"Welcome to Wrestlemania!" - Vince McMahon

"I've been to the Superbowl, I've been to the World Series, I've even been to the Rolling Stones. But there's one event that surpasses them all - and that's Wrestlemania!" - Jesse Ventura

"We welcome you to the biggest sportz entertainment spectacular of all time. We welcome you to Wrestlemania!" - Jim Ross

"What a Wrestlemania! They'll be talking about this Wrestlemania for years and years to come!" - Bobby Heenan

"Are you ready for a wild ride?" "I'm ready for Wrestlemania!" - Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

Our hosts this evening are Jerry "The King" Lawler, and Michael Cole. Over the next hour, we're going to see Wrestlemania's greatest matches. Lawler says the singing of America The Beautiful is just one of the great moments of the past 17 years, so here we go. (By the way - I can't for the life of me remember who did it last year. My brother suspects Lillian, but he's not 100% sure. Can anyone out there set me straight? I don't have a copy of Wrestlemania X-7… Shame on me!)

Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Little Richard, Willie Nelson (that darn hippie), Boyz II Men, and back to Aretha sing America The Beautiful through the magic of editing!

Sgt. Slaughter wants to share a few words. "Wrestlemania III. Just incredible. 93,000 people at the Pontiac Silverdome. Hulkamania was running wild. The 8th wonder of the world, Andre The Giant. We in the back, all the talent and the wrestlers, we just, we were in awe. And the place went crazy, I mean, you couldn't even hear it was so loud."

So back to Wrestlemania III we go! Andre congratulates Hulk Hogan upon his winning the World Title from the Sheik back in 1984. In 1987, Hulk Hogan was given a trophy to commemorate his three years as champ. Andre's response was "3 years is a long time" and left during the ceremony. A week later, with Bobby Heenan by his side, Andre challenges Hulk Hogan for a match at Wrestlemania with the belt on the line. Just to show how serious he is - he rips the cross off the chest of Hogan. Piper demands an answer from Hogan, who responds with a loud YES!

On to the match. Hogan tries his damnedest to slam Andre - and winds up with the lug on top of him, in a controversial two count. (Heenan whined later it was a three count.) Hogan continued the fight trying everything, including the idiotic idea of attempting to piledrive Andre on the floor. Finally when things looked their worst - Hogan managed a clothesline that took Andre off his feet. When Andre got back up, Hogan was waiting and slammed the big man, followed by a legdrop for the pin and immortality.

Wrestlemania VI - Hulk Hogan vs. The Ultimate Warrior. Hogan suffers the first clean loss of his career, and one of the only ones I can think of. Piper later knocked him off with a sleeper, and Goldberg's was fairly clean aside from some n.W.o. interference that really went nowhere. If you can think of any more, please pass them along and I'll give you credit in my Excess report this Saturday.

TOP ATTENDANCES

3) Wrestlemania VI (Skydome) - 67,678
2) Wrestlemania XVII (Astrodome) - 67,925
1) Wrestlemania III (Pontiac Silverdome) - 93,173

Here's Triple H. "Wrestlemania 12 was a huge event for me, it was my first Wrestlemania. And it was a huge card, and at the top of that card was Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, the WWF Championship. Shawn and Bret went out there and did like I said, what few people could do. And for 60 minutes, they poured it all out there, they put their heart and souls on the line. You know, you had two of the greatest superstars, two of the greatest at that time, two of the greatest of all time, you know, doin' what very few people could do. A lot of guys don't realize what an iron man is. And those guys not only made people watch, but they took people on an emotional rollercoaster, and I don't think anyone who watched that match will ever forget it."

This match is NOT for everyone. If you're a fan of today's style, this match is going to bore you to tears as it's a very mat based, technical clinic, despite what highlight packages will show. Technically, it's solid, but the lack of pinfalls definitely hurts the match. Bret jobs cleanly to a couple of Sweet Chin Music's in overtime. This was supposed to culminate in Bret regaining the belt from Shawn at Wrestlemania 13, but Shawn suddenly came down with an "injury" prior to Wrestlemania, leaving him unable to defend against Bret.

Wrestlemania 14 - Gennifer Flowers interviews The Rock in one of the most hilarious segments ever to air on a Wrestlemania. The show is worth picking up based on this interview alone.

BEST CELEBRITY MOMENTS

5) Liberace dances with the Rockettes. (Wrestlemania I)
4) Morton Downey Jr. blows cigarette smoke in Roddy Piper's face repeatedly. Piper puts him out with a fire extinguisher. (Wrestlemania V)
3) Bob Uecker interviews Andre The Giant prior to his match with Hulk Hogan, ending with Uecker getting strangled by the big man. (Wrestlemania IV)
2) Lawrence Taylor main events Wrestlemania and pins Bam Bam Bigelow. (Wrestlemania XI)
1) Pete Rose starts to berate the Boston crowd, taking all sorts of cheap shots at their sports teams. Kane comes out and tombstones him, starting a tradition. (Wrestlemania XIV)

Edge wants a chance to speak. "Wrestlemania is a dream come true. It's the Superbowl of what we do. It's always been a dream of mine to go to a Wrestlemania and compete. I grew up watching them. When you hear Wrestlemania and watch Wrestlemania's, there's certain names that are synonymous with it, and one of those guys is The Undertaker. There's a reason he's synonymous with Wrestlemania, because he's one of the men that have set the standard in this industry for years, upon years, upon years. He's a guy that you must respect, and he shows it at Wrestlemania."

Wrestlemania 7, Taker defeats Jimmy Snuka. Wrestlemania 8, Jake Roberts is the victim. Wrestlemania 9, the WORST MATCH IN THE HISTORY OF OUR SPORT AIRS with Taker vs. Giant Gonzalez. Wrestlemania 11 sees him defeat King Kong Bundy. Diesel goes down at Wrestlemania 12. Wrestlemania 13 is his only Wrestlemania with the World Title belt - when he defeats Sid. Wrestlemania 14 is the start of his never ending feud with Kane. The Hell In A Cell is brought into play at Wrestlemania 15, where he easily takes out the Bossman. Then in his best Wrestlemania match - he defeats HHH last year at Wrestlemania 17.

Here's the man himself! "Wrestlemania has been dubbed the grand daddy of them all. And I guess probably a truer name has never been given to an event. Because when it comes to sportz entertainment, Wrestlemania, man that's what it's all about. And to be invited, to be on the card at Wrestlemania, it doesn't get any higher. To main event Wrestlemania, it doesn't get any better than that. It makes all the bumps, it makes all the broken bones, it makes all the bruises - it makes them all worth it. Because you know you're going to be highlighted on the grand daddy, the biggest, baddest event on the year. 9-0 for me. Never been defeated, never will be defeated. Wrestlemania is a time to kick ass, or have your ass kicked, and I don't like having my ass kicked. So I'm gonna put it out there one more time, and let the legend continue.

Career vs. Career is what it's all about at Wrestlemania VII. Randy Savage and The Ultimate Warrior put it all on the line. Savage takes the loss - but re-unites with Liz, making him the biggest face in the company in one swift move. They'd get married at SummerSlam, and he'd be back by Survivor Series as an active competitor. Strangely enough, The Ultimate Warrior up and disappeared - only to be the one making his big return at Wrestlemania VIII.

Wrestlemania 2000 - Jeff Hardy acts like a retard and dives through a table with Bubba Ray Dudley on it, rather than spend his time climbing after the belt. Damn good match - my favorite of all the TLC matches that followed after that one. Edge and Christian claim their first WWF World Tag-Team Titles.

Chris Jericho, clad in a Team Canada jersey wants his chance to speak. Like the WWF, I'm not gonna get behind him either and I'm not gonna transcribe him. If you want the real reason, it's because he talks too damn fast for my liking. Basically, his favorite match is Steamboat vs. Savage from Wrestlemania III.

The setup to this was easy enough. Savage crushed the throat of Ricky Steamboat - and Steamboat wanted a chance at revenge. Savage also had a title, so it was put on the line. After a ton of nearfalls, Ricky Steamboat small packaged Savage in the middle of the ring to claim the Intercontinental Title.

Jim Ross' first Wrestlemania was Wrestlemania IX. Is THAT why it sucked?

Last year, we had a Gimmick Battle Royal. AWESOME idea by the WWF, and one of the biggest moments of the year for me personally. Bobby Heenan and Gene Okerlund called the action - and The Iron Sheik won.

FANTASTIC FINISHES

5) The Ultimate Warrior returns to chase off Sid and Papa Shango, and re-unites with Hulk Hogan. (Wrestlemania VIII)
4) Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon have a ladder match. Razor shoves Shawn off to the top of the ladder, and claims the IC Title. (Wrestlemania X)
3) The finals of a tournament to crown a new WWF Champion - Randy Savage defeats Ted DiBiase with the help of Hulk Hogan. (Wrestlemania III)
2) Tables and ladders - Edge and Christian shove Matt Hardy off the top of their fort, to claim their first titles. (Wrestlemania XVI)
1) Yokozuna defeats Bret Hart to win the WWF Title. Hulk Hogan protests, and is offered a title shot. 10 seconds later, following a clothesline and legdrop, Hogan claims the belt for his 5th and final time. (Wrestlemania IX)

Hey, it's my Olympic hero! "Well Wrestlemania to me is like the Olympics of sportz entertainment. The one that I remember most is Wrestlemania 14 with Mike Tyson and Shawn Michaels. I remember watching it, and I really didn't understand professional wrestling at the time, you know sportz entertainment. But watching all the hype that was brought into that Wrestlemania, I knew that sportz entertainment and Wrestlemania in general were so big, I mean, bigger than anything I've ever seen, that I wanted to be a part of it."

Vince McMahon holds a press conference to announce the special ring enforcer for the Shawn Michaels / Steve Austin matchup is Mike Tyson. The media eats it up. Austin and Tyson get into a shoving match on a later RAW. Then Shawn tells him off - leading to a "match" where Shawn pulls off Tyson's t-shirt revealing a D-X shirt! At Wrestlemania, Tyson counts the pinfall for Steve Austin. Michaels is PISSED, and takes a shot at Tyson, so Tyson takes him out with one shot to the head - revealing he was 3:16 all along.

Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole are back at the control center to wrap things up. Make sure to watch Wrestlemania 18 this weekend.

A video package, backed by Drowning Pool's "Tear Away" closes out the show, showing the top highlights from Wrestlemania's past.