Ranking the Wrestlemania Main Events

General
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I had initially tried to rank every Wrestlemania as a whole, but that would involve a level of re-watching that I’m not prepared for. So here’s my ranking (by category) of every main event from the Showcase of the Immortals. All just my opinion – happy to explain some of my choices if anyone’s curious, and I’d love to see some other lists. For my purposes, the main event was the last match (with a few caveats as noted below) regardless of how other matches on the card were advertised.

All matches within each category are listed chronologically

The Unrankables
Wrestlemania: Hulk Hogan & Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff
Wrestlemania III: Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant

Importance beats workrate, but this is my list and I still can’t bring myself to rank these two objectively.

The Greatest Main Event That Never Was
Wrestlemania XX: Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Benoit

If not for the obvious, this match would be talked about right alongside Shawn/Taker and Steamboat/Savage.

Great Matches
Wrestlemania V: Randy Savage vs. Hulk Hogan
Wrestlemania VI: Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior
Wrestlemania XII: Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels
Wrestlemania 23: John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels
Wrestlemania XXVI: Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker
Wrestlemania XXX: Randy Orton vs. Batista vs. Daniel Bryan
Wrestlemania 31: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns (vs. Seth Rollins)

Almost Great Matches
Wrestlemania XIV: Shawn Michaels vs. Steve Austin
Wrestlemania XV: Steve Austin vs. The Rock
Wrestlemania X-Seven: Steve Austin vs. The Rock
Wrestlemania XIX: Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar (one spot away from greatness)
Wrestlemania XXIV: Edge vs. The Undertaker

Good Matches
Wrestlemania IV: Randy Savage vs. Ted DiBiase
Wrestlemania X: Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna (stupid finish though)
Wrestlemania 2000: Triple H vs. The Rock vs. Big Show vs. Mankind
Wrestlemania X8: Chris Jericho vs. Triple H
Wrestlemania 21: Triple H vs. Batista
Wrestlemania 22: John Cena vs. Triple H
Wrestlemania XXV: Triple H vs. Randy Orton
Wrestlemania XXVIII: The Rock vs. John Cena

I Hate to Call Them Bad, But…
Wrestlemania 2: Hulk Hogan vs. King Kong Bundy
Wrestlemania IX: Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna / Yokozuna vs. Hogan (“segment” ranked as a whole)
Wrestlemania XI: Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Lawrence Taylor
Wrestlemania 13: The Undertaker vs. Sycho Sid
Wrestlemania XXVII: The Miz vs. John Cena
Wrestlemania 29: The Rock vs. John Cena
Wrestlemania 32: Triple H vs. Roman Reigns
Wrestlemania 34: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns

I’m Happy to Call Them Bad
Wrestlemania VII: Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter
Wrestlemania VIII: Hulk Hogan vs. Sid Justice
Wrestlemania 33: The Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns

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The second Rock and Cena match wasnt bad, no worse than the first one.

Bam Bam and LT was not bad, crowd was into it and LT over delivered.

Jericho/HHH and HHH/Orton were both bad.

Everything else I agree with.

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Yeah, I’ll concede that this list would be at least a little different if I rewatched them all today. I think I gave Jericho/HHH and Orton/HHH a little bit of the benefit of the doubt for following two absolute all-timers (Rock/Hogan and Taker/HBK, respectively). And, without rewatching, I think the second Rock/Cena is worse than the first because it’s become the standard bearer for the “finishers don’t mean anything” era.

But maybe I shouldn’t have done any of that. Context is important… i.e. calling Hogan/Warrior great.

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Don’t question yourself on this one. The second Rock vs Cena match was undoubtedly worse than the first one.

It didn’t have the uniqueness of Rock returning for a wrestlemania match.
It didn’t have the same electric crowd with Rock in his hometown (or at least College town).
It didn’t have the unexpected finish of a part-time Rock winning over John Cena.

Instead the WM29 match repeated many of the same spots as the first one, Rock seemed to be worn out quickly which killed the already dead crowd. The first one was a really good “once in a lifetime” match which exceeded expectations and main evented an overall really good Wrestlemania. And it should have stayed once in a lifetime. WM29 could have been saved by making it a triple threat with CM Punk or doing Rock vs Brock.

I agree with most of your rankings other than WM17 with Rock vs Austin which I think was a Great Match and Hogan vs Warrior which was a good match at best (but at least the matches were short in that era).

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Love what you did, and it’s a great exercise to really see how fans see wrestling and their preferences

so Like you surggested, i will post my own version of the list. Mine is more about how nostalgia and storytelling then in ring performance and how much i remember the events that lead to those matches. My system will be simple, it’s going to be either good, bad or ugly

Good (Best of the bunch)
Wrestlemania: Hulk Hogan Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff
Wrestlemania III: Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant
Wrestlemania XX: Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Benoit
Wrestlemania V: Randy Savage vs. Hulk Hogan
Wrestlemania VI: Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior
Wrestlemania XII: Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels
Wrestlemania 23: John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels
Wrestlemania XXVI: Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker
Wrestlemania XXX: Randy Orton vs. Batista vs. Daniel Bryan
Wrestlemania 31: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns (vs. Seth Rollins)
Wrestlemania X-Seven: Steve Austin vs. The Rock
Wrestlemania XXIV: Edge vs. The Undertaker
Wrestlemania IV: Randy Savage vs. Ted DiBiase
Wrestlemania 33: The Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns

BAD ( not as good but still worth seeing)

Wrestlemania XIV: Shawn Michaels vs. Steve Austin
Wrestlemania XV: Steve Austin vs. The Rock
Wrestlemania XIX: Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar
Wrestlemania 21: Triple H vs. Batista
Wrestlemania 22: John Cena vs. Triple H
Wrestlemania 2: Hulk Hogan vs. King Kong Bundy
Wrestlemania 29: The Rock vs. John Cena
Wrestlemania 34: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns
Wrestlemania VII: Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter
Wrestlemania IX: Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna / Yokozuna vs. Hogan

Ugly (Just awful main event either because of booking or just didn’T belong in that spot)

Wrestlemania X: Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna (good match awful ending)
Wrestlemania 2000: Triple H vs. The Rock vs. Big Show vs. Mankind (awful match, made no sense)
Wrestlemania X8: Chris Jericho vs. Triple H (bad placement should have been rock vs hogan)
Wrestlemania XXV: Triple H vs. Randy Orton (just plain boring)
Wrestlemania XXVIII: The Rock vs. John Cena (bad ending)
Wrestlemania XI: Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Lawrence Taylor (bad plalcement, should have been Diesel vs HBK)
Wrestlemania 13: The Undertaker vs. Sycho Sid (just plain boring)
Wrestlemania XXVII: The Miz vs. John Cena (was all about setting up next year main event)
Wrestlemania 32: Triple H vs. Roman Reigns (bad booking)
Wrestlemania VIII: Hulk Hogan vs. Sid Justice (decent match but bad ending)

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Hogan vs Savage wasn’t a great match. It was a hot angle but the match was below average (below 3 stars by Meltzer)

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Hogan vs Slaughter was great :man_shrugging:t3:

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Man, one botched shooting star press drops Lesnar and Angle from great to just good? I don’t know about that. I think that match is great regardless. If anything, it changes the story of the match to Lesnar being worn out, but still going for the big finish because he feels he needs it to finish off Angle, misses, but is resilient enough to recover and still beat Angle. I think it’s a great march, even with the mistake.

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90+ percent of the time, I don’t think that one botch can kill a match. Shawn/Taker at WM25 has a horrific blown spot that doesn’t hurt the match at all in my eyes. But, at least in 2019, Brock’s blown shooting star press is THE legacy of that match.

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I’m certainly not trying to make an argument for best match in Wrestlemania history, or even best match that night (HBK vs. Y2J), but I still think it should be classified as great. But hey, that’s the great thing about wrestling, everyone likes different things.

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Agreed! WM 7 in general is one of my favorite Wrestlemania shows ever. The Ultimate Warrior vs. Randy Savage career vs. career match is Warrrior’s best match IMO.

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Just re-watched this match. The finish and celebration are also my favorite J.R. call ever.

Finally! Finally! By God, finally!

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Refresh for Mania weekend…

All matches within each category are listed chronologically

The Unrankables
Wrestlemania: Hulk Hogan & Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff
Wrestlemania III: Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant

Importance beats workrate, but this is my list and I still can’t bring myself to rank these objectively.

The Greatest Main Event That Never Was
Wrestlemania XX: Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Benoit

If not for the obvious, this match would be talked about right alongside Shawn/Taker and Steamboat/Savage.

Great Matches
Wrestlemania V: Randy Savage vs. Hulk Hogan
Wrestlemania VI: Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior
Wrestlemania XII: Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels
Wrestlemania 23: John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels
Wrestlemania XXVI: Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker
Wrestlemania XXX: Randy Orton vs. Batista vs. Daniel Bryan
Wrestlemania 31: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns (vs. Seth Rollins)

Almost Great Matches
Wrestlemania XIV: Shawn Michaels vs. Steve Austin
Wrestlemania XV: Steve Austin vs. The Rock
Wrestlemania X-Seven: Steve Austin vs. The Rock
Wrestlemania XIX: Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar (one spot away from greatness)
Wrestlemania XXIV: Edge vs. The Undertaker

Good Matches
Wrestlemania IV: Randy Savage vs. Ted DiBiase
Wrestlemania X: Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna
Wrestlemania 2000: Triple H vs. The Rock vs. Big Show vs. Mankind
Wrestlemania X8: Chris Jericho vs. Triple H
Wrestlemania 21: Triple H vs. Batista
Wrestlemania 22: John Cena vs. Triple H
Wrestlemania XXV: Triple H vs. Randy Orton
Wrestlemania XXVIII: The Rock vs. John Cena
Wrestlemania 35: Becky Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair

I Hate to Call Them Bad, But…
Wrestlemania IX: Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna / Yokozuna vs. Hogan (“segment” ranked as a whole)
Wrestlemania XI: Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Lawrence Taylor
Wrestlemania XXVII: The Miz vs. John Cena
Wrestlemania 29: The Rock vs. John Cena
Wrestlemania 32: Triple H vs. Roman Reigns
Wrestlemania 34: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns

I’m Happy to Call Them Bad
Wrestlemania 2: Hulk Hogan vs. King Kong Bundy
Wrestlemania VII: Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter
Wrestlemania VIII: Hulk Hogan vs. Sid Justice
Wrestlemania 13: The Undertaker vs. Sycho Sid
Wrestlemania 33: The Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns