Ringside Review: Ticket prices for WrestleMania released
Madison Square Garden released its pricing scheme for the March 14, 2004 WrestleMania XX.
You can get in the arena for $54.50, but you will have to stand. Seats start at $75, and go up to $204.50 in the NBA basketball seats. Floor seats start out at $500, and go up to $754.50 for “The Platinum Ringside Seats.”
The tickets are almost twice what they were just two years ago! Why? WrestleMania X-8 was held at the 66,000-seat Toronto SkyDome. MSG, “The World’s Most Famous Arena,” has just 22,000 seats.
• I like Top 10 lists, so when I read TSN.ca’s top 10 WWE feuds, I knew you would like this list, too.
10. Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart: The early ’90s saw Bret Hart become a star and a young Austin trying to.
After months of Hart winning match after match over Steve, they meet at WrestleMania. The bout became a classic, Hart won but “Stone Cold” became a star.
9. Hulk Hogan vs. Roddy Piper: The battle between Hogan and Piper was like the Cold War. There was plenty of bad blood, lots of hype — but never any payoff.
During the ’80s, Hogan and Piper fought more on the cartoon “Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n Wrestling” than they did in the ring.
8. Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage: “She was mine before she was yours,” Ric Flair’s line about Miss Elizabeth to Savage, started one of the best feuds of all time. The battle in the Hoosier Dome was a classic.
7. Undertaker vs. Mankind: These two superstars had chemistry right from the start.
Boiler Room brawls, no disqualification bouts, and of course the Hell in a Cell match, which made J.R., too. His famous “all hell could break loose” line was first said about the Undertaker vs. Mankind matchup.
6. Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant: By the time 1987 rolled around, Hogan had annihilated everyone in his path. Then Andre wanted a title shot.
By the time 93,000 people packed the Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan, the entire world couldn’t wait to see what would happen.
5. Hogan vs. Savage: Hulk and Randy had become the “Mega-powers,” but the goodwill would only last for so long.
Despite being the world champ, Savage was being overshadowed by Hulkamania. Jealousy began to brew, Miss Elizabeth was getting too close to Hogan, and the feud would become the main event at WrestleMania V.
4. Hogan vs. Paul Orndorff: It’s a classic tale in the world of wrestling — two guys become friends, one is hugely popular, while the other isn’t quite as successful. They become enemies, and battle for months.
Paul sold Hogan as an indestructible force better than anyone.
3. The Rock vs. Stone Cold: When Austin and The Rock get together, something special happens.
Their feud started when both were rising stars, battling over the Intercontinental belt. These two couldn’t be more different, Austin was an average guy, drinking beer and not caring what the boss said. He wore blue jeans and swore.
Rock was his polar opposite. He had style, he saw himself as a superstar and far too good for the people.
WrestleMania 17, deep in the heart of Texas, Austin had tremendous support. But so did The Rock. After he beat the pulp out of The Rock with a chair and got the three-count, “Stone Cold” was No. 1 in the WWE.
2. Degeneration X vs. The Hart Foundation: Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart are the two main participants, but the two groups have a lot of superstars.
The final match is the famous “Bret screw-job,” but the feud carried over to the WCW/WWE feud.
1. Vince McMahon vs. Steve Austin: The top feud saved one company, and was the beginning of the end for another.
It captured the imagination of wrestling fans everywhere, playing upon their disdain for authority. In the process it created an entirely unique hero, and a hated heel.
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