411 Ranks The WrestleManias: #1 – WrestleMania 17

This is it. The card that everyone tends to praise. Widely regarded as the best WrestleMania of all time, and by some the best wrestling PPV of all time. It was Rock vs. Austin II, Angle vs. Benoit, all of the titles but one on the line, Vince vs. Shane and the beginning of the WWF vs. WCW War, TLC and Taker vs. HHH all wrapped up into one tight little WrestleMania package. You have heard the hype, it ended up as #1 on our countdown; let’s break it down…

* WWF IC Title: Chris Jericho defeated William Regal @ 6:45 via pin
* The APA and Tazz defeated the Right to Censor @ 5:00 via pin
* Hardcore Title: Kane defeated The Big Show and Raven to become the NEW Hardcore Champion @ 9:30 via pin
* WWF European Title: Eddie Guerrero defeated Test @ 8:35 via pin
* Kurt Angle defeated Chris Benoit @ 14:21 via pin
* Women’s Title: Chyna defeated Ivory to become the NEW Women’s Champion @ 2:40 via pin
* Shane McMahon defeated Vince McMahon @ 14:11 via pin
* Tag Team Titles: TLC: Edge and Christian defeated The Dudleyz and The Hardyz to become the NEW World Tag Team Champions @ 15:51
* The Iron Sheik won the Gimmick Battle Royal @ 3:10
* The Undertaker defeated HHH @ 18:27 via pin
* WWF World Title: Steve Austin defeated the Rock © @ 28:09 via pin to become the NEW Champion

Len Archibald
The Best Thing on the Show And Why: The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin’s second WrestleMania bout was western mainstream professional wrestling reaching its apex; art and spectacle fused seamlessly as The Rock showed the world why he was the WWF Champion and hottest face at the time, while Steve Austin displayed why he was the defining face of the Attitude Era. They pulled out psychology, callbacks to not only the feud’s history, but also history of their actual personas and a pace that blew the roof off the Astrodome. The story of Steve Austin doing everything he could to re-ascend to the top of the mountain he was once king of and the lengths he would go was a Shakespearean tragedy. Everything from Jim Ross and Paul Heyman on commentary, the red-hot Houston crowd (biggest ovation ever for Austin’s entrance?) and the surreal feeling of WCW and ECW falling under the WWF umbrella less than a week before the match made for an atmosphere that fans may never experience again. It was an epic OTT spectacle that told an amazing story in its own right, and with the final images of Vince McMahon and Austin shaking hands over a physically assaulted Rock, we reached the absolute height of pro wrestling’s mainstream credibility. Things have not been anywhere even close to the fever pitch witnessed here.

The Worst Thing on the Show And Why: WrestleMania X-7 was a near perfect show, and really boasted something for everyone. If there was a “worst” moment or match on the show, it may be the fact that for some reason, the WWF did not have the foresight to shell out cash to have Limp Bizkit perform live for The Undertaker when “Rollin'” was his entrance music. Yes, Motorhead would obliterate LB in a “Battle of the Bands” atmosphere, but it would have just added to the amazing spectacle.

Show MVP And Why: The Rock/Steve Austin/Vince McMahon – it was really hard to pick from one of the three main characters that surrounded the final match of WM X-7 and each one’s participation in the show is what brought X-7 from awesome show to “best of all time” status. The Rock and Steve Austin brought an energy and urgency to every move and expression during their match that is rare (and not in as we do not see it anymore, but rare in a true “WrestleMania Moment” sense), while Vince McMahon served as not only the promoter and face of WWF’s apex, but as a performer, took a man-sized beating from Shane McMahon in an awesome street fight AND was the main catalyst of the evening’s final moments. X-7 would not have been the success it was if either one of these were not involved and each were equally important.

Your Thoughts on The Show: WrestleMania X-7 is considered by many – fans and performers alike – as the greatest pro wrestling pay-per-view of all time. One will not get an argument from me; I put my vote in for XIX, but that is more a personal preference than anything else. Fact of the matter is that X-7 was STACKED from top to bottom. You want an event that has one awesome and wholly memorable moment? Here’s a list of goodness from X-7 that people still remember: Big Show tossing Raven through a glass window; KANE driving a golf cart; Eddie Guererro doing his best to keep a match together when Test gets hung up on the ropes; PERRY SATURN’S HAT; Angle and Benoit making pure wrestling fans orgasm; Chyna DESTROYING Ivory; Trish Stratus’ face turn on Vince; Linda McMahon’s SLOW rise from a wheelchair and kicking Vince in the balls; Shane unveiling the VAN TERMINATOR; literally everything about TLC II, specifically Edge spearing Jeff Hardy off a ladder in mid-air; Bobby Heenan and Mean Gene’s commentary during the Gimmick Battle Royal; F’n MOTORHEAD playing Triple H to the ring; The Undertaker’s chokeslam on Triple H from a scaffold that made it look like Taker committed murder…By this point, the fans should have been exhausted for Rock/Austin II, but we all know how that played out. This was just the most beautiful execution of controlled anarchy ever assembled.

Alex Crowder
The Best Thing on the Show And Why: No Disqualification WWF World Championship: Stone Cold vs. The Rock(c). The unthinkable happens and wraps up the overbooked attitude era nicely with Vince’s turn. The Rock was the ultimate baby face throughout the match despite not being the crowd’s favorite. This was Austin’s shining moment for me despite the ending. Austin was awesome in this match proving that he needed to beat The Rock more than anything. Austin would sell his soul for the WWF Championship and it was glorious.

The Worst Thing on the Show And Why: Women’s Title: Chyna vs. Ivory(c). Interestingly enough, this match is not bad by any stretch of the imagination. The match is booked very believably, and if it weren’t for the fact, it was a short squash it wouldn’t be the worst match on the show. The match doesn’t even go 3 minutes, but believing that Ivory has any chance against Chyna does make it a mismatch. Ivory wasn’t a believable threat to Chyna in no fault of her own.

Show MVP And Why: Stone Cold Steve Austin. His expressions throughout the main event proved why he was the best wrestler ever in my opinion. No other wrestler constantly shows the expressions Austin does. Austin has the perfect expression of desperation going to The Million Dollar Dream, the perfect sadistic smirk when destroying The Rock with a chair. The Rock keeps coming back no matter how many times he is put down.

Your Thoughts on The Show: The general consensus is that this is the best WrestleMania of all-time. When I ranked every WrestleMania this was number one. WrestleMania X-7 is great because there are no duds on this card. The matches that probably would have sucked like Chyna vs. Ivory or APA/Tazz vs. The Right to Censor were short. The IC, Hardcore, and European title matches are all fantastic midcard matches. The Hardcore title match is a fun car crash type match and probably the highlight of Raven’s WWE career (Heat notwithstanding). The IC Title match between Chris Jericho and William Regal goes at a blistering pace and is one of the last few meaningful IC Title matches at WrestleMania. The European Title match would be one of the last at WrestleMania and is the defining moment of Test’s career. Eddie Guerrero and Test put on a good midcard match that is easy to sit through like the other midcard title matches. Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit is always great. They are two of the best going at it on the biggest stage. What else can I say? The McMahons put on a great spotfest. TLC II is one of the best ladder matches and best tag team matches ever. The overbooked nature of TLC II actually compliments it instead of hurting it. It was great to see everyone out there putting on a show of can you top this. Everyone remembers the Swanton and Spear. The gimmick battle royal is concise and fun. The Undertaker and Triple H’s street fight in my opinion is the best match they ever had together. I did not like the newer Triple H and Undertaker WrestleMania matches as well as everyone else. The first in my opinion cannot be topped. Steve Austin and The Rock put on a five star clinic with the right balance between overbooking and wrestling. This match ends an era in professional wrestling, what more can you ask for? This card top to bottom is easy to watch and only a few wrestling cards can say that. The card is both entertaining and great at the same time without a bad match.

Michael Weyer
The Best Thing on the Show And Why: Hardy Boyz vs Dudley Boyz vs Edge & Christian, TLC II for the WWF Tag Team Titles—It’s the culmination of one of the greatest tag team periods WWF has ever had. Three teams who knew each other inside and out determined to give the fans a glorious show and damn if they didn’t succeed. Much was familiar: The massive brawling, Con-chair-toes, What’s Up and then 68,000 people yelling “GET THE TABLES!” But it got better the additions of Spike, Rhyno and Lita all running in to add to the chaos. Spike hitting a Dudley Drop on Christian through a table. Lita hitting a rana on Rhyno who then got hit with a chair, Lita then eating a 3D. A brutal moment where Matt and Bubba were shoved off a ladder onto a stack of tables. Jeff Hardy making you fear for his life with a swanton bomb off a ladder onto a table with Rhyno and Spike. The now-priceless moment where Jeff is hanging from the cables holding the belts and Edge hits him with a spear over the ring to bring them down. It was just stunning, spots that had you gasping and shaking watching, a wild spectacle finally ending with Christian getting help from Rhyno to grab the belts and give him and Edge the match and the titles. Still a spotfest for the ages, a stunning display that helped pushed them all (especially Edge) and calling it the best match of this show means a hell of a lot.

The Worst Thing on the Show And Why: Chyna vs Ivory, Women’s Title—–To be fair, calling a match on this PPV the “worst” isn’t as huge an insult. This was nothing more than a squash as Chyna completely manhandled Ivory with slams and a power bomb to regain the Women’s title. Chyna would end up leaving the company a month later without ever dropping the belt so this was her big farewell. Not bad but forgettable but still just a footnote to an otherwise amazing program.

Show MVP And Why: Vince McMahon. Say what you will about Vince McMahon but when it comes to big stuff involving his on-screen character, he makes sure the fans get their money’s worth. He proved that with his street fight with Shane, the two going at it in a wild brawl with terrific shots that worked on so many brilliant levels. You had Trish and Stephanie fighting outside the ring, Shane doing wild moves and the beautiful ending as a “paralyzed” Linda rises up to kick Vince in the crotch, referee Mick Foley beats Vince down and then Shane does a Van-Daminator better than RVD could to smash a garbage can into Vince’s face. A wonderful war to make fans happy to see Vince destroyed like that. But then he came back in the main event, handing a chair for Austin to use to beat the Rock and then shake his hand so suddenly, Vince ends up the winner by getting his mortal enemy on his side. Playing his evil persona to the hilt, Vince used how everyone hates him to full effect to lose but win in the same night, a feat only he could pull off.

Your Thoughts on The Show: Looks, it’s Mania X-7. It’s the show most cite among the top two or three PPV’s of all time. Jericho/Regal, the Hardcore title match and Guerrero/Test are better than they might sound. Benoit and Angle put on a true technical classic in every way. HHH and the Undertaker have a brutal war that, in my mind, is far better than their later Mania clashes with wild spots that both pull off. The Gimmick Battle Royal was goofy fun while TLC and the street fight were absolute classics of their own types. And the main event as Austin does the unthinkable to beat the Rock for the title. It was the end of the Attitude Era but holy crap, did it go out with one big beautiful bang that still makes you love this business watching it today.

Scott Rutherford
The Best Thing on the Show And Why: TLC2 [*****] This match still holds up. Great spots and just tremendous effort from everyone involved. Not hard to see why Edge is retired with neck problems and the Hardy’s needed painkillers to get the through the days after watching matches like this. What’s so great about this match is that they manage to build some logic and storytelling in which is so hard to do in gimmick matches.

The Worst Thing on the Show And Why: Ivory vs. Chyna [DUD]Talk about slim pickings! I will say the Woman’s Title Match beats out the Gimmick Battle Royal and funnily enough, those are really the only two matches that sucked. The battle royal gets a pass however because it was never meant to be anything but a nostalgic step back in time. The woman’s match just plain sucked and was nothing but and ego stroke for Chyna the he-beast.

Show MVP And Why: I’m going to tie and say Steve Austin and The Rock. The match they gave us was awesome and the pressure to perform would have been massive in front that crowd and with the biggest PPV audience ever watching at home (at the time).

Your Thoughts on The Show: Best PPV ever? Most likely! While you can quibble over this and GAB ’89 you really are picking knits with the comparison. This was just an awesome show from top to bottom with so many great matches that signaled the end of the Attitude era as we knew it.

Random Notes on The List
* Over 30 current and former staff members took part in some way (writing, voting, formatting) to create the feature.

* WrestleMania 9 was the clear loser in the voting, holding down the #30 spot for the entire voting process.

* On the top of the list, WrestleMania 17 was #1 from the first ballot. It beat out WrestleMania 19 by 71 points to be the clear-cut winner.

* Tony Acero tried to vote “AJ Lee” for all 30 places. I did not allow this.

* #24 through #20, which were WrestleMania 29, WrestleMania 25, WrestleMania 5, WrestleMania 13 and WrestleMania; were separated by a total of twelve points.

* #6 through #3, which were WrestleMania 3, WrestleMania 30, WrestleMania 20 and WrestleMania 10; were separated by a total of seven points.

* WrestleMania 19 beat out WrestleMania 10 by 13 points.

* THANK YOU for following this year’s feature and making it a huge success.

The Final List
30. WrestleMania 9
29. WrestleMania 2
28. WrestleMania 11
27. WrestleMania
26. WrestleMania 15
25. WrestleMania 27
24. WrestleMania 29
23. WrestleMania 25
22. WrestleMania 5
21. WrestleMania 13
20. WrestleMania
19. WrestleMania 6
18. WrestleMania 16
17. WrestleMania 7
16. WrestleMania 12
15. WrestleMania 8
14. WrestleMania
13. WrestleMania 28
12. WrestleMania 18
11. WrestleMania 14
10. WrestleMania 26
9. WrestleMania 23
8. WrestleMania 24
7. WrestleMania 21
6. WrestleMania 3
5. WrestleMania 30
4. WrestleMania 20
3. WrestleMania 10
2. WrestleMania 19
1. WrestleMania 17

REMINDER, each 411 writer had the opportunity to rank the WrestleMania events (based on overall quality, historical significance and personal preference), those rankings went into creating the final list.