Wrestlemania is arguably the biggest wrestling event of the year. The WWE goes all-out and tries to give their fans the most exciting show of the year…although not every Wrestlemania is equal.

Let’s face it, the storylines can’t be there every single year. They try to make everything seem larger than life, but sometimes things don’t line up perfectly as they would hope.

Ranking every Wrestlemania ever can be a lofty task as some years the margin is razor-thin and comes down to personal preference. We do our best and feel free to comment where you would rank various Wrestlemanias…but please, please be gentle.

33. Wrestlemania 2 (1986) – This is easily the worst Wrestlemania of all-time. Vince McMahon saw that the first Wrestlemania was a huge attraction, so he decided to have the next one in three different locations. The first set of matches were at Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, New York, the second was at the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago, Illinois and the event ended at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in California. They tried to split up the marquee stars, but I’m sure everyone wanted to see Hulk Hogan, but he main evented Wrestlemania II in a steel cage match against King Kong Bundy. The Mr. T versus Roddy Piper boxing match and the WWE vs NFL battle royal felt like Vince was going too hard on the ‘entertainment’ side of sports entertainment. Also, having guest announcers like Cathy Lee Crosby, Elvira and freakin’ Susan St. James, just ruined the at-home experience. WWE should really hope no Wrestlemania goes below the Wrestlemania II-level.

32. Wrestlemania 16 (2000) – This is most commonly known as Wrestlemania 2000…or ‘Let’s Jam Every Single Wrestler In a Match’ Mania. The only singles match on the show was Terri Runnels versus The Kat…yikes! There was just too many people to get any real storylines over. They used the a ‘McMahon in every corner’ gimmick for the main event, which stunk. There was a two-fall three-way match (Chris Jericho/Kurt Angle/Chris Benoit) where each fall was for a different belt. Let’s not forget about the planned chaos of the Hardcore Battle Royal where they messed up the finish (see below at 8:14 mark). Taz for his Tazmission on Crash Holly too early and was in it forever, but he couldn’t tap and had to wait on Hardcore Holly to come in and smash him in the head. Hardcore Holly pinned Crash as the time expired, but referee Tim White didn’t count three as he thought Crash kicked out…but Hardcore still won or something, I guess? Are you confused yet? The only match that was above 4 stars was a Triangle ladder match between Edge & Christian, The Dudley Boyz and the Hardy Boyz.   

31. Wrestlemania 1 (1985) – The first Wrestlemania is fun to watch for nostalgia reasons, but the overall card wasn’t very good. It’s also the only Wrestlemania that didn’t feature a WWF/WWE Championship match. It featured the shortest match in Wrestlemania history (King Kong Bundy vs. S.D. Jones) and lasted only nine seconds, a crappy double DQ between Brutus Beefcake and David Sammartino and a Body Slam Challenge between Andre the Giant and Big John Studd (the crowd ate it up, but it was a five-minute ‘match’). The main event was Hulk Hogan & Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff. Mr. T did more than today’s celebrity in-ring participants, but the crowd just liked seeing stars like him and Hogan…so they didn’t need to do much in the ring. The entire show was only a couple hours long, which is a breeze compared to today’s marathons.

30. Wrestlemania 11 (1995) – Why does Wrestlemania XI rank so low? Well, the main event involved a football player wrestling in a singles match. NFL Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor faced Bam Bam Bigelow (who should be in the WWE Hall of Fame). Taylor came out with some help from other NFL players like Steve McMichael and Reggie White, but they were just out there to make sure the Million Dollar Corporation didn’t interfere. The rest of the card was pretty bland. The Undertaker was basically a mid-carder at this point and faced King Kong Bundy and Lex Luger and British Bulldog faced the freakin’ Blu Brothers. Bret Hart had a bad match with Bob Backlund in an ‘I Quit’ match. It featured just a lot of screaming from Backlund and he didn’t even say ‘I Quit’, it was really just a ‘Gahhhhrd!’ The best match was Diesel vs. Shawn Michaels that featured both Pamela Anderson and Jenny McCarthy at their peaks. The match wasn’t great, but stood out on a pretty bland Mania card.

29. Wrestlemania 27 (2011) – Nearly everything on this card was a miss. The main event of Miz/Cena fell flat as the crowd really only cared about how The Rock will interfere in the match. The build-up was more about Rock/Cena than it was about Miz/Cena…although the video package about The Miz that appeared right before the match was epic (see below). The Randy Orton/CM Punk match was all right, but catching Punk jumping off the ropes and hitting an RKO just looked too staged.The Edge/Alberto Del Rio match ended up being Edge’s final match as he retired the next night. Also, let’s not forget what this Mania was right at the peak of the annoying ‘Heel Michael Cole.’ He faced Jerry Lawler in an awful match. There was also a bad idea of putting Jersey Shore’s Snooki in a match. The one bright spot had to be Cody Rhodes/Rey Mysterio. I was a big fan of Dashing Cody Rhodes gimmick.

28. Wrestlemania 8 (1992) – Wreslemania VIII is the reason Indianapolis has never been in the running for another Wrestlemania since 1992. It wasn’t a sell-out and it was allegedly ‘papered’, which meant they were giving away tickets to fill the spacious Hoosier Dome. The event doesn’t look that bad on paper, but the in-ring product wasn’t at a Wrestlemania-level. The main event was a cluster-eff as it was supposed to end in a planned disqualification, but Papa Shango was late getting to the ring to interfere, so Sid Justice had to kick-out of Hogan’s legdrop…which was almost unheard of, but Sid had to do it. Ultimate Warrior came in for the save after Papa Shango finally made it to the ring. It was such a dud (see Papa Shango’s comments below at 0:59 mark). The Macho Man/Ric Flair match should have been good enough to save this Mania, right? The match wasn’t great. The Bret Hard/Roddy Piper match for the Intercontinental belt was the best thing on the entire show. A Wrestlemania that features matches like Owen Hart vs Skinner and Tatanka vs Rick Martel is going to be near the bottom of the list.

27. Wrestlemania 23 (2007) – This Mania was smack dab in the Ruthless Aggression era. There isn’t very notable about the event other than Donald Trump taking a crappy stunner from Stone Cold. The storyline of the event was about Donald Trump vs Mr. McMahon and used Bobby Lashley vs Umaga with referee Stone Cold to push the drama. This was actually one of the most successful Mania’s on pay-per-view (1.2 million buys) as many people bough it to see Donald Trump’s head get shaved…but of course that would never, ever happen. Vince got the bad haircut after Lashley beat Umaga. The main event was a decent one with John Cena defeating then-tag team partner Shawn Michaels. The rest of the card just wasn’t very notable. I guess the ‘Money In The Bank’ match where Mr. Kennedy won is only notable because he would later lose the briefcase after thinking he needed surgery…but later found out he didn’t need to miss any time. The old school ECW vs. revamped ECW was hokey and the fact that RVD, Tommy Dreamer, etc had to a Wrestlemania match against guys like Marcus Cor Von and Matt Striker is laughable in hindsight.

26. Wrestlemania 33 (2017) – I wrote a review for this Mania the day after the show. I called it ‘A Marathon of Mediocrity’ and I still feel that way. It was just too damn long. Neville and Austin Aries kicked off the pre-show and was probably one of the best matches of the night. Both guys are not on this year’s show mostly due to this match not being on the ‘real’ Mania card. They both were pissed off that they weren’t included on the DVD, thus their payoff was considerably less than others. There was an AJ Styles/Shane McMahon match that should have been a ‘spot fest’, but Shane tried to actually do wrestling moves in the ring, which were poor. WWE projected maggots and bugs onto the mat during the Bray Wyatt/Randy Orton match. Let’s not forget about the Cena & Nikki Bella tag match that was just a ploy to freakin’ propose. The Triple H/Seth Rollins match was a year too late since Rollins missed the previous Mania with an ACL injury. The crowd just died around this time of the night. The two notable events were the surprise appearance of the Hardy Boyz and the Kevin Owens/Chris Jericho match was very good. That storyline was the most heated and should have been for the Universal title…unfortunately, we got the Goldberg/Brock Lesnar match. It was fine for what it was, but it lasted less than five minutes. 

25. Wrestlemania 22 (2006) – This Mania felt really rushed. There was 12 matches and none of them lasted longer than 22 minutes (Cena vs Triple H main event). There was even a Money In the Bank ladder match that lasted just 12 minutes. There were just mismatches like Big Show & Kane vs Carlito and Chris Masters for the Tag Team titles that lasted six minutes. The reason this event wasn’t lower was due to the excellent Edge vs Mick Foley hardcore match that helped bring out a sinister side in the Rated R Superstar. The Cena vs Triple H main event wasn’t too shabby either. That’s about all I could write about Wrestlemania XXII, it was mostly forgettable.

24. Wrestlemania 7 (1991) – This whole event seems to have been cursed. The WWF hoped to have the event in the L.A. Coliseum and pack it with a crowd in excess of 80k fans. Well, the ticket sales were bad and they decided to blame it on the Gulf War. They had to move the show to the much smaller Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena that only seated 16k fans. It was most likely due to business being down and deciding to lean heavily on a storyline of Sgt Slaughter turning into a turncoat Iraqi sympathizer. This is another card with short matches like The Mountie defeating Tito Santana in a little over a minute. This event also had one of the worst matches in Wrestlemania history, the blindfold match between Jake Roberts and Rick Martel (check out the video below from my brahs over at OSW Review). The reason this match isn’t lower is because I really enjoyed the retirement match between the Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage. Miss Elizabeth reunited with him after the match. It was a great memorable moment. I also really liked the Virgil vs Ted Dibiase storyline that ended here. The Hogan vs Slaughter main event was just pretty bad and Slaughter ran out of gas early in the match. He was out of shape and had no business being in the main event of a Wrestlemania at this point in his career.

23. Wrestlemania 32 (2016) – The WWE hoped to eclipse the 100k fan mark, but failed. It just missed a Wrestlemania-level storyline. The Roman Reigns vs Triple H main event was pretty weak and everyone knew the outcome long before the match. This was meant to push Roman Reigns as their next John Cena, but it failed. Also, this show just had a lot of bad finishes. The wrong guy won most of the matches. Chris Jericho beat AJ Styles in what could have been a huge launching pad for Styles in his first Wrestlemania. He became the face of Smackdown in spite of losing. If they were going to do a 50/50 rivalry, a WM win is weighed too much. I have to say that the IC title ladder match was a nice surprise as Zack Ryder had his ‘Wrestlemania Moment’ as the winner. There was also an issue of getting into the building as AT&T Stadium’s wi-fi was having issues, thus they couldn’t scan tickets. The opening pre-show match between Kalisto & Ryback had an audience of ‘maybe’ 10k by the finish. I would say the best match of the night was probably the women’s three-way between Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch for the new WWE’s Women’s championship…but most people will just remember this Mania for being the one where Shane McMahon jumped off the Cell.

22. Wrestlemania 21 (2005) – I’m torn when it comes to Wrestlemania XXI. There were some solid matches like Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels and the storyline-heavy Triple H vs. Batista contest…but you can’t ignore the absurd. There was a sumo match between Big Show and Akebono. WWE has tried the sumo thing a few times with larger wrestlers, but they are nothing but bathroom breaks. There were also historic matches like the first ever ‘Money in the Bank’ match which was won by Edge and John Cena’s winning his first ever WWE Championship (see below to watch Edge cash in the briefcase against Cena at New Year’s Revolution). The Mania was ‘good’, but there weren’t any great matches on the card. The MitB match would have been great in the moment I guess, but we have seen dozen of those matches at this point, so maybe that’s why it doesn’t quite hold up to today’s standards.

21. Wrestlemania 12 (1996) – This Mania will always be remembered for the Shawn Michaels vs Bret Hart in the 60-minute Iron Man match. It pushed both guys to new heights in such an emotional match. The rest of the show was garbage. There was the Roddy Piper vs Goldust in the ‘Hollywood Backlot Brawl’ that used the O.J. Simpson car chase footage after the two brawled in an alley and then raced to the Arrowhead Pond Arena (it was taped days before the actual show). If you ranked Manias by just the main event, this one would be top-five, but I wouldn’t ignore the lack of depth. The Ultimate Warrior’s squash match against Triple H (in his first Wrestlemania) lasted just 1:39. It was also the first Mania for Steve Austin, but his was during his transition from ‘Ringmaster’ gimmick to Stone Cold, but was still managed by Ted Dibiase.

20. Wrestlemania 4 (1988) – I’m not a fan of using WrestleMania IV for a tournament. The bracket  could have been used to facilitate a Randy Savage vs Ricky Steamboat WM 3 rematch…but they decided to let Greg Valentine beat Steamboat. It is rumored that Steamboat was in the doghouse as he wanted to take time off to spend time with his family. Also, Savage was a babyface then and so was Steamboat. McMahon didn’t like putting babyfaces against each other. I still find it inexcusable as Savage could have gotten his win back. Also, the Andre the Giant vs Hulk Hogan tournament match ended in a double disqualification, which was just a dumb finish. I guess it was a way to beat Hogan without getting pinned. The main event of Savage vs the Million Dollar Man. Savage winning the WWF title pushed and was used as a way to start the Mega Powers storyline that went on for nearly an entire year and culminated at Wrestlemania V. Check out another video from OSW Review that covers Wrestlemania IV.

19. Wrestlemania 24 (2008) – I would say Wrestlemania XXIV was a pretty average Mania. There were some very good matches like the ‘Money in the Bank’ match which had a lot of awesome spots and the right guy won (CM Punk). The Ric Flair retirement match versus Shawn Michaels had everything you’d want in a match. The storyline was emotional and Michaels was able to pull one last great match out of the Nature Boy. It should have been a main event as the crowd was a little drained after the match. The final four matches felt lukewarm, even though the main event of the Undertaker versus Edge was pretty darn good. The lowlight of Floyd Mayweather facing the Big Show was eleven minutes of cat and mouse. I wasn’t a fan of that match at all. 

18. Wrestlemania 28 (2012) – This is where the shows start to become more good than bad. Wrestlemania XXVIII was promoted as a ‘Once In A Lifetime match between John Cena and The Rock. It was a year-long storyline that started during the main event of the Wrestlemania 27. The WWE was bold enough to officially make the match at the RAW after Wrestlemania. They could have teased it for an entire year, but they went all-in. They risked losing the main event due to potential injury as Cena was still a full-time wrestler, and injuries are impossible to avoid at times. The build-up was pretty damn good, even if most of The Rock segments were via satellite. The Undertaker vs Triple H ‘Hell In a Cell’ match was very good as well. Adding Shawn Michaels as the ref was a nice angle. This Mania will also be remembered for the 18 second match between Sheamus and Daniel Bryan. This match inadvertently really got the ‘Yes’ chant over. The bad moments were probably the Team Johnny vs Team Teddy quagmire and the Maria Menounos/Kelly Kelly vs Beth Phoenix and Eve Torres filler match. 

17. Wrestlemania 19 (2003) – This show will be remembered as Stone Cold’s last match. It was a nice way to go out against his rival The Rock. The crowd was insane and the WWE didn’t really use his potential retirement as an angle. He just walked off into the sunset without really definitively saying he was retired for years. The Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho match was also damn great. The build-up was heated and some would say the best stuff of Jericho’s career. The main event saw Brock Lesnar defeating Kurt Angle, but is most remembered by Lesnar nearly breaking his neck on a botched shooting star press off the top rope. It would have been a perfect match if not for that botch. Those three matches were a nice end to the event (if you completely forget the Hulk Hogan vs Vince McMahon blade-fest). This show would be a few spots higher if not for Triple H’s dumb move of going over against Booker T. The whole buildup would have made sense if Booker T won the World Heavyweight Championship. He never really recovered from that loss and soon was playing a fake king.

16. Wrestlemania 14 (1998) – This is the Mania that helped WWF overtake WCW in the Monday Night Wars. The addition of Mike Tyson in the main event brought them tons of mainstream exposure that WCW really never could get. It was also a coming out party for Stone Cold Steve Austin. His winning the WWF Championship over Shawn Michaels and getting the rub from Tyson, made for a great main event. This would also be the last match Michaels would have for years. The Undertaker vs. Kane match was at the level that it could have been a Mania main event in most years. There was also some filler like Taka Michinoku vs. Aguila for the lowly Light Heavyweight title. The Marc Mero/Sable vs Goldust/Luna Vachon basically killed Mero’s run as he would later be powerbombed by his then-wife Sable. He wasn’t taken seriously again.

15. Wrestlemania 15 (1999) – Wrestlemania XV took place during the ascent of the WWF during the Attitude Era. Their lead in the Monday Night Wars was growing and everything was going Vince McMahon’s way. The Mr. McMahon character was over and there was an ongoing storyline throughout the night. McMahon wanted Big Show to referee the main event of Stone Cold vs The Rock and he needed to beat Mankind in their match to be in that role. Big Show was disqualified for using a chair, berated by Mr. McMahon and then punched him to turn babyface (one of Big Show’s dozens of babyface/heel turns). This would be crucial as Mankind would have a role in the finish. The rest of the card was a mix of good and ‘what the hell’. The good was Jeff Jarrett & Owen Hart facing D’Lo Brown and Test for the WWF Tag Team titles and the Kane vs Triple H match was solid. The bad was ‘Brawl for All’ winner Bart Gunn getting demolished by an actual professional boxer, Butterbean. I don’t believe he was seen again on WWF television. The other lowlight was after the finish of the Undertaker vs Big Boss Man ‘Hell in a Cell’ match. The Brood would come from the ceiling and lower down a noose and they basically hung the Big Boss Man in front of tens of thousands of fans. WTF!

14. Wrestlemania 26 (2010) – This show was all about the main event. It was arguably one of the best matches in WWE history. The Undertaker retired Shawn Michaels and beat him in back-to-back Manias. It was beautiful and was even better the previous year’s all-time great match. Everyone was just waiting for the main event that night. There were some other very good matches like Rey Mysterio vs Straight Edge Society CM Punk and John Cena vs Batista were very enjoyable. I also really liked the Chris Jericho vs Edge storyline. Edge came back very early from an Achilles injury, won the Royal Rumble as a surprise entrant (see blow at 2:30 mark) and went on to face his old tag team partner who bad-mounted him after he was injured. The lowlights were the laughable 10-Diva tag team match and the atrocious Bret Hart versus Mr. McMahon abomination. Hart wasn’t cleared to wrestle, so he took no bumps and wasn’t really a wrestling match. The Hart family just took turns on beating up Vince. This was a good Mania due to the main event, but the entire card was average.

13. Wrestlemania 9 (1993) – Wrestlemania IX was probably the most unique Wrestlemania of all-time. They basically built an outdoor stadium next to Caeser’s Palace in Las Vegas. It would be Roman themed with everyone decked out in togas, and Jim Ross made his WWF debut. There were many memorable moments and storyline that took place at this show. I was a fan of the Doink the Clown vs. Crush storyline as they made it look like there was more than one Doink. I enjoyed it as a young kid. Lex Luger has his lone feud as ‘The Narcissist’ and used his surgically-repaired forearm to beat Mr. Perfect. In only a few short months, he would be pushed as the next Hulk Hogan when he slammed Yokozuna on an aircraft carrier. Speaking of Yokozuna, the main event of Wrestlemania IX included two matches by him. He beat Bret Hart to win the WWF Championship after Mr. Fuji threw salt in his eyes. Hulk Hogan came out and challenged Yokozuna for the title, he accepted and Hogan walked out as the champion. There’s a lot of controversy about the finish and many think Hogan cashed in his ‘creative control’ and politicked his way to the championship. Another low-light would be the Undertaker match versus Giant Gonzalez. Taker won via disqualification after Gonzalez used chloroform to knock him out. In hindsight, this is the only match during Taker’s Mania win streak that ended in a DQ…which is a light blemish when looking back. Check out one of the best episodes of OSW Review, it covers Wrestlemania IX.

12. Wrestlemania 20 (2004) – Wrestlemania XX was all about rewarding Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit for all their hard work. They would end the event in an embrace as each of them won their brand’s top prize. The opening match also helped anoint a future star as John Cena beat the Big Show to win the United State Championship. It was this match that helped propel him to the next level. The match between Evolution and the Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection was pretty good as The Rock was on his way to being a megastar. It was an entertaining feud. The Undertaker also came back as the ‘Dead Man’ and left his biker persona behind (check out Taker’s entrance with Paul Bearer below). Another memorable moment would be when Goldberg faced Brock Lesnar. The crowd knew both were leaving, so they were booed mercifully by the crowd. Both would return years later and it was nice that neither ended their time in WWE in this way.

11. Wrestlemania 31 (2015) – I really liked how this Mania panned out. You had some huge babyface pops and big surprises. The crowd was happy when Daniel Bryan won the Intercontinental Championship ladder match, so they didn’t try to hijack the show. It would have been nice to see Damien Mizdow win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal as he was mega over at the time. Mizdow/Sandow only lasted another calendar year with the company and was never this over again. The Randy Orton versus Seth Rollins match ended with possibly the best reversal to RKO in history (see below). The Triple H vs Sting match was just a nostalgia match for the older hardcore fans. Another epic moment was the entrances for the John Cena versus Rusev match. Cena went on to give Rusev his first loss. Finally, the main event was a smark’s dream. They were able to see Roman Reigns NOT win the WWE Championship and got a huge surprise when Seth Rollins cashed in his ‘Money in the Bank’ briefcase to enter himself in the match. He went on to win the match and a finish no one saw coming.

10. Wrestlemania 6 (1990) – Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior was one of the biggest Mania matches of all-time. This was supposed to be a passing of the torch from Hogan to Warrior, but it wasn’t a long-term success. Hogan wasn’t the movie star he hoped to become and Warrior turned out to be a major pain in the ass. The match wasn’t exactly a wrestling clinic, but the crowd was so stoked that they didn’t have to do much. The sheer fact that they were in the ring at the same time was enough for the fans. This kind of thing just doesn’t happen these days. The rest of the card was stacked with good, short matches. I do wish the Dusty Rhodes/Sapphire vs Macho King/Queen Sherri was a one-on-one match instead of a mixed tag. They were barely in the same promotion at the same time during their peaks. It would have been a nice Mania match to see. Wrestlemania XI also had the last Mania match of Andre the Giant. He couldn’t move well at this point and was relegated to tag team matches. He had the belts with Haku as the Colossal Connection. I also wanted to point out this was the second-straight Mania match for Bad News Brown that ended in a double disqualification. That dude HATED doing jobs. 

9. Wrestlemania 5 (1989) – We watched the Mega Powers explode at Wrestlemania V! Randy Savage/Hulk Hogan storyline was a year-long build. They first teamed up to combat the Million Dollar Man and his goons, but jealousy got the best of the Macho Man. This is one of the most memorable stories in the WWF era. It had everything and was a precursor to a lot of the ‘soap opera’ drama that would seep into pro wrestling. Rick Rude faced off against Ultimate Warrior and may have had the best technical match of Warrior’s career. Rude is so underrated and it was a shame Hulk Hogan never wanted to work with him. They could have had a nice program at various points in their careers. There were an assortment of notable matches like Jake Roberts vs. Andre the Giant (who showed that he was deathly afraid of snakes) and I enjoyed the Twins Towers vs. The Rockers. Also, the Brain Busters vs Strike Force is an underrated match.

8. Wrestlemania 13 (1997) – This Mania will be remembered as the night that Bret Hart and Stone Cold pulled off a perfect double-turn. Austin was on his way to become one of the biggest stars in pro wrestling of all-time. It wasn’t immediate or as soon as people recall, as Owen Hart would break his neck about six months later. It was during his short time off that Stone Cold would further push Vince McMahon’s buttons. Speaking of Owen Hart, I enjoyed his tag match with the British Bulldog vs. Mankind and Vader. I wished it had an actual finish instead of a double count-out though. I’m guessing they didn’t want to beat Mankind as he had a feud with Taker coming up and Vader didn’t want to do the job…so double count-out it is! Wrestlemania XIII was also the first Mania match for The Rock as he faced The Sultan (which was Rikishi in a horrible gimmick). The Hunter Hearst Hemsley vs Goldust was a memorable program as Chyna was first introduced when she attacked Marlena. He would soon make the change to ‘Triple H.’ The main event of the show was a bit ‘blah’ with Undertaker facing Sycho Sid…as this was the Mania show that HBK ‘lost his smile’ and missed.

7. Wrestlemania 18 (2002) – I hate to spoil the list, but Wrestlemania X-Seven was the greatest Mania of all-time…and X8 was right up there among the best. It didn’t feel like the WWF was cramming as many matches as possible on the show. Everything was given enough time to tell a story. Most people will probably recall the Hulk Hogan vs The Rock match. Hogan was cheered so much in this match that they had to call an audible and Rock had to start to wrestle like a heel. I’m not sure what the backstage guys were thinking, but they should have known he would be a major babyface. It all worked out in the end and the match had the most heat of the night. It probably should have went on last, but the Chris Jericho vs Triple H match for the Undisputed Championship took that honor. The crowd wasn’t exactly dead, but they weren’t into this match as much. If you go into the match without the Hogan/Rock preceding it, it’s a pretty great match itself.

6. Wrestlemania 25 (2009) – Wrestlemania XXV had the highest of ups and the lowest of lows. One of the greatest matches in WWE history took place at this event, the first Mania match between the Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. It was a bad of good and evil. It was so good that they did it all again (and better) the next year. The two matches that followed it had a tough task, but I think they pulled it off. Those matches were a three-way of John Cena vs Big Show vs Edge and a match for the WWE Championship between Triple H and Randy Orton that had more heat than you would think after the Taker/HBK match. I also loved the nostalgia match of Chris Jericho vs three legends (Jimmy Snuka, Roddy Piper & Ricky Steamboat). Steamboat carried the match for the legends and proved he could still go at his age. He was so impressive that he had another match at the next PPV. CM Punk won his second ‘Money in the Bank’ match and the Jeff Hardy vs Matt Hardy ‘Extreme Rules’ match were both very good. The lowest of the lows was Santino Marella winning the ‘Miss Wrestlemania’ Battle Royal while in drag as ‘Santina Marella.’ I’m sure this is something the WWE would like you all to forget.

5. Wrestlemania 29 (2013) – Even though the WWE went back to the well with John Cena vs The Rock, the rest of the card was better this year. You had the Mania debut of The Shield against formidable opponents of Big Show, Randy Orton and Sheamus. It was a great way to get them over at the biggest event. Team Hell No was at its peak with Daniel Bryan and Kane defeating Dolph Ziggler and Big E. There was also a fantastic match between the Undertaker and CM Punk. The death of Paul Bearer in the lead-up to this match threw some fire on this feud. It was arguably the best match on the show. The two matches that closed to show was Triple H vs Brock Lesnar and Cena vs The Rock. Triple H had a stipulation that if he lost, he would retire…and that didn’t happen. There was some belief that maybe he would actually lose and just be a backstage guy, so the finish wasn’t completely predictable. Finally, the Cena/Rock main event wasn’t as good as the Wrestlemania XXVIII match since the Rock tore his abductor and abdominal muscle. The finish was rushed and didn’t go as long as planned.

4. Wrestlemania 3 (1987) – This is the oldest Wrestlemania show to make the top ten. It can be hard to put some of these older shows up against newer Manias where the production quality is so much better. Wrestlemania III stands alone and still holds up today. Of course there were silly matches like Hillbilly Jim vs King Kong Bundy (with midget wrestlers thrown in the match), but there were many iconic matches on this card. The main event might be one of the biggest in history with Hulk Hogan facing Andre the Giant. This was meant to be a passing of the torch and it couldn’t have gone any better for the WWF. Hogan came out of the show as an even bigger star for slaying the giant. You also had what many believe to be the best wrestling match of the 80’s, Randy Savage vs Ricky Steamboat. It was a choreographed masterpiece from the pair. The drama and story was unrivaled at Mania until maybe the HBK/Bret Hart Ironman match. The rest of the matches were solid and didn’t have any embarrassments like a man winning a women’s battle royal or something along those lines.

3. Wrestlemania 30 (2014) – This is the best Wrestlemania of the ‘Network Era’ (maybe that’s what we will eventually call this era we are in). Wrestlemania XXX had a Mania-long storyline as Daniel Bryan had to fight his way to be included in the main event. He had to beat Triple H and he did it in nearly 26 minutes. The crowd was loving it since the WWE was FINALLY giving them what they have wanted for years, Daniel Bryan in the Mania main event. The first Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal took place and was won by Cesaro. It seemed like the WWE was finally going to push him as a legit championship contender, but we sadly know where this all went (a failed partnership with Paul Heyman and then a spot in the ‘Real Americans). There was also Brock Lesnar ending the Undertaker’s Streak. I’m glad they had a buffer match in-between that and the main event. It took the crowd a solid 20 minutes before they came to terms with the Taker loss. It was shocking and completely unexpected. The main event of Daniel Bryan vs Batista vs Randy Orton was emotional and took you for a ride. Bryan was able to overcome to long odds and won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The picture of Daniel Bryan posing with both title belts with confetti pouring down is burned in every wrestling fan’s head.

2. Wrestlemania 10 (1994) –  Wrestlemania X was an iconic show. You had what might be the best opening match in the history of the WWE of Owen Hart vs Bret Hart. No titles were at stake, but there wasn’t a need to place a title in the way of this match. It was a technical masterpiece that was unexpectedly won by Owen. He was barely in the mid-card at this point, so for him to beat the guy who would become the WWF Champion just hours after this match, was huge for Owen. They didn’t push him very much afterwards though as he was in a tag team with Yokozuna by this time next year. Also, let’s not forget about the epic ladder match between Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels for the Intercontinental Championship. It was a master class in how to use a ladder in a match…one. single. ladder. It was the best IC title match since Steamboat/Savage. The matches of Randy Savage vs Crush and Bam Bam Bigelow & Luna Vachon vs Doink & Dink were entertaining, even if they were a little goofy. The main event of Bret Hart winning the WWF title over Yokozuna with Roddy Piper as guest referee was a nice way to end the show. It wasn’t on the same level as the Hart brothers’ match or the IC title match, but Hart winning was a nice way to send everyone home.

1. Wrestlemania 17 (2001) – It’s a near-consensus that Wrestlemania X-Seven is the greatest Wrestlemania of all-time. It had everything you’d want in a Mania: an awesome main event, a solid undercard and some nostalgia. The main event of The Rock vs Stone Cold was heated and the crowd loved both guys by this point. The build-up was damn near perfect. There was also the iconic Tables Ladders & Chairs II match between the Hardy Boyz, the Dudley Boyz and Edge & Christian for the WWF Tag Team Championship. It was crazier than the first one and no one has done a TLC match better than TLC II. The Undertaker/Triple H match is the one WWE wanted you to forget back when Taker/HHH had their back-to-back Mania matches at WM27 & WM28. It was an alright match, but probably the worst of the three…which is still a very high standard. There was also a McMahon family street fight between Shane McMahon and Vince McMahon. It was a bit goofy, but most of the storylines with a McMahon wrestling are various levels of goofy. The nostalgia aspect of X-Seven was the Gimmick Battle Royal; I think they should bring it back every five years or so. The Iron Sheik may have only won the match because he wasn’t physically able be thrown over the rope without blowing out his hip.

I hope you enjoyed our Wrestlemania rankings and feel free to comment your thoughts…please don’t skewer us too much as people feel very passionate about their personal favorite.

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About the Author…

Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.