Tommy Dreamer Ranks The Worst WrestleManias In WWE History

It's WWE WrestleMania season — a time of great intrigue as pundits from around the industry attempt to predict how the results of this year's big event will shape whatever comes next. It also serves as a yearly reminder of past WrestleMania events, both good and bad. On "Busted Open Radio," Tommy Dreamer was asked to list some of his least favorite WrestleMania entries. The first show he listed? WrestleMania 36 in 2020, which Dreamer referred to as "COVID WrestleMania."

"It has nothing to do with the matches — [it] just didn't feel like a WrestleMania," Dreamer said. "The wrestling fans are everything."

Streaming just weeks after the entire world was placed into lockdown, WrestleMania 36 was pre-taped at the WWE Performance Center and served as the first two-night iteration of the event. There was no live audience in attendance, and the company hadn't yet moved to the "ThunderDome," where viewers could appear in the crowd virtually via webcam. As a result, it's not surprising to learn it's among Dreamer's least favorites.

Another event listed by Dreamer was WrestleMania 9 in 1993. That show ended with fan favorite Bret Hart losing the WWE Championship to Yokozuna through cheating, only for the babyface Hulk Hogan to appear. Hogan accepted a challenge laid out by Yokozuna's manager, Mr. Fuji, and Hogan promptly defeated Yokozuna for the title in a matter of seconds.

"It wasn't the best WrestleMania, and if I could get three visual images of that, it's the Double Doink, Bobby Heenan riding in backwards on a camel, and screwing the fans after Yoko and Bret," Dreamer said.

If there is one WrestleMania that Dreamer believes is worse than any of the others, it's WrestleMania 2. The second iteration of the show saw Vince McMahon attempt to out-do himself by hosting it across three different cities — Uniondale, New York, Rosemont, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California. The result was a disjointed mess.

"I remember watching [Roddy] Piper and Mr. T, and for the first time ever in my young life, I was like, 'Oh. This may not be real,'" Dreamer stated. "This isn't good. Again, you'll read down the card — nothing of merit."

Dreamer recalled the fans in New York revolting against the aforementioned Piper/Mr. T "boxing" match, and things weren't going much better in the other cities involved. While WrestleMania 9 had a card worthy of a house show, Dreamer doesn't believe that the second WrestleMania met even that low bar.

WrestleMania 2 isn't highly regarded among most wrestling fans, either. The show closed with a Steel Cage match between Hogan and King Kong Bundy, which ended with Hogan escaping the cage. Prior to that, very few of the matches presented were at the same level as the previous year's event. The company bounced back the following year with the legendary WrestleMania 3 at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan, but it seems likely the second event will go down in history as WWE's worst attempt.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.