COUNTDOWN: Ranking Every Wrestlemania Match EVER!!

Next 15 (I'm trying to get back on track & time it so the final one will be on Mania. There are some doozies in this one, I felt dirty looking up the Bushwhackers/Rougeaus gif on Google)

230. Billy Jack Haynes vs Hercules (WM3)
Out of all the weird costumes that wrestlers wore in the late 80s, I never got on board with Billy Jack Haynes & his Undertaker-esque hat, his choker he wore & the Oregon jacket. It was an odd look. Then again, Hercules was rocking the chains with the Brain in his corner. This match wasn’t great, but is memorable for the blade job by Billy Jack after getting leveled with the chain by Herc. Haynes was super bloodied in this, but what annoyed me the most was he locked Hercules in a Full Nelson on the outside of the ring & both men were subsequently counted out. It made Haynes look silly. Herc got the beatdown post match, but it left a “Really?” thought in my mind as I watched it.

229. Bushwhackers vs Fabulous Rougeau Brothers (WM5)
Why does this match get such a high rating? Because I was almost in tears recently re-watching this match, as I believe it was Luke of the Bushwhackers, gets picked up by Raymond Rougeau for a bodyslam. What followed, is what I can only describe as Luke giving Raymond's balls a handshake, as you can see from the gif I provided. That’s the most memorable part of the match & it remains hysterical after all these years. Was this the orgins of the Balls-plex? Candice LeRae does it much better. Regardless, this match was a stinker, but had it not been for a Bushwhacker giving a Rougeau a hand jibber mid bodyslam, I probably would’ve ranked this much lower.

228. Earthquake vs Greg Valentine (WM7)
Well, from one dude grabbing another dudes crotch, to a massive 400 pounder who defeated his opponent by putting his junk in their face. Smooth transition that is if I do say so myself. The falling out between Valentine & Jimmy Hart I really didn’t understand. With Honky Tonk Man gone, the Rhythm & Blues team was over & The Hammer wasn’t going to do much more. So this match was another late 80s early 90s specialty & just thrown on the card. Quake was a monster & Valentine was an idiot in this one. He constantly kept going for the Figure Four, despite Quake’s legs being too big. It’s not like he was going to miraculously make him lose weight in his ankles mid match. C’mon Hammer, with that logic, it’s no wonder you got squashed.

227. Harley Race vs JYD (WM3)
Back to the Silverdome we go as this was a harmless match featuring two future Hall of Famers, as the Loser Must Bow was the stipulation. Quite simply, shenanigans by The Brain, allowed The King to get the win & JYD did a half assed bow before leveling Race with a chair. The most memorable image came as the Dog posed with the cape & crown. I actually always liked that shot; it was probably my favorite image of JYD in his WWF run. The Brain with a rare victory on this night as well.

226. Bret Hart vs Mr. McMahon (WM26)
For nostalgic sake, sure, this match on paper was amazing. However, when you added every single damn Hart family member in attendance into the match, it starts to lose a little bit of its luster. I know it was so the family could get revenge on Vince, but was Bruce as referee needed? Hell no, no one knew or cared about Bruce at this time. I loved the Hart Dynasty spot on Vince, a Super Hart Attack off the top to the floor, but even that wasn’t needed. Were we supposed to believe the Hart Family sided with Vince at the start of this match? So dumb. Vince paid off the family & they told Bret about it, put the money in the back & screwed Vince. Ugh. In the history books it looks cool saying Bret Hart defeated Vince McMahon, but it was just so overdone. Vince had far better matches against HBK, Hogan & Shane-O-Mac. But then again, those guys could bump (Hogan barely), while Bret couldn't.

225. Ted Dibiase vs Don Muraco (WM4)
I know a bunch of the WM4 tournament matches were essentially throwaway matches, but I actually liked them a lot. So you’ll be surprised to see how high I ranked some of the other ones. As for this one, Dibiase should’ve won the title this night, but as we’ve became accustomed to, the face ends Mania with the title, plain & simple. Dibiase was the most deserving as I think everything he did up to this point was fantastic. Have him win the title this night & have Savage win it at Summerslam, your first ever of that show, but whatever. What matters was Dibiase looked fantastic in this entire tournament & despite Muraco being jacked to the gills; it wasn’t that bad of a match.

224. ECW Originals vs The New Breed (WM23)
Ugh, yuck, I hated everything about the Originals vs New Breed feud. CM Punk turned heel one week & started to infiltrate the New Breed & try to start turning them on each other, but it didn’t really work & here he’s teaming with the Originals. Never really liked ECW-WE around this time as I started watching it towards the end surprisingly around when Mark Henry was ECW champ (Sexual Chocolate = ratings). I honestly wouldn’t have minded Punk staying heel for a brief time & we had Punk vs RVD, but whatever. This was a very forgettable match……..THAT WAS A NORMAL 8 MAN TAG!! This wasn’t Extreme Rules, let’s remember that. That’s what you want from ECW, a regular 8 man tag at the biggest show of the year! BOOOO!!

223. Jake Roberts vs Andre the Giant (WM5)
Here’s an odd sentence, I loved how Andre choked Jake Roberts. Let me explain, as Andre was known to just wrap his mitts around his opponent & choke the hell out of them. Jake sold the shit out of this & I loved it. This was an incredibly entertaining feud for how brief it was, but it was overshadowed by the feud that was like 5 years old between guest referee Big John Studd & Andre. Yes, the same Royal Rumble winner of that year Big John Studd. Now, I have no idea why Studd won the Rumble, was he going to have one more run, but wasn’t healthy enough? I don’t know how that’d look like, but this match was just watered down by Studd as the referee. Finally Andre attacked Studd & that was it. So much more could’ve been done with this match, but sadly it didn’t. Which is why I ranked it so low.

222. JYD vs Greg Valentine (WM1)
I forgot this was a title match, I also forgot Greg Valentine was the IC champ, I forgot that JYD was even challenging for this title & I also forgot that he won via countout. Again, not a strong showing for your champion on your do or die show, but that’s what The Hammer did. I guess the best word to describe this match would be forgettable. JYD’s popularity in the Rock n’ Wrestling Era really had him positioned as a strong fan favorite & honestly, it wouldn’t have hurt anyone had JYD won the title on this night. Have the Hammer win it back in a month or two. I think that would’ve gotten the crowd into it more. Instead, it was the mid 80s, so cheap finishes for champions was the norm.

221. Rocky Maivia vs The Sultan (WM13)
Was the roster that thin that The Sultan was the only choice at getting this spot? His gimmick was over (by over I mean finished, not as in over with the fans) around January. He was still puttering around in March/April. Around this time the Die Rocky Die chants kicked in & they were stuck with the young gun as well. So nothing about this match gelled as it just seemed like one of those matches that should’ve happened on Mania 11, not 2 years later. Not the way the Rock wanted to really get going in Mania moments, but he got to have a moment with his father & Tony Atlas, so I guess it was ok. What wasn’t ok was The Sultan getting this spot. So many other options, anyone, could’ve filled the role. I have to imagine it was because it was Rikishi as to why he got the nod. Samoan vs Samoan guy dressed as an Iraqi henchman, you know, the normal.

220. Nikolai Volkoff & The Iron Sheik vs The US Express (WM1)
Because when you think of patriots to defend America’s honor against foreigners, you think of Mike Rotunda & Barry Windham, baby!!! Granted it was a few years before my time, but the most memorable thing about The US Express was seeing Windham & Rotunda singing Land of 1000 Dances with the rest of the WWF roster. My God that was ridiculous, yet amazing at the same time. Anyways, back to the match, it was pretty sloppy, but fit the mold for tag matches around this time. I was never a big Sheik/Volkoff fan, but they drew serious heat with their characters & being managed by Blassie. I’d say this one wasn’t that memorable aside from the heels winning the titles in just under 7 minutes, not a major statement for your tag division, but this show was primarily sold on the co-main & main events for the 1st WrestleMania.

219. The Undertaker vs Big Show & Albert (WM19)
The enigma that was Nathan Jones & why in the world he got a spot on this card, or, was originally supposed to, is something that still baffles me to this day. Here’s this new kid on the block, thrown into a Mania match after being in the WWE for less than a month or two & not only that, he teams with the Undertaker? So when the time came, it was no surprised that Jones got laid out by……Nunzio, Johnny Stamboli & Chuck Palumbo on Sunday Night Heat prior to the match. Taker, even in a handicap match, seemingly steamrolled Show & A-Train. Yes they worked him over, but, c’mon, even 2 on 1, you knew Taker would win this. Nathan Jones did show up eventually & deliver a pretty sweet roundhouse kick at the entrance to the ring. Other than that, Taker was dominant & not much more could be said.

218. Money Inc vs Mega Maniacs (WM9)
So I hated Hulk Hogan coming back in 1993, even more so now, but back then, as a little kid, I didn’t like it. I was a Randy Savage guy & a Bret Hart guy, so when Hogan came back, like I said earlier, the end result of this show soured me on him even more. Back to this match, it was rumored to originally be The Nasty Boys vs Money Inc; I honestly would’ve preferred that to this as at least that had a storyline they took essentially months to tell, only to have zero payoff. Instead, we got Jimmy Hart showing compassion for Brutus Beefcake of all people, after Money Inc beat him up. That caused Hogan to come back & get the spotlight, typical. Even as tag team champs, it felt like Dibiase & IRS were an afterthought. They were just working for the Hogan posedown at the end. Money Inc was one of the best tag teams in the early 90s & sure they’re against the biggest name in the business, but it just bummed me out. The match wasn’t anything special & they explained that Hogan’s busted up eye (which was rumored to be because Savage punched him) due to henchman Money Inc hired. At least that’s early 90s bad guy tactics. I was really disappointed in this match.



217. Booker & RVD vs Cade & Jindrak vs The Dudleys vs La Resistance (WM20)
If it’s any consolation, between the two fatal four way tag matches at Mania 20, this was far & beyond better than the Smackdown one. Well, I guess that’s not much consolation, but this was still pretty cluster-fucky. This proved to be the last hoorah for 3 out of the 4 teams, as the Dudleys of all teams stuck together. RVD & Booker I thought teamed extremely well together, but they were just broke up the following night. Jindrak & Cade and La Resistance broke up due to the draft as well. Nothing significant stands out about this match though, I enjoyed everyone’s work involved, it just wasn’t a Mania level match one would expect. The champs retained, but all 4 teams weren’t around on Raw within weeks. Felt like this match was just a “ok, get’em out there & let’s get this over with” kind of deal.



216. T&A vs Head Cheese (WM16)
Ok, so 8th grade kid, right in the attitude era & this Canadian big boobed smokeshow debuts a few weeks prior & I damn near fainted. You know how I say whenever Lana comes on the screen that Dream Weaver plays? Well Trish Stratus was that original girl for me. Holy smokes she could’ve been managing a broom & trash can and I would’ve been a huge fan. How do you first show Trish on Mania? Backstage video that starts right at her chest & you zoom out. High five to the cameraman on that one! Anyways, the match, the match, ok, ok, so Head Cheese was hilarious as Al Snow in 2000 I thought was his best, even better than the JOB Squad. He & Steve Blackman’s chemistry was fantastic. I didn’t really think Chester Cheeserton or whatever the mascot’s name was, was the best, as I thought they did so much funnier things, but it was par for the course for the lunacy that was Snow at this time. Strong showing for Test & Albert, but honestly, Trish stole the show. Sure, she couldn’t talk that well when she first started, but we all know that changed big time. She’s my all time favorite & for good reason.

SUPER BOWL EDITION (not really, this has nothing to do with football)



185. Yokozuna vs Lex Luger (WM10)
Even as a little kid, I didn’t buy into the Lex Express deal, hell, I don’t even think Lex bought into the Lex Express deal. Only person who seemed to buy into it was Vince McMahon, as he was desperate & I mean DESPERATE to fill the Captain America void left in his black heart left by Hulk Hogan. Lex fit the role of The Narcissist to a tee; he shouldn’t have been taken out of that gimmick, especially not as quickly as he was. Instead he was rushed into his main event push & looked like a total boob in the process. Celebrating a countout win (we’ll get to that more in a bit) against Yoko at Summerslam was hardly anything to boast about as the match itself was pretty bad. This one, nearly a year later, was no better. Only redeeming factor was Mr. Perfect as guest referee & essentially screwed Luger out of the match. Again, Luger came off looking like an idiot. I think the Lex Express officially derailed on this night for good.

184. Rick Martel vs Koko B. Ware (WM6)
I always remember this match annoyed me whenever I re-watched this Mania on DVD because they had Koko’s entrance music as the Piledriver song & not the Bird Bird Bird one. Anyways this was in line of your typical openers that really meant nothing as The Model was a year into his heel run now & Koko was in desperate need of anything. It baffles me that Rick Martel is not in the Hall of Fame, but Koko B. Ware is. This match was a solid little opener that could’ve easily been a featured match on Prime Time Wrestling; instead it got the nod as the first match. Nothing really to write about this one, it was entertaining for what it was, Martel gets the win via Boston Crab & that was that.

183. Men on a Mission vs The Quebecers (WM10)
Remember in the Luger vs Yoko one where I said I’d get to the celebration of a countout win in a title match, this is it, as it always baffled me when challengers for titles would become morons & think they won the titles when the champions got disqualified or counted out. You can chalk this up for heels & in this case, faces as well. I wish this would’ve been the Steiner Brothers against the Quebecers, but for some reason, Rick & Scott were completely put on the back burner in 1994 for the WWF. Instead we got Mo & Mabel as Oscar was chanting “Whoop There It Is” down to the ring & everyone was dancing in the crowd like it was 1994. Everyone in this match looked like idiots. The Quebecers bailed via countout, which I guess was understandable, but M.O.M took the titles & celebrated like they had won. It just seemed like a pointless match overall. I ranked this match as high as I did because, regardless of what happened, I liked Pierre & Jacques as a team & Johnny Polo was a fantastic manager. This match was a typical face vs heel match, nothing really major about it.

182. Road Dogg vs Val Venis vs Goldust vs Ken Shamrock (WM15)
The better of the two clusterfuck booking by Vince Russo of the Outlaws for this show. Mr. Ass had already lost the Hardcore title on this show & now it was the Road Dogg’s turn. Shamrock & Venis had their little history with Val making a porno with Ryan Shamrock, then you tie in her affiliation with Goldust & The Blue Meanie (no idea why), but then there was Road Dogg, who had nothing to do with anyone. Absolutely silly. What’s even worse was Shamrock & Venis got counted out, in a four way match. So dumb. So Road Dogg retained over Goldust in an absolutely worthless match due to the fact that the champion heading into the match, had zero to do with the other three. You baffle me with your booking Russo. I used the word baffle in two matches in a row, what’s up.

181. Batista vs Umaga (WM24)
One year prior, Batista was facing the Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Championship, this year, he’s defending the Smackdown brand against YOU-MANG-GUH (as William Regal would say it). It felt like a giant step backwards for Batista, yet a big match for Umaga. This match should’ve felt bigger, but it didn’t. Batista is a guy that had been in the World title picture, while Umaga wasn’t on the Raw brand, sure he’d fight upper level guys, but he wasn’t in the same league as The Animal. It was a fine match don’t get me wrong, but unless you watch this show again, odds are, you’ve probably forgot this match even took place, much like I did. It’s nothing against either guy, I really liked Umaga & thought he should’ve done more, it’s just a shame his drug problems caused him to be let go & we all know what happened after that. Batista on the other hand, felt like he was on the outside looking in on big time matches that took place this year. Decent, but very forgettable.

180. Too Cool & Chyna vs The Radicalz (WM16)
So The Radicalz debut in the WWF was a little underwhelming. Sure it was rad seeing Benoit, Malenko, Saturn & Guerrero all in the big leagues, but they never seemed to get going until a few months in. Benoit was feuding for the IC title & Eddie started to become infatuated with Chyna, who would later become his Mamacita, an amazing storyline. This match though, for everything that was going on, was just ok, nothing more, nothing less. I’ll give Chyna credit, her pants broke halfway through the match & she kept going. Teenage boys like myself & I’m sure pervy males across the world hoped for a wardrobe malfunction (this was during the days when Chyna looked pretty good IMO), but she kept it together. Why in the world did Too Cool & Chyna need a win here? Wouldn’t you want to make the Radicalz, who had only been in the company a few months, look strong? Or even get Eddie a cheap win? I know Too Cool was probably the most over they’d ever be, but I didn’t think a win was necessary at this show.

179. LOD & Ahmed Johnson vs Faarooq, Savio Vega & Crush (WM13)
You’d think this would be the culmination of the never-ending feud between Ahmed Johnson & the Nation, but it wasn’t, it kept going, hell Ahmed even joined them this year, so dumb. Anyways, this was during Ahmed’s sloppy days as he did nothing but brawl, so in a way, this was the perfect match for him & the Chicago boys the LOD. The opposition, Faarooq, Crush &……Savio Vega, which, I hated as part of the Nation. What a dumb person to join this faction. I liked Savio, don’t get me wrong, it’s just having him part of this group always baffled me. This match was a brawl, nothing more needed to be said, I didn’t love it, I didn’t hate it, it was just there, which explains why it’s in the middle tier of matches. I do however remember hearing & going back to watch a young Colt Cabana (decked in the ECW shirt in the pic) in the crowd & how he took a swing at one of the Road Warriors from the railing. Probably the most entertaining part of the match, even then, Colt knew how to work the camera.

178. Ted Dibiase vs Jim Duggan (WM4)
Battle of the Mid-South boys as Dibiase’s first round opponent he at least had some history with, if you knew about Mid South, which, at the time I first saw it, wasn’t familiar at all. Anyways, this was the perfect opponent for Dibiase to start off the tournament for Dibiase, especially since he’d essentially coast to the finals. Duggan was beloved enough by the fans that maybe some would think he could win, but with Andre on the outside, it really made Dibiase feel like a major player in this thing. Overall the match was decent as Duggan got in some offense, but ran into the Giant, leading to an Dibiase victory.

177. Hercules vs Haku (WM5)
This opening match was always a guilty pleasure that I enjoyed it as much as I did. Hercules was probably at his most over at a face heading into this match & King Haku was settled in as a very strong upper card heel with Heenan by his side. It looked weird, but I liked King Haku being carried to the ring by 4 job guys, it fit. Anyways, Hercules started things off early in this match by sending Haku tumbling off his throne causing him to take a pretty nasty fall. He could’ve really messed himself up & I shudder to think what would’ve happened to Hercules had he injured him. Strong showing from Herc as the win for the face got the crowd hot from the start as Haku didn’t seem to lose much momentum after this. Which is what I liked about most of the late 80s, early 90s matches. It’s an opening contest that even to this day I enjoyed.

176. Tag Team Battle Royal (WM14)
Chalk it up to one of the most predictable finishes in Mania history, as you had the mystery team of L.O.D. 2000 come in & to no one’s surprise, destroy everyone. When your biggest competition is Bombastic Bob & Bodacious Bart, you know it’s going to be an easy night. Not to mention, teams like Flash Funk & Steve Blackman were thrown together. Being a youngster though I oddly enjoyed this battle royal, complete with random Barry Windham & Kurrgan interferences. Sunny managing Hawk & Animal made no sense, but it was better than Rocco the dummy with Paul Ellering in 1992. I did hear in the Timeline 1998 that Vince Russo did that the only reason they put Sunny with the LOD in the first place was just to shut her up when she kept bitching about not getting to do anything. So we all have Sunny to blame for this odd reincarnation, which shouldn't be surprising, as she's a total disaster. Did this team accomplish much? Not at all, but it was fun to see LOD get their final Mania moment, as they are one of the best tag teams ever. I wonder how many people had their money on Chainz & Bradshaw, I thought they’d really go far…….

175. Alberto Del Rio vs Jack Swagger (WM29)
Leave it to the Oklahomie to mess up his main event push really before it got going. Swagger won the Elimination Chamber with Zeb by his side & then proceeded to get popped for DUI & weed less than a few weeks later. Perhaps one of the most boneheaded moves in recent memory. This match though was fine; it just had zero steam behind it. Zeb & Swagger wanted Del Rio out of the country & all that, which I got; it just was boring to me. I just hated cheering Del Rio, because he’s so easy to hate. These two had good chemistry & it’s not like the match was horrible by any means, I just wish it had a stronger build behind it.

174. Goldust vs Roddy Piper (WM12)
I guess you could technically call this a match, even though there was really no finish, but I ranked it anyways. I was creeped the F out by Goldust as a young kid, he did his job perfectly & I didn’t even put two & two together that it was Dustin Rhodes until he himself said it in an interview or something a year or so later. I was a dumb kid, whatever. Back to the fight, Piper fucked Goldust up & it was cool seeing the Hot Rod have a brawl after about 6 years of not having one. The gold bronco chase was really hokey, but for 96, I understood it & it was funny. Piper smacked Goldust in the head with a baseball bat, got ran over by the Golden One & then proceeded to rip off Goldust’s clothes down to lingerie, which, really was weird as a young kid to see. Entertaining for a wild brawl for sure.

173. HHH vs Randy Orton (WM25)
I can only think of one match that suffered from worse placement on a Mania card than this one & that’s Jericho vs HHH at WM 18 (we’ll get there) as Hogan & Rock should’ve gone on last that show. On this night, HBK vs Taker should’ve been last, it’s a no brainer. For a feud that was so personal as Trips & Orton, they went out there and had…..a regular wrestling match? Not a brawl, not a wild fight, a regular match. After Orton, winner of the Royal Rumble to earn this shot, had put Trips & the McMahon’s through hell, it led to Trips breaking into Orton’s home & tossing him out the front window, so the bell rings & they lock up? Crowd was dead for this entire main event of WrestleMania & no interference, no nothing, it just finished. What could’ve been a strong main event ended up as a below average Raw main event. Match placement, like I said, has a lot to do with how boring this match was. Now, it wasn’t a disaster, it was just flat & for a Mania main event, that’s definitely what you DON’T want.

172. Steiner Brothers vs Headshrinkers (WM9)
What's the phrase called, bowling shoe ugly? I’ll jump right to it, Scott Steiner almost died in this match, rewind it & watch, it’s majorly F’d up. What was supposed to be a slingshot/stun gun type move by the Headshrinkers, ended up in Scott missing the entire top rope & fell to the floor on the top of his head. We almost didn’t get Big Poppa Pump thanks to this match, which would suck, we’d be robbed of all those promos & suplexes. These 4 guys beat the piss out of each other as they sort of had a history too with the Samoan Swat Team in WCW vs the Steiners. Then there was Rick, who did a fucking powerslam on I think Samu, as provided in the gif above. Add to that a Frankensteiner, which was way too dangerous, as Scott couldn't give two shits about how reckless it was. He damn near destroyed Samu (rough night for him). Wonder if the wonky-ness of the finish was payback of the super botch that took place earlier in the match?

171. X-Pac vs Shane McMahon (WM15)
In 6th grade (when this Mania was on), my friend & I were all in on this feud. I was a Shane O’Mac guy (despite being a DX fan also) & my buddy was an X-Pac fan. I remember when Shane won I gloated so much afterwards & would constantly call him X-Punk. My God I was an asshole kid, but it was the Attitude Era so it was fine. Shane wasn’t a good wrestler, he was a good bumper. This was his first match, so he wasn’t the insane spot monkey yet, instead this was a catch me if you can deal as it lead to the infamous Triple H heel turn with Chyna. Historically, this set the stage for Triple H becoming a strong heel as Shane weaseled his way to a victory. This was also the night the Mean Street Posse debuted!! Respect to Rodney & Pete Gas!! X-Pac beat the shit out of Shane, Trips turned heel & Shane got the win, perfect booking, but I can’t in good faith rank this any higher.

Next 20!

170. Lashley vs Umaga (WM23)
So, much like Floyd Mayweather (albeit for completely different reasons), WWE Hall of Famer (sigh) Donald Trump is a giant piece of garbage. However, as much as it pains me to say this, I enjoyed his interaction with Vince McMahon during the buildup to this match. Lashley & Umaga were doing their damndest to build the match, but it was Vince & Donald that made the match intriguing with the stip of Loser Loses their Hair. You knew Vince was going to lose & although the segment went on forever, seeing him get his head shaved by Trump, Lashley & Umaga was a memorable moment. Not as memorable as Trump taking one of the Top 3 worst Stunner’s in history (I want a president who properly knows how to take a Stunner). The match itself, notice I’m just getting around to. They were hell bent on Lashley being THE GUY & as history shows, that wasn’t the case. Overall the match was fine, but nothing mind boggling. Both guys worked well with one another, but it seemed like just a countdown until the shenanigans after the match that was what people were looking forward to.

169. Dream Team vs The Rougeau Brothers (WM3)
Maybe this match is ranked higher, ok much higher, than one would thing, but to be honest, I liked this match. It was a decent little tag match & it sent in gear a big turn. Brutus Beefcake would get walked out on by Valentine, Johnny V & Dino Bravo after they won the match. Very odd, but it would lead to the creation of the Barber later in the show. Anyways, the match itself saw a spot where Brutus lifted Jacques over his head in a press, Hammer went to the top & dropped a forearm onto him & Beefer then drove him down from over his head into a backbreaker. That’s friggin’ impressive! Then the Rougeaus hit their weird flying nutshot deal where Raymond lifted Valentine up in a Hart Attack position & Jacques would leap off the top & drop his nuts in the face of his opponent. Very strange. Whatever, Dino Bravo leveled the Rougeau while Johnny V had the ref distracted & they won the match, bailing on Beefcake in that moving ring they rode to ringside. Dick move Hammer!

168. Ricky Steamboat vs Matt Borne (WM1)
Obviously I was a big heel Doink fan, I wasn’t an early WCW fan, so Big Josh stuff I didn’t know about & then I also didn’t know about Matt Borne’s early work in Mid South (I've since popped in the Mid-South dvd that WWE put out a couple years ago. I got it at Wal-Mart for $4. Thank you WWE Network for putting dvds on clearance) & or even early WWF. With Steamboat I knew him of course from the Dragon run & then became familiar with his early WWF work & then the WCW/NWA days. So when I watched this match, I knew it took place & all, but I was surprised I liked it as much as I did. It’s not even a 5 minute match, but I dug it. Nice showcase for Steamboat. That said, you could hear a pin drop for most of this match, but go back & listen and most of the 1st Mania matches are like that. Steamboat with the crossbody for the win.



167. Big Show vs Cody Rhodes (WM28)
Cody Rhodes is one of the most underrated, underappreciated performers on the WWE roster. They have money in this guy & they simply don’t see it. Which is a damn shame. I loved the Dashing Cody Rhodes character & having him go into this match questioning whether Show can still win was a good little story, however the match was pretty much a one sided beating by Show. He hit a KO punch & won the title. I don’t know whether it was a time crunch or what, but these two deserved more time. Granted I loved next month, whether it was intentional or not, during their Tables Match, Cody dropkicked Show on the apron & Show stepped back onto a table & went through it. I loved that ending. Same couldn’t be said for this match though.



166. HHH vs Goldust (WM13)
This feud should’ve ended at the Royal Rumble, but I think it only continued because the addition of Chyna. It gave this match a different element. The first time I saw Chyna, it was crazy, she was built like a brick shithouse. Her rag-dolling little Marlena made her even more impressive. Triple H had lost the IC title to Rocky Maivia & I would’ve preferred a rematch, but that happened the previous month, so they pretty much had to go back to this one. The feud was ok, but it was never a favorite of mine, aside from the fact that it introduced Chyna to the wrestling world & gave Trips a muscle that he needed.



165. Edge vs Booker T (WM18)
So you might think these two Hall of Famers should’ve been ranked higher, but this was nothing more than a Smackdown match with a dumb angle behind it. I’m not looking up specifics, but it had to do with a Japanese shampoo commercial endorsement that Edge got & it made Booker jealous. Really? That’s all you could come up with for these guys? My goodness that’s next level suckage right there. The match was fine, these guys rarely had bad matches with anyone, but damn, this could’ve been so much better, but it wasn’t. Very disappointing because I always liked Booker & especially Edge.



164. Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice (WM8)
Even as a little kid, I knew this wasn’t going to be Hulk Hogan’s final match, he was a larger than life figure, even though I was a Macho Man fan primarily, I knew Hogan was coming back, just a matter of when. This match, wasn’t good, however I’m not a Hogan fan & what made me LOVE this match, was that Papa Shango missed his cue, forcing Sid to kick out of the legdrop, something that you didn’t see. Why the hell did Papa Shango need to interfere in this one anyway? I know it was for Warrior to make the save, but Papa Shango? Why’d he have any reason to go after Hogan? Just dumb. But they can never take away Sid kicking out of the legdrop. Suck it Hogan.



163. Lex Luger vs Mr. Perfect (WM9)
I was a huge Mr. Perfect fan as a young kid, so when he made his comeback in late 92, I was really happy. Unfortunately, aside from a handful of really good matches (Loser Leaves Town vs Flair, KOTR Qualifiers vs Doink & the KOTR Semi-final against Bret come to mind) his return was incredibly underwhelming. Same could be said for Luger, despite having a perfect (no pun intended) gimmick for him as the Narcissist. I really think Luger took a while to get going in the ring in the WWF, granted he was never the best worker, I just think it took him a while to get the ring rust off after being gone from WCW for so long. This match was just ok, nothing special. It was sloppy & was pretty uninteresting, however, I ranked it as high as I did because I liked Perfect in the ring & I did like these two wrestling each other. The thing I remember the most about this was Perfect getting marble mouth in a backstage promo with Mean Gene calling him the Larcissit….Larc….Luger & then tried again and failed again. It was hilarious.



162. Rick Rude vs Jimmy Snuka (WM6)
What many might see as a complete throwaway match, actually I thought set the stage well for the main event to follow. Rick Rude had feuded with the Warrior for over a year & it was somewhat fitting that Rude has a dominating victory over the Superfly immediately before the big Warrior vs Hogan matchup. The feud with Warrior & Rude lost some of its steam heading into Summerslam, but it was nice that the Rude match, which was incredibly one sided, set up the match that would make Warrior’s career. The final Rude Mania match was a good one as he destroyed Snuka in 4 minutes.



161. Randy Savage vs One Man Gang (WM4)
Round 3 for Macho Man & his final hoop to jump through before getting to the finals. One Man Gang got a bye to the next round so the story that he was fresher than Savage was a good little detail into this match as well. It was a perfect big man, small man match with Savage getting in a little bit of offense, but it was primarily dominated by the Gang. Anyone in their right mind would know we wouldn’t see Dibiase vs the One Man Gang in the finals, but it was a very entertaining little match nonetheless. Savage picked up the win after miscommunication with Slick & advances. Always liked the Gang & I’ve already stated how much I enjoyed Savage, so I won’t repeat myself there.



160. Kane vs Randy Orton (WM28)
Two of arguably the most established names in the company, went on 2nd this year & were complete afterthoughts. Both guys knew it too, because both guys had zero enthusiasm in this thing. Orton phoning it in, totally uninterested. It seemed like both guys were just going through the motions in this one, not really caring that it was at Wrestlemania. Which makes me believe they swerved the finish, which many people thought Orton would win, instead, giving Kane the victory. Why? because this match simply didn’t matter. The match didn’t suck; don’t get me wrong, it just looked like both guys would’ve preferred being anywhere else but the grandest stage of them all.



159. AJ Lee & Paige vs Bella Twins (WM31)
You wouldn’t think of it, but go back & look, it’s true, this tag match was solid & ranks in my Top 5 women’s matches in Mania history. Now, I know what you’re thinking, that’s not saying much, but looking at this match, you wouldn’t think it would rank that high, but that just shows how bad ladies matches have been over the years at Mania. The storyline between AJ & Paige was fine for what it was, were they friends, were they enemies, pretty simple & the Bella’s weren’t flip flopping from heel to face each week like now, instead they were heel & just heels. We’ll just put aside the ridiculous Nikki heel turn on Brie, yet Brie just randomly becoming heel after being the biggest female face for a few months. This match was good, it got more time than the ladies normally would in about 7 minutes & the faces won over the heels. Simple, to the point, not filled with 19 different girls & that was a rarity for the Divas division at this time. Less is more in this case & it worked.



158. HHH vs Sheamus (WM26)
I don’t think there’s been a superstar that was pushed as quickly to the top like Sheamus was. He debuted in ECW in mid 2009 & stuck around there for a few months before going to Raw & destroying everyone, including World Champ John Cena, winning the title in less than a year. So when he steamrolled Triple H & put him on the shelf, one would assume he was just adding another name to his list, but we must remember, Trips isn’t going to lay down to a rookie at Mania. This match was decent, with this being a pretty hard hitting match, but I preferred their match at Extreme Rules the following month in which Sheamus just annihilated Trips & let him go off to make The Chaperone I believe. Trips wins with a Pedigree. Seemed a little anti-climactic even for a feud that was going to continue the next month anyway. I expected more.



157. Sid vs The Undertaker (WM13)
The wonky main event for WM13 as it gave Taker his first Mania title win. I can’t remember there even being a build for this match. I always remembered the Final Four PPV that Bret won & then Raw the next night that Sid won the title. Never do I remember any interaction with Taker & Sid. Maybe a couple promos, but is that really what you want in your main event? I know rumors of Michaels vs Bret were to happen, but in February of this year, Shawn famously lost his smile. Luckily he did because we got Austin vs Hart (more on that a long time from now). Anyways, there was nothing special about this main event aside from Taker winning. He donned the gray gloves again & it was like Taker of old, but it was just a very odd mix. It was like the main event just fell into place & we got this. This wasn’t a bad match at all, I liked it, always thought when Sid wanted to turn it on, he was very solid in the ring & of course Taker is Taker. They had good chemistry; I just wish they had a better build. Main event picture was such a clusterfuck in early 97; it really wasn’t either man’s fault.



156. Barbarian vs Tito Santana (WM6)
If you want to see the most beautifully delivered & sold top rope flying clothesline, watch this match. I watched this Mania a few weeks ago & I totally remember this finish. Barbarian, despite not having a different look at all, still rocking the Powers of Pain getup & not yet the fur & horns, had Bobby Heenan in his corner & that was only a positive. Chico Santana got a massive ovation, but, like most cases in Mania, Santana was used to build his opponent, something he did extremely well. The match is nothing special, but the finish absolutely is as Barbarian hits Chico with, and I say this with 100% confidence, the best executed flying clothesline I’ve ever seen. Damn was it a thing of beauty. Well done Barbarian!



155. Undertaker vs Jimmy Snuka (WM7)
Here it is, historical purposes alone, maybe I should’ve ranked this higher, but the match itself was just ok. Jimmy Snuka was still over with the fans & this was a good name for Taker to get a win over, it was just ok though. Maybe because Taker was already had this presence about him, that this match seemed like just another filler match on a Mania card. Looking back on it, of course it was the start of the most historic streak in all professional wrestling, but at the time, it wasn’t. Taker looked awfully impressive & no way did this match make you think he’d be World Champ by year’s end. You could tell though he was a superstar though.



154. Team Hell No vs Dolph Ziggler & Big E (WM29)
The problem these 4 guys had was the problem a lot of the guys had & I’ll point it out in the matches upcoming, was that they simply didn’t have enough time. This Mania was a time crunch & some matches got cut for time, some matches got cut entirely. 6 minutes simply isn’t enough time for these 4, as Team Hell No was incredibly over with the crowd, the hottest Kane had been in years & Bryan was one of the most popular guys on the roster. Then there’s Ziggler, who is about to be the World Champ the next night & a Mania debut for Big E, who deserved a better showing. They tried cramming in so much into this match that it just seemed like a sprint from the get go. The opening spot with Dolph kissing AJ only to get hit with a kick & almost pinned was a great call back to the previous year with Bryan & AJ. A very entertaining match, but they should’ve had double this time. Mania is a long show, it’s just a shame that these 4 talented guys couldn’t be given more than 6 minutes on the biggest show of the year.



153. Razor Ramon vs Bob Backlund (WM9)
So here’s the thing, on a Mania card filled with quite a bunch of garbage, it’s these kind of thrown together matches with solid talent, that actually save the PPV. The matches people definitely forget about & this was a nice little match. Granted it was less than 4 minutes, but it gave Razor a Mania win & Backlund was popular with fans following his amazing Rumble performance that year. Absolutely this could’ve been a match on Raw, but I liked it because I was always a fan of those filler matches with no meaning behind them. Razor won not with a Razor’s Edge, but with a chicken shit small package. Solid heel win & a match I suggest spending under 4 minutes watching.



152. Owen Hart & Yokozuna vs The Smoking Gunns (WM11)
Owen Hart was an incredible heel. His built in backstory of anything Bret did he would do it better was great. I honestly wish Owen would’ve gotten at least a couple month run with the title (those off months between Summerslam & Survivor Series). I would’ve put the title on Owen at Survivor Series & have Diesel beat him in December right before the new year. Having Yokozuna team with him against the Gunns was perfect & amazingly, despite being off TV since the Survivor Series, Yoko looked even bigger, which was sad. The Gunns stood no chance & this was really Owen’s coming out party & real start as a tag team specialist. Sure he’d still be a reliable heel for singles matches, but this was a refreshing new team to hold the tag titles for a while in 95. Entertaining match with a great result.



151. Brain Busters vs Strike Force (WM5)
RIP to one of my favorite themes on the Piledriver album, that being Strike Force’s Girls in Cars (it was so cheesy & it didn’t fit them at all as a team, music video is hilariously awful), as this was the end of Chico Santana & Rick Martel as a team. This not only made Martel a heel, but it was a clinic put on by Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard, as The Brain Busters did what they did best, out wrestle you. I wish they lasted longer in the WWF, but it was good while it lasted. Martel selling an injury from miscommunication most of the match & then just bailing, allowing Tully & Arn to just absolutely pick apart Santana until they felt they did enough to get the win. That’s all I have to say, because Girls in Cars is stuck in my head. God dammit.

Starting on Sunday, we enter the Top 100 WrestleMania matches in history! We're almost there fellas!

130. Ted Dibiase vs Jake Roberts (WM6)
One of the greatest promos in Mania history was cut prior to this match by Jake The Snake Roberts, as he was always an amazing talker, able to captivate the audience, but on this night, he was in a whole other league. Take nothing away from Ted Dibiase too, he’s one of the most underrated talkers ever as well, but damn, Jake was perfect on this night, ending his promo saying Dibiase would be “wallowing, in the midst of Everest.” It was a chilling promo & it led to a pretty damn good match as well, however, I didn’t care for the fact that it was for Ted Dibiase’s Million Dollar Championship. That title was an incredible prop for Dibiase, but he never should’ve defended it, because it makes him more hatable when only he considers it an actual title. Regardless, both guys are two of the best to compete & it was a good match & culmination of a feud that ended at Mania, as an upper level feud should.

129. Natural Disasters vs Money Inc (WM8)
Ah, we’ve been through this before, tag champs bail & get counted out, then the challengers for some dumb reason think they’ve won the titles anyway. Tale as old as time. I really liked this feud as Jimmy Hart found himself in a managing pickle. His new team Money Inc would become Tag Champs & his main team, The Natural Disasters were left out in the cold seemingly. Out with the old & in with the new for the Mouth of the South. The match was Prime Time Wrestling worthy, nothing really stands out, aside from this being your typical big team, small team match with great heel work by Money Inc, who are hands down one of the most underrated tag teams in history. Most memorable part of this match was a fan taking a swipe at Jimmy Hart on the way out, to which IRS turned around & yelled “throw that asshole out of here!” He did the guy a favor, if that dude got tossed, he didn’t have to see Hogan vs Sid. Thanks Irwin!

128. Chris Jericho vs Roddy Piper, Ricky Steamboat & Jimmy Snuka (WM25)
2/3rds of this match was a disaster & would’ve been ranked well over 100 spots lower had Ricky Steamboat not been in this match. Steamboat is in my Top 10 all time favorite wrestlers list, so when he started a feud with Chris Jericho, I was all in & you could tell, so was Jericho. He was marking out as I remember the early pic he took with Steamboat at a signing & it was just cool seeing Y2J, in his finest heel form, in there with arguably the greatest babyface in the history of the sport. Jimmy Snuka was way too old to be wrestling, let alone against Jericho. Piper as well, as it was kind of sad seeing Piper trying to wrestle like a 25 year old, since he had been through so much health problems. However, nostalgic wise, it was what it was & Jericho bumped like crazy to make them look good. To everyone’s surprise though, Steamboat could still go! Sure he was in his 50s, but damn, he was still skinning the cat! It wasn’t Savage/Steamboat 2, but damn (twice I’ve said that), Steamboat & Jericho had a great little match at the end of this thing. Amazing amount of respect to Jericho & so cool seeing The Dragon out there again. Post match with Mickey Rourke missing a punch Jericho sold, eh, the less said about that the better. The Wrestler ruled though.

127. Andre the Giant Battle Royal (WM30)
Take Cesaro out of this match, I wouldn’t have cared one single bit about it. However, freshly broken up from his tag team partner Jack Swagger on the pre-show (pre-show, seriously), Cesaro was more over than ever & had one of the best power displays ever in this thing, picking up Big Show (not the typical guillotine choke & he just falls over the top) up in a bodyslam position & tossing him out to win the thing. The following night, Cesaro would become a Paul Heyman Guy & while many would’ve considered that a great pairing, some key people didn’t, the WWE Creative, because they’re morons. A guy who is arguably the best on the roster, paired with one of the greatest talkers in history, should’ve been handled better than a mediocre push to an IC title contender. Cesaro we all know is the most underrated guy on their roster, never being used to his full potential, but even if he is never used to the level we all think he is deserved to be, he’ll have this Mania moment & not even the idiots in Creative can take that away from him.

126. Randy Orton vs John Cena vs HHH (WM24)
So, you’d think with 3 of the biggest names in the company & biggest names for quite a few years, that this would’ve been better, except, it wasn’t. Incredibly forgettable is the only way to describe it. On a card with Edge vs Undertaker, Mayweather vs Big Show & Flair vs HBK, this match is simply forgotten about & for good reason actually. I can’t remember a damn thing about this feud and that’s saying something as it involves 3 of the biggest names in the past 10 years. So the match itself, Orton’s punt put away Trips, who had just hit a Pedigree on Cena. Orton pins Cena to retain the title. You can’t say these guys didn’t have time, it’s just a matter of being on a card that’s totally overshadowed by the greatest of all time’s final match against Ric Flair. Not to mention the incredible main event with Edge & Taker. Not really much you can do, but Cena loses, Orton retains the title, two things that don’t happen often at Mania, but is totally forgotten about.

125. Swagger vs Christian vs Hardy vs McIntyre vs Kingston vs Ziggler vs Benjamin vs MVP vs Bourne (WM26)
The reason I liked this match so much was due to the unpredictability behind it. If you told be Jack Swagger was winning this thing, I would’ve called you a liar. He wasn’t doing a damn thing on TV & miraculously won! I loved that, because it was pushing someone new that had never had that opportunity other than a run in ECW-WE. Sure, Swagger couldn’t get the briefcase down to save his life, but the end result was awesome. Every guy in this match had a decent shot of winning, but Swagger came through. Some might think this match was too loaded with guys, which, that might be a viable case, but they all go their spots in & that was that. I like the 6 man MITB more, because it just feels like guys did one move, then laid on the ground the whole time until the finish. Regardless, for the element of surprise, which is rare in the WWE since it’s so damn predictable, I ranked it as high as I did. Well done on your Wrestlemania moment Oklahomie!

124. Hardcore Battle Royal (WM16)
This was the biggest clusterfuck in the best way possible. Was it too long, of course, did the ending get fucked up, yup, did they have to do a title switch the following night because the counter was off & even Howard Finkel was confused as to who exactly won, yes he was, but that was the Hardcore Division, so it kind of fit. It was a trainwreck & I loved it all. It just seemed like they threw all the remaining guys not used on this show into this match as Kaientai, Mean Street Posse, Headbangers, Viscera, APA, Hardcore, Crash & Tazz all put on a fun brawl. It’s a shame that within 2 months, Tazz fell into the Hardcore role, but I liked the different title switches with Funaki, the Posse, Viscera, Tazz all getting the belt before the dreaded Tazzmission on Crash, Hardcore hitting his cue too early & the pinfall stopping about 3 seconds too early. Aside from the ending, it was fun & different, capitalizing on the entertainment that the division had become.

123. 20 Man Battle Royal (WM4)
From one battle royal to another, only this one was a little more well put together. I liked the guys in this battle royal more (sorry Mean Street Posse), but some of the eliminations were really odd. George Steele was DQ’d because he never got in the ring, seriously? The ending to this match remains one of the most memorable Wrestlemania moments in history, even if Bret Hart looked like a gullible dope in the process. Granted, I know now the pairing of Bad News Brown & Bret Hart had backstory to the Canada days. Anyways, here Bad News & Bret dumped out Paul Roma & JYD and celebrated their win. Two guys winning the trophy, that’s not happening, as Bad News levels Bret with the Ghetto Blaster & tossed him. Pretty cool moment to follow as Bret destroys the trophy & stands tall. Nice little moment for the Hitman, who wouldn’t get another singles moment until 4 years later.

122. Chris Benoit vs MVP (WM23)
Chris Benoit & MVP had good chemistry in the ring, as I had to think about which Benoit Mania match to rank higher, this one or the JBL one, but I decided on wrestling over brawling. MVP really hadn’t gotten to show off that he was a real solid wrestler in the ring until he faced Benoit & he came out looking great when it was all over. This was the beginning of a good feud, with Benoit winning here & the next month at Backlash, only for MVP to come back & win 2 falls straight at the next show. Overall it made MVP look fantastic. Strong match, sort of an underrated little gem that goes unnoticed because of the dark cloud which followed for Benoit’s name a few months later.

121. Randy Savage vs Greg Valentine (WM4)
Two former IC champs going into this show as they put together a pretty good match for a Quarterfinal match of a tournament. Was Valentine going to win, absolutely not, but he was a totally different challenge than Butch Reed was & a different challenge than One Man Gang was going to be in the next round. Savage was on fire this night & Hammer was seemingly the perfect opponent for him in this round. Macho Man wins in a nice 6 minute match & off to the semi’s he goes, nothing really more to say about this one.

120. John Cena vs Big Show (WM20)
John Cena’s face turn was done perfectly & his challenging for the US title was done well too as Big Show was pretty much dominant as the champ. This was pretty much the first time everyone saw Cena as a legit power guy as he hoisted Show up early in the match with a FU, which kind of took away from the closing moments of the match when he clocked Show with brass knucks & another FU for the finish. It was probably Cena’s biggest win to date as it started off Mania 20 pretty strong. They handled Cena’s turn, eventual US title reign, then push slowly into the main event so well. They didn’t push him into the main event until he was ready, something they seemed to forget how to do with Roman Reigns recently. People can bitch about Cena all they want, but his ascent to the top was handled incredibly well.

119. Jazz vs Trish Stratus vs Lita (WM18)
Canada’s favorite girl, Trish Stratus was fighting for the title in her hometown, there was no way she was losing this one. These three ladies put on a great match, but it sort of got robbed of time, which is incredibly unfortunate, as they didn’t deserve that. They deserved their chance to shine at Mania & even though they didn’t have much time, they took advantage of what they had as this is a great little underrated match. Jazz was getting into gear, Lita was always great & Trish had come a LONG way in just a few months. There was no weak link in these three as they all gelled together very well in the ring together.

118. John Cena vs Rusev (WM31)
The award for Most Raddest Entrance to a Guy Who Gets Completely Buried After This Show goes to Rusev hands down, he had a leggy blonde by his side & rode in on a fucking TANK! Then John Cena came in & beat him, then beat him again & again. You’d think I was being sarcastic, but no, John Cena, after losing to Rusev the month prior, went on to defeat him 3 straight PPVs. Honestly, Rusev hasn’t recovered since, as he was an absolute monster heading into this show, but should’ve 100% beaten Cena if not at this show, one of the others. It was embarrassing, as no way can you build up a guy only to lose 3 PPVs in a row. Despite this leading to the John Cena Open Challenge, which gave us Cena’s best matches in years, this match was a very good one. I just disliked the end result. Lana looked damn incredible though, which is no surprise. Really wish she wasn’t such a heat magnet backstage, because I wonder how much she’d be pushed if she wasn’t. Regardless, enjoy the Lana bikini pic bonus. My list & she's only on this list once, so I'll do what I want!

117. Hulk Hogan & Mr. T vs Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorff (WM1)
Here it is, the first main event ever in Mania history & from a wrestling standpoint, it sucked, but from a historical standpoint, it remains synonymous with the name Wrestlemania. Without this match, Vince may never have become a billionaire. It was a perfect blend of mainstream celebrity colliding with the WWF & Mr. T was fine in that role. Piper vs Hogan was the hottest feud in the company at the time & people tuned in not just to see the guy from the A-Team, but to see Piper get his ass kicked by Hogan. Hulk, not being conceited in the least, has said without Hulk Hogan there would be no Vince McMahon, that is true. However, without Roddy Piper, there would be no Hulk Hogan, something that Terry so conveniently forgets. Orndorff & Orton were great chronies & Jimmy Snuka was, well, there. Pat Patterson was the ref so you knew they didn’t want to take any chances in Mr. T forgetting cues, so someone reliable like Pat was given the nod in this one. Memorable yes, but not for the wrestling. WWF was off & running.

116. Big Bossman vs Mr. Perfect (WM7)
Mr. Perfect was one of the greatest IC champs in history, but in all honesty, he didn’t have too many huge title defenses. Instead he actually made the title mean something on TV, not to mention his in ring skills were incredible (I’m not saying perfect). He had a feud with the Texas Tornado, Big Bossman & Bret Hart, that was really it, but any wrestling fan remembers his title reign. Perfect was a the big heel & cut a ridiculously awesome promo before the match “there’s only one & you’re looking at him” and the match he bumped all over the place. Every bit of offense Big Bossman threw, Perfect bumped around & flipped for everything. Andre the Giant at ringside I was sort of sad about, because he wasn’t in the best shape, but on the other hand, it was just great to see Andre as this was his final Mania appearance. Bossman laid out the Heenan Family as Perfect bailed & it was a pretty good finish, or as good of one you could have in a DQ finish.

115. Razor Ramon vs Jeff Jarrett (WM11)
I really enjoyed these twos match from the Rumble a few months prior, as Jarrett winning the IC title legit surprised me as a kid, as I was a big Razor fan. Baiting Razor to come back & fight after Razor had lost via countout was genius on Double J’s part, but foolish on Razor’s. So it led to this rematch & the involvement of the 123 Kid & Roadie was fine, but I felt was a bit much. I liked the heel having the advantage with his backup in his corner, but maybe 123 Kid could’ve come down to help out during the match, I just thought it was too much. Regardless, both dudes had great chemistry (which I’ve said like twelve times now in these rankings & I’m sure I will 12 times more at least), but on a Mania card that was pretty weak, I feel this match is forgotten about because the main event & co-main event are the two matches most remembered. The rest is just tossed to the side, but this is a nice little match that I suggest checking out if you want to see a solid IC title match at Mania.

114. Hart Foundation & Danny Davis vs The British Bulldogs & Tito Santana (WM3)
When I started watching wrestling, it was in 1990, so I didn’t really watch the earlier Mania’s until about 4-5 years later when I’d rent every wrestling VHS at the video store (I miss the hell out of those days). So when I popped in WM3, it was the first time I discovered the Hart Foundation were bad guys prior to them being faces in 1990. Then I realize Jimmy Hart is with them & it made sense, Danny Davis though, I couldn’t even explain it to you to this day. I get he was the corrupt referee & was in the back pocket of Jimmy Hart, but he couldn't wrestle a lick, so why would these guys want to team with him in an actual match? This match seems to be overshadowed by the IC title match, regardless of Davis' involvement. Were we supposed to see Davis at the same level as Chico? What a slap in the face! I would've preferred the Bulldogs vs Hart Foundation for the Tag Titles on this show.

113. Virgil vs Ted Dibiase (WM7)
This is the biggest compliment I could give to Ted Dibiase, he took chicken shit & made it into chicken salad. It’s a testament to the Million Dollar Man that this feud was enjoyable as it was. Roddy Piper being in Virgil’s corner helped him build this match on commentary all the time as Virgil couldn’t talk well & couldn’t wrestle that well either, I mean, his finisher in squash matches on TV was a Side Russian Leg Sweep! So this match was a showcase for Dibiase as he carried this match from start to finish & had to do that for months after. Virgil isn’t the worst wrestler in the world, he may be the worst wrestling personality in the world in his post career (shaking down people for money at conventions, trying to sell autographs in the New York Subway, just to name a few). So the match was fine, but the post match with Sensational Sherri was pretty brilliant as she breaks off from Savage & joins up with Dibiase in one night. I loved that pairing & thought it should’ve gone on longer, but the beating they put on Piper (who flung his crutch & nailed a ref in the nuts) was great.

112. Owen Hart & British Bulldog vs Vader & Mankind (WM13)
So there were always rumors that Mankind & Vader were going to fight in some crazy wild hardcore brawl at this show, but Vince got stage fright & called it off and instead teamed both dudes up against the established team of Owen & Bulldog. It made some sense since both guys were managed by Paul Bearer at the time, but Vader was just teaming with Owen & Bulldog less than 6 months prior, so there was no reason to fight them. It was a thrown together match since all the other teams were occupied & pretty weak next to Owen & Bulldog. At least you look at Mankind & Vader and think they could definitely win the titles. It also made the tag champs fight a totally different type of team, as the most hardest hitting team Owen & Bulldog had faced up to this point was probably the Godwinns, which, they weren’t that tough at the time (when the Godwinns turned heel, that’s when they started beating the piss out of guys). A throwaway finish was what was needed to keep all the guys strong, but I wish we had a winner.

111. Kane vs HHH (WM15)
The heel turn of Chyna on DX never seemed right to me. She just seemed out of place on her own as part of the Corporation. I wasn’t interested in her pairing with Kane either. However, this feud with Triple H I really didn’t mind because, Triple H shot a fucking flame thrower at the Big Read Machine. And he randomly did it dressed as Goldust before Kane was supposed to wrestle him, which made it even more cool for some odd reason. So this match was fine, with nothing really to make note of, other than Chyna turned on the Corporation & joined back up with DX. It was a pretty cool moment to see her reunited with Trips, but then it’d all come together later in the night when they turned on DX. Chyna went from face, to heel, to face, to heel in the span of 2 months. A record that would hold until Big Show would shatter it with 48 turns within 2 weeks.

I had to re-edit this because I'm dumb & posted 100-91 before 110-101. So they're all in the right order now.



110. Yokozuna vs Bret Hart (WM9)
Bret Hart is in my Top 3 all time favorite wrestlers list (Savage, HBK, Bret, Flair, Steamboat are my 5), so as a kid I loved that he was champion in 1993 & he was going against a monster in Yokozuna, who hadn’t even been there that long. So I was really interested & hopeful that Bret could get past this dude in the main event. I was bummed he lost this match due to Fuji shenanigans, but as I grew older and watched this match again, I saw, this match just wasn’t that great. Yoko was gassed FAST, you could absolutely tell & not to mention the end of the match was purely set up to stroke Hogan’s ego, in one of the worst endings to a Mania ever. Bret & Yoko I thought had a much better match the next year and Yoko had even wrestled Luger like an hour before that as well! Regardless, not the best, but not the worst.

109. Molly Holly vs Victoria (WM20)
Looking at the list & this is the runner up for best Womens match in Mania history. We’ll get to the number 1 in a while, but these two put on a fantastic match with a pretty unique stipulation, definitely in the womens division. Molly Holly is one of the most underappreciated women wrestlers ever IMO, she was great in the ring, fine on the mic & worked heel and face incredibly well. She played the prude awesome & when she finally got her head shaved, you knew she was willing to do anything for the company. Which, sadly, I wish the company felt the same, because they really didn’t use her a bunch after this. Aside from the ripping the wig off, she wasn’t used. I wish these two had more time, but they were sandwiched in between Angle/Eddie and Taker/Kane. I mean, for the spot they were in, both ladies did great. Victoria, I’ve talked about already in the WM19 match, but we all know how awesome she was in the ring, so she deserved this moment just like Molly. They delivered, even if the WWE wasn’t really behind the Divas like they should.

108. Greg Valentine vs Ricky Steamboat (WM4)
So looking back on this match, it bummed me out so much, because we were robbed of Savage vs Steamboat 2. I can only assume it’s because that match would’ve no doubt stolen the show & the rest of the tournament would’ve been mediocre at best. Granted the eventual main event was awesome, but that would’ve blown the tits off Trump Plaza. However, we instead got, what I think, was a huge upset in this thing with the Hammer beating the Dragon. 2 former IC champs with Valentine getting a win. This was a great match & I realize early tournament matches need less time, but damn, Ricky needed more time out there. He was about done with the WWF around this time, so maybe that played into the decision as well? Regardless, if you have time, watch this match, it’s incredibly underrated as it gets lost in this big tournament.

107. John Cena vs Batista (WM26)
In a match that probably should’ve happened a few years earlier, but just simply didn’t. Batista & Cena had pretty much the same career, coming up through OVW, joining the main roster around the same time, over time growing in popularity, winning their first World titles at WM21, it all added up. Cena carried RAW, while Dave carried SD. This was a perfect fit, so you knew damn well that Batista wasn’t going to be the face, so him turning heel the year prior, it set the wheels into motion. Their first fight was at Summerslam & Cena hurt his neck, so you had time to build this match even more. Batista won the World title & they had their program set. Unfortunately, everyone wanted to see Taker/HBK, so this was the final match before the main event, so fans seemed kind of deflated. This wasn’t a bad match by any means, I really liked these two guys wrestling, but I think had it happened earlier, it would’ve had more of a big fight feel.

106. Lawrence Taylor vs Bam Bam Bigelow (WM11)
Many thought HBK vs Diesel should’ve been the main event of this show, looking back on it, maybe that was true, however, I think they got it right on this show. This was the match that sold Mania, people wanted to see LT wrestle and despite being one of the best wrestlers in the world, HBK wasn’t main event level yet. He would be, just not yet. Granted the HBK/Diesel match was a better overall match, this one, from a storytelling standpoint, was better. The NFL vs the….Million Dollar Corporation, that was the weakest part of all this. Mono McMichael, Reggie White, Carl Banks, Rickey Jackson, Chris Spielman & Ken Norton all accompanied LT to the ring. On the other end……Nikolai Volkoff, Tatanka, IRS, Kama & King Kong Bundy. Not the strongest bunch of heels, but hey, it was 1995. LT didn’t do nearly as bad as many probably thought he’d do, but that’s also a testament to Bam Bam Bigelow, who sold the fuck out of everything. He really deserved a bigger push for this match as Bigelow showed he could really come through in the clutch in the big time match. Plus, he scared Salt n’ Pepa at the stage when they were singing LT to the ring, which, for 1995, was a nice touch.

105. Steve Austin vs Savio Vega (WM12)
Trying to figure out exactly when Steve Austin started to become more cold, serial killer-esque. The transition from Ringmaster to Stone Cold was pretty quick, thankfully, although this was during the period where Austin was still managed by Ted Dibiase, so it just looked weird. Austin changed into a character who needed no friends of allies, so having a manager, despite it being one of the best in Dibiase, felt unnecessary. This feud was incredibly hard hitting & I think looking back on his career, it was Savio’s more memorable feud as these two beat the piss out of one another. Many of the Mania 12 matches get forgotten about, because of the main event, but this one was very good. Just over 10 minutes, these guys had time to work & they did a great job. Austin won thankfully & they continued their feud the following month with an incredible strap match, which they had to film again because of a bad storm knocking the power out.

104. Brutus Beefcake vs Mr. Perfect (WM6)
Probably wouldn’t have had Brutus Beefcake of all people snap the winning streak of Mr. Perfect, but these two honestly had one of the best matches on the card this year. I said this in the Survivor Series rankings, Beefcake could wrestle when he wanted, he was no slouch in the ring simply collecting a paycheck, and he could wrestle. Not the caliber of Mr. Perfect, but these two worked well with one another. The end was actual pretty good because it was out of pure luck that Perfect had smacked the ring post & knocked HIMSELF out and Brutus took advantage & got the pin. So in a sense, Perfect defeated himself. Post match with Genius getting put out by the sleeper (which took probably 10 seconds, he really fought, but went out way too quick) and Brutus strutted around the ring. Harmless as Perfect would go on to win the IC title & Beefcake wouldn’t be so lucky as he’d have that bad accident with the boat. Both guys put on a little underrated gem of a match here, so I suggest checking it out.

103. Randy Orton vs Cody Rhodes vs Ted Dibiase (WM26)
It’s weird, I really liked Legacy, I enjoyed everyone involved (except for when they added Manu & Sim Snuka for about a month), but it never seemed like they had an end game figured out for these guys. Dibiase & Cody could’ve been poised for huge pushes following this match/feud, but aside from occasional main event spots on TV, it never materialized, which sucks. I still truly believe it could for Cody Rhodes, as Ted Dibiase left to be a family man, which I have a tremendous amount of respect for. How Cody Rhodes hasn’t main evented a PPV on his own yet is beyond me, if just baffles me, as he’s one of the most talented guys on the roster, an excellent promo, charismatic, he’s the whole package, it sucks they don’t see it. Randy Orton didn’t need to win this match, AT ALL, he was already established, multiple World title reigns, how about you have one of the other two guys, who had been under your wing for months, get a win at the biggest show of the year? Dumb booking, which is a trend. Also, notice Cody Rhodes doing the Blue Steel pose in this pic?

102. Undertaker vs Jake Roberts (WM8)
Just the 2nd year into the Mania run, Taker tombstoned his opponent on the floor & it was rad. The feud between Jake & Taker was built pretty descent for how little of time they had. I really had hoped they’d do Jake vs Savage at this show, but unfortunately they never got a final blow off of their feud. What happened instead was a face turn that would make the Undertaker one of the most popular superstars of the next 6-7 years. All it took was preventing Jake from smacking Elizabeth with a chair & they were off to the races. This sadly was Jake’s last big time match in the WWF, as I’m not going to really count the 96 return as it just wasn’t the same. This was the last badass heel Jake we’d see as he cut a fantastic pre-match promo before going out & putting on a great match. What could’ve been as I wouldn’t have minded seeing these two face off a few more times. I bet Taker would’ve loved it too, he wouldn’t have had to carry 360 pounders (or heavier) in feuds for the next few years.

101. John Cena vs The Rock (WM29)
This was essentially a rerun of the previous year’s Mania, except the fact that The Rock had a hernia, torn abductor & torn abdominal muscle, apparently early in this match too. So it’s pretty amazing that the Great One gutted it out to get through this one. The problem is I didn’t want to see this match again. The Rock shouldn’t have beaten Cena at the previous Mania (we’ll get there), as the whole “Once in a Lifetime” tagline was thrown out the window. Also, Punk/Taker pretty much blew Brock/Trips & this match out of the water, so there was really no way they could top that. Crowd seemed not nearly as interested in this one as they did the last time these guys wrestled as the ending was pretty damn predictable. Why would Rock beat Cena for a second year? Regardless, I still liked the match; it didn’t suck by any means. However it just simply wasn’t needed. I was more than happy after the 1st one. CM Punk vs Cena, despite happening a bunch, wouldn’t have been a bad main event. Then again, had that happened we wouldn’t have gotten Punk vs Taker.

90. Evolution vs Rock n’ Sock Connection (WM20)
Mick Foley has stated that he felt like he didn’t deliver in this match, but I tend to disagree. We hadn’t seen Mick wrestle in a long time & teaming with the Rock at, up to that point, the biggest Mania in history, I thought he did great. His feud with Randy Orton ranks right up there with my favorite Mick feuds, as it went on for months before culminating at Backlash the following month in one of my all time favorite Mick matches. We hadn’t seen The Rock wrestle in 2 years and he didn’t lose a step, his strut off with Flair was hilarious & remembering the pic of Rock and Flair when he was a little kid, made the moment even more cool. Orton & Batista in there with 3 legends was huge for them as they didn’t look out of place. Batista was still the quiet muscle, Flair was the cocky veteran & Orton, over the past few months, had become the brash & arrogant young gun of the group. It was a huge win for Orton, pinning Foley, setting the stage next month for their showdown. I’m not sure what Mick wanted from this match that didn’t happen? It was an entertaining handicap match that led to an unforgettable showdown the following month. It served its purpose. So while this match itself might not have been one of the best, it certainly was far from the worst. I really liked it.



89. Rick Rude vs Jake Roberts (WM4)
The Rick Rude/Jake Roberts/Cheryl Roberts feud was pretty damn entertaining & having these two in the opening round match of the tournament, you knew it wasn’t going to end cleanly. My only complaint was this feud pretty much ended after this. It never got a blow off match. Both guys wrestled different guys at Summerslam, when they should’ve ended the feud there. I digress, as this was probably my favorite non-main event tournament match out of this whole thing. You put both guys out there for a 15 minute time limit draw, which, looking at the brackets, wouldn’t have worked with any other pairing, except maybe Steamboat/Valentine, but they were at the point where that would’ve made zero sense. Both guys fought their ass off & put together a damn fine match, even if there wasn’t a definitive winner.



88. Orient Express vs Rockers (WM6)
Perhaps the funniest part of this match was during the Rockers entrance. They cut to a lady with large…..puppies, jumping up and down. There is a younger lady next to her who turns, looks at her jumping, looks back to her chest, then looks down, seemingly dejected. It’s friggin hysterical. Now, onto the match, all 4 guys were some of the most talented overall wrestlers on the entire roster & on a show with tons of matches, they made the most out of their time given. This was a match that really put over the fact that the Orient Express were a dangerous team. Mr. Fuji had sold the contracts of Warlord to Slick & Barbarian to Bobby Heenan (I absolutely love that, when a manager is done with a talent, he sells their contracts to another villain manager), so this was his newest acquisitions. Shawn & Marty were already popular with the fans, but Sato & Tanaka were still new on the scene, so the shenanigans with Fuji’s cane as well as throwing salt into Marty’s eyes, causing him to tumble over the barricade (nice touch), proved they were unpredictable. Excellent tag team match, that, despite not holding a candle to their Royal Rumble 91 match (which is the pic I had to use), still was an exciting little match.



87. Mr. Kennedy vs CM Punk vs Randy Orton vs Edge vs Matt Hardy vs Booker T vs Jeff Hardy vs Finlay (WM23)
It seemed odd to have Orton & Edge in this match, but in a way, it gave it even more unpredictability. Kennedy winning wasn’t expected, at least not to me, but there were a few people you knew they wouldn’t give the win to. Booker had his main event run, Jeff wasn’t there yet, Matt & Finlay weren’t going to, Punk, as much as people wanted, wasn’t going to yet, so that left Kennedy & Rated RKO. So I guess from a logical standpoint, Kennedy winning made sense, it just sucks that he couldn’t stay clean or healthy, so his main event push lasted for a cup of coffee (if that). Just give the case to Edge & they were back in gear. Overall one of the more solid MITB matches as Jeff’s legdrop/whoopee cushion off the ladder to the floor was visually spectacular & it didn’t feel overdone. It was what it was, forgettable winner, but a few memorable spots in the match itself.



86. Matt Hardy vs Jeff Hardy (WM25)
I disliked everything about the Matt Hardy heel turn, it felt so desperately forced & literally unbelievable. We’re supposed to believe that Matt not only set pyro off in Jeff’s face, but set his house on fire & murdered Jeff’s dog in the process? Seriously, that’s what they wanted us to believe. All because Matt was bummed he was the afterthought. So incredibly stupid. Let’s just set all that nonsense aside, this match, despite being one giant spot fest, was a pretty good spot fest. The spot where Jeff put Matt onto a table, then stacked a table onto him, went to the top & dives through a table onto Matt through another table, which, I understand makes no sense when reading, but was a cool visual. Even though Jeff went through 2 tables for no reason & Matt only went through 1. Then again, sense was out the window as soon as they started this dumb feud. The conclusion with Matt hitting a Twist of Fate with Jeff’s head through a chair was, again, visually awesome, but looking back at it (I re-watched this Mania last week), it looked really safe, which is all you can ask for in this kind of match. It was a match a long time coming, but the sheer lunacy surrounding this; pretty much made it a spot fest & nothing more. Jeff never took Matt to court when he learned he burned his house down & murdered his dog. Oh wrestling.



85. Shawn Michaels vs Tito Santana (WM8)
This was Shawn Michaels’ coming out party, no not that way (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but his singles push run was just starting as he looked like a legit threat & it all started with the commentary. Bobby Heenan saying that Michaels had challenged the winner of the IC title match later in the night pretty much set Shawn in that class right there, add to that the gimmick, Sherri, everything, it’s a no brainer. Chico Santana doing playing “best guy to make others look good at a Wrestlemania” perfectly as this was a strong opener on one of my all time favorite Manias. This match didn’t have any build up, but it didn’t need to. Shawn was the heel, Tito was the face, now wrestle. It got a little sloppy at the end, but Michaels collapsed on top of Chico’s bodyslam attempt for the win. Not the dominate victory you’d expect from the future Hall of Famer, but at the time, the guy looked great. I should also point out that it was very gentlemanly of Tito to greet his family member Ar-Reba McIntyre at the ring steps after she sang the National Anthem before the opening contest. What a guy!



84. HHH vs Brock Lesnar (WM29)
Hated the ending, hated the stipulation, really enjoyed the build & match itself, so, we’re even I guess. If Trips would’ve lost, he would’ve had to retire, which, you know was never going to happen. So I figured shenanigans would lead to another match next month, except no shenanigans really happened (aside from HBK interference). Instead we had a brawl, which I really dug. 90% of this match I truly liked, it’s just the ending was stupid. Triple H with a Kimura Lock on former UFC World Champion Brock Lesnar and Brock has to sell it like it’s death? Then the Pedigree on the steps & Brock Lesnar…..loses. I don’t care if he got his win back next month, Brock Lesnar up to this point, lost to John Cena, beat Triple H & then lost to Triple H at the biggest show of the year. I could go off on a rant as to why Brock should’ve won against Trips, but you all know already. Match itself was an entertaining brawl, but unspectacular finish.



83. Rey Mysterio vs Matt Hardy (WM19)
I loved Matt Hardy V1, I loved his MF’r Shannon Moore, I even loved for the brief time Crash Holly as the Moore-on. The Matt Facts, the training in the sweat suit to get to the Cruiserweight limit, everything was perfect. Only problem with this match, again, like many, was time. Granted both Rey & Matt made the most of it, but 5 MINUTES is all that these two got! Why did we need TWO Limp Bizkit performances? What did we need the Miller Lite broads? Why did Trips vs Booker need to go nearly 20 minutes? Why did an Undertaker handicap match need to go nearly 10? Trim all that & the cruiserweights could’ve had a 12 minute fantastic match. Instead we got essentially a cliff notes version of what they could do. Matt was a great heel & it just felt like Rey lost too quickly. I understand the finish; I just didn’t like how quickly it came. Watch this match though, as it’s really good.



82. JBL vs Finlay (WM24)
So two of the toughest guys ever in the WWE beat the hell out of one another for nearly 10 minutes. Sounds like a good opener to me and it was! JBL with the spot of the match, out of nowhere, whipped a trashcan at Hornswoggle on the floor. I mean, no one saw that coming, which made it even better. I really don’t need to say much more about this, Finlay is tough a shit, JBL is tough as shit & they let them have a Belfast Brawl to open a Wrestlemania. It was great, so I definitely suggest checking it out; especially if you want to see two dudes beat the piss out of one another. Repetitive I know, but that’s what it was.



81. Cactus Jack & Chainsaw Charlie vs New Age Outlaws (WM14)
Objective of the match, toss your opponents into the dumpster to win the titles. This should’ve been Duke Droese’s specialty, but he wasn’t around long enough to see it. Instead, we got Mick & Funk beating the piss out of the Outlaws in a wild brawl that was the perfect fit for this show. It always amazed me the punishment Terry Funk took, every shot that Mr. Ass & Road Dogg threw, it was to take his head off. Same goes for Mick, but Terry is much older at the time. I loved this match as it’s one of my favorite brawls from Mania. This gets overlooked as whenever Mick said that he never had a Mania moment (before his Edge match) I always looked at this one as his moment. Granted it was a tag team match, but it was exactly the match you’d expect out of these two & it also showed that the Outlaws could hang. In the end they threw the champs in the wrong dumpster, leading to a cage match the following night & the formation of the new DX. All 4 guys did great & I really enjoyed this match.