Top 10 WrestleMania celebrities: No. 8
LAWRENCE TAYLOR
Taylor, considered of the greatest NFL players of all time, stepped into the squared circle to face Bam Bam Bigelow in the main event of WrestleMania XI in1995.
The match was set up by an angle at the Royal Rumble a couple months earlier. After Bigelow was pinned by The 1-2-3 Kid in a tag team match that pitted Bigelow and Tatanka against The Kid and Bob Holly, Taylor – who was seated at ringside – heckled “The Beast From The East.” Bigelow responded by delivering a hard shove to “LT.”
Taylor – who entered the ring at WrestleMania to Salt-n-Pepa performing “Whattaman” – had several NFL stars in his corner to combat any outside interference by Ted DiBiase’s Million Dollar Corporation, a heel group that Bigelow was a member of.
While the match wasn’t a five-star classic, it was entertaining and better than most expected. The athletic Taylor performed well for a novice and Bigelow did a good job of carrying him. Taylor scored the victory after hitting a flying forearm off the middle rope.
Taylor’s appearance at the event got WWE a lot of mainstream coverage, but the wrestling business was in a down cycle and the buy rate ended up being a disappointment.
I will count down the Top 10 WrestleMania celebrities every day through April 3.
To view the entire list, click here.
Associated press photo
Categories: Top 10 WrestleMania celebrities
Comments
I'm still amazed that this was the main event of that year's Wrestlemania. At least Bam Bam could say that he headlined Wrestlemania once.
Posted by: loco | March 27, 2011 11:30 PM
One of the things I remembered was Raw the night after the angle. It was the first time I remember Vince breaking kayfabe on TV. It was part of the angle, but Vince taped a message saying he was the owner of the WWF, and issued an apology for "Scott" Bigelow's actions. That was a sign for what was coming in the "attitude" era.
Posted by: Dave | March 28, 2011 4:01 AM
WHy not rank wrestlemanias?
RESPONSE FROM KE: Maybe next year.
Posted by: TIm | March 28, 2011 6:36 AM