take solace in the fact that the 16-time world champion has been the one to carry the company all-year round for the past 13 years consecutively, without a doubt.
#2 Triple H (7)
Love him or hate him, The Game has been a mainstay in the WWE for over two decades. Triple H's name will forever be synonymous with the wrestling company, despite him wrestling his early years in WCW.
Thankfully, destiny would take control and the cerebral assassin would instead become a main event player in the WWE. Last year, Hunter main evented WrestleMania 32 at the age of 46 in front of 100,000 people.
This main event was Levesque's 7th WM main event of his career, taking him above some of the greats of the industry.
Triple H's place on this list will surprise many as he's never truly had a significant breakout moment at the event. Instead, he's used his Mania slots to help put over young talents like John Cena, Batista and Roman Reigns.
Kudos to The Game for achieving this feat, but people will still say his numerous main event slots have something to do with his close ties to the boss.
#1 Hulk Hogan (8)
The immortal Hulk Hogan will most likely go down as the greatest WWE Superstar in history. In the first 8 WrestleManias ever, Hogan main evented 7 of them, that's the definition of carrying a company.
Not only did the man take the company to unprecedented heights, he provided the foundation for wrestling to thrive on today. Some will say Stone Cold Steve Austin provided those platforms but if it weren't for the Hulkster flying the flag in the 80s, the Attitude Era would have never taken place.
It was the vitamins-eating wrestler that took the wrestling industry from a niche market to the mainstream realm. He was the one to cross over into the bright lights of Hollywood first and put the WWF on public television.
Stone Cold changed the perception of wrestling, Hulk Hogan was the one that made it a global phenomenon.
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