Pantoja’s Top 50 Matches In WrestleMania History (#40 – 31)

40. WWE Raw Women’s Championship: Becky Lynch [c] vs. Bianca Belair – WrestleMania 38

Image Credit: WWE

I was one of those people who questioned Bianca losing in 26 seconds a year prior though Bianca’s redemption made it worth it. Their PPV match in 2021 was good but this was lightyears better. You could tell they were saving some really cool shit for here. They teased the SummerSlam finish early on but Bianca had it scouted and got herself going. She and Becky had some fantastic exchanges and close calls throughout where you legitimately believed Becky would retain. Seeing Bianca do a Bret’s rope 450 splash was impressive as hell. Bianca took a shot to the face on a Becky attempt of a Molly Go Round that looked rough. I liked the closing stretch with the Glam Slam counter, as well as Bianca doing the Dis-Arm-Her. The actual finishing sequence was fantastic. It wrapped with a KOD, making Bianca the first person to beat Becky for the title in THREE YEARS. It went 19:03 and was a tremendous piece of business. Great wrestling and Bianca was cemented as THE GIRL who felt like the division’s biggest star at the time. [****¼]

39. Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey vs. Stephanie McMahon and Triple H – WrestleMania 34

Image Credit: WWE

The definition of a spectacle. As soon as Triple H and Stephanie McMahon came out on motorcycles and did dual water spit spots, I was hooked. Everyone has praised Ronda Rousey for her debut performance here and it’s certainly granted. She was fantastic. But more love needs to go to Stephanie. She was perfect in this. Right at the start, she slapped Ronda and got in several cheap shots before bailing. She was an expert heel, causing fans to salivate at the chance to see Ronda destroy her. They made everyone wait, but once we got it, Ronda delivered. Not only did she get her hands on Stephanie, but the fans erupted when she squared up to Triple H. It was nuts. Angle and HHH were more in there to play ring generals and kind of lead this thing, but it was all about the women. They did go a bit overboard in having Stephanie be able to counter and avoid the armbar, as that felt super unrealistic. Other than that, this was brilliant storytelling. Ronda was tough, but got outsmarted by her wrestling savvy opponents. She shined against excellent heels. Seeing her beat up HHH and then hoist him onto her shoulder was wild. She finally got Stephanie in the armbar to win after 20:37. Probably the smartest worked match of 2018. [****¼]

38. Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins – WrestleMania 38

Image Credit: WWE

Everyone knew Seth Rollins’ mystery opponent would be Cody Rhodes but the moment was still pretty special to experience. I’m a guy who liked Cody a lot for the most part and this was one of his best singles matches. These two traded some interesting stuff early on and we even got to see Cody do a Stardust taunt. As this progressed, it built and built to bigger stuff, with each guy surviving big offense. I don’t like many finisher kickouts but thankfully, this was more just guys kicking out of signature moves like Cody’s moonsault and a Pedigree. Seth survived a Cross Rhodes but that’s it that I can remember. Seth’s reverse superplex into a Curtain Call was one of the coolest spots of the night. In the end, Cody hit two Cross Rhodes, a series of Dusty-inspired strikes, and a third Cross Rhodes to win after 21:34. Fantastic wrestling and it marked the start of Cody’s second WWE run, which I have loved immensely. [****¼]

37. WWF Championship: Ric Flair [c] vs. Randy Savage – WrestleMania VIII

Image Credit: WWE

The first time the WWF Title was in the midcard. Big time intensity to this one. Randy Savage was on fire to start, but a well-timed Ric Flair back body drop to the outside swung the momentum. The champion put the focus on Savage’s back. The crowd erupted each time Savage would get even the slightest bit of offense going. Of course, Flair reacted to everything perfectly. He made sure Savage looked incredible even if Savage didn’t need help to do so. When thrown into the guardrail, Flair bladed. I don’t condone blading, but do admit the blood added a lot here. Shenanigans ensued when Mr. Perfect got involved and Miss Elizabeth came down to ringside. She was distracting because a bunch of officials, including a young “Best in the World” Shane McMahon, tried stopping her. Savage survived a chair shot and Mr. Perfect interference, before rolling Flair up with a handful of trunks to win the title in 18:01. A great match that had exactly the kind of animosity you want in this situation. They’re two of the best to ever do it for a reason. [****¼]

36. WWF Tag Team Championship Ladder Match: The Dudley Boyz [c] vs. Edge and Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz – WrestleMania 2000

Image Credit: WWE

This was the next logical step after the No Mercy 1999 Ladder Match. Even before the big spots came into play, these six men were throwing each other around and bumping like crazy. Jeff Hardy seemed to make it his mission to bounce all over the place. When the ladders got brought in, they kicked it up a notch and started stealing the show. You have to appreciate how much these guys risked in these matches. There are so many moments that blew us away when they first happened. I liked how we got some spots that would play off even better in their later matches, like when Edge Speared Jeff off a ladder. I will say that some of the spots could’ve been spaced out more. It felt like they were trying to get all of their ideas out there, with some not getting time to breathe. They’d go on to perfect it but it wasn’t quite right here. It came down to Matt and Christian fighting on a table laid across the top of two ladders. Edge joined and shoved Matt through a table, allowing Christian to take down the titles at 22:39. A great match that was one of the best in Mania history to this point. There were a few slight pacing issues, but this still ruled. If these six weren’t already stars, this was the kind of performance to make it so. [****¼]

35. CM Punk vs. The Undertaker – WrestleMania 29

Image Credit: WWE

Undertaker entered this show on an all-time run with SIX straight spectacular Mania matches against Batista, Edge, HBK, and Triple H. Punk’s sole focus here was the Streak. He didn’t care how he did it, so his gameplan was to piss off Taker and goad him into a DQ. He did that during the build and added to it here, slapping him, stealing Old School, and disrespecting him at every turn. Punk was on his game here, doing all of the little things to really add to this. Meanwhile, this was Big Match Taker and it was really the final instance we got of it. I also want to give props to Paul Heyman at ringside. As always, he did so much with reactions and facial expressions throughout and I really liked him raising the urn whenever Punk got a near fall. Punk’s elbow through the announce table was the big spot but you could see that he hit the table HARD. It also set up Punk trying to win by countout, another cheap attempt. The other memorable spot here was Taker sitting up from an Anaconda Vice near fall and staring a hole through Punk. The final big shot for Punk came by using the urn as a weapon but Undertaker put him down with the Tombstone to move to 21-0 after 23:07. Easily the best thing on the show and likely saved it from being a totally dire Mania. [****¼]

34. WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Brock Lesnar [c] vs. Roman Reigns – WrestleMania 31

Image Credit: WWE

The reaction coming into this was pretty negative so it was interesting to see how the live crowd would handle it. Roman came out hot and cut Brock early but Brock responded with suplexes and an early F5, showing what kind of match this would be. Brock kicked Roman’s ass from start to finish with Roman’s best defense just being him smiling and trying to show that he wasn’t afraid or overwhelmed. That aspect of the match didn’t work for me. It felt like they were trying too hard to make Roman seem tough. He’d get in a handful of hope spots and they’d be impactful but a suplex would just shut him right back down. That aspect worked better. Roman really got going when Brock hit the ring post outside and got busted open. He hit some Superman Punches and Spears, making fans believe this would be the expected comeback victory. Brock caught him with one more F5 and both men were down, which is when Seth Rollins’s music hit to a huge pop. He cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase to make this a triple threat match. He hit Brock with a Curb Stomp but had the second countered only for Roman to hit Brock with a Spear. That sent Brock outside, Seth planted Roman with the Curb Stomp and won the title in 16:43. One of my favorite finishes to a match ever and one of the better Mania main events. [****¼]

33. WWE Championship: John Cena [c] vs. Shawn Michaels – WrestleMania 23

Image Credit: WWE

The World Tag Team Champions competing against each other in the main event. That’s pretty cool. I appreciated how they went different from the expected path to start. Shawn offered the handshake and Cena declined it. Knowing their personalities, I would have thought it’d be the other way around. After a big moonsault to the outside, Michaels put the target on Cena’s leg. Lawler put it best by saying Shawn was giving him a wrestling lesson. He was a step ahead at every turn. Cena fired up to rally with strikes, which is his strong suit. At some point, Shawn got busted open and it added to the intensity and drama. After a ref bump, Shawn resorted to a piledriver on the steel steps. You could sense the desperation. That sent this into a fantastic final few minutes where they started throwing their best bombs at each other. The closing stretch was one of the best I can recall in a Mania. From the counters to the STF survival to the Sweet Chin Music, it all worked. Shawn had nowhere to go and was left to submit to the STF after 28:21. That had a big fight feel and was filled with great exchanges and tense drama. [****¼]

32. WWE Intercontinental Championship: The Miz [c] vs. Finn Bálor vs. Seth Rollins – WrestleMania 34

Image Credit: WWE

People didn’t talk about it enough, but these three had one of the best matches in Raw history during 2017. They got to do it again on the biggest stage possible with higher stakes. At WrestleMania with the Intercontinental Title on the line. Each guy had a cool entrance, with Miz getting impressive graphics, Finn Balor having a bunch of fans dressed in pride colors, and Seth Rollins as the Night King from Game of Thrones. They went out and had the third best Mania opener ever. It was filled with bell to bell action and it didn’t fall into the usual tropes of Triple Threat matches. Instead, they made sure all three guys were usually involved and gave us inventive spots while managing to provide callbacks to their history. The spot where Seth teased powerbombing Finn into the guardrail was perfectly done, as was Finn continuing to have a counter for Seth’s superplex/Falcon Arrow combo. Seth wowed us with the RVD like height he got on a frog splash he used to break up a Figure Four. Miz was fantastic at every single thing he does. He’s an all time great. In the end, just as Finn seemed to have the match won, Seth cut him off and won the title with the Curb Stomp on both men at 15:27. A fantastic match between three of the best in the world. [****¼]

31. Career Threatening Match: Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels – WrestleMania XXIV

Image Credit: WWE

Talk about pomp and circumstance. This match just felt special even before the bell rang. Once it got going, it was all about the storytelling. Ric Flair shouting “OLD YELLER” at Michaels as he chopped him was great. That was Flair letting us know that he wasn’t going down without a fight. He busted out a successful flying cross body and a stalling vertical suplex. Michaels took a sick sounding bump as he missed a moonsault and caught the table instead. I loved the moment of Shawn going for Sweet Chin Music but pulling up because he didn’t want to end Flair’s career. Flair eventually walked into one but Shawn couldn’t cover in time so he kicked out. Great drama. Shawn survived the Figure Four and Flair was on his last legs. And of course, as Flair put up his fists, Shawn tuned up the band. “I’m sorry, I love you.” Cue to the tears as Flair’s career ends in 20:23. Stellar stuff here. Shawn brought it for the big match, Flair left it all out there, and they told a magnificent story. [****¼]