The biggest professional wrestling show every year is undoubtedly WrestleMania. For forty years,WWE’sshowcase of the immortals has been a star-studded event in which the greatest superstars to grace the squared circle often achieve their crowning moments of glory.
WrestleMania has hosted some of the most important matches in the history of WWE, from performances that made superstars into household names to bouts that were groundbreaking innovations in wrestling history. These matches stand out as the best the promotion ever had at their flagship show.
While the main event of WrestleMania 20 is also often listed as one of the best matches in the event’s history, it will be excluded from this list for obvious reasons.
Bloodline Rules Match for the WWE and Universal Championships
Location
Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia, PA)
Three words will forever be synonymous with Cody Rhodes' journey to his first WWE Championship victory: Finish The Story. The American Nightmare’s triumph over Roman Reigns marked the culmination of a nearly two-decade-long career. Once upon a time, Rhodes was a wrestler deemed to only be remembered as a perennial midcarder in WWE who never broke out of his famous family’s shadow. But his second challenge to the Tribal Chief proved he could bethe new face of the company.
For Reigns, it marked the conclusion of a four-year stint holding the WWE title, with the massive power struggle in the Anoa’i Family serving as the backdrop to it all. The Bloodline wouldn’t dissolve as a result of this match, but it would start to splinter between new leader Solo Sikoa and a newly-babyface Reigns.
Sun Life Stadium (Miami Gardens, FL)
Dubbled the End of an Era, this clash marked the second-to-last timetwo of the most iconic wrestlers of all timewould ever meet in a singles match, and wow did it deliver. The stakes of the match were extremely high for both competitors: for Triple H, it was his last chance to break the Deadman’s WrestleMania streak, and for the Undertaker, it was to erase the painful memory of last year’s encounter with the Game, where it was the latter who stood tall, despite losing the match itself.
Two other stipulations added to the excitement of the match. Firstly, it was a Hell in a Cell match, restoring the cell to its former glory after a series of underwhelming matches at its designated pay-per-view event. Secondly, Shawn Michaels, the man who knew both more than anyone else, would officiate. The Undertaker would come out on top, extending the streak to 20-0.
Safeco Field (Seattle, WA)
When the rivalry between Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho is brought up, most will point to their iconic 2008 feud first. But their first encounter at WrestleMania 19 is still regarded as not only the best the two ever had against each other, but also the greatest match of Y2J’s career.
While the story behind the match may not be as captivating as their 2008 clashes would be, it still told a simple but effective tale of Michaels showing that he is still at the top of his game in his first WrestleMania match in half a decade, and Jericho proving that he is capable of filling the role HBK did in the ’90s.
SoFi Stadium (Inglewood, CA)
Starting in the mid-2010s, the women of WWE went from being seen as a sideshow to a main attraction on par with the men, and no match exemplifies that transition more than the WrestleMania 39 encounter between Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley. This match was, in the eyes of many, a passing of the torch from Flair, who was one of the Four Horsewomen who put women’s wrestling on the map in WWE, to Ripley, the fast-rising Australian wrestler off the back of a dominant Royal Rumble victory.
There may be no match more fitting of the Intercontinental Championship than seeing three European brawlers duke it out for the title. And that’s exactly what WWE did when Gunther successfully defended his title against Drew McIntyre and Sheamus.
Having the young upstart Austrian fend off two wrestlers who’ve been WWE institutions since 2009 felt like a perfect changing of the guard, and it proved the Intercontinental Championship was more than just a midcard title to be defended in quick matches.
WrestleMania 17
Stipulation
Triple Threat Tables, Ladders & Chairs Match for the WWF Tag Team Championship
Reliant Astrodome (Houston, TX)
One of the highlights of the late Attitude Era was the trilogy of ladder matches between three of the most popular tag teams of all time, and many regard the final showdown at WrestleMania 17 to be the best of them all. Like their second encounter at SummerSlam 2000, this one would be an enhanced version of the ladder match known as the TLC (tables, ladders, and chairs) match, with each weapon representing one of the teams.
Edge & Christian, who won the previous two encounters between the three teams, would also come out on top that night in Houston and retain their tag team championships. Perhaps the most memorable moment of the match was when the future Rated-R Superstar hit a mid-air spear on Jeff Hardy while the latter was dangling off of the tag team belts.
Pontiac Silverdome (Pontiac, MI)
The first great WrestleMania match, in many eyes, happened at the show’s third installment in 1987, and it was not the highly-anticipated main event between Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant. Rather, the match that stole the show was Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat’s quest to win the Intercontinental Championship from “Macho Man” Randy Savage.
In contrast to the slow and formulaic nature of the Hogan-Andre match, Savage vs. Steamboat featured many hallmarks of modern matches, such as near-fall finishes, technical wrestling chains, and high-flying spots from the top rope. In the end, the Dragon came out on top, ending Savage’s sole Intercontinental title reign and allowing the Macho Man to move up into the main event.
Madison Square Garden (New York, NY)
The first of only two WrestleMania matches to ever get a five-star rating from Dave Meltzer, WrestleMania 10’s ladder match between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon was historic in many ways, as it established both the Heartbreak Kid and the Bad Guy as future main event players, and cemented the Ladder Match as one of the marquee gimmick matches of professional wrestling.
The goal of a ladder match is to climb a ladder and retrieve the title belt hanging from the rafters. What made the match so thrilling was not Michaels and Ramon doing the basic task at hand, but the exciting ways they tried to stop their opponents from winning, such as pushing the opponent off of a ladder while they’re near the top. In the end, it was Razor Ramon, aka Scott Hall, who stood tall.
Rosemont Horizon (Rosemont, IL)
For many WWE fans, the WrestleMania 13 encounter between Bret Hart and Steve Austin is considered the start of the Attitude Era. The Hitman had spent the last few years as the blue-chipper underdog, whereas Stone Cold Steve Austin was an always angry, alcoholic brawler. By the end of the match, the roles were reversed.
Hart would shed his goody two-shoes image and violently attack Austin throughout the match and make him bleed, re-establishing himself as anAmerica-hating heelwho thinks the United States has lost its moral compass. Stone Cold, meanwhile, showed remarkable resiliency that night, earning the fans' respect and paving the way for him to become the anti-hero that led the company into its biggest boom period. The match became the second, and to date, most recent, five-star WrestleMania bout, according to Dave Meltzer.
Reliant Arena (Houston, TX)
The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels had two encounters at WrestleMania in 2009 and 2010, and many fans debate which of the two is the better showing. While their second encounter had higher stakes with HBK’s career on the line, it was their initial encounter at WrestleMania 25 that truly set the stage for the many epic encounters to break the Deadman’s undefeated streak in the years to come.
Fans were at the edge of their seats, watching their heroes kick out of Tombstones and Sweet Chin Musics left and right. In the end, it was the Undertaker who stood tall, when he countered a moonsault into a Tombstone Piledriver to pin Michaels and extend his record to 17-0.
