It’s here, it’s here – it’s finally here. The Granddaddy of them all has finally arrived after fifty-two weeks of sitting through three-hour long Monday Night RAW episodes, we finally get our payoff. Now, this card looks fairly stacked from a wrestling perspective, but will it have any all-time greats?
Here’s a list of the ten best Wrestlemania matches of all time.
10 – Hollywood Hulk Hogan v The Rock (Wrestlemania X8)
I’ll never truly understand why the company decided they’d switch to ‘X8’ and ‘X7’, but whatever. Here it was – one of those once in a lifetime moments, where a dream match so many had envisioned for so many years finally came to fruition.
The Rock won out and the pair shook hands at the end. Genuinely one of the most iconic images in the history of the company.
9 – Undertaker v Shawn Michaels (Wrestlemania 26)
This was the sequel. There was a sequel for reasons you’ll find out later in this list, but it seems incredible that these two wrestlers, at the age they were, put on a masterclass that people considered worthy of a rematch a year later.
Two of the greatest in-ring performers of all-time having their last ever match together – special.
8 – Hulk Hogan v Ultimate Warrior (Wrestlemania 6)
Setting the scene, Hulk Hogan was invincible and the most marketable figure of his time. He was WW(F) Champion going into this, and was being pit against the Ultimate Warrior – the Intercontinental Champion.
The result more so than the actual match is what lives long in the memory. Hogan misses the legdrop, the Warrior, instantaneously, does his splash – and Hogan can’t kick out in time. You’d still get goosebumps.
7 – Edge & Christian v The Dudley Boyz v The Hardy Boyz – TLC 2 (Wrestlemania X7)
The first edition of TLC was spectacular in and of itself, but the reincarnation of the match on the grandest stage of them all on the best card in the event’s history brought it to another level.
This match cemented these three tag teams as the iconic pairings of their generation, amid spot fest after spot fest. Twenty minutes of absolute carnage.
6 – Ric Flair v Shawn Michaels (Wrestlemania 24)
The stipulation of this bout was that, should Flair lose, he would retire. The best matches tell a story and this did just that. Incredible.
It’s perhaps best known for Michaels, while winding up for his finished, mouthing the words, ‘I’m sorry, I love you’ before landing the Sweet Chin Music and retiring him. A showcase for the immortals, indeed.
5 – Chris Benoit v Kurt Angles v Chris Jericho (Wrestlemania 2000)
You will never get three better technicians in the ring together ever again – I guarantee you.
It’s hard to look back on any Benoit match now without the obvious recollection of what transpired afterwards, but this was incredible.
Two-out-three falls for both the European and Intercontinental belts? If WWE Creative tried to book something like that these days, they’d end up giving the title to Big Show in a panic.
4 – Bret Hart v Stone Cold Steve Austin (Wrestlemania 13)
What nobody knew going into this bout, was that, by the end of it, their allegiance would be altered. Bret Hart was the purest wrestler on the planet and was great with the fans. Stone Cold was a loud-mouthed, overconfident Texan who cared for nobody.
Austin passed out (kayfabe) and the blood pouring out of his face sealed his place in history as the double-turn worked to perfection. Hart was now the villain; Austin – the face of the company.
3 – Stone Cold Steve Austin v The Rock (Wrestlemania X7)
The single biggest swerve in the history of wrestling. In the modern time of insiders and cheat sheets, nobody in their right mind expected a three-year rivalry to fold in on itself and a hero to millions sell his soul to the devil.
Austin did just that by aligning himself with Vince McMahon – maybe the greatest image in the event’s history.
2 – Shawn Michaels v Bret Hart (Wrestlemania 12)
An iron man match. It takes two very special competitors to pull it off, and these two delivered the prototype.
After neither man scoring a fall in the sixty minutes, the match would be extended after Hart walked out, expecting to retain on a draw. Michaels caught him with the superkick and the rest is history.
1 – Undertaker v Shawn Michaels (Wrestlemania 25)
There is nothing I can say to do this justice. All I can do is tell you to go and watch it and enjoy one of the greatest spectacles in all of sports entertainment. Even the promo is spine tingling.
These two performers are the two most closely linked to the event itself, and this was bonafide justification. The greatest match in the history of World Wrestling Entertainment.
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