COUNTDOWN: Ranking Every Wrestlemania Match EVER!!

80. Edge vs Alberto Del Rio (WM27)
Most of us just saw this as a usual solid Edge match, but we didn’t know at the time it was his last time in the ring. I’m really happy that Edge didn’t go out on a stinker, as this Mania only had a few matches that made it worth watching again. This was one of them as I liked the chemistry Del Rio had with Edge & it was fitting that Christian was in the corner of his best friend, the guy he got into the business with. Looking back on it, I wish it was Edge vs Christian, but no one, even Edge, knew he was done after this. I was sort of against this opening the show, but it oddly fit. I thought they pulled the trigger too early on Del Rio as a main event guy, but it is what it is, still doesn’t take away from this match being a very good opener. Not Edge’s best by any stretch, if anything, it will probably be toward the bottom. Which isn’t a slam on this match, it’s a testament to the caliber of Mania matches that Edge has put on over his career.



79. Twin Towers vs Rockers (WM5)
I only ranked 3 other matches on this Mania card higher, two of them being title matches & I’ll get to the other in a bit, but in terms of tag matches, this was the best one on the show. Two young good looking guys, over with the fans, taking on two of the biggest dudes in the company. Your typical David vs Goliath match and it worked out perfect. It did everything it was intended to do, get the smaller guys over with being the underdogs, get the heels over as monsters, nothing else needed to be done. Shawn & Marty were a fantastic team & showed that even with the size mismatch, could do double team moves to Bossman & Akeem. On the other hand, they bumped their asses off when needed for the Twin Towers. Bossman turned a Michaels dive into a powerbomb, then you have Akeem do a little Air Africa & turn out the lights, the party’s over for the Rockers.



78. Demolition vs Strike Force (WM4)
Tag team division in the late 80s was probably the golden era of tag teams in the WWE. Demolition was a strong heel team, two power dudes, who, despite being a version of L.O.D. were good workers. That’s what made them memorable, because I think had Ax & Smash sucked in the ring and put on boring ass matches, they wouldn’t have been as over as they were. Instead, both guys could hang with strong teams like the British Bulldogs, Hart Foundation & in this case, Strike Force. Martel & Tito were such a strong tag team, as, like I’ve said in their Brain Busters match, they are an incredibly underrated tag team when talking about successful duos. This is one of the more solid tag title matches in Mania as it got time, was entertaining & had a strong heel finish with Mr. Fuji having them use it to win the titles. One of the rare occasions where heel tactics lead to tag title wins on a WrestleMania.



77. Tatanka vs Shawn Michaels (WM9)
I always read how people really didn’t care for this match due to the slow pace of it, but think about it, what did you expect? It’s not a 5 star classic; instead it was a solid opener for an incredibly lackluster PPV. This Mania, next to 2, is the worst Mania in history, so matches like this, stand out more than others. Maybe that’s why I ranked it as high as I did. The odd pairing of Luna with Shawn was puzzling, but it seemed more like Luna was after Sherri than with Shawn. That’s another random pairing, Sherri & Tatanka? My goodness, the whole thing with the ladies really wasn’t necessary was Sherri/Shawn was done and should’ve been done at the Rumble. Tatanka as the undefeated challenger & Shawn the cocky champion, it was a good little match, and I can’t talk shit about it. Slow, maybe, but not a snoozer by any stretch. Bad ending, but they for some reason, still wanted to keep Tatanka’s streak going. Shawn escapes as champ, but Tatanka still has his streak. Weird finish, but I get it, you got to keep the Lumbee Indian undefeated…….until he wrestles Ludvig Borga later in the year.



76. Crush vs Randy Savage (WM10)
It was a weird stipulation, with one of the best, most creative finishes for the time. The object of this match was to pin your opponent, then they have til the count of 10 to get back into the ring. Very weird, but I’ll give these two credit, they made the most out of that silly stip & made their way to the back of MSG where Savage tied up Crush by the feet (all in 10 seconds, man the ref must’ve been slow counting). I sort of wished there was a different stip as these two hated each other dating back to September/October of the previous year. However it was a bittersweet ending, because this was Savage’s final real big moment in the WWF. I always hear rumors of Savage wanting to put over Shawn Michaels after a long build up & I would’ve loved that, however, Vince didn’t want to go that route, but instead, Savage made Crush look like a million bucks. Glad Savage’s last moment was on a high note.



75. The Rock vs Steve Austin (WM19)
Austin’s final match ever, which, to this day, I can’t believe he hasn’t wrestled again. It sucks because, unfortunately, I didn’t like this match very much at all. However, it still made the Top 75 & that just shows you how much I like both guys. I liked the over the top heel Rock, but it wasn’t as entertaining as his previous heel run. Austin on the other hand, just returned the previous month & you could tell he wasn’t the same. Not sure if it was injuries or what, but it didn’t seem like the Stone Cold we knew a year earlier. They did comedy in this match, did their spots from previous Mania matches, everything, I just didn’t care about Rock/Austin 3 and that’s shocking even to me. Just 2 years prior, this was one of the biggest matches ever, but this year it felt like it could barely make the Top 3 matches on the card. All that said, even their match I liked the least, still ranks this high & that’s mainly because of how big of fans I was (and still am) of Austin & Rocky.



74. Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant (WM3)
Historical significance is the only reason why this match is ranked this high, as Andre getting slammed by Hogan is one of the most memorable images in the history of wrestling. I've stated I also consider match quality & just overall how much I myself liked it. That being said, the match itself stunk, but this is one of the rare cases where we weren’t expecting a classic, it was what it was, not good. The build for this match was bigger than anything as Hogan finally overcame the Giant. Heenan was great in his role as he & Andre rode back on the mechanical ring with his head buried in his hands as Hogan celebrated. It was a cool visual. I’m not going to talk about the match, you know it sucked, we all know it sucked, but Hogan slammed Andre, end of story.



73. The Rock vs Ken Shamrock (WM14)
Growing up in the Attitude Era was a fantastic time, there are so many things that stand out in my mind (I remember damn near everything, who am I kidding), but the chair shots that Rock gave Shamrock were so sick, you know damn well nothing like that would be seen today (though I’m sure Shamrock would do it do himself). These two had a feud dating back to November & this was the big payoff. Rock was so over that you knew Shamrock wasn’t winning, but I didn’t care, I really enjoyed the match. Shamrock fighting off the Nation to get to Rock was great, but they fell back into the old routine of Shamrock goes crazy & doesn’t release the ankle lock, thus getting DQ’d. So it made Shamrock look like an idiot, but it accomplished what they wanted. It was a quick, 5 minute match, that didn’t go on too long. Perfect.



72. John Cena vs Bray Wyatt (WM30)
The build for this match was crazy, which, saying that in 2014 about a WWE feud, is pretty impressive in itself. Bray Wyatt is one of the most unusually polarizing characters in the WWE, yet, they just look at him as a character who can lose all the time & not lose any steam, however, that’s incorrect. Wins & losses matter in wrestling, I don’t care what anyone says or argues, you can’t sway my opinion otherwise. For a guy who has been the face of the WWE for over 10 years at this point, what harm is it in having John Cena lose? They’re all about 50/50 booking, why not have Cena gain his revenge the next month? Or have him lose TWICE to Wyatt, questioning whether he still has it, then to overcome & win the 3rd match? Instead, we got a build & Cena winning and winning and winning over Wyatt. How that helps anyone, I’ll never know. Hell, he did it with Rusev the following year & Rusev hasn’t been the same since. That’s not Cena’s fault, its booking. It’s ok to let your golden boy lose once & a while. This match was very good, Wyatt turned it on in this one and Cena knows what it’s like at Mania. These two had good matches with one another, even with the involvement of Harper & Rowan, it was a fine match, that should’ve had a different result.



71. Kane vs Undertaker (WM20)
Kane burying the Undertaker alive at Survivor Series pretty much made it a guarantee this match was going to happen. I loved the build for this as we hadn’t seen the Dead Man version of the Undertaker since 1999. It was long overdue as the American Badass gimmick went on for about 2 years too long. So when lights would go out, gongs would hit, the choir started singing (or chanting, whatever), hell the ring started moving, I was psyched to see Taker back. What I didn’t expect, was the surprising return of Paul Bearer! What an awesome surprise for the biggest show of the year! I seriously didn’t think he’d be back & was delighted that he & Taker were back together. It made it more special. The match itself, eh, not these two guys’ best work by any stretch, in fact it wasn’t that good, at all. However, just the build & theatrics of The Undertaker is why I ranked it this high. Wasn’t as memorable as their first Mania encounter, but still memorable regardless.

70. Seth Rollins vs Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns (WM31)
I saw Seth Rollins 1st match for IWA-MS back in 2005. In fact, someone posted the match on YouTube recently, it’s awesome. So to see him go on from there to ROH and become World Champ there was amazing. Then he gets signed by WWE & I thought it was so cool, then he became a tag team champ, then a MITB winner, then, on this night, WWE World Champ. It’s so damn cool to see someone from my hometown make it to the main event & top of the WWE. To think this might not have happened though, as it was a last minute decision to send Rollins out there. Yes, this was the night that Suplex City was created, yes Roman & Lesnar had a pretty hard hitting match, but the ending is what set the crowd on fire. One of the most memorable endings to a Mania. I thought logically though & put my enjoyment of the finish aside, because if I hadn’t, this match would’ve been Top 10 just because of the hometown boy. Instead, I kept it 70, because, despite what people thought about Reigns (and still do) not being the guy, he performed well. It’s never been an issue about his in ring work; it’s been he’s not a strong talker and creative wants to shove him down our throats, by any means necessary. Instead, on this night, what we got was fantastic. New heel champ, Brock screwed & Reigns losing. It’s a win, win, win scenario. One you don’t see that often, since heels usually don’t close Mania’s with wins.



69. Undertaker vs Diesel (WM12)
The slow Diesel heel turn I really liked & even how they got to this match I liked as well. So the confrontation was inevitable as these two put on a great big man vs big man match. I know Nash gets shit for having only 7 moves or whatever, but I liked Nash in his WWF days. WCW ring work was a different story, but on this night, I guarantee Taker was happy that he was wrestling Diesel and not Bundy or Giant Gonzales. Diesel showed he could hang with guys like Bret & Shawn during his title reign & even though you won’t see Nash’s name on all time greatest wrestlers list, I think he gets a bad rep. His WWF days shouldn’t get lumped into the WCW stuff. During his Diesel run, I enjoyed it & I enjoyed this match. Undertaker gets a huge win & Diesel would only stick around for a few more months before making an awful lot of money in Atlanta for Ted Turner.



68. Bret Hart vs Yokozuna (WM10)
Despite both men wrestling earlier in the night, this is the better of their two matches in Mania history in my opinion. That’s a testament to Yoko especially, because we’ve seen Bret wrestle multiple times in one night before, but Yoko only had a few matches off before having to go back out there. Without the dark cloud of Hogan looming, I felt much better about this one as well, because no one was an afterthought, both guys got their rightful chance to shine. It was fantastic storytelling from beginning to end, as Bret lost the opener to Owen, which not many people saw coming, then you had Yoko defeat Lex by referee shenanigans, then both Yoko & Bret had a great one on one. Roddy Piper as the ref, I’m fine with, because he wasn’t nearly as over the top as he would be the following Mania, so it all worked out. The final shot of Mania, Bret holding the title high in the air, celebrating with the good guys, only for Owen to stare him down from the entrance way, shaking his head, disappointed. It set up Summerslam perfectly, which worked out even better once Owen got the rub as King of the Ring a few months later.



67. The Undertaker vs Randy Orton (WM21)
I think they pulled the trigger on turning Orton face way too early. They should’ve kept him heel as World Champ for at least a few months to let Triple H stew that he wasn’t the center of attention, but we all know, mid 2000’s Triple H wouldn’t allow himself not to be the main event guy, so they turned Orton face essentially the next night when Evolution turned on him. It was weird & Orton felt like a forced good guy, despite wrestling Evolution over the rest of 2004. Then he started hooking up with Stacy Keibler, which, well done Randall, but then he started getting the urge to change his ways & he dropped her, literally, with a RKO & heel Orton was back & ready to roll against The Undertaker. So I’m thankful after all Orton had bounced around from in 2004, he was back to his prickish character, which he’s much better at. He had wrestled upper level talent for well over a year with Evolution & showed he could really go, so I had no doubt in my mind he’d deliver in this match, which he did. These two put on a fantastic match & it would only continue from here. Did it go on a little too long, absolutely, I didn’t really care for the handicap matches with Cowboy Bob, but eh, I’m talking about this match & I really enjoyed it. The young gun could hang with the respected veteran.



66. Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker (WM30)
So here we are, perhaps the most historic defeat in Mania history, one that, I don’t care what you say, NO ONE saw coming, aside from Vince McMahon himself. They’ve ran that expression of the dude with the shocked face after the finish into the ground the amount of times they’ve shown it, but, at the time, it’s exactly my expression I had at my house watching live. I couldn’t believe it & to an extent, I don’t even think anyone in the match could believe it either & they even knew it was going to happen! Unfortunately what could’ve been an all time classic was hampered by the fact that Taker was concussed super early in this thing & he moved in slow motion for a majority of this thing. I’m not saying it’s his fault, things like that happen & Taker toughed it out, like only he could. I sometimes think, what would’ve happened had they kept the streak going? They could’ve gotten more out of it. Was Brock really the guy to do it? Looking at the time I’m writing this, Shane McMahon vs Taker was just announced & if Shane wins, he wins the company, but had Taker’s streak been still alive, he has a legit strong reason to try to defeat Shane. We don’t know what he’ll say about it as of this writing, but it’d be pretty weird to have Shane be the one to end the streak, so maybe of all people Taker has fought, maybe Brock should’ve been the guy. Paul Heyman was perfect with the outside reaction & the rest is history. The silence from the crowd was so memorable.



65. Rob Van Dam vs William Regal (WM18)
One of the most underrated wrestlers in the world is/was William Regal. I could legit watch this dude wrestle for hours, days even. I always was entertained by him dating back to when I was a kid & I first saw him in WCW in 1993. He has amazing charisma, could outwrestle anyone & was hilarious when need be. Then you had RVD, who was easily the most over guy in the Invasion storyline & they even put him in a main event title match…..once. I just felt RVD was wasted in this whole thing as the Hardcore Champion. Yes, his matches were amazing against guys like Jeff Hardy, but would it have been so bad had he been regularly challenging for the World title? I guess they were just so stacked at the time they didn’t have room, but it’s still a bummer. Anyways, I was worried about RVD for this show because, the month prior, he fought Goldust at No Way Out. It was weird. So luckily he was paired with Regal & what we got was a great opening match that got the crowd going. It was essentially a repeat of the year prior with Regal, who fought in the opener with another awesome talent & the crowd was hot from the start. RVD took some sick bumps in this match, getting folded up by suplexes like only he could. Regal was great, RVD was great, when people look back on this Mania, the two matches they talk about really are Taker/Flair & Rock/Hogan, if you want a hidden gem, this is it for Mania 18.



64. Cody Rhodes vs Rey Mysterio (WM27)
Just a regular match, no titles on the line, no stipulations, just two amazing workers, given PLENTY of time to go out there on the biggest stage & do what they do best. I’m one of the biggest Cody Rhodes supporters in the world, how he hasn’t had at least one World title reign under his belt is beyond me, as I think he’s the total package. He can wrestle, cut promos, charisma, everything, it’s just unfortunate that WWE doesn’t see him as a main eventer, because I certainly do. This was Rey Mysterio’s final Mania match (I’m not counting the Mania 30 battle royal) & while it shouldn’t have been, because I liked Rey, it was just a bummer injuries got the better of him. This is legit the last feud I remember of Rey’s in the WWE, because with injuries & suspensions, it’s all a blur afterwards, he’d just pop up every now & then. I had to look it up; did you know Rey Mysterio fought R-Truth at Over the Limit 2011? I had zero clue! Anyways, back to this match, I think this was a star making performance by Cody as a singles talent. After time of having the Legacy memory erased, Dashing Cody Rhodes was a wonderful character & this was a great match. Both dudes put on a great showing.



63. Rockers vs Haku & Barbarian (WM7)
An absolute underrated little gem of a match, as The Rockers had a team to work with that were tough as hell, but weren’t 400 pounders, so they could fly around more too. The last Mania that Marty & Shawn would team and they made it count as this match is exactly how you want to start off a Mania. Haku & Barbarian I’m really surprised didn’t team more in WWF, of course they would later in WCW, but in the WWF, they were just Heenan Family members, but rarely teamed. They were a great duo in this one as they beat the hell out of the Rockers before the tables were turned, Marty gets the hot tag & the babyfaces get the pin & the crowd goes wild after a hot start. Sure Hacksaw Jim Duggan was doing commentary, but that’s ok, because this match was so good that it didn’t matter. If you’re going to watch 3 matches from this card, this would be one of them. We’ll get to the other 2 later, because they are awesome.



62. Chris Jericho vs Christian (WM20)
One of the most entertaining builds & payoffs in a long time as the Jericho/Trish/Christian/Lita story was fantastically booked & everyone did their part perfectly. After Lita sort of left this angle, it was Christian who turned on Jericho, who thought Y2J was too infatuated with Trish. In the end, Trish turned on Jericho & went with Christian, so awesome. No one thought Trish, everyone’s favorite, would turn heel, but she did & was amazing. It was pretty odd to see Christian making out with Trish, but still, the whole turn was unexpected & that’s all you can ask for. The match was excellent, as it was a no brainer that they’d work well together. That just added to the awesomeness of the whole thing. Now, did Jericho feud with Christian/Trish/Tomko for too long, I think so, but on this night, it was great.



61. Mr. Perfect vs Blue Blazer (WM5)
Here’s a little story that only Woodridge Ryan would care about on this board, but in high school, I had a wrestling trivia contest against another student that Ryan put together, who I annihilated (Ryan can attest, as I think this night was the night I earned his respect with my useless wrestling knowledge fully on display). Anyway the final Jeopardy question was what color was Mr. Perfect’s tights at this Wrestlemania? I bet all my points, because I was pressured into it (when I should’ve bet Zero points), but I got it wrong (I thought they were orange, but they were green). That was 12 years ago & it still bugs the fuck out of me. Woodrige can back me up on this, I slaughtered that kid. How’s that for a little story? Anyways, after watching the recent Owen Hart DVD, they showed a match with these two on it, but it made me want to go back to watch this match again & for what many could consider a throwaway match, like you’d see on these early Manias, it was awesome. So much back story they couldn’t talk about since he wasn’t officially Owen Hart. This wasn’t a squash as both guys got in their offense, but in the end, Owen lost to the Perfect Plex. Seriously check this match out it’s my favorite “match that meant nothing” in Mania history, Owen as the Blue Blazer & Mr. Perfect in his GREEN TIGHTS!!!

50. Randy Orton vs CM Punk (WM27)
This feud between Punk & Orton was awesome, plain & simple. With the exception of the actress who played Randy Orton’s wife (I think different than the one who played her when Triple H broke into Orton’s house a few years prior) who completely overacted her ass off when Punk attacked Randy outside of Orton’s tour bus. Man, Punk was a fantastic dickhead heel & I seriously miss that guy, not just as a wrestler, but a character, love him or hate him, he’s an entertaining dude. Just like this feud, as Orton went on a RKO tour of Nexus, laying everyone out as the stipulation was no one could interfere. I loved that these two got time, as it would’ve been a bummer if they didn’t. 15 minutes was perfect & while the springboard dive countered into a RKO has been done a bunch, at this time, it really hadn’t been yet, so it made it even more awesome. 2nd best match on this Mania card.



49. Kane vs Raven vs Big Show (WM17)
Probably the biggest guilty pleasure match of this entire list, as Raven was a Godsend to the Hardcore division. Not since Crash’s start to the 24/7 rule had this title been as entertaining. We got brutal matches from Raven pretty much on a weekly basis & it never grew old. So you have the champ going in against 2 monsters and you’d think you’d get your typical just brawl backstage & that’s it. No, instead we got people thrown through glass windows, tackled through doors & entire walls, ran down by golf carts, slammed through catering tables & finally, a Big Red Machine jumping off the stage through the setup on the floor with an elbow. It was fun, that’s all it was, which, on a card with so much seriousness, it was good to have. All 3 guys did a hell of a job & even though Raven lost the title, it didn’t really matter since everyone had that damn thing anyway. When talking about the Hardcore division, this was probably my favorite of all the matches. It was trainwreck brawling at its finest.



48. Undertaker vs Kane (WM14)
I was in 6th grade when Kane & Undertaker began their feud, so I was pretty freaked out when Taker’s younger brother showed up, lighting people on fire, setting caskets on fire, etc. This entire setup was amazing, as Taker thought his brother was dead, but Paul Bearer revealed that Kane was alive. It seemed silly, but for Taker, it was intriguing, it fit the character perfectly & it gave Taker a back story. So when he was reluctant to fight his brother & would just keep getting his ass kicked by Kane, you knew eventually they would finally fight & they did, at Wrestlemania. This is one of those cases where it wasn’t a classic wrestling match, no, it was a fight between brothers & I loved it as a kid & I love it watching it back today. Little did we know that they were just getting started. Sure they have had some stinker revivals of their rivalry (Summerslam 2000 disaster), but they also were able to pick it up 10 years later (their amazing underrated trilogy in 2010 where Kane bested his brother in 3 STRAIGHT PPV MATCHES!). It all started here though as their first battle is always memorable as Taker finally defeated his brother after 3 Tombstone Piledrivers. Let us also not forget Kane became a huge face with the fans prior to this match as this started off his incredible feud with Pete Rose!



47. Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas vs Los Guerreros vs Chris Benoit & Rhyno (WM19)
How awesome was the tag division in late 2002/early 2003 on Smackdown? You had guys like Edge/Mysterio, Angle/Benoit, Los Guerreros & Haas/Benjamin all holding the titles & stealing the show nearly every night. Switch Angle with Rhyno & that’s still an awesome team with Benoit. So on this night, these three teams went out there & wrestled their asses off. Even though they didn’t get as much time as they should’ve, at least they didn’t get low balled like Rey & Hardy. Nearly 9 minutes, I’m fine with it, as it made Haas & Benjamin look very good in this one. With all the big time matches on this card, this match is the forgotten little gem out of the bunch & one I definitely suggest watching if you want just plain old awesome WRESTLING.



46. Daniel Bryan vs HHH (WM30)
Should we thank CM Punk for walking out of the company? Because had that not happened, it would’ve been him in this match with Trips instead of Daniel Bryan. I think it would’ve been a great match, but I’m glad this match happened. I’m also happy this kicked off Mania, because it’s a rarity these days for a match like this to kick off a show. 26 minute singles match to start off the biggest show of the year, it just seems right. Whether Vince wanted to accept it or not, creative not using Daniel Bryan in the main event picture was a massive mistake & the fans let him know it. So when the opportunity presented itself to right their wrong, I’m happy they took it, because not only was this a great match, it was a great build. Triple H finally giving in to the Yes Movement, Stephanie screeching at her finest & Daniel Bryan defeating The Authority. Everything came together nicely & had it not been for the fans shitting on the product & if Punk wouldn’t have left, we would’ve never have gotten this match, nor the end result in the main event later in the night, thus giving us one of the most memorable final shots in Mania history.



45. Shawn Michaels vs Mr. McMahon (WM22)
The Shawn/Vince feud leading up to Mania was great, the feud afterwards, was so stupid. Luckily McMahonism wasn’t a thing yet & Shawn teaming with God wasn’t happening either, so I luckily don’t have to talk about that. I will however talk about how awesome Vince’s matches were when it was pretty much just him getting his ass handed to him. Shawn beat the living crap out of Vince in this one. Of course Vince got some offense in with the help of his son & Spirit Squad, but Shawn came back, put a trashcan on Vince, put him on a table, climbed a super ladder, gave the ol’ Suck It sign (a prelude for what was to come), jumped & put the boss through a table with one of the most awesome visuals in Mania history. Shawn said he was worried because the ladder was a lot bigger than he thought, but I couldn’t imagine this moment being as memorable had he leapt off a small ladder. Big time moment as Shawn defeated the boss & unfortunately that wasn’t in for this feud, when it should’ve been. I absolutely hated the Vince/Shane/Spirit Squad vs DX feud. I take that back, once DX got back together, it was entertaining for about a month, but around month 5 and the Spirit Squad was still jobbing, enough was enough. On this night though, Shawn Michaels stole the show once again & he did it with a somewhat elderly gentleman.



44. Undertaker vs HHH (WM28)
Here we are, the 1st of the trilogy between Hunter & Trips and it was their last one, inside Hell in a Cell. After their last battle that saw Undertaker win & literally have to be carted off from being so exhausted, HE wanted another shot at Triple H because he didn’t want that to be a lasting memory. Now THAT is how you build a Mania match, not like Cena/Rock where you build it for a year, you have what happened at the previous year eat away at Taker & want another chance to dispatch of The Game. Unfortunately Trips didn’t want to at first, so he got Shawn Michaels involved, which was fitting since Taker retired Shawn. Look, there was absolutely nothing wrong with this match, except for how long it was. I loved this match, hell it’s 44 on the list, but a match just a little over 30 minutes, just felt a tad too long. The image of Taker/Shawn/Trips standing at the ramp is a chilling visual because it was if this was the final match they could’ve had for the Attitude Era guys. It built up emotion over the match great, used Shawn perfectly & overall it was an excellent match. It’s a testament to these 2 that this is by all accounts, my least favorite of the 3.



43. Undertaker vs Ric Flair (WM18)
Sticking with Taker, he made it an even 10-0 at Mania with a win over the unlikeliest of opponents in Ric Flair. No way a year earlier would you expect Taker to wrestle Ric Flair at Wrestlemania. I know Flair has talked about taking a while to get his confidence back, but if he didn’t get it back up to this point, he sure did in this one, as this was the Flair of old, not like the WCW 97-2000 Flair who was just so beaten down by the system that his matches just weren’t the same. Instead we got both guys beating the hell out of one another, Flair bleeding & Arn Anderson with hands down my all time favorite spinebuster in HISTORY as the camera never picked up on him, which was perfect. Instead, Taker hit the ropes & Arn was just there out of nowhere & hit the most beautiful spinebuster ever seen. Undertaker overcoming this made it even more intense as he stood tall over Flair in one hell of a brawl. One of Flair’s best matches in WWF & I’d say Taker’s 6th best Mania match, which is insane to think about.



42. Nasty Boys vs Hart Foundation (WM7)
My favorite Tag Team title match not involving a ladder in Wrestlemania history. When you talk about all time greatest tag teams, you’ll have to mention the Hart Foundation, but perhaps the Nasty Boys would be overlooked. They had a reputation of being pretty damn reckless in the ring, but I thought their WWF run was excellent. This was a hard hitting match though as Bret pretty much got the shit beat out of him before Neidhart made the hot tag & Nastys weathered the storm. In the end, like I mentioned with Rick Rude defeating the Ultimate Warrior for the IC title at WM5, this was Jimmy Hart’s finest moment as a manager as they won via shenanigans with the motorcycle helmet & that was it. It was the final PPV appearance for the original Hart Foundation as a duo & the Nastys would move on to the L.O.D. This was the 2nd best match on this Mania card & like I said, my favorite tag match that didn’t involve a ladder.



41. John Cena vs HHH (WM22)
Conan the Barbarian vs Al Capone was essentially the entrance theme of this main event & the start of the silly attire that Triple H would become synonymous for over the years. Only redeeming part of this was CM Punk was one of the gangsters on the side of the car that drove to the ring for John Cena, which was pretty cool, but also sad because that would be the closest Punk would get to a Mania main event, which is bullshit. Anyways, the match between John Cena & Triple H on this night was a very well told match, not rushed, not overbooked, perfectly done as 22 minutes was great for these guys who would go on to have awesome matches. Granted I didn’t really care for Triple H around this time, but like I’ve said in earlier rankings, he’s still one of the best ever when he turns it on in the ring. Kicking out of the FU & getting out of the STF was pretty big for the time & Cena began to question what the hell would it take to put this dude away. I’m glad we only got this match once, because I had hear we would’ve gotten it again the next year, but Triple H got hurt, instead we ended up getting one of Cena’s all time best matches ever (we’ll get there). On this night though, Cena showed he could main event a Wrestlemania against one of the all time greats, something he’d get accustomed to as the years went on. Very good match.

40. Rey Mysterio vs CM Punk (WM26)
The Straight Edge Society was one of the most underutilized factions that the WWE has ever had IMO. You had an amazing heat magnet in CM Punk, who was the messiah, his bodyguard Luke Gallows, who was a solid big man in the ring, Serena, who was different from the prototypical Barbie doll divas that they had & then they’d add Joey Mercury later, who was another fantastic wrestler. It all added up, yet WWE gave up on it way too soon. Luckily they hadn’t yet on this night as Punk & Rey put on one of the most underrated matches I think in Mania history. This match never gets talked about when discussing these two & I think it should. It’s the 2nd best match on the entire show next to Taker/HBK & here’s the kicker, it’s barely 6 friggin minutes. Maybe had Rey’s entrance not gotten screwed up they would’ve had a little more time, but essentially these two had a TV match, just more entertaining, at least to me. Maybe it was the absolute dickhead actions by Punk leading up the match, crashing Rey’s daughter’s birthday party, really made you want to see Rey beat the hell out of Punk. Maybe that really didn’t happen on this night due to time, but still, this is a quick little match that I really liked.



39. Undertaker vs HHH (WM17)
The 1st battle of the three & 2nd ranked on the list between Trips & Taker as this was the match that apparently was never supposed to happen. Shawn Michaels was rumored to face Triple H at this show, but Shawn had yet to overcome his demons & was in no shape to get in the ring, so they went with Taker. While that would’ve been cool to see, at that time, no way could Shawn have pulled it off, I don’t care if he is Mr. Wrestlemania or not. It seemed like a pretty forced feud with Taker/Trips, the pushing Taker’s bike off the ramp being the only memorable part about it, but the match itself was pretty damn great. Not to mention this was the night that Lemmy & Motorhead played The Game to the ring in probably my favorite Triple H entrance. Undertaker in his American Badass gimmick I really never liked, but damn did he turn it on here as these two fought around the crowd, even having a great spot in which Taker chokeslammed Trips off some sort of structure. But then the camera shot screwed it up & showed the angle where Triple H bounced off like 12 mattresses, so he was fine. The visual far away was awesome, but leave it to the camera guys to screw it up. That’s the only complaint about this match. The Last Ride counter by Trips with the sledgehammer was awesome & Taker came back to get the win.



38. Chris Jericho vs William Regal (WM17)
This feud had everything you could ask for. Brawling, technical wrestling, funny spots, everything you’d want in a feud & it also helped that both guys were two of the best actors in the WWF at this time, so nothing seemed forced, it all felt natural to them. Chris Jericho pissed in Regal’s tea for heaven sake & Regal drank it, that’s just hilarious acting I don’t care who you are. The commitment from both guys in this match is what really made it fun & you could tell both enjoyed working with each other. Regal really hit his stride in the WWF in 2001, everyone he worked with was great & this was no exception. Jericho getting a win here really set the stage for what would be an incredible night for the WWF & it’s one of my all time favorite Mania openers.



37. Randy Orton vs Seth Rollins (WM31)
You could say I rated this match way too high, but, I’ve stated my fandom for Seth Rollins, my hometown boy & by all accounts, this was the most entertaining Randy Orton match in a very, VERY long time. The feud for this match was a long time coming. They teased this for an incredibly long time until Orton had enough & went after the golden boy of the Authority. We can complain about the product all we want, but this match was awesome, as this is the Orton that I miss, because in recent years, Orton just seems to be going through the motions. I miss the drive, I miss the passion of Orton in the ring, it just seems like he’s a robot these days. Rollins stole the show IMO with this performance. These two had great chemistry in the ring as the addition of J&J Security on the floor helped add some great moments as well. It was the final spot that is most memorable as instead of doing the typical springboard off the top rope into a RKO, instead we got Rollins going for the curb stomp; Orton essentially launched him off his back & turned it into his finisher. Easily the best match on this entire Mania & rightfully so.



36. Rey Mysterio vs Randy Orton vs Kurt Angle (WM22)
I’ll preface this ranking by saying that I just watched Wrestlemania 22 less than a week ago, so these matches are still pretty fresh in my mind, so that very well could’ve been why I ranked this match as high as I did. It was just so damn good, despite being absolutely screwed on time. Less than 10 minutes on the biggest show of the year featuring your World Champ, the cocky challenger & the underdog, is an absolute travesty, but to all these guys’ credit, they made it work beautifully. I really wish Rey had gotten a title run under better circumstances, but the death of Eddie Guerrero pretty much gave Rey the chance he never really had in the WWE, which is weird to say. I’m happy Rey got a run & this is one of the more legit emotional moments you’ll see in wrestling, Rey winning the title & celebrating with Vickie and Chavo up at the ramp. Orton played the dick heel amazing, Angle was on a fantastic run as World Champ, but Rey winning was pretty much a fitting end. I just wish these guys had 7-8 more minutes. They definitely deserved it. Then again, I guess Boogeyman vs Booker/Sharmell and the Playboy Pillow Fight needed the time though……..



35. Steve Austin vs Shawn Michaels (WM14)
A badly injured Shawn Michaels, who had to be probably what, 40% going into this match, still makes number 35, what’s that tell you about Mr. Wrestlemania? I remember when the WWE 24/7 thing aired old episodes of RAW & I wisely made a DX compilation starting from the night they formed all the way until the RAW before this Mania. I watched it a few months ago & it really is amazing just how awesome HBK & Trips were. I also saw how little Shawn wrestled from the start of 98. His back must’ve been in so much pain, yet he made it Mania & dropped the title to Austin who was so over it was ridiculous. Add to all of this, Mike friggin Tyson & you literally can’t mess it up even if you tried. WCW was dead in the water when this happened & this pretty much sealed their fate. This was easily the biggest moment in the WWF up to this point, the passing of the guard. The guy who was the face of the WWF from 96-97 passing the torch to the guy who would dominate the Attitude Era. The match was great, you could see the pain in Shawn’s face, which was heartbreaking (no pun intended), but it went to show you that Shawn Michaels was/is one of the all time greats. While we wouldn’t see the Heartbreak Kid for 5 years, this was the start of the Stone Cold Era & everyone loved it, myself included.



34. Shawn Michaels vs Ric Flair (WM24)
My only complaint about any of this, was the Leave the Memories Alone song they had to have played 180 times the night after RAW for Flair’s farewell. Aside from that, this whole thing was a masterpiece. Ric Flair had no business wrestling at his age, at least one would think, but then you remember, he’s Ric F’N Flair & only he could wrestle this kind of match at his age. I choose not to remember his TNA run (minus his interaction with Jay Lethal, which was next level amazing), but this being his final moment to shine inside the ring. He couldn’t have done it with a better final opponent & holy smokes was this a wonderful match. Emotional from before the bell, we all knew Flair was losing, just how much he put into this match was something to behold. Shawn Michaels as well, as he gave everything in this one to make sure his hero went out looking just as good as he did his entire career. The memorable “I’m sorry, I love you” followed by the Sweet Chin Music I’m not lying, gave me goose bumps, it was such an emotional moment & one you never truly thought would happen. My Top 5 wrestlers go Macho Man, HBK, Ric Flair, Bret Hart & Ricky Steamboat. The Nature Boy had memorable matches with all of them, but for his final match to be this incredible, goes to show you just how phenomenal of a wrestler he was, even down the very last match.



33. CM Punk vs Chris Jericho (WM28)
Heel Chris Jericho rules, that I think we can all agree on, heel Chris Jericho with a co-main event match at Wrestlemania against the WWE Champ, perfect combo right there. Punk & Jericho matched up so incredibly well that even on their worst night, you would never have known it. Both dudes were/are such pros that watching them wrestle each other was great, but Jericho being the prick heel was played to a tee. The lead up to this match with the alcohol in Punk’s past built the match up, but honestly, even if they didn’t have a strong build, this still would’ve been the match I was looking forward to the most on this card & that includes a Trips/Taker Hell in a Cell. What we got from these two was a highly underappreciated classic as I feel no one talks about it & it’s forgotten about. It was just another title defense for Punk, but I disagree, he had arguably the strongest guy to work in the company at the time & a guy who could really make the crowd hate him. Jericho is incredibly underrated as one of the best heels of our generation. While the silly Jericho babyface is fun in small doses, it simply doesn’t hold a candle to heel Y2J. Same honestly goes for Punk too, his heel work is on another level. Regardless, these two put on a great mix of wrestling/brawling that saw Punk get the win & the crowd be happy that the Best in the World retained his title.



32. Randy Savage vs Ted Dibiase (WM4)
As if wrestling 4 opponents in one night wasn’t impressive enough, Randy Savage did it against 4 different style of opponents. Butch Reed was the bruiser, Greg Valentine was the workhorse, One Man Gang was the big man & to cap it off, Ted Dibiase the technician. Everything came together perfectly for Savage this night. Different opponent, different gear, different dress for Elizabeth every time out, I remember seeing this on VHS as a kid & just thought, damn, how cool is this guy? Even as a young kid though, I didn’t like Hulk Hogan sharing the spotlight with Savage. I mean, chase Virgil & Andre to the back & let Savage get the win on his own, just like he did the other 3 matches! Regardless, this was just about 10 minutes, which, you might see as a little short, but you have to think, this was match 16 on this card, so it was plenty of time. One of the most memorable images is when Savage hoisted Elizabeth on his shoulder & she’s holding the title. The first couple in the WWF & the first manager/valet duo I really was fans of, hell, I’ve talked about how Savage was my #1 all time favorite & this is one of his finest moments. We’ll get to what I consider his finest moment later, MUCH later.



31. Undertaker vs HHH (WM27)
The 2nd match of the Trips/Taker trilogy & my favorite of all of them. To be honest, I didn’t really care for how they set it up at first, but over time, I realized how special it was. They had been airing these 2.21.11 promos that were super cryptic & many thought Sting was coming. It was so different that many thought there was no way this would just be The Undertaker, but that’s who it was & I was somewhat let down at first. However Taker comes out & is about to talk, when Triple H returns & they have a long staredown without any words spoken. Instead they both looked up at the Mania sign & that was it. So I didn’t really know what to make of it. Over time I liked it more & finally the match itself, friggin fantastic. I honestly think their other 2 matches don’t hold a candle to this one as there wasn’t any stipulations, instead it was just two legends kicking each other’s asses for nearly a half hour. Triple H loses the match, but he was the one able to walk away, while Undertaker was carted out. It was different from anything we had seen from Undertaker matches & that’s what makes it so special.