WWE WRESTLEMANIA LOGOS: the complete Anthology (Part 1)

I have been one of the craziest fans of WWE since I was 7 or 8. Wrestling was the first sport that I really liked watching. The entire idea of wrestling was great for me. Like other wrestling fans, I used to be on the edge of my seat when wrestlers like Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels and The undertaker were to apply their finishing maneuvers to their opponents. It is kind of funny thing to confess that I wanted to become a pro wrestler instead of a doctor, engineer or a pilot (like usually kids want to become).

Being a logo designer, hundreds of logos come to my sight on daily basis but only few catch the attention. WWE WrestleMania logo series is one of them. It has been 26 years since WrestleMania 1 came out and the show is still running wild and is one of the most successful sports entertainment events of all times. This year (2010) the most recent WrestleMania that held was WrestleMania 26. It was an instant classic like always, and the logo of WrestleMania was as great as the WrestleMania itself. So I decided to write a complete anthology of WM (WrestleMania) logos to take all of you wrestling fans back to your most memorable wrestling moments. This series will be divided into many parts so we can talk about each WrestleMania logo meticulously. So, here we go.

THE BACKDROP:

WrestleMania is a pro wrestling pay-per-view event, produced once a year in late March or early April by World wrestling entertainment (WWE). It is considered the greatest event of WWE, as it is the most thriving and longest-running professional wrestling event in the world. WrestleMania is also known as;

"The Granddaddy of Them All"
"The Grandest Stage of Them All" and,
"The Showcase of the Immortals”

First WrestleMania came out in 1985 which was held in Madison Square Garden in New York City (the 10th and the 20th editions were also held there), and, as of 2010, 26 editions have been held uninterruptedly since then, with WrestleMania 27 to be held in 2011.

Now, the WrestleMania logos:

WrestleMania I: March 31, 1985 – Held in New York City at Madison Square Garden: In this very first WrestleMania logo, the designer came up with the color shades of blue, Golden and orange to show the beginning of a new event called the WrestleMania. The extended lines which come out from “W” and “M” cover the WrestleMania letters while “R” extends and connects to “S” in a very good manner. As a finisher, the addition of WWF trademark on top of the WM logo.

WrestleMania II: April 7, 1986 - Held in Los Angeles at Los Angeles Sports Arena: this one comes out to be the replica of WM 1 logo just with the addition of number “2” in the background in the red glow effect to depict that it’s the logo of WM 2. However the colors of the type fonts are dull than the first one.

WrestleMania III: March 29, 1987 - Held in Pontiac, Michigan at the Pontiac Silverdome: Another replica of the first and second logos of WM. However, this time there was a major change in the logo which wasn’t noticed by many people. It was the number (3). The appended number with the WM logo which represents the series number of WM was changed this time from usual numerals to Roman numerals. This Roman number format is being used till now.

Unfortunately, WM 4, 5 and 6 logos came out as just the replica of the previous ones without any modifications which really bothered me as every WM event is an instant classic and therefore every WM logo should be unique too. The actual change came up with the 9th logo of WM (I will discuss the 9th logo and the rest of the WM logos in the coming parts of this article.)

WrestleMania IV: March 27, 1988 - Held in Atlantic City at Trump Plaza


WrestleMania V: April 2, 1989 - Held again in Atlantic City at Trump Plaza


WrestleMania VI: April 1, 1990 - Held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at the SkyDome

WrestleMania VII: March 24, 1991 - Held in Los Angeles at the Los Angeles Sports Arena: This logo was a bit changed as the designer tilted the same WM logo which was being used by WWE. Nevertheless, a change is a change.



WrestleMania VIII: April 5, 1992 - Held in Indianapolis at the Hoosier Dome: A replica of WM 7 logo.

Till the 8th logo, most of the logos were lookalikes, but as the 9th logo of WM came, the entire WM logo trend got changed. You will discover those changes in the coming article. So, stay tuned and keep me prompted with your precious comments.
To be continued…