The Best of the Biggest Stage!

My last list looked at the worst so now here's the best matches (in my opinion) in Wrestlemania history and in honour of this I've picked 20. Again can't embed the videos so will just put the links up if available.

20) Undertaker vs. Triple H-Wrestlemania 27
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwVmSnjE_Ds
I've not watched the rematch so don't know if that was better than this but this was a good match. I think it was over hyped much like their last match just because of who was in it but it was still a great match. I also loved Triple H's entrance, as I've covered before.

19) Edge & Christian vs. Hardy Boyz vs. Dudley Boyz in a TLC match-Wrestlemania 17
These 3 teams really made tag team wrestling important again in 1999-2002, no matter what combination you put these guys in they worked great and put on great matches. But it was these high risk matches e.g. ladder matches and TLC matches that made them all superstar. This was the 2nd TLC match in WWE history and they would set the standard extremely high for the future.






18) Hulk Hogan vs. The Rock-Wrestlemania 18
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fp6gW2MIhb0
Icon vs. Icon was one of the biggest matches at the time you could argue a dream match, although many would say Hogan/Austin was the dream match. In the ring this match was the typical Hogan affair but both guys were extremely over and the fans ate everything up which made this match something special.

17) Batista vs. Undertaker for the World title-Wrestlemania 23
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHBw88T81KM
On paper this match looked awful, Batista wasn't good in the ring and Taker had to be in there with the right guy but these 2 gelled great. Batista was arguably at his best in 2007 put on some of his best matches and Undertaker helped bring that out of him. These 2 always had great matches and their series of matches was fantastic in my view.

16) Randy Savage vs. Ultimate Warrior in a Retirement match-Wrestlemania 7
Shawn Michaels became known as Mr Wrestlemania but in my view Randy Savage was that before him, if you look at his body of work at the Mania's he worked he got way better matches out of guys he shouldn't have like this match. The small things like Warrior walking to the ring to show how serious this was and the extreme extent both men went to beat the other were great. The aftermath with Randy & Elizabeth was something special and just added that little bit to a great match. My only negative was that Randy was technically on his feet on the outside before Warrior pulled him in to pin him making Randy look a little weak.



15) CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho for the WWE title-Wrestlemania 28

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PyoLdNJgv0

 

This may have only happened last year but I love this match partly because I am a Jericho fan and a massive Punk fan. These 2 are some of best in ring wrestlers going today and they were really over but that's not surprising. It program between the 2 started over who was the "Best in the World" and the promos were incredible between the 2, it later went into alcohol vs. straight edge but it was still great.

 

14) Edge vs. Mick Foley in a Hardcore match-Wrestlemania 22

In my opinion I think Edge should have entered this Mania as WWE champion against John Cena, he had won the title and lost it within a month. I think he took some of that anger and put it into this match with Mick, who also looked like he had something to prove. I don't think anyone expected Edge to go as far as he did in this match but I think he had the mind set of "I'm going to steal the show tonight" and in my view he did.

 

 

 

 

 

13) Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels in a Career Threatening match-Wrestlemania 24

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVQRirSaljE

This is probably the most emotional match in Mania history. Going in we all knew this would be Flair's last match but even so Shawn was able to put some doubt in the fans minds at parts. I think Shawn was the right guy to "end" Flair's in ring career and he did it well.

 

12) Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho-Wrestlemania 19

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCtJKAaP8U8

2 of the best of all time showing why they are so good. Shawn had only recently came back to wrestling and had a point to prove, Jericho was a long time fan of Michaels and wanted to show that he deserved to be looked at as a main eventer. Wrestlemania 19 is seen as one of the best ever and this was the best match on that card so that says a lot.

 

11) Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior: Champion vs. Champion-Wrestlemania 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9lt__ACbFY

Much like Taker/Batista this match looked awful on paper but it blew everyone away on the night. It was a great face/face match and it really helped make Warrior a main event, sadly Hogan let his ego get in the way and stole focus away from the new champion. But this was the one time (I can think off) where the Hulk up/leg drop was dodged and it lead to Warrior winning.

 

10) Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels in an Iron Man match for the WWE title-Wrestlemania 12

This is called one of the best matches ever and it's hard to argue that. When the debate of "Who is the greatest wrestler of all time" is brought up you will often find these 2 names put in there. This was an hour long match and in their Rivalries Bret talked about how perfect this match was to him, saying that they planned for a spot to happen at the 45 minute mark and Bret looked at the clock during the spot to see it was around the 45 minute mark. These 2 would go the hour and then overtime leading to Shawn Michaels winning his first WWE title. Now sadly this match was so long that many members of the crowd actually left and they must have been kicking themselves after.

 

9) Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels-Wrestlemania 25

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piOOrMyRz2o

This would be called the greatest match in Wrestlemania history I don't know about that but it was pretty damn good. They would do a rematch the next year which I really liked as well but I think this was the better of the 2. This was near the end of Shawn's in ring career, he would only go one more year, but he was as good as ever and the chemistry between these 2 was always something magic. Now again like the Taker/HHH match this is often over hyped but it's still great.

 

8) Triple H vs. Chris Benoit vs. Shawn Michaels for the World title-Wrestlemania 20

This was the night for Benoit to become champion and what a better match to do that in. I remember watching this live and being so sucked in to what was happening, every little thing grabbed my attention and the in ring action was amazing. Now sadly this can't be looked back on by many because of what happened at the end of Chris Benoit's life but that shouldn't take away from this spectacular match.

 

 

 

 

7) Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair for WWE title-Wrestlemania 8

This was one of the first Mania's I ever watch I rented it from a video store and this match stayed with me. I loved it from Flair's incredible promos, Savage being Savage, Flair's hair turning red from blood or just the action in the ring. These 2 were outstanding in the ring and have put on some of the greatest matches ever so you knew this was going to be special. It should have gone on last but Hogan's ego didn't let that happen and we got one of the worst matches ever closing the show. Also if you haven't seen it check out Flair's post match promo it's just something else in a good way.

 

 

6) Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels-Wrestlemania 21

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsoKfLcB0Ow

You could rename this list "Why Shawn Michaels is so great" because he's all over it but this is the last time I swear. Kurt was and is a machine, it's scary to think how bad of shape he's in physically and how good he still is in the ring. This feud was built great it started with a simple elimination at the Rumble and it built from there including Kurt saying "When I won an Olympic Gold medal in 1996 all I was hearing was how some guy called Shawn Michaels came from the rafters and put on a clinic at Wrestlemania". Kurt would try to out do everything Shawn did towards the match. On the night these 2 were magic and they saved Mania 21 in my book, it was one of the worst I've seen. They tried to repeat this in rematches but never really got the same feeling as they did here.

 

5) Chris Jericho vs. Christian-Wrestlemania 20

In my view this is one of the most overlooked matches in wrestling history. These 2 were so great and this could have been a main event feud, why Christian hasn't gotten a real run in the main event is beyond me. Built on Jericho falling in love with Trish Stratus and Christian turning on Jericho because he felt Jericho had chosen her over him. Wrestlemania 20 had a very stacked line up and this to me stand outs from the rest. On a side note I brought the massive Wrestlemania 20 collectors pack when it came out and in there is a freeze fame from this match, there's a ton more but that stand out to me right now.

 

4) Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart in a Submission match-Wrestlemania 13

Many talk about this match as being pretty much perfect and it's hard to argue. They were able to do the double switch and tell a great story throughout. It was the little things like Austin coming in with the glass breaking and Bret having to walk over that glass, he was annoyed at what WWE was putting him through and this was another example of that. It's amazing to think this match almost didn't happen as the original plans was for Bret to face Shawn in a rematch but Shawn lost his smile and I think Bret took his anger towards that situation and added it to his work ethic for this match. The finish with Austin bleeding in the sharpshooter is one of the most iconic moments in wrestling history and this was the making of him in many people's eyes.

 

3) Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage for the Intercontinental title-Wrestlemania 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBtNBC9J-AU

Not much more can be said about this match, it's known as one of the greatest of all time. This took place in 1987 and in my view it still holds up today some 26 years later. This could have made Ricky a big time star in WWE but for some reason he requested time off soon after this match and the company didn't appreciate it, I can understand why. Randy would go on to win the WWE title the next year even though he was meant to win the Intercontinental title but Honky Tonk man vetoed that so in many ways we should thank Honky, that's the only time we should thank him.

 

2) Steve Austin vs. The Rock in a No DQ match for the WWE title-Wrestlemania 17

In my opinion these are the 2 biggest stars of the attitude era and this was the biggest match in years and years. The arena looked incredible and these 2 had that something special when they wrestled. Now the only downfall to this match was the Austin heel turn at the end but I don't think it hurt the match that much overall. This match main evented Mania 3 times, only Triple H/Taker have done 3 matches at Mania but WWE like to forget that first one. Much like 19 this Mania is seen as one of the best of all time and this being the best match on there shows how good this was.

 

1) Owen Hart vs. Bret Hart-Wrestlemania 10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZvUBTHXdT4

A opener at Wrestlemania 10 is my favourite Mania match ever and if you've seen this match I think you'll agree. This was Brother vs. Brother and this match helped launch Owen into a high profile picture. These 2 were doing moves that others weren't in 1994 and the fact Owen won shocked everyone especially when you consider that Bret was going on to win the WWE title later that night but it was done to set up a program between those 2 for the rest of the year. I think Owen is seriously overlooked in terms of his in ring talent, many have said that if he took it more seriously he would have been better than Bret as his in ring talent was already slightly better than Bret's. Wrestlemania 10 should not be gone back to at all except to watch this match over and over again.

 

Hopefully this has helped hype you up for Wrestlemania. I apologise for some of these videos being in different languages but you get what you can on Youtube. Now my question is will any matches on the upcoming Wrestlemania be put into this list? I think Punk/Taker has a shot but not much else., sorry Mania you still haven't grabbed me.

 

A pile of Garbage on the biggest stage of them all!

Wrestlemania is creeping up on us day by day and I for one am still not excited about  it, outside of one match (Punk/Taker) nothing grabs me we're getting 2 rematches that we didn't ask for and a uninspiring undercard. Regardless Wrestlemania is meant to be the stage where wrestlers show how great they can be but that doesn't always happen hence this list, I'm highlighting my personal top 15 worst Wrestlemania matches of all time. Now a quick warning for some reason I can't embed the videos in this article so the best you get are the links but hey if you can't click a link 1) you wouldn't be here and 2) you're a whole other level of lazy and I'm impress but you wouldn't know that.

15) HHH vs. Randy Orton for the WWE title-Wrestlemania 25
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXEmYr3GZZs
This match had many problems. The first was that it had been done to death already at the time WWE were obsessed with putting Cena, HHH and Orton together in some combination as the top feud, sadly no matter the combination these guys often found it hard to get on the same page. Not saying they always had bad matches but the majority of the time the matches were lacklustre to me at least. The second problem was going in HHH could lose the title by DQ which would have worked if he was the heel but he was the face. The biggest problem though was the fans were spent, this went on last after Shawn Michaels and Undertaker put on a classic. But having said all that it was really a match that lacked that main event classic feel rather than a bad match.

14) Eddie Guerrero vs. Test-Wrestlemania 17
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYrtPv1cY24
Wrestlemania 17 is seen as one of, if not the best, Wrestlemania ever and it was a fantastic show. This match would come off as probably the worst on the show surprising to see Eddie's name on a Worst of list but it really wasn't his fault. The match was fine up until Test trapped his foot in the ropes and that killed the match. Test was once pencilled in to be the WWF champion and it's stunning to see how far he fell, this would be his last Mania even though he was on the roster till 2007/2008.

13) 10 Diva Tag-Wrestlemania 26
This match is really an example of the Wrestlemania problem. WWE want to put so many people on Mania to give them a pay off but we get matches like this. Huge tag matches that last a matter of minutes and is literally everyone hitting their finishers, in a recent interview Kofi Kingston said "I've literally had a Wrestlemania match were the entrance lasted longer than the match". The reason I put this on the list is because of Vickie Guerrero's disgusting frog splash, Eddie would be ashamed.

12) Jake Roberts vs. Rick Martel in a Blindfold Match-Wrestlemania 7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXkpHpAByE8
Blindfold matches are never good, this gets a break for me as it was the first one and the crowd were so hot it worked well but it was still a pretty bad matches at the end of the day. For those who don't know Martel "blinded" Roberts with his arrogance and they built for months to this match so at least it had a reason and my guess is that Jake killed it in promos leading up, I mean come on he's Jake Roberts and that guy could talk.

11) Great Khali vs. Kane-Wrestlemania 23
Wrestlemania 23 was meant to see Hulk Hogan vs. the Big Show to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Hogan's bodyslam on Andre the Giant they planned to recreate that spot in the same city. Sadly Hogan had a falling out with Vince and was never brought back to WWE and by sadly I mean thankfully, so instead we got this train wreck and the slam was inserted here. It didn't come off as special as Kane wasn't that much smaller than Khali. Combine that with the fact Khali has always been awful in the ring and Kane isn't that great either it results in well this.

10) Boogeyman vs. Booker T & Sharmell-Wrestlemania 22
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNNFTYNzf7A
This was really a one on one and I still don't get why they added Sharmell outside the end freak out. Boogeyman at best was a stupid gimmick that lasted too long he was awkward in the ring and while Booker has put on some great ones he has to be in there with the right guy. Little story in one of their matches Boogeyman broke Booker's nose during a tie up spot, that shows how bad he was and thankfully he's gone.

9) Undertaker vs. Kane-Wrestlemania 14
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksXvZwAHt4Q
These 2 have never had good chemistry and yet this is a program that WWE kept going to. I still don't understand the people who want to see one more from them at Mania because it would "tie up the story" while there is no story left to be told. Anyways to this match it was built great it must have been a year plus of story but sadly the match didn't do well in the ring, they tried protecting Kane a bit too much and this really came off as a feud ender instead of their first match.

8) Hulk Hogan vs. Sid Justice-Wrestlemania 8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kENNhkSslmA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqQTPefRwqM
In 1992 Hulkamania was really beginning to die fans were turning on him and in fact at the Royal Rumble near the end the fans were booing Hogan and cheering Sid. But he was Hulk Hogan so his ego wouldn't let that be, this was the main event when it shouldn't have been and this was both men's last match with the company for a big period of time. The 2 just didn't click and there was a spot near the end that shouldn't have happened, Sid kicked out of the leg drop and Papa Shango missed his cue and ran down late. So the main event was a DQ for some reason and the only highlight was the Ultimate Warriors return after the match.

7) John Cena vs. JBL for the WWE title-Wrestlemania 21
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDWeMEum7GU
This got voted by the fans of Powerslam as the worst match of that year. Cena at the time was an awful wrestler, I give him credit he's improved a great deal from these days and while JBL was a great heel he wasn't a great worker. These 2 just didn't click and I don't think they ever did outside of their I Quit match a couple of months later. But regardless of the match Cena was over and this was his first title win, watching him collapse into the crowd was a great moment looking back, if he did that these days he probably wouldn't come back without injuries.

6) HHH vs. Booker T for the World title-Wrestlemania 19
This match was based around racism, only HHH could get away with that. No one believed in Booker as a challenger, no one really wanted to see this match and it was during the time when Triple H was the champion and he was facing the most random names and just beating them. What really hurt this match was the finish as Booker looked insanely weak, HHH would hit the Pedigree from out of nowhere and it took him about a minute to crawl over and pin Booker. Wrestlemania 19 is another one in the line of greatest Mania's ever but this isn't brought up in those arguments.

5) Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole with Steve Austin as Special Referee-Wrestlemania 27
At the time Cole was being pushed as a big heel sadly he was just more annoying than an effective heel. Lawler is one of the greatest of all time but he couldn't save this match as Cole was just a chubby announcer at the end of the day, no matter what you added to the match it couldn't help. Combine that with the anonymous GM reversing the decision and having Cole win made this match ridiculous.

4) Sable vs. Tori for the Women's title-Wrestlemania 15
Imagine if you will 2 models being thrown out there to wrestle and that's pretty much what this match was. Sweet lord this was awful, so much was botched and the heel was more over as a face than the face was. They even messed up a ref bump. It stuns me to see how far women's wrestling has come when compared to these 2. It came off as 2 women who didn't even want to wrestle (Sable especially) and they just wanted to be that hot women on TV.

3) Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzalez-Wrestlemania 9
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT-oS79P-9Q
The streak is now this holy grail in wrestling terms but Taker had another streak when it came to Mania and that was having the worst match on the show. Taker has had some really bad showings at the biggest stage of them all and it's amazing to see how drastically he's improved over the years. Gonzalez on the other hand was literally a case of "Wow he's big" he got signed because he was a legit giant who couldn't play basketball. I would have loved to see him vs. Khali as that would be so bad it becomes good.

2) Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar with Steve Austin as special ref-Wrestlemania 20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BXFVvUGkDw
This was a big match at the time but it didn't live up to the hype. Outside the crowd being awesome this match sucked. Both men were leaving WWE after this show and the fans knew so they expressed their opinion and most pros could ignore that but for some reason these 2 let the crowd take over. Lesnar was a fantastic worker at the time and it's amazing to see the crap he dished out for his last match (at the time). Both didn't want to be out there and the only saving grace was Austin stunning both after.

1) Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon in a Street Fight-Wrestlemania 26
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5P3_VRrdFs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9XxTNV4z_M
This was basically a one sided squash and one that didn't work. It was meant to be Bret finally getting revenge but you began feeling sorry for Vince as everyone (most of the Hart family were out there) took shots at him and killed him. And when you add that to the fact Bret physically couldn't bump you have to question why would you book this match? You should have had both managing someone, hell the Hart Dynasty team were out there have Bret manage them. The only time the fans cared was when Bret teased the Sharpshooter, probably because they knew when it was on this match would end. Thankfully Shawn Michaels and Undertaker had their rematch on this show otherwise I would have switched off the show.

Well that's my top 15 worst. Let me know what you think and what yours are as everyone's should be different. Keep an eye out as next time I'm doing the best matches in Wrestlemania history and you'll be glad to hear there's more good than bad.

Now that's an Entrance

It's Wrestlemania season and the general view is "What again?" as this years top matches are all rematches including a "Once in a Lifetime" match. Anyways to get into the mood I'm going to do a few lists about Wrestlemania this one looking at the best and worst entrances in Wrestlemania history (in my view). At the Grandaddy of them all certain matches/superstars get extra attention put in to them by doing flashy entrances so here are my 5 best and worst.

Worst
5) Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 19-I love Shawn Michaels and it wasn't that the entrance itself was too bad but it was the fact that some of the machines in use decided not to work. Shawn was set to come down the aisle while picking up confetti guns and shooting them into the crowd, sadly a couple of them didn't work. But this being Shawn Michaels he played off it and moved on. The problem was quickly forgotten when he got in the ring and the massive firework display for him began around the top of the stadium which looked awesome.
4) Rey Mysterio at Wrestlemania 22-Now I should put all of Mysterio's entrance at Mania in mainly because he always tries to pull off a special outfit, usually comic book or movie related, and you end up just asking what it is or why did he chose thatt. But at Wrestlemania 22 they got P.O.D to perform his entrance theme and he came out in a head dress, he proceeded to said next to the band and do nothing until he headed to the ring. It just came off as awkward and odd, I also didn't get the head dress at all was he saying he's an Indian chief because I don't think that's true.
3) Triple H at Wrestlemania 22-Wrestlemania 22 was a pretty bad show in terms of entrances. The main event was Triple H challenging John Cena for the WWE title so for his entrance Triple H came up onto the ramp in a throne dressed like Conan the Barbarian (he's often been called a Conan wannabe), he just sat there while Motorheads "King of Kings" played which was the songs debut and then his normal music played. Triple H just looked awful in that outfit and it played no part in the rest of his entrance as he stood up and removed the outift and walked to the ring like normal.
2) The Miz at Wrestlemania 27-Remember when Miz main evented a Wrestlemania? Now look at where he is, he can't even do a Figure 4 leglock correctly. The entrance started with a video showcasing the Miz's life and rise to the WWE title, which would be great if he wasn't walking in as the heel! But the entrance was killed when he came out to inflatable Miz letters which looked so cheap. Not only did they give him a video with the wrong message but they also made him look like a pile of crap when he actually came out. Lucky for him he was already being overshadowed that year by Rock & Cena, the former not even being in the match.

1) John Cena-Yep I pretty much hate every entrance he gets at Wrestlemania. They always give Cena a big entrance at Mania and they either come off as just sucking up to the crowd/city or just bad. Whether it was the Gangster entrance at 22, the car driving which he wasn't in until the end at 23, the copy cats at 25 (which WWE must have drooled over) or the several marching bands/choir singers he gets, they're all bad in my book. This isn't a shot at Cena it's a shot at WWE for choosing these entrances, Cena is just the guy who gets given them.

Best
5) Steve Austin at Wrestlemania 13-I'll be honest I was struggling to find good entrances at Mania, I find a lot of them just come of as goofing and bad. This one was pure and simple as the glass breaks in Austin's song a panel of glass that was filling the entrance with "Austin 3:16" written on shatters, something WWE did several times with him. It was nice and simple, the added effect of Bret Hart having to walk over it after was a nice touch as well.
4) Triple H at Wrestlemania 27-To be fair I'm just a fan of Metallica's "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and it worked great here. There were soldiers surrounding him and he was all dressed up with a mask and everything, now like the 22 entrance it was removed when he actually walked to the ring but his appearence on the ramp was awesome.
3) Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 12-Probably the most iconic entrance in WWE history. We've all seen the zipline and Vince McMahon's call of "What a ride!". It just looked awesome I can't think of many people who didn't watch and think "I'd love to try that". It did give away the ending of the match however as Bret Hart, who was defending the WWE title, just came out normally so he didn't look like the focus of the company one bit but since they were doing the switch I'm ok with it.
2) Ric Flair at Wrestlemania 24-Going into Wrestlemania that year we all knew this would be Flair's last match, how wrong we were but we believed that he was retiring. So to see him walk that aisle in a gorgeous robe (personally think his robes looked awful while in WWE but this one looked amazing) he did his usual Ric Flair thing and when he reached the end of the aisle he slowly did a full turn and the fireworks began. This entrance was all about aura and that special feeling of "End of an era" throughout it. The match itself is one of the most emotional I've ever seen and this entrance only helped that.
1) Undertaker-Much like Cena I'm including all his Wrestlemania entrances here. WWE put special effort into his entrance and they come off as incredible, much like Flair's it's all about the aura that comes off and it's just awe inspiring, at points you lose the fact you're at a wrestling show when he enters. Whether you like him or not there's just something special about his entrance, even while he was the American Bad ass his entrances stood out above anyone else.

The line up for this years Mania has 4 matches announced and out of that I'd say the top 3 have potential to put on special entrances especially since 3 out of the 6 have been mentioned here.
Now this may seem like a silly list to do but you should never overlook a wrestlers entrance. How they come out can make them look like true superstars or just another guy. Regardless of if I think these are good or not the fact is that these guys try to come off as bigger than life and when you look at everyone else who usually just come out normally they succeed in their goal. It also shows the the company has faith in them for going that extra mile for them at the biggest show of the year.