The Grandest Stage of them All, the Showcase of the Immortals, where stars become legends, the global phenomenon known as, WrestleMania! I'm in a good fighting mood and since I watched every Mania I figured I would make a list showcasing my favorite WrestleMania.
10. WrestleMania 21
Starting this list off with one of the most unique WrestleMania events, 21 had the gimmick of going Hollywood. I remember the movie promos they did being so hilarious and awesome, really made 21 stand out among the other Manias. The matches are great, Eddie Vs Rey as the opening is one of the best of the night, this is the WrestleMania where the now iconic Money in the Bank stipulation debuted, Undertaker Vs Orton was great and one of the first matches to acknowledge The Streak, and of course, Kurt Angle Vs Shawn Michaels stole the damn show because of course it did. The only thing keeping 21 from being higher is the two main events not living to expectations. John Cena and Batista becoming champions was the change of the guard for WWE for the next decade.
9. WrestleMania 20
Where it all began, again. With 20 being a milestone and back in Madison Square Garden it had to stick the landing, 20 did that and more. From Cena's rise winning the U.S. title, to the Rock and Sock Connection reunion, to Undertaker's return, WrestleMania 20 had it all. It also has the Lesnar Vs Goldberg match in bizarro world, where it was leaked that both would be leaving WWE, and the New York crowd was surprisingly civil... Nah, they turned on both of them hard and both not giving a fuck, prompting Stone Cold to stun them on the way out. But this WrestleMania wouldn't be as legendary without its main events, Guerrero Vs Angle being a masterclass, and in my opinion, the greatest triple threat match in WrestleMania history in Triple H Vs Michaels Vs Benoit. For obvious reasons that match and this Mania won't be on Youtube, plus the ending has become tragically haunting.
8. WrestleMania 30
One of the most solid WrestleManias, but I think 30 has two main things: The end of The Streak, and Daniel Bryan's journey. Everything else is great too, Cesaro's moment in the Andre Battle Royale, Cena Vs Wyatt, Hogan, Rock, and Austin in the ring together, but yeah, this is mainly about the two big things that happened. Brock Lesnar being the one in 21-1 is still one of the most shocking things to ever happen in WWE, the last surefire thing in WWE, gone just like that. And then there's Bryan and the Yes Movement, and honestly I've never seen the fans push someone as hard as they pushed Bryan to the top. There aren't words to describe how euphoric it was watching Bryan beat Triple H and go on to beat Batista and Randy Orton to finally claim the big one and complete his journey, go watch it for yourself.
7. WrestleMania 24
In my opinion, 24 is the most underappreciated and underrated WrestleMania, it's just stacked from top to bottom. The Beslfast Brawl and Money in the Bank match were great, the two championship matches were awesome, with Taker Vs Edge being a classic main event, and it also had one of the best celebrity matches in Big Show Vs Mayweather. But of course, this will always be remembered as the Mania that had Ric Flair's "Last" match, pay no attention to his TNA stint. And going against Shawn Michaels of all people? 5 Star classic with the now iconic
I'm sorry, I love you". Pure fucking cinema at it's finest, WrestleMania 24 should be an essential watch for fans.
6. WrestleMania 22
This WrestleMania is so damn fun, and the first one I ever watched so it's very special to me. Every now and then the crowd takes over for better or worse, and they really helped make 22 so damn good, Money in the Bank being a car crash of a match, and Shawn Michaels beating an old man in Vince McMahon, with JR's commentary being the greatest form of therapy I've ever seen. Rey winning the World Heavyweight Championship is still great, even if they fucked up his reigns. The Hardcore Match not only gave Mick Foley his WrestleMania moment, Edge got his push towards main event status, and also trauma for life. But Cena Vs Triple H is where the fans made their mark, and they booed the hell out of Cena, honestly they made that match way better than it already was, and it was a classic before the fans took over. WrestleMania 22 was at times a hilarious car crash that tumbled into Bizarro World and we love it for that.
5. WrestleMania 23
I just really love the big sets for a WrestleMania, it helps that this was an awesome WrestleMania, ignore the Kane Vs Khali match. The Battle of the Billionares is destined to be part of a documentary one day, and I'd never thought I'd have to say that, Money in the Bank is standard car crash, but I'll never understand why Jeff Hardy makes stupid jumps like that, just win the match man! The two championships matches steal the show, Undertaker Vs Batista is an all out war, and Cena Vs Michaels is a certified classic, though their match gets upstaged by their rematch in London, but you shouldn't skip the match or WrestleMania 23.
4. WrestleMania 31
Considering WrestleMania 31 had one of the worst buildups ever, it's a miracle it ended up being as fantastic as it did. The Ladder Match for the Intercontinental Championship was awesome, Rollins Vs Orton had THAT finish which is possible the greatest RKO ever, Triple H Vs Sting turning into DX Vs NWO and a funny and awesome time capsule, Cena Vs Rusev was just Rocky 4 and I love Rocky 4, and then that main event with Lesnar and Roman fucking killing each other leading to one of the most iconic Money in the Bank cash ins by Rollins with the "Heist of the Century". WrestleMania 31 somwhow stuck the landing despite its terrible buildup (Same year as Royal Rumble 2015) and not convincing anybody that it was gonna be good.
3. WrestleMania 18
Okay now we're getting into straight up legendary territory with the last few WrestleManias. Stop me if you've heard this one: Hogan Vs Rock is one of the greatest WrestleMania matches of all time and it skyrocketed 18 to legendary status. The rest of the card is fantastic, RVD/Regal, Edge/Booker T, Stone Cold/Kevin Nash, the Hardcore Championship saga through the night was hilarious Attitude Era nonsense. The only hiccup was by the time Triple H Vs Jericho came up everybody was dead tired from Hogan Vs Rock, but that's such a minor thing honestly because everything else was so damn good.
2. WrestleMania 19
If we talk about in ring talent, then WrestleMania 19 had the greatest batch of talent of any WrestleMania. There are at least four matches that can be considered classics: Rock Vs Austin 3 ending the greatest rivalry in Pro Wrestling, Hogan Vs McMahon having a great premise in who created Hulkamania, and also a kickass Street Fight. Michaels Vs Jericho is a barn burner, and proved HBK is still the best at WrestleMania, and Angle Vs Lesnar is a wrestling clinic, even if Brock nearly kills himself with that botch, oh no Bork! The rest of the card is fantastic, only held back by Taker Vs Big Show and A-Train, and Triple H wins LOL, hooray for racism. But those don't take away just how damn good WrestleMania 19 is, also bonus points for having the set in Safeco Field, it's an absolutely fantastic and iconic look.
1. WrestleMania X-Seven
Before even thinking about this list, I watched a few matches from X-Seven on YouTube, and while they were all great, I thought about watching it in full because there's no way WrestleMania X-Seven can still be the best 25 years later can it? But it is, it damn sure is the absolute, undisputed GOAT. The secret to X-Seven's success is that despite 11 matches on the card, every match knows what they are and knows exactly what to do.
The opening match of Jericho/Regal is awesome, the Six Man Tag Match of APA and Tazz Vs Right to Censor is a cool brawl, the Triple Threat Hardcore Championship match almost killed the power to the Astrodome, which adds to the insane hysterics of the match, and Eddie Vs Test was a pretty good slowdown match after the insanity of before. Angle Vs Benoit was a technical wrestler's dream, Chyna got her WrestleMania moment and her last great moment in the WWF, and the soap opera of Shane Vs Vince was everything that those boring soap operas on tv wish they had. And all this before the legendary train wreck that was TLC2, which in my opinion hasn't been topped since. The Gimmick Battle Royale was a wonderful love letter to the fans who grew up in the Golden Age and New Generation Era of WWF, and also a great way to cool the crowd down before the Undertaker Vs Triple H fight that had the greatest and dumbest ref bump ever.
But as great as everything else was, WrestleMania X-Seven wouldn't be legendary if the main event didn't stick the landing, good thing that is was between the two biggest stars of the Attitude Era for the WWF Championship, The Rock Vs Stone Cold. Arguably the two greatest superstars in the history of the company fighting for the richest prize in the business. The two God-like titans in an all out war to become champion. This is what a main event should be, and holy shit it hit the fucking bullseye. The No DQ stipulation before the match begins, you knew it was about to go down, and the story telling Austin shows going through his whole career in specific moments in the match, both Rock and Austin beating each other bloody, and then Vince comes, Rock lays the SmackDown, Stone Cold Stunner, kickout. And then Austin goes full heel beating the life out of The Rock with chair shots, and no one cares 'cause Austin is the new champ and everybody goes fucking NUTS. And finally, that handshake between Austin and Vince, signaling not only the end of the greatest WrestleMania ever, not only the end of the Monday Night Wars, but the spiritual end to the Attitude Era. We'll have future WrestleManias that'll be good, maybe even great, but there will never be another like X-Seven.
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