With the 35th WrestleMania just around the corner, talk of streaks and records at the Grandest Stage of Them All comes up on occasion. Even in sports entertainment, fans love statistics. While win rates at one event each year don’t matter in the long run, they give us some historical context as to who was on top and who led the company at WWE’s season finale. Let’s break down the numbers. (all statistics courtesy of Internet Wrestling Database)
Let’s get the big one out of the way first: the best winning percentage — as well as most matches, most matches won, and longest winning streak — belongs to The Undertaker. With a record of 24 wins and 2 losses, his win percentage is 92.3%. For anyone with five or more matches at Mania, Taker is the gold standard (sorry, Shelton). Fun fact: RVD has a 4-0 record at Mania, while Sable, Road Warrior Animal, and Bill Eadie (Demolition Ax) have 3-0 records. Chyna, Mr. T., Terry Funk, and Virgil boast 2-0 records while 41 superstars are all 1-0*.
After ‘Taker, the next highest win percentage with five or more matches is shared by three wrestlers, two of whom are active and have a chance to add to their legacy on Sunday. Big Boss Man, Daniel Bryan, and Seth Rollins are all 5-1 at WrestleMania, for an 83.3% win percentage.
Suprisingly, some of the biggest names in wrestling have a mid-range or even an underwater win percentage. After The Undertaker, Triple H has had the most matches at Mania, but his record is 9-13 or 40.9%. Mr. WrestleMania himself, Shawn Michaels, fared even worse, posting a 6-11 record for a 35.5% win percentage. At the bottom of our list are Goldust and R-Truth who, despite having a combined 13 matches at Mania, have not posted a single win.
Out of the 401 men, women, and one child, who have participated in the first 34 WrestleManias, most had their moments and were gone before we knew it. Others have appeared year after year, coming back to entertain even long after their glory days were behind them. This Sunday we will certainly say goodbye to another legend as Kurt Angle (4-5) wrestles his final WWE match against Baron Corbin (technically 1-0). With a win, Angle can get to .500 at Mania and become one of fewer than 20 men who have competed in at least 10 WrestleManias. Keep an eye on Bryan and Rollins this year. With eight more wins in a row, both have the chance to beat Taker’s win percentage. Or, maybe we’ll see a first-timer start a streak of their own. Only time (and Vince McMahon’s whims) will tell.
*Akebono, Akio Sato, Alundra Blayze, Arn Anderson, Bayley, Braun Strowman, Butterbean, Dory Funk, Jr., Dusty Rhodes, Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Genichiro Tenryu, Kerry von Erich, Koji Kitao, Lawrence Taylor, Little Beaver, Marc Mero, Maria Menunos, Michael Cole, Mike Kirchner, Nicholas, Snooki, Paige, Pat Tanaka, Rick Steiner, Sir Mo, Ronda Rousey, Sabu, Sapphire, Scott Steiner, Terri Runnels, Terry Taylor, The Boogeyman, The Fabulous Moolah, The Haiti Kid, The Sandman, The Tonga Kid, Tom Zenk, Tommy Dreamer, Tully Blanchard, Vicki Guerrero, and Wendi Richter
Join the AIPT Patreon
Want to take our relationship to the next level? Become a patron today to gain access to exclusive perks, such as:
- ❌ Remove all ads on the website
- 💬 Join our Discord community, where we chat about the latest news and releases from everything we cover on AIPT
- 📗 Access to our monthly book club
- 📦 Get a physical trade paperback shipped to you every month
- 💥 And more!
You must be logged in to post a comment.