Top 10 Wrestlemania Matches Ever

[grover]

We're getting closer to the biggest wrestling event of the year. Let's get a nice rountable going.

DISCUSS!!!!

[MSBNYY]

The one that started it all--Hogan/Mr. T v. Piper/Orndorff. They never had such great hype before or since. Piper was the ultimate villain, crossing into mainstream. Mr. T was at the height of his career and it was still a time when many would argue it was real.

It was the ultimate good v. evil match. The crowd was into it. The media was into it. The hype was at an all time high.

The announcing was great.

They pulled off a match that changed everything.

[$heriff Tom]

Bret vs Owen at Wrestlemania X. Bret went on to win the World title later in the night, which added even more a shock to the rollup pin Owen scored on him. Fresh into his heel turn, Owen added legitimacy, and the two put on a clinic, especially for this guy - who was in the arena that evening.

Another match from that card that should rank high on any list is the HBK/Razor Ramon ladder match. I have not seen that match in a while, and I am not really a fan of that genre. But oh, what a match, and it opened the door for all those ladder spotfests that live on to this day.

I will go into more in much more detail, but the match most pundits call THE best Wrestlemania match ever is Bret vs Austin, in the famous "I Quit" match.

[grover]

Just one? Give us a top 10!

10. HBK/HHH/Benoit WM - 20
9. Hardys vs. Dudleys vs. Edge and Christian - WM 16
8. Savage Vs. Steamboat - WM 3
7. Hogan Vs. Warrior - WM 5
6. Ric Flair Vs. Randy Savage - WM 7
5. HBK Vs. Razor Ramon - WM 10
4. Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart - WM 10
3. Rock Vs. Hogan - WM 18
2. Bret Hart Vs. HBK - WM 12
1. Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin - WM 13

Honorable mention goes too:

Guerrero Vs. Angle WM 20
HBK Vs. Angle WM 21
Hogan/Mr. T Vs. Piper/Orndorff - WM 1

Hmmmm, this is really tough. I may have to bump a few off the bottom and mix it around a bit to include the honorable mentions.

[Chris]

The celebrity matches always leave me flat. Mr. T, Rodman, Karl Malone - those guys just are not good wrestlers and they take away from the showmanship.

[$heriff Tom]

Taylor did a credible job in his match, but I'm with ya, Cho. I would not put that match anywhere near a top 10, yet alone a top 20, as decent as it was. Karl Malone also pulled out a few nifty spots in his match. Rodman was a waste, of course. Jay Leno, a mess, although I seem to remember him nailing a decent elbowdrop or something similar.

I dont mind celeb stuff here and there. Wrestling IS all about bombast.

[MSBNYY]

There's a difference between Mr. T in WM1 and WM2. He was in much better shape the first time.

[grover]

I put it there strictly for the hype around it and that it was a huge event, not for the match itself. Same goes for Hogan/Andre.

[MSBNYY]

It was the total package. It's not necessarily about who is the most polished wrestler. Piper could have a great match with punches and kicks. The key is building up hate and making you feel like these guys are in a fight.

[Chris]

I forgot about Leno...didn't he wrestle at Sturgis?

[4dogg]

savage vs steamboat

[grover]

Come on people! Let's see a top ten so we can discuss the finer points on the matches we loved. Lord knows there were a handful of matches I loved that could have went up there.

[MSBNYY]

Worst match may have been Goldberg v. Lesnar. I think about the only thing that made that match good was the crowd booing both of them like crazy.

[$heriff Tom]

Before the announcement that Goldberg and Lesnar were hitting the road, the mere announcement of that match made a guy giddy. I was looking forward to that battle of the behemoths. To that end, I sure wish I could see Batista and Lesnar square off. No way that match should have been THAT bad. But at that point, they were going through the motions.

Grover, we'll get to the 10. But when matches come up and then, we'll cover it up. I need to see what matches were held where and when, I will wrapa this stuff up surely. Hey, wasnt a Taker/Flair battle at Mania? That was an underrated classic, if it was indeed a tangle at a Mania. I am going off the top of my head here.

[globix]

I was a kid, so I'm not not sure if the match would hold up today, but the British Bulldogs winning the tag straps at WM 2 against The Dream Team is the first to come to my mind

[grover]

No, that was probably the only good math on that card. I agree totally with the Bulldogs/Dream Team match.

Early Wrestlemanias don't really stand the test of time.

[MSBNYY]

Again, I think the first WM was the pace setter. That show was simply different. It was far superior to any ordinary card or even an ordinary house show. Today's WMs are merely regular monthly PPVs. It's very hard to get something on that card, hyped properly, that makes the show a must see.

[thecaptain15]

So many years..so many matches..who knows..I've been to 2 WMs so I will pick the best and the worst from those since they are most memorable to me being live.....

Best:

Rock vx. Hogan WM 18

Worst:

Lesner vs. Goldberg WM20.....though the booing did make it funny....

[thecaptain15]

Funny story of watching the first WM...My friend had a 10 foot satellite dish.....we all gathered to watch it at his place but to our dismay was scrambled..not many things were scambled in the early dish days......we discovered if you blink it kind of "cleared the screen" and you could make out what was going on..Of course it was unreasonable to think you could continuosly blink for 4 hours straight so we did the next best thing..we got a portable fan and put it in front of the TV and watched WM through the fan (the announcing was not scrambled)......LOL

[4dogg]

i remember going to see WM at the nassau coliseum on CCTV....couldnt get tix for MSG because i got married the day of the onsale...wrestlemania out lived the marriage

[$heriff Tom]

Again, I think the first WM was the pace setter. That show was simply different. It was far superior to any ordinary card or even an ordinary house show

LOL. If this does not prove you to be a wrestling mark...

Mania 1 was nothing beyond "the first" and an endless parade of mostly C level celebrities. Oh, and here are some of the "pace setting" matches that made this such a classic card!

Tito Santana vs The Executioner
Rick Steamboat vs Matt Borne
King Kong Bundy vs SD Jones
David Sammartino vs Brutus Beefcake in a terrible match
Lelaini Kai vs Wendi Richter (did YOU care?)

This was more than half the card....so, you were saying? Yeah, not like a house show indeed....many will swear to having seen BETTER house shows! (raises hand)

[$heriff Tom]

Actually, at the time, Leliani Kai v. Wendi Richter had some of the best heat and setup in the whole WWF. It actually deserved its status as the number 2 match on the card.

Again...did YOU care? I sure as Hell didnt. A lot of people didnt. You have anything to say on the more than half of a card I posted along with that? About how groundbreaking and much better than current angles/matches all that was? Didnt think so - sorry for calling you out and making you look like such the fool on that.

Seeing Edge in another ladder match is hardly a big deal. Yawn.

You forgot to mention Edge and SEVEN OTHERS - so keep on touting your Lelaini Kai/Wendi Richter match, and pretend to be bored during what may end up being a show-stealer just so you can pretend to prove your point.

[$heriff Tom]

Oops, when I went to reply to Balls' post on Mania 1, I modified instead, and screwed up and lost his post. Sorry about that . I warn myself. Anyway, his comments and my replies are in italics in the post above.

[MSBNYY]

DAMN YOU!!!!! That was the greatest post in the history of the internet! And it's lost forever!

I think I did that once on the other board to someone. Anyway, you are now disqualified from arguing on this topic, and it's official that Leilani Kai v. Wendi Richter was indeed an important match. And actually, I did care about that match. I don't know if I would care today, but then, I did.

And I don't care if the ladder match is Edge and 25 other people. It's just another ladder match with the same old same old stipulation. I'd rather see Pete Rose get tombstoned again.

[grover]

Many of the older Wrestlemanias don't stand the test of time, because we're older and not going gaga over everything.

Even WM3 had it's dull spots. Yet, since it was the Hogan/Andre match, people put the whole card on that level, when that match is on another planet.

[MSBNYY]

The styles are different today of course. The athleticism for the most part is better. Some people back then were ahead of their time of course, but for the most part, things were different. But there were things better then. There is no villain as good today as Piper was back then. Even watching the DVD, he was just amazing to watch work.

Like I said before, the key wasn't so much what moves they could do. It was that they were able to show that these guys hated each other so much that it was a true fight. I can't think of a good feud today that rivals anything back then.

You still have heels and faces, and heels still do mean things, but it's just not the same.

[grover]

Balls, go back and watch WM1 if you have it. During the Tag Team match for the straps, the Iron Sheik takes a drop kick by the ropes, takes a step, pauses to ready himself, and lunches out the ring as if he was leaving under his own accord rather than as a result of a drop kick.

You will die laughing.

[MSBNYY]

The only match I have from WM1 was the main event.

[$heriff Tom]

Then how the Hell can you come on here talking about how great Wrestlemania 1 was, while dismissing everything that came after it??

I bet you were the most surprised person in the world when I put up part of the actual card on here....I am sure you had NO idea.

[MSBNYY]

Actually, you are quite wrong, as usual. Not only did I know the card, I still have the program somewhere from the closed circuit. It's called memory. I remember WM1.