The Definitive WrestleMania List Of Lists

And we're baaack~! Since lists seem to go over pretty well, and it is that time of year where WrestleMania looms large, I've decided the tackle the history of the biggest show of the year and break down their pecking order. As always, all opinions are objective, but only mine is correct. Obviously there are lots of factors that go into a list like this. Match quality, build-up quality, historical significance, critical and artistic success or failure, as well as pesky outside influences like nostalgia, have all played key parts in the decision making. Rather than simply run the list, I've grouped them into grades and ranked them from there, from worst to first; makes for an easier list to digest, as well as putting a definitive stamp on it's true place in history. So without further adieu...

Grade F:

#29 - WrestleMania 9 (1993)
The F stands for "Fuck You, Bret Hart"


Funnily enough, the show that first hooked me to be a wrestling fan, but nevertheless, I am able to take the rose-tinted glasses off long enough to make a sound judgment on it. Roster depth was almost at an all time low here (see #28 for that), the matches and feuds seemed to lack tangible depth, and Yokozuna Vs. Bret Hart for the WWF Title was the weakest main event in Mania history on paper going in. But despite low expectations, this show was not to be denied, and successfully soared beneath them. Not only were a number of matches as captivating as watching flies fuck (looking at you Razor/Backlund, Taker/Gonzalez and Maniacs/Money Inc), but the booking was absolutely putrid.

In late 1992, Bret Hart was given the WWF Title because they needed a likeable guy to push as a new star, one that didn't reek of steroids and scandal. Bret was absolutely the guy for the job, and while growing pains were inevitable, he was the guy for the foreseeable future. In his first Mania as the top guy and the future of the company, he is beaten by Yokozuna and treated like a midcard geek as Hulk Hogan moonwalks his way to WWF Title number 5, beating Yoko in seconds in an impromptu match. To hell with the last six months of hard work attempting to move forward, Hulk is back. Time told the story - Hogan wasn't the answer to the WWF's problems, and was out of the company a few months later, while massive damage was done to Bret Hart, who, surprise surprise, turned out to be the future face of the company after all, only with a clipped wing thanks to this short-sighted fiasco. People today can easily relate by envisioning John Cena in the role of Hogan, and Punk or Bryan filling Bret Hart's shoes, only this was significantly worse because Hogan's time as difference maker on top was over in the WWF.

Michaels/Tatanka was a good opener, Steiner/Headshrinkers was fine, Crush/Doink was decent (personally dig heel Doink), and Perfect/Luger was underwhelming. But between the general feeling of mediocrity thoughout, a parade of cheap or non-finishes, and the Hogan atrocity, this is the worst. The Caeser's Palace setting is cool and I enjoyed the announcing team of JR, Heenan and Savage more than most, so props to them.

#28 - WrestleMania 11 (1995)
The F stands for "Football Player Beats Wrestler"

1995 is the all-time low point for the WWF. Diesel had just been crowned champion, and needed all the help in the world to be protected. Instead he was the top guy on possibly the weakest roster in company history, and didn't even main event Mania as champion. Instead, Lawrence Taylor, an NFL legend who was on the downside of the athletic career and reputation, was brought in for a good angle at the Royal Rumble with Bam Bam Bigelow, and a main event match here. Given the tenor of the times, the use of LT reeked of absolute desperation, and in a big indictment of the product, he was put over Bam Bam Bigelow in the main event. Instead of this being a great celebrity rub as we've seen in certain cases, this pretty much killed Bigelow's career, and he ended up out of the company by the end of the year. The match itself, and the intro by Salt N Pepa, was a hell of an effort, and LT does deserve to be commended for taking it seriously.

The other big celebrity involvement was Pamela Anderson, who led Diesel down to the ring for his title defense against Shawn Michaels in the best match on the show. Despite the Nash megapush, it was Shawn Michaels who earned the fans cheers, as it became apparent that this Diesel as top guy experiment was going to be a challenge. Unfortunately, the dynamic of 7 foot babyface versus cocky heel workhorse felt completely wrong, and didn't feel worthy of the main event. With these as the top two matches, this show was going to be tough, but the rest of the show blew. Undertaker beat King Kong Bundy in an abysmal match, during Taker's horrific period of working with every schlub brought into the company. As infuriating as Taker was in his worst periods, the guy does earn sympathy for the amount of shit he's been fed. Bret Hart Vs. Bob Backlund in an I Quit match was, in Bret's own words, his worst big show match ever, due to Backlund's awkward style and Roddy Piper howling like a retard the whole time.

My pick for the most useless tag team of all time, the Harris Brothers, opened the show as the Blu Brothers losing to Davey Boy Smith and Lex "How the mighty have fallen in one year" Luger in a nothing effort, Razor Ramon and Jeff Jarrett go to a pointless non-finish, and Yokozuna and Owen Hart beat the Smoking Gunns for the Tag Titles in a fairly pedestrian encounter. The undercard felt so shallow, and the lack of major league heels with heat in the company shone like a neon light on a dog's asshole, made worse by the results of this show. As a result, we would look forward to a year of Sid and Mabel main events.


#27 - WrestleMania 4 (1988)
The F stands for "Four Hours of Shit"

First of all, sixteen matches is way too Goddamn many. Especially since none of them are any good. I understand the tournament was a cool idea in theory, but this show feels like such a marathon to sit through, made worse by a crowd that seemed to treat it like I used to treat Geography at school - mild indifference, watching through dead eyes, with the occasional ball scratch to liven the experience. This was the crowning moment for Randy Savage as WWF Champion, and the beginning to the best one year angle in company history. Interestingly, Ted DiBiase was supposed to get the title here, but fate took things in a different direction thanks to, of all people, the Honky Tonk Man. Honky refused to drop the Intercontinental Title to Savage shortly before this show, and as a make good to prevent pissing of the guy who would be the anchor babyface through the summer (as Hogan was leaving to film No Holds Barred), Savage was given the WWF Title instead to do the same feud with DiBiase he was scheduled for anyway. Even more interesting is that the post-WrestleMania house show business with Savage on top was better than it had been for the three previous years with Hogan on top.

I won't break down match by match, because there are too many and there's very little to say. The matches were short but somehow still plodding, Steamboat got a raw deal on his way out the company, and the crowd seemed to give up when Hogan and Andre were both eliminated. Elsewhere, Demolition beat Strike Force to win the WWF Tag Titles in which the crowd the cheered the heels (you could tell which team was cooler from the entrance music alone), and Bret Hart started a babyface turn attacked Bad News Brown after being swerved in the show opening battle royal. Gorilla and Jesse on commentary were tremendous.

#26 - WrestleMania 2 (1986)
The F stands for "Fine, We'll Do Three"

In response to Jim Crockett doing Starrcade from two locations, ol' Vinnie Mac decided WrestleMania would take place in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago in an attempt to upstage, and came through with a strong candidate for worst Mania ever. Not only was this show littered with technical errors much like the entry #28 on the list, but most of the show is rank. There are two damn good matches with Dream Team Vs. Bulldogs and The Funks Vs. JYD/Santana (a forgotten gem), but King Kong Bundy pretty much sucked as a challenger for Hogan, and while I never witnessed it at the time (obviously), I never got the impression that he was all that hot a heel. Granted, that may be because his Mania appearance is sandwiched between white-hot Roddy Piper in 85 and the heel turn of Andre for 87 which did monster business.

1986 was a great year for the WWF, and the company was loaded with talent, but this show just looks like such filler. Mr. T and Roddy Piper had an ugly "boxing" match during which the crowd turned on Mr. T, whose star had plummeted since Mania 1, and the talented workers that would play a pivotal role the following year (Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat and Adrian Adonis) were all stuck against opponents who dragged them down despite their best efforts.

The only other match of note was the Battle Royal, featuring NFL stars such as Refridgerator Perry and Bill Fralic, mixed in with the WWF guys, a pretty novel concept, and something I'm surprised hasn't been referenced lately since they're doing an Andre Memorial Battle Royal this year. Still, despite a couple of fun interactions with Perry, who looks like a real megastar with his flabby gut hanging out of his tanktop at one point, it was a vehicle to give a big win to Andre, who was reaching the end of his babyface run and would be very instrumental in next year's success. Also, the commentary on this show was fuck awful. Nothing more needs to be said about that.

#25 - WrestleMania (1985)
The F stands for "First Time Hogan was in the Match Of The Night"

I'm not sure what people will think of the designation of this show here, but fuck it. Historically speaking, this was the most important show the company ever did, and the final week of build up was so ridiculously good that it not only saved the company from losing their ass, but it gave them the platform from which the next few years of success would develop. Roddy Piper's performances in the run-up to this show were nothing short of phenomenal, a heel on a different level of anybody of the modern era. The involvement on Mr. T, the hottest television star in America with the A-Team dominating the airwaves and that the general public believed was a legit badass, and Cyndi Lauper bringing the MTV crowd, led to the show that was, to the mainstream, the biggest WrestleMania ever. Nothing since has come close to mainstream attention, and probably never will. So much of what made it work was novelty - the right thing, in the right place, with the right celebrities, with the right top heel, and the right top babyface, on the right platform at the right time.

With that said, from an artistic standpoint, this show sucks. That's not looking at things through modern eyes, it's just a fact. Anything of prominence on this show, from Andre and Studd in the bodyslam challenge to Wendi Richter (with Cyndi Lauper) versus Leilani Kai, was just not good, and the guys on the undercard were either in and out before anything could get going, or didn't have the goods. Easily the best match on the show in terms of crowd heat and performance is the main event, which featured a cameo from Muhammed Ali as special enforcer, as Hogan and Mr. T beat Piper and Paul Orndorff. Aside from the main event and what this show meant to wrestling, this has absolutely nothing else going for it.

Grade D:

#24 - WrestleMania 15 (1999)
The D stands for "Did You Know Vince Russo Is A Fucking Moron?"

On a different day, I could rank this way lower, and the only thing that saves it from an F Grade is the main event - Austin and Rock, both red-hot, the top two stars in the industry, in their first main event match, in front of a rowdy crowd, hitting a homerun. Kudos to them for saving this show from the absolute depths of history. I know people are fond of this time, but if you ever needed proof that Vince Russo couldn't pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were on the heel, it's this overbooked sack of shit. Shane/X-Pac is a good match, but its easily marred by Kane/HHH, Tori/Sable, Show/Mankind, and mediocre IC and Hardcore title matches which made no fucking sense because they switched, for some reason, the Outlaws from their respective matches right before Mania, which ruined the weeks and months of build-up for both. And lets not forget the worst Hell In A Cell match of all time with Undertaker/Bossman. Elsewhere, Butterbean obliterated Bart Gunn in seconds in a Brawl 4 All match, killing his career, and a makeshift team of Test and D'Lo Brown lost to Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett in a WWF Tag Title match that nobody could possibly care about.

Big Show turned face, Chyna turned face then heel in the same night which turned heel Kane babyface by proxy (keeping track so far?), and HHH turned heel on X-Pac.

Thank God for Austin and Rock.

#23 - WrestleMania 6 (1990)
The D stands for "Disappointment"

Anybody who loves this show does so for purely nostalgic reasons. Fondly remembered for the ultra-rare face vs. face dynamic of Hulk Hogan Vs. The Ultimate Warrior, the rest of this show consists of every feature match falling way short of expectations, and every other match being a nothing of note glorified squash. Warrior won the WWF Title, and rightly so, in a match that was better than it had any right to be. Hogan had become pretty damn stale by this point, and Warrior was the way to go. But 1990 was not a good year for the WWF, as they'd pretty well stamped every heel they had as far below Hogan and Warrior, and the only fresh hot heel around was Earthquake, who was fed to Hogan instead of Warrior, a decision which ended up dooming the Warrior to an uninteresting title run that was considered a failure by the time it ended. Warrior was stuck in a retread feud with Rick Rude, and ended up swimming around with no real issue for most of his run. Reflection on this time period says Warrior flopped on top, but the company itself continued to treat Hogan as the top priority, and the fans could tell.

That aside, Jake Roberts Vs. Ted DiBiase was uninteresting, Roddy Piper Vs. Bad News Brown wasn't close to what was promoted as a wild brawl, and Dusty Rhodes/Sapphire Vs. Savage/Sherri was a total throwaway, memorable only for the sight of Elizabeth doing her best impression of Eddie Murphy's "white guy dancing" routine at the end. Oh, and Brutus Beefcake was rewarded for knob-slobbering Hulk Hogan by breaking Mr. Perfect's undefeated streak in an injustice that makes Maradona's Hand Of God acceptable by comparison. Beyond that, the card was a series of one-sided squashes that just about hold your attention. Had the promoted matches lived up to their potential, this would have scored way higher, just because the main event exceeded expectations, but instead its a painful show to watch.

#22 - WrestleMania 5 (1989)
The D stands for "Donald Trump's Audience Sucks Again"

For the second straight year, Mania was held at Trump Plaza, and much like Mania 4, the crowd really drags this down. Still, this did very well on Pay-Per-View thanks to a glorious storyline where the Mega Powers Exploded, with Randy Savage going heel on Hulk Hogan over Miss Elizabeth, the culmination of months of sideways glances and subtle build that was egged on by the great Jesse Ventura in his role of #1 Hogan Hater. It culminated in this match, another strong effort from Hogan, though you can unquestionably chalk most of it up to Randy Savage. A good match and the end to a fantastic angle.

And much like Mania 4, there were way too many matches. Fourteen of them, to be exact, none of which really had any well-built programs and very little that left any kind of impression, with the exception of Rick Rude's surprising victory over the Ultimate Warrior in a decent match, although the rematch at Summerslam 89 is miles ahead of it.

Matches with DiBiase/Beefcake, Duggan/Bad News and Jake/Andre all ended in countouts or DQs rendering them pointless. Rockers/Twin Towers was fun, and the Brain Busters/Strike Force was decent. Everything else doesn't deserve mentioning.Oh, and lets not forget Piper's Pit with Morton Downey. They tried. But it sucked a hairy beanbag.

#21 - WrestleMania 27 (2011)
The D stands for "Did The Miz Really Headline A Mania?"
  
The modern equivalent of the old WrestleMania's that just don't do a hell of a lot for anyone, Mania 27 is easily the worst of the "20s", and it's not necessarily that it's terrible, it is just staggeringly underwhelming. This did mark the return of The Rock as "host", and was actually a major success on PPV, but even that didn't really hit the spot, as Rock didn't have much of a presence on the show beyond opening with a promo and costing John Cena the title in the main event. Before that, Cena Vs. Miz was one of the most painfully lackluster main events in Mania history. The WWE went into overdrive here, giving Miz a fantastic music video and entrance, and his reactions following this show were that of a superstar. They were actually on their way to getting him over as a top guy. Then they took the title off him two months later and that was the end of that.

There is one great match on the show, as Undertaker Vs. Triple H tore the house down with a fantastic match. But after that, nothing else on this show is memorable in the slightest. The World Title goes on first (a massive pet peeve of mine) and just serves to get Edge/Del Rio out the way. The only other match of note was Jerry Lawler Vs. Michael Cole, in what should have been the blowoff to what was actually the best built up match on the entire card. Instead, they got too cute with this, the match was a disaster as it went too long and was way too competitive, and then they went with a fuck finish and gave Cole the win via reversed decision, in an effort to milk Heel Cole for two more months, which rendered Lawler's eventual victory unsatisfying.

Everything else was filler, including CM Punk Vs. Randy Orton, which sounds like it could be tremendous on paper. A negative trend in the later Manias is that, unlike the first 20 which all have a great deal of individual identity to them, the more recent ones tend to blend together due to the WWE's lack of evolution, and this show is the biggest victim of all.

#20 - WrestleMania 29 (2013)
The D stands for "Don't Take Once In A Lifetime Too Seriously"

It's hard to rank this one - it was definitely a disappointing show, as while Taker Vs. Punk was a hell of a match, the crowd didn't seem to really care that much about anything else. Triple H and Brock Lesnar was a program that was done solely to allow Hunter to get his win back after losing to Lesnar at Summerslam (and there is no justifiable reason for HHH to ever pin Lesnar on this run, just retarded), and nobody wanted to see that, and so the crowd sat on their hands for the entire match despite a good effort. Ditto the main event, the WWE Title match between The Rock and John Cena, which had a result people didn't care for, and after so much emotional investment in the first encounter the prior year (which did give them the result they wanted), a lot of fans seemed reserved and more than a little reluctant to support this one live.

Also, the commentary on this show is almost as bad as WrestleMania 2, which is inexcusable because at least that was bad because they had celebrities calling the show - this was Cole, JBL and King, and it seemed as if they had absolutely nothing to say. There are periods in the main event that were screaming for a Jim Ross calling the effort, the fight, the drama, and instead we had absolute dead air. This isn't fucking tennis, talk you assholes!

Again, the undercard was unmemorable, other than a diabolically bad Mark Henry/Ryback match.

#19 - WrestleMania 18 (2002)
The D stands for "Doesn't This Remind You Of Mania 6 In Almost Every Way?"

Not only was this held in the Skydome, but it is memorable only for one match, that involved Hulk Hogan stealing the scene in defeat. But unlike Mania 6, the show kept going after Hogan's match, which was regrettable, and the decision to put Triple H Vs. Chris Jericho on last was a bad call (interesting how both times babyface HHH has closed Mania, it sucked, huh?).

Hogan Vs. Rock was a very unique match, and it's not really something that will be able to be duplicated given the changes in the business since. I imagine that being there live for this was surreal, amazing experience, that the fans will remember forever. Watching at home, I was extremely confused. Not only did this piss away the nWo angle (that was botched from the start) once and for all, but it marked the first time in WWF history that nostalgia overruled the here and now. And that's not a good thing. The period of time between this show and King Of The Ring 2002 is nothing short of a disaster. Hogan gets the belt based on this. Taker gets the belt in a horrific match against Hogan. The company name changes, the brand split is executed terribly and Steve Austin quits the company. What sucks about all this is that they had an incredible roster during this time, but it sat there, wasted, when it should have been the focus.

And that's the story of the rest of this show. Kurt Angle, who at this point was probably the best worker in the company, was stuck with Kane. Steve Austin, who never really recovered from the heel turn, wrestled Scott Hall in a forgettable match. Edge and Booker T have a throwaway feud based on a shampoo commercial, and Rob Van Dam, who had main event potential based on his incredible popularity, was stuck in the opener against William Regal in a short match that cemented both in midcard purgatory.

The only other thing of value was a strong Undertaker/Ric Flair match, featuring the best run-in in WrestleMania history from Arn Anderson, who hits his finisher and then blades as well before the match ends.

#18 - WrestleMania 13 (1997)
The D stands for "Double Turn~!"

A lot of people would rank this one lower, and I couldn't really argue if you did. It did the lowest buyrate of any Mania ever, the main event is wretched, and roster depth is very nearly at 1995 levels. BUT...this does have what I believe is the best match in WWF history, and the match that was realistically the turning point of the company. There was a very obvious change in direction that started with this show thanks to Steve Austin catching fire as a babyface, and one year later, they went from getting slaughtered by WCW to mounting a comeback and taking over. Words won't do justice to the performance of Bret Hart, Steve Austin, Ken Shamrock, Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler in putting this masterpiece together. I'm sure everybody has their stories of personal experiences with wrestling, but I distinctly remember my family (parents were not fans, mind) watching this match multiple times and just being captivated by it. In terms of work, presentation, intensity, telling a story and making a star, I truly believe this is the most perfect match the WWF has ever produced.

The undercard isn't up to much - the four way tag is forgettable, HHH/Goldust is notable only for Chyna ragdolling Marlena, Owen/Davey Vs. Vader/Mankind is a throwaway, and that goshdarn good guy Rocky Maivia defending the IC Title against The Sultan is fairly embarrassing if you consider where both guys ended up. This time saw a lot of turmoil - the pressure of losing the ratings war to WCW was piling up, Shawn Michaels lost his smile, Vince went back to the big guys on top (which stunk), and the undercard was pretty weak. The only other thing worth a damn on the show is an enjoyable underrated street fight with The Nation Of Domination against LOD and Ahmed Johnson, which seems to have been lost to history.

The feel of this show is not good, it comes off like just another Pay-Per-View and the feuds going in were fairly quickly slapped together due to Shawn vacating the title. The built-in setting and aura of the show, that nowadays make great matches into classic matches, was absent. And that only makes the Austin/Bret encounter even more incredible.

Goddamn that was great.

Grade C:

#17 - WrestleMania 25 (2009)
The C stands for "Can Hunter Get Over In A Mania Main Event This Time?"

So we've bumped up the grade, going from bad to average. And the perfect candidate for the first C is a show that was quite literally the best and worst of the WWE at the same time. On one hand, you had a great TV build-up to Shawn Michaels Vs. Undertaker, playing off their history, leading to one of the best WrestleMania matches of all time. It is the match this show is remembered for, and rightly so, an absolute tour de force by everybody involved.

But the build-up to almost every other match on this show was complete shit. The Hardyz feuding over Matt burning down Jeff's house and killing his dog. The World Title match is a lame three way where Vickie Guerrero hits on Big Show while still with Edge, and John Cena is also there. Randy Orton was in the middle of a hot heel push, when Shane McMahon comes back and kicks his ass and ruins it. Then HHH breaks into his house. By the time Mania rolled around, the surefire grudge match with the psychotic heel and the pissed off husband looking for revenge was flat, and for the second time HHH wasn't able to follow an earlier match in his main event.

Money In The Bank was fun, the actual match featuring the Hardyz was pretty good, and Ricky Steamboat reminded us of just how great he was in a gauntlet match with Chris Jericho. I can't consider it a bad show, but the terrible booking beforehand ruined the main attractions, and neither title match was anything to write home about.

#16 - WrestleMania 12 (1996)
The C stands for "Can You Find A Better Example Of A One-Match Show?"

The Monday Night War had begun, and the WWF decided it was time to go in the direction of Shawn Michaels as the top babyface, as Bret Hart looked to head to the sidelines to rest up, get a new contract and see how the landscape shaped up. Obviously this show in hindsight is all about the Iron Man Match with Bret and Shawn, which is a really hard one to rank. Some people absolutely adore this match and call it the best ever, some say it was boring, views are fairly polarizing. I didn't like the 0-0 score heading into overtime myself, if they wanted built-in controversy, all they needed was for Bret to get the first fall, do the same overtime scenario, and Bret can say if it was normal match he'd have either beaten him, or gone to a draw.

The work in the match was pretty great, but the live crowd isn't completely with the match, and I can't say I consider this one of the top five matches in Mania history by any means. Both guys had better matches with others at the big event, and funnily enough I think the Iron Man stipulation handicapped this match more than helped it.

That aside, the rest of the show is fairly standard. Diesel/Undertaker is a big man match that exceeded expectations, Austin/Vega was decent, the opening six man got the job done, and Piper/Goldust was...well, unique.

Given the Hall Of Fame induction this year, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the second biggest thing on the show, the return of the Ultimate Warrior, who hilariously no-sold Triple H's Pedigree and pinned him in 90 seconds. Like the victim of most traumatic experiences, Hunter would overcompensate for the rest of his career, pinning most people in 90 seconds with the Pedigree.

#15 - WrestleMania 26 (2010)
The C stands for "Christ Retires"

The Shawn Michaels swan song, as he gets the absolute perfect goodbye, one that nobody else ever got to have, in going out on top. Headlining the biggest show of the year, Shawn Michaels and Undertaker wrestled in a rematch from the year before. Despite their best effort, this one is a notch below the previous year, in part because I think the audience deep down knew the result, and couldn't fully invest in the match the way they did at 25. But regardless, still an amazing performance, and the long term planning and build-up to this match was fantastic, with Taker's "Ain't No Grave" and Shawn's "Running Up That Hill" videos among the best the company has done in years.

As for the rest of this show, again we have the WWE mix of good and bad - John Cena and Batista completely overachieve with what was actually a hell of a match, and heel douche Batista was the most entertaining he ever was. But the other two top matches were absolute misfires. How they screwed up Bret Vs. Vince I'll never know. Terrible build and a worse match. And Edge Vs. Jericho absolutely didn't work, as the crowd, past the surprise return pop, didn't have any desire to cheer Edge just yet, and nobody cared. Not only that, but in his big climactic return, he lost.

The rest of the show was hit and miss - Punk Vs. Mysterio could have been a classic, but got criminally cut on time. Legacy was destroyed as a stable, and Rhodes and DiBiase firmly slotted in the midcard, as Randy Orton beat them both in a glorified handicap match, and Jack Swagger won Money In The Bank, a notion that seems fairly funny today. Both the quality of the match and the lustre of MITB had fallen by this point.

#14 - WrestleMania 7 (1991)
The C stands for "Can We Please Do Less Matches Next Year?"

This is a funny one. So, Vince thought exploiting the Gulf War would be a great idea, and created megaheel Iraqi Sympathiser Sgt. Slaughter to end Warrior's rocky-at-best title reign, and set him up for Hogan at Mania, basing the show around patriotism and "Stars And Stripes Forever". The big idea to hold the show in the LA Memorial Coliseum and break the Mania 3 attendance record fell apart when ticket sales for this angle, which drew a hell of a lot of negative press, were slower than glacial retreat. So they made up a story that they even try and pass off on the recent "True Story Of WrestleMania" DVD, that there was a security concern. Yes folks, Saddam Hussein was going to fire a rocket at Hulk Hogan. WWF bullshit aside, this show has some tremendous highs.

The best match on the show is by far and away Randy Savage Vs. Ultimate Warrior, and the post-match only further cements its place in history. Quite honestly, even though everybody considers this a classic, I still don't think it gets enough credit. I've seen it said elsewhere that Randy Savage was the original "Mr. WrestleMania", and when you look at his record it's pretty damn hard to argue that.

There are some other high points, as Hart Foundation Vs. Nasty Boys is better than I remembered, and Rockers Vs. Haku/Barbarian is probably the best match of Barbarian's career by far. But much like the previous Manias, there were a lot of one-sided squashes that go by like a flash. Mountie/Santana goes a minute, Tornado/Bravo is a nothing match of jakked-up guys who sadly wouldn't live to see Mania 9, Earthquake squashes the Human Intermission Greg Valentine, Demolition do a surprise job to Koji Kitao and Genichiro Tenryu, Bulldog beats Warlord in an entertaining enough little match, and LOD crush Power & Glory.

Again, it seems WWF didn't learn, and crammed 14 matches into this three hour slot, and there is more to discuss. Undertaker starts his historic streak by owning a washed-up Jimmy Snuka, Virgil beat Ted DiBiase by countout in a match only memorable for Roddy Piper throwing a crutch into a referee's balls by accident afterwards (and how awesome was the Virgil turn at the 91 Rumble, btw?), and Big Bossman and Mr. Perfect, which had potential to be great and started off pretty hot, ends up being a messy schmozz designed to have a returning babyface Andre The Giant endorse the Bossman. Not sure where I stand on the blindfold match with Jake and Martel - a lot of people tend to hate this far more than I do. For its place on the card, it was designed to be different and a little lighter, and hell, the crowd loved it.

Which brings me to the last point about this show - this is one of two Manias called by Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan, and Heenan was fantastic all throughout the show. Jesse Ventura was always great in his role at his specific time, but Bobby Heenan took it to a different level.

And on a sidenote, look at the physiques. Fuck.

#13 - WrestleMania 16 (2000)
The C stands for "Clusterriffic"

2000 is arguably the peak of the company's history with regards to the amount of pure talent they had. The Rock as mega babyface. HHH at his peak as a heel. The Radicalz had just arrived. Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle were in town. The Hardyz, Dudleyz and Edge & Christian were in place.

Yet in what was overall a pretty strong year for PPV in the WWF, this was one of the weakest shows, simply because the company was determined to get everybody on the show. The only one-on-one match on the whole card was a pointless Kat Vs. Terri encounter, and what's worse, the sure thing main event of The Rock Vs. Triple H that people wanted to see was removed in place of a Fatal 4 Way, adding a floundering Big Show and a retired five weeks prior Mick Foley, which not only watered down the match in terms of promotion, but tarnished Foley's retirement unnecessarily in the process. And since Show and Foley were eliminated fairly quickly, one can only assume they were so proud of their "A McMahon In Every Corner" idea, that they felt the need to force it on the main event, logistics be damned. And what was more stunning was that Triple H won when the McMahons all aligned and fucked over The Rock, the first heel to ever win the Mania Main Event. Amazing.

The standout match, easily, is the Triple Threat Tag Team Ladder Match, with a surprising-at-the-time result, and a breathtaking display that served to spotlight the three teams that extra notch into becoming real players. The Triple Threat Two Fall Match with Jericho, Angle and Benoit was actually pretty good, but fell short of expectations. I remember the California crowd seeming a little flat throughout much of the show as well, which didn't help matters.

There is nothing overly atrocious on the show that pulls down the good stuff to an average mark, its just that so much of it was just there.

Grade B:

#12 - WrestleMania 22 (2006)
The B stands for "BIG TIME~!"

A pretty damn fun show with a lot of high points. The company was somewhat fighting to find itself at the time on the John Cena situation - he was being booed quite a bit in the run-up, but they clearly wanted to stay the course. Cena was made to look pretty goofy in the build-up to this show in his match against HHH, but irrespective of that, the match itself ended up being white-hot and was a lot of fun.

The company was also experienced the painful aftermatch of the Eddie Guerrero death, appropriate to mention here as Rey Mysterio won his first World Title in a criminally short 9 minute match against Kurt Angle and Randy Orton, dedicating the win to Eddie. The booking was so stop-start on Mysterio the entire time, and Vince's fascination with using Eddie's death for heel heat almost soured the entire thing for Mysterio.

In addition, Edge had broken though, albeit temporarily, by winning and losing the WWE Title to John Cena two months before. But despite the fact that he was the hottest heel in the company (I sure didn't like him at the time), he was cast back down solely so that HHH could get his main event. On the bright side, he had an incredible Hardcore Match with Mick Foley that put him over strong and kept him relevant. The selflessness of Foley in these matches shouldn't be understated, this man was not just in it for himself when a lot of guys at his age and position have been (see Hogan, Summerslam 2005/2006).

The other two highlights were a strong Money In The Bank match won by Rob Van Dam, and Shawn Michaels beating Vince McMahon in a Street Fight, both of which lit up the vocal Chicago crowd. This was also the night when the DX reunion was first teased, whether intentionally or not, with both Shawn and Hunter firing off crotch chops in their respective matches.

On the downside, Undertaker had a below par casket match with Mark Henry, Torrie Wilson and Candice Michelle had a match that was there, and Carlito & Chris Masters open the show slowly against Big Show & Kane.

#11 - WrestleMania 28 (2012)
The B stands for "Because I Was There"

And in truth, that may skew this one slightly for me, but I think excluding it from the mighty Top Ten shows my true ability to be impartial. The build-up for the top two matches on this show was the best job the company has done for a long time, the "Once In A Lifetime" dream match of Rock Vs. Cena, with biting promos, fantastic video packages, and a full year to anticipate it. The rematch from Mania 27, the "End Of An Era" Hell in a Cell match with Taker Vs. HHH, and Shawn Michaels as the wild card as referee.

Rock Vs. Cena delivered with a match executed almost exactly as it should have been, right down to the Rock going over in a massive shock that lit up the crowd like nothing I've ever witnessed before. Critics that think John Cena should have won, believing he deserved it or that this result was an indictment of Cena's run are misguided in that belief, and hey, I'm the biggest proponent of forward thinking. But if you're going to do this match, with this promotion, in this location, its the only result you can do without pissing off the masses, because a Cena victory wasn't swaying anybody's opinion of him. Nothing is going to do that, it's been too long, and they've tried too much. And besides, while the show was already good heading in the finish of the main event, that decision MADE this show from a live perspective.

The Hell In A Cell match wasn't as good as the match a year earlier, but was still very good. CM Punk Vs. Chris Jericho was the other top match on the card, but to be perfectly honest I'd be lying if I didn't say I was disappointed by the build-up to this match. Two excellent talkers and storytellers, and whether it was its placement as third match from the top, restrictions or whatever, it didn't really hook people as expected. The match itself was damn good, though it took a while for the fans to stir since it was following Taker.

The elephant in the room here is that the first half of the show was complete filler, ruined by the 18 second burial of Daniel Bryan, losing his World Title in the opener with one move to Sheamus. Surprising, this didn't go over so well, and the crowd seethed to one another for about an hour, looking at Kane Vs. Randy Orton and Big Show Vs. Cody Rhodes like it was a dog taking a slow dump.

The atmospherics were tremendous, and what was promoted hard delivered to expectations...with one exception.

#10 - WrestleMania 24 (2008)
The B stands for "Boxing Beats Wrestling"

The show is memorable for two things - the use of Floyd "Money" Mayweather, and the retirement of Ric "No Money" Flair. And when judging how they used both, this Mania has to be considered a success. The unique promotion of Mayweather Vs. Big Show, the angle at No Way Out when Floyd busted open Big Show, is all very memorable and took a match that sounded like a bizarre freak show on paper and hooked a lot of casual fans with it. As a match, its very hard to rate. Obviously Mayweather wasn't losing, but this, once again, did Big Show no favours in his designed position as "next generation Andre". Though it didn't do quite the damage that the LT loss did to Bigelow mentioned earlier, when all was said and done, the company made a bunch of money, which is good, but they didn't have anything else to show for all this promotion and effort when it was over.

In addition, the Ric Flair retirement run, the Hall Of Fame induction, the "Leave The Memories Alone" video, and the interviews with Shawn Michaels, all culminated here, and while the match itself was very good, it was clear that Flair only had so much to give here, which is a shame, but damned if Shawn Michaels didn't do his very best to try and make this a classic.

I also want to mention how infuriating the booking of the WWE Title was here, as the absolutely perfect scenario was set up six months prior - Randy Orton punts Cena's father, then injures him and gets the title without beating Cena. Cena returns in a shocker at the Rumble, wins, and faces Orton at Mania in the big revenge match. But no. Once again, Triple H has to worm his way into a match he had no business being a part of, and waters it down significantly into what ended up as a forgettable three way. The show closer, Undertaker Vs. Edge, was anticipated for a couple of years by the hardcore fans, and while they blew the potential "streak Vs. streak" gimmick one year prior, this was a hot final match. I do cringe at the bump Edge takes from the top rope to the floor for no reason and little reaction.

There was also a very good Money In The Bank which seems to be a little underrated to me, CM Punk's first (and very surprising) victory on the big stage, and three unnotable filler matches underneath with Kane/Chavo, Batista/Umaga and Finlay/JBL.

Great promotion, great buyrate, and a good show.

#9 - WrestleMania 8 (1992)
The B stands for "Boy, These Guys Got A Lot Smaller In A Year"

A real tale of two shows in a lot of ways, and I feel nostalgia may have played a small part on this ranking, but this show is damn good. Randy Savage yet again steals the show at Mania by beating Ric Flair (with Mr. Perfect, a fantastic duo) in a match far better than people seem to remember. Not only that, but Flair's promos in the build-up to this show were top-notch ("She was mine before she was yours, Whoo!"), and with the post-match scene with Flair kissing Elizabeth and getting slapped, the backstage promos after the match by Savage and Flair were out of this world. Watch this match, kids. The crowd is molten-hot, and the pop for the finish is tremendous.

The other great match on the show is Bret Hart beating Roddy Piper, a match made more dramatic, like the previously mentioned match, with the use of blood, which was a rarity in WWF back then (and was unauthorised in both cases). The pre-match promo was fantastic, and the story in the ring was fantastic with the two family friends going tooth-and-nail, ending with Bret countering Piper's longtime finisher into a unique pinning combination, and an extremely rare clean pinfall loss for Piper. This match really did wonders for Bret, which would come in handy as he'd be WWF Champion within a year. These two classic matches make this show.

One of the biggest stories of this night, however, was that this should have been headlined by Ric Flair Vs. Hulk Hogan over who is the real World Champion, and the WWF unfortunately dropped the ball, in part by misreading the crowd, and in part by promising Sid Justice the main event of this show as a way to get him to jump. Broad changes were sweeping through the company as steroid and sex charges bombarded them, which led to a lot of the inflated physiques of WrestleMania 7 becoming a slowly decreasing trend. With a ton of bad publicity surrounding him, Hulk Hogan decided to so what he always does, bold-faced lie to the public, then fuck off for a while when it blows up in his face. With Hogan gone, back came the Warrior to close this show in a pleasent surprise after a fucking awful Sid Vs. Hogan debacle (Appropriate that two of the very worst Mania main events featured Sid). Nothing else on this show was standout, other than the Natural Disasters having a bloody awful match against Money Inc, and Jake Roberts sent packing from the WWF as Undertaker turns him into statistic #2.

#8 - WrestleMania 23 (2007)
The B stands for "Bald Asshole"

From a business standpoint, this was the biggest buyrate for a WrestleMania of all time, based on the "Battle Of The Billionares" (which also could have been what the B stood for, but mine was actually true) between Vince and Donald Trump. Its funny how the two guys who actually performed the match, Lashley and Umaga, ended up meaning nothing for the company in the long run. Folks, if you ever wonder why this did so well, watch the build for this on the Raw's leading up. It was almost inch perfect, apart from the horrible sketch that started the whole thing. The use of Steve Austin, Vince with his best performances in years, the megapush of Lashley, and one of the best stipulations of all time for public interest. On top of that, the match, while nothing classic in-ring, was a lot of fun.

In addition, Shawn Michaels and John Cena had a brilliant main event (which doesn't get its due), Batista and Undertaker blew away expectations with another excellent title match, and Money In The Bank was another key highlight, won by Mr. Kennedy, a guy who at one point had an incredible career trajectory ahead of him, which promptly fell apart. The real theme of this Mania, beyond the two great title matches that, depending on which way the wind blows, may or may not have had superior rematches within a month, is that the guys that were clearly handpicked to lead the company going forward, all crumbled into nothing.

As is a pattern with "The 20s", the undercard matches were neither here nor there, with some matches getting some decent build and others serving only to fill a spot on the card, which is perfectly fine, but doesn't stand out as spectactular either. Taker's streak was really picking up steam at this point, and a Batista victory would have been inexcusable.

Grade A:

#7 - WrestleMania 20 (2004)
The A stands for "Awkward Viewing Today"

In terms of advance promotion, people forget how tremendously well this show was marketed ahead of time. Not only was the heritage of the show, the number, the location (MSG) all a key part of this, but this was the debut of the logo hanging in the arena for almost a full year heading into the show. The company spent $5 million on bilboards, flyering and grassroots cross-promotion. Going in, this show had a massive advantage in that when the first second of this show hit the air, it already felt so very, very special.

Flash forward ten years, and not only is it depressing how lacklustre the promotion for 30 has been by comparison, but it is kind of hard to enjoy this show the way you did at the time, for the obvious reason that it was built around Chris Benoit winning the World Title for the first time in the main event. Some people may rate this show a lot higher, and there have been times when I felt that it should actually be ranked a little lower. Lesnar/Goldberg, which was a well-built match, ended up as a dud thanks to the crowd burying the entire thing due to the knowledge that both men were leaving. Undertaker's return was hyped extremely well and was a fantastic entrance, though the match with Kane that followed was crap. But the Triple Threat Match that headlined was possibly the best three way in company history, with Shawn Michaels especially putting in an amazing performance.

Kurt Angle and Eddie Guerrero had a very good match for the World Title, and Evolution Vs. Rock and Foley was wildly entertaining with a great finish and perfect performance of almost everybody in the match (I've heard that Foley was down on the fact he was tagging out while Orton was in the ring which he shouldn't have been doing, which is nitpicky but valid).

The major strength of the show was the warm fuzzy feeling when Guerrero and Benoit embraced mid-ring, kings of their world. Three and a half years later and the moment had gone from beautiful to tragic to tarnished forever.

Elsewhere on the show, John Cena is cheered as a babyface in New York on his rise to top, as he beats Big Show for the US Title, there's a fun Cruiserweight Open, 2 Four Way Tag Title Matches that didn't accomplish much, and your token throwaway Divas match.

#6 - WrestleMania 21 (2005)
The A stands for "Are You Talkin' To Me?"

As WrestleMania went Hollywood, it did so by marking a new era, crowning Batista and John Cena the top guys in the company with their respective World and WWE Title wins. Before anything else is said - I've taken my fair share of shots at Triple H throughout this thing, so I'll give credit where it is due: he made Batista. The slow babyface of turn of Batista was not only perfect paced and brilliantly executed, but Triple H put him over clean in the middle on the big show, then put him over again clean in Hell In A Cell. Contrast this to what Triple H did with Randy Orton, it's night and day. This PPV did the best domestic PPV number in years, and it's almost all down to the build to this match.

But ultimately, the two title matches weren't particular special on the show itself. Underneath, Edge won the original and best Money In The Bank Ladder Match, a bout loaded with fantatic talent (and Kane); Eddie Guerrero & Rey Mysterio opened things well, though admittedly short of expectations; Undertaker and Randy Orton was a hot battle between established guard and rising star (and at the time Orton not winning was quite the surprise); and in the best match on the show, Kurt Angle beat Shawn Michaels clean in the middle with the ankle lock in what is one of my personal favourite matches of all time. Seems a lot of people, while giving this massive credit, are reluctant to heap praise upon it as they have for other Mania matches, and I'm not really sure why. The pacing is phenomenal, the near falls are out of this world, and the finish is one of the most dramatic in the history of the show. Listen to the crowd, it's a masterclass in setting the groundwork, picking them up, settling them down, yo-yo-ing them near the end, building to a peak, and sustaining that intensity until the perfect moment. Right guy went over as well.

Fun cameos from Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper go over well, though I'd be remiss not to mention Big Show losing yet another intersport battle at Mania, this time to Akebono, a guy well known in his country for his contributions in sumo (and crossover work in MMA and Wrestling), but known by nobody anywhere else.

The top matches didn't deliver to the standard of the undercard, with John Cena's win particularly underwhelming. Much like 23, both title matches would be done again months later, and done much better.

#5 - WrestleMania 19 (2003)
The A stands for "A Broken Freakin' Neck"

WWE Champion Kurt Angle performs on this show, despite having a broken neck and having no business wrestling. Steve Austin performs on this show, despite a broken neck and a near heart attack the night before. Brock Lesnar almost kills himself blowing a Shooting Star Press that he'd done before a hundred times, and luckily avoids a broken neck himself. Despite all of this, this show is fantastic.

Unfortunately, it was one of the least purchased Manias of this time period, mainly because the top promoted match was, for some reason, Vince McMahon Vs. Hulk Hogan, in a match that on paper sounds like it could be intriguing, and in the ring was actually a damn good brawl, but it had no legs as a draw. Two old guys fighting over old shit. Steve Austin Vs. The Rock Part 3 didn't work quite so well as a draw as the prior two - this match has to go on top or nothing, and their status as part timers led to a difficult dynamic with heel Rock going over. But again, a very entertaining match.

Kurt Angle puts in one of the classic performances while injured in history, and paid for it by going into shock after the match, but ending aside, the match with Lesnar was a clinic, even if the crowd was burned out.

Michaels Vs. Jericho stole the show from an in-ring standpoint, in what was a very difficult show to steal. A lot of people strongly felt Jericho needed the win, and I don't disagree, but in the big picture Jericho had been stalled so much at this point that it made a negligable difference, and he got to leave with a good bit of heat for double-crossing Michaels on the embrace.

One of the best Manias ever with the amount of star power, entertaining or excellent matches, but does have the shocking decision to have Triple H bury Booker T for saying that "you people" aren't good enough to be champion, and then HHH wins and turns out to be right. Mysterio and Matt Hardy only going 6 minutes was a travesty - Mysterio was a genuine star at this time, and this was the peak of Matt Hardy as a singles star. Rob Van Dam being left off the show was bullshit. Taker has one of his least memorable Mania victories here, beat A-Train and Big Show in a nothing happening affair.

#4 - WrestleMania 14 (1998)
The A stands for "AUSTIN AND TYSON~! AUSTIN AND TYSON~!"

We're getting into the very best Manias ever here, and as a lot of the previous shows have had truly classic matches, something this show doesn't really have, I feel I have to almost justify this ones place here.

For build-up and for historical significance, there are almost none better than this show. This was the night that stamped WWF's return to ratings form, and cemented Steve Austin as the biggest star in the wrestling business. The angles leading into this show were fantastic - the 3:16 Machine was at full charge already, but when the Austin/Tyson pull-apart took place on Raw, a wild scene that I saw before it was broadcast on Sky because BBC News ran it the next morning as a lead story, it was very obvious that something special was taking place. Shawn Michaels was a great foil for Austin, but the Tyson element was magic. The segment where he "joined DX" on Raw was a phenomenal idea, and when the pictures of Tyson KOing Michaels made the back page of The Sun and The Mirror the following day, it was incomprehensible to a young wrestling fan like myself, who lived through the bad years and saw just how uncool the product seemed to the public such a short time before. Times were definitely changing.

That would be enough to place it high, but the six month build to the first Undertaker Vs. Kane match was great as well. The best monster introduction in company history, and the following six months of perfect booking, gave Kane a lifeline he has ridden to this very day. Even still, people fondly remember Kane of this era as being the best he ever was. Video evidence suggests otherwise, as this match really isn't spectacular, although Kane tombstoning Pete Rose was glorious.

Everything just came into place at this show. A rising superstar known now as The Rock, one year after shitting the bed at Mania 13, put in a stellar performance with Ken Shamrock, who was in his own right extremely over at this time. Booked with such charm, as the slow burn of Rock and Faarooq being at odds is paid off here, Shamrock finally beats The Rock for the IC Title, but the decision is reversed when he continues to kick his ass after the bell, and Rock, while being carried off on a stretcher, raises the title as he is announced the winner in an amazing display of personality unfathomable to those who saw his first IC Title run.

The Dumpster match with the Outlaws and Cactus/Funk is good, and the other standout from the undercard was, seemingly out of nowhere, Sable, who shot to stardom like a rocket (and ended up falling just as fast) based on her perfomance on this show, as her and real life husband Marc Mero beat Goldust and Luna in a match that not only got an ungodly amount of heat, but was significantly better than it had any right to be.

Were the matches "five star classics"? No, but the crowd was on fire, everything was done perfectly, and nothing else mattered. If you lived through this, you will understand what I mean when I say that this show changed the face of the WWF forever.

#3 - WrestleMania 10 (1994)
The A stands for "And The Fuck-Up Of Mania 9 Is Corrected"

This is the highest show on the list that had the least significance for the business, it was just an incredible show. Everybody knows why so I won't belabour the point. This was the first show I ever saw right as it happened, getting the tape the following day from a friend at school, and this may well be the show that made me a fan for life.

Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon in the Ladder Match was out of this world, and I watched that match so many damn times. If you look at it with modern eyes, it probably doesn't hold up as spectacular as the TLCs, or are as whacky and creative as the Money In The Bank matches that have become "show me something new"-fests, but in that time, in that place, it was one of the best matches of all time.

And amazingly, its not the only all-time classic on the show, as the opening Bret Vs. Owen encounter is a Match Of The Decade contender in its own right. Another brilliant encounter, with the shocking ending of midcard heel Owen pinning top star Bret clean the night of his title shot, sets this card on a high enough pedestal, but the booking of the WWF Title is the cherry on the cake. Not only does Lex Luger, the guy who spent most of 1993 on the Lex Express being forced down people's throats as the new Hulk Hogan, get cast aside after he's shown up as second best at the Royal Rumble (after a tie-finish, fans vociferously cheered Bret over Lex), but Bret Hart went from losing clean to his brother in the opener, to winning the WWF Title in the main event (never understood what the hell the finish of this match was supposed to be), beating Yokozuna (one of the worst WWF champions ever, I don't care what anybody says) to win the title back that he never should have lost the year before. As all the babyface celebrate with Bret and lift him on their shoulders (including Lex Luger, whose face looks like he just caught somebody fucking his wife), Owen Hart, the heel that claims he's better than Bret and never gets the credit, that beat him to start the Pay-Per-View, stands disgusted in the aisle mouthing "What about me?" Fucking brilliant.

The rest of the show was what it was, nothing that stank the joint out or set the world afire either way, though Randy Savage does have his in-ring WWF farewell here beating Crush in a weird falls count anywhere/texas death match hybrid.

Grade A+:

#2 - WrestleMania 3 (1987)

There are clearly two WrestleManias that are a notch above the rest, and they, in both cases, they are the defintive shows of their respective boom periods. It's very hard to make a call on which one to put at the top of the mountain, and there are great cases for both.

The build-up to the top feuds on this show was exceptional. Blatant lying of Andre's record or not, Hogan and Andre was the ultimate mega-match of the time, with the involvement of Bobby Heenan and some incredible Piper's Pit segments setting this up perfectly. The Savage/Steamboat ring bell angle is one of the all-time best in execution, and in how much gravity it was given at the time. And don't sleep on Piper Vs. Adonis, which has a great series of skits in Piper's Pit & The Flower Shop.

When showtime came, in front of a packed 78,000 fans (WWF claimed 93,173 famously, it was the show's promoter Zane Bresloff who revealed it was a legit 78,000), WWF put on the perfect show for their audience at the time. Match quality wasn't the key factor in Hogan/Andre, the atmospherics and the spectacle was. For Savage and Steamboat, one of the best Mania matches ever, it was a match was for years was considered the gold standard, and will always be remembered as the first true classic in the history of the show.

Beyond the top three matches, rest of the card is fun, with the highlight being an nderrated Hart Foundation/Danny Davis Vs. Bulldogs/Tito six man. As a standalone PPV, with modern eyes there are Manias better, but for the time it was held in, with the historic slam and legdrop, the incredible IC Title match, the huge crowd and the incomparable feeling surrounding the show, this is almost the best of them all.

#1 - WrestleMania 17 (2001)

This is almost certainly not a surprise to most, and is probably the consensus best WrestleMania of all time, though it underwent a hell of a fight to get here for me.

The best domestic PPV number for a Mania ever was this show, headlined by Austin and Rock, two genuine megastars riding a massive wave of popularity, head-to-head in their best Mania match. However, while Mania 3 defined its era and had the perfect results top to bottom to help make it what it was, the closing scene of this show, with Austin turning heel and joining Vince McMahon, did a hell of a lot of damage to the promotion. The business was heading towards a downturn anyway, and this was the wrong move at the wrong time, and business plummeted immediately. Since I added in the other factors that made me rank the rest of the shows as I did, as opposed to simply standalone PPV quality, the external factors surrounding this one almost made me kick it from it's mighty perch.

But alas, its too damn good. Austin Vs. Rock was so anticipated, everybody will remember the amazing "My Way" music video forever, and the card itself is superb. The Main Event delivered, Triple H and Undertaker had a hell of a match, TLC 2 was an excellent and wild stuntshow, Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit had an excellent bout in their first ever PPV match, Shane McMahon and Vince had arguably the best non-wrestler match ever. The only thing remotely offensive on this show is Chyna's "offering", but she was canned two months later, so that worked out okay in the end.

This was the return to the stadium shows as well as a long hiatus, and this, more than any Mania I've ever seen, felt special from the second it began. If the Austin heel turn didn't persuade me to rank this lower, nothing could.