The Great Eight: The Top 8 WrestleManias

The Grandest Stage of Them All is about to have its 42nd annual event. Since 1985, WrestleMania has acted as the culmination of a year of storytelling. Not every WrestleMania has been great, and some of them have completely missed the mark altogether. But as the resident positivity girl here, I am, of course, going to look at the best of!

I am sure you can all guess what number one will be, but buckle in for the ride, as we look back on the best moments in the past 42 years. Also, a quick note. If you have me blocked on Disqus, I won’t see your replies to my comments. Wrestling4life, I have noticed you do comment on here, and I’d love to be able to engage with you. But you’ve got to unlock me if you want that!

Fun Facts:

The highest attended WrestleManias are: WrestleMania XXXII (101,763), WrestleMania III (93,173), WrestleMania XXIX (80,676), WrestleMania XXVIII (78,363), and WrestleMania XXX (75,167).

Michael Cole has been a commentator for WrestleMania since 2002. Making him the longest-running voice of WrestleMania.

New York City has hosted the most WrestleManias with six. Los Angeles has held five, Orlando, Chicago, and Las Vegas are all tied with three.

Ranking Explanation:

While the biggest determining factors will come down to in-ring work and the stories told. There will also be consideration for the historical importance of matches and feuds. I also want to make it clear that this list is for the full card. A great main event doesn’t mean it was a great WrestleMania.

For example, WrestleMania III is remembered for two matches, but the rest of the card ranks anywhere from bad to good. WrestleMania XXX is an average card bookended by two great matches.

Also, to address the elephant in the room. While XX was an amazing card, top-to-bottom. I will not be ranking it due to Chris Benoit being such a central figure. While I am a huge supporter of art being separate from the artist, Benoit is someone I struggle with doing that with. Everything that made me such a huge fan of his was also a large part of what caused him to do what he did. And I just struggle to enjoy his work because of that.

Plugs

I don’t use social media, but you can follow me on Spotify, where you’ll find playlists covering every decade from the 1950s to the 2000s. As well as several genre-specific playlists.

Disclaimer:

This is my list; if you don’t like it or have a different list, awesome! Please share your own list and opinions in the comments section. I welcome open discourse about this wacky art we all love. It is an art form, so it is subjective; we all have our opinions on it, and all of them are valid. So, if you want to share your thoughts and opinions, don’t insult others for their opinion. There is already enough negativity in the world; let’s not add to it. And with that, on to the list!

The List

Honorable Mentions:

WrestleMania XIII, WrestleMania XIV, WrestleMania VIII, WrestleMania XXXIX. WrestleMania XXIV

8: WrestleMania V

While previous WrestleManias had some great matches, like three, or the historical importance of one. I think Five is the first time we had a truly great card from top to bottom. The only low points are kept short (Dino Bravo vs Ronnie Garvin and Red Rooster vs Bobby Heenan). And there are a lot of high points.

Hercules vs King Haku was a hot opener. The Twin Towers vs The Rockers is a hidden gem. Mr. Perfect vs The Blue Blazer could have been even better with more time. And then you get into stuff like Brain Busters vs Strike Force, Rick Rude vs Warrior, and Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage.

There are so many great matches, and even stuff like Rooster vs Heenan had a solid build. If you are looking for a good mix of stuff from the 1980s, this is a great WrestleMania to watch. You have a good ratio of veterans and up-and-comers. Giving you a who’s who of the ’80s and early ’90s.

7: WrestleMania X

Everyone knows about Owen Hart vs Bret Hart; I even named it the greatest WrestleMania opener of all time. We also have the first-ever televised Ladder match in WWF history. (The actual first Ladder match was between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, at a Wrestling Challenge taping.)

Because of the greatness of those two matches, the rest of this card gets overlooked. Randy Savage and Crush had a chaotic Fall County Anywhere match. Alundra Blayze and Leilani Kai had a decent sub-5-minute match, and Bret Hart finally got the WWF World Championship back.

There are some low points: Earthquake squashing Adam Bomb in under a minute, and Men on a Mission vs The Quebecers didn’t need to be on the card at all. And Lex Luger vs Yokozuna is surprisingly decent, but nowhere near the level of the high points.

The low points hold this back from being higher. But definitely go back and watch the high points on this one.

6: WrestleMania XXXV

KofiMania is running wild! Kofi’s rise to the top became a central selling point for WrestleMania XXXV. That and the first Women’s Main Event. Both matches delivered on both an in-ring standpoint and with their payoff.

We open with one of the best sub-5-minute matches between Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins. AJ Styles and Randy Orton have a decent match. The Fatal Four-Way Tag Team match was a fun sprint. The Women’s Four-Way isn’t that bad either. I wish Samoa Joe and Rey Mysterio got more time, but it sold Joe as a killer.

Finn Balor vs Bobby Lashley is another good sub-5-minute match, and we close with the first Women’s Main Event at WrestleMania.

There is some bad here, with Triple H having an unnecessarily long 25-minute match with Batista, and Baron Corbin being Kurt Angle’s last match. Shane McMahon vs The Miz isn’t terrible, but I feel like the time could have gone to Joe vs Mysterio or Balor vs Lashley.

Skip Batista vs Triple H, Cobin vs Angle, and maybe McMahon vs The Miz. But the rest of the show is worth a watch.

5: WrestleMania XL

From one story being finished to another. WrestleMania XL was the coronation of Cody Rhodes. He finally dethroned Roman Reigns and took his spot as QB1 of the WWE.

Outside of a great main event for Night Two. Night One opened with Rhea Ripley vs Becky Lynch, and a Six-Pack Tag Team Ladder match that was as wild as it sounds. Rey Mysterio teamed up with Andrade to take on Santos Escobar and Dominik Mysterio. Samy Zayn finally ended Gunther’s record-breaking Intercontinental Championship run. And The Rock & Roman Reigns beat Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins.

Night two started just as hot, with Drew McIntyre finally beating Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship. Only to be attacked by CM Punk, allowing Damien Priest to cash in his Money in the Bank Contract. LA Knight and AJ Styles get overlooked when talking about Styles’s WrestleMania matches. As much as I hate Logan Paul, The Triple-Threat with Kevin Owens and Randy Orton was good. And Bayley finally got her big WrestleMania moment when she beat IYO SKY.

When it comes to the low points, there aren’t many. The Pride (Bobby Lashley, Angelo Dawken, and Montez Ford) vs The Final Testament (Karrion Kross, Akam, and Rezar) was just there. And while I wouldn’t call Jade Cargill, Bianca Belair, and Naomi vs Damage CTRL a low point, it does get outshined by the rest of the card.

Skip The Pride vs Final Testament, but everything else is worth watching.

4: WrestleMania XVIII

The big match here is Rock vs Hulk Hogan, and that does overshadow most of the card. It’s hard to stand up to it, and it should have been the main event. It isn’t the best in-ring match ever, but the crowd was all in on this match.

Rob Van Dam and William Regal start the card off hot, and Diamond Dallas Page vs Christian is a decent follow-up match. The Undertaker gave Ric Flair one of his best matches, that wasn’t with Sting, in years. Jazz vs Trish Stratus vs Lita was a decent showcase of what the women could do. And Triple H and Chris Jericho were put into a bad position to go on after The Rock and Hogan.

Edge vs Booker T and Kurt Angle vs Kane were decent matches, but didn’t feel like WrestleMania matches, and the Four-Corner Tag Team Elimination match was weak after TLC 2 from the year before. And Steve Austin vs Scott Hall wasn’t the best from either man.

If you are going to pick and choose matches from this year, go with RVD vs Regal, Undertaker vs Flair, Rock vs Hogan, and Triple H vs Jericho.

3: WrestleMania XXI

XXI edges out XVIII due to having less filler. It really only has two low points, Trish Stratus vs Christy Hemme and Big Show vs Akebono. But combined, they equal less than six minutes of the entire event.

On the plus side, we have Rey Mysterio vs Eddie Guerrero, Edge winning the first Money in the Bank, Undertaker vs Randy Orton, Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels, and both John Cena and Batista winning their first World Championship.

Cena vs. JBL and Batista vs. Triple H may not be the best matches ever, but they represented the passing of the torch to the next generation. Cena would, of course, go on to break Ric Flair’s record for most World Title reigns. And Batista would have a great career before becoming the best wrestler-turned-actor ever.

Skip the six minutes of low points, and buckle in for a great WrestleMania.

2: WrestleMania XVII

WrestleMania XVII is headlined by Steve Austin vs The Rock 2, and I think this is better than the previous years’ match. Their match here is the whole Attitude Era in a nutshell. A huge brawl between two of the biggest stars to ever lace up the boots.

But before we get to the main event, we have Chris Jericho and William Regal to heat the crowd, a chaotic Triple-Threat Hardcore match between Kane, Raven, and Big Show. Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit (I still can’t watch this match, but I remember how great it was). TLC 2, and The Undertaker vs Triple H.

Eddie Guerrero vs Test was decent, as Test is underrated and Eddie is one of the best of all time. The Street Fight between Shane and Vince McMahon is decent, and you get to see Vince get his assed kicked.

The Gimmick Battle Royal was there, and probably would have been better to have on Sunday Night Heat. Ivory vs Chyna is under three minutes at least. And Tazz & The APA vs Right to Censor exists.

While XVII has a bit more filler than XXI, the rest of the card more than makes up for it. Skip Tazz & The APA vs ROTC and Ivory vs Chyna. The Gimmick Battle Royal isn’t mostly nostalgia fun, and I’d still recommend Eddie Guerrero vs Test and Shane vs Vince.

Everything else is a must-watch.

1: WrestleMania XIX

And we come to, what is in my opinion, the greatest WrestleMania card of all time. Headlined by Brock Lesnar vs Kurt Angle and The Rock vs Stone Cold Steve Austin. There is only one match here I’d recommend skipping. The Undertaker vs Big Show and A-Train was a terrible use of The Undertaker. It was supposed to be a tag match with Nathan Jones on Taker’s side. But he was so bad that they made it a handicap match.

There is one other low point, but that is a bad booking decision. If Booker T wasn’t going to beat Triple H, they should have gone a different direction with the build. They can claim it was about Booker being from WCW, but those promos from Triple H had serious racist undertones. And if you aren’t going to have your POC babyface win, maybe don’t talk about how they don’t deserve to be in the main event.

With that out of the way, we have a hot opener with Matt Hardy taking on Rey Mysterio. An excellent Triple-Threat Tag Team match. (Damn, how underrated were Team Angle?) Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho put on an instant classic. Hulk Hogan gets to kick Vince McMahon’s ass. (I don’t like either of them, but I can’t pass up seeing Vince get his ass handed to him.) And then we get to our main events. Rock and Austin go out and put on a match like only they can. And then Lesnar almost kills himself on the way to beating Angle.

The fact that Angle was able to put on the performance he did, with his neck barely hanging on, is just insane.

So, for sure, skip the handicap match, and if the booking is too much, skip Triple H vs Booker T (it’s a good match from an in-ring perspective). Hogan vs McMahon is up to you, but the rest is all a must-see.

 

Preview:

Tune in next week when we cover the Top Eight Intercontinental Champions!