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Simply put, especially in the wrestling business, you can’t succeed in the future without appreciating the past.

 

With that in mind, every now and then I’d like to take look back and review a pay per view event from yesteryear to simply try and bring up some fond memories for those reading this piece. Or, in some instances, educate newer or younger watchers to let them know what they were missing out on. Since we’re in the heart of Survivor Series season, we’ll go back to the time that I, and I’m sure a lot of you reading, started watching professional wrestling. We’ll head to the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, CT for the 1990 Survivor Series.

 

This show included Hulk Hogan appearing NOT as WWF Champion, a rarity in the late 80s-early 90s, the only year to have the “Grand Finale Match of Survival” where the survivors of all the matches came back for one last elimination tag match, and also gave us a, shall we say “phenom-enal” debut!

 

So let’s log on to the WWE Network (it’s only $9.99/month and free for the month of November for new subscribers…not sure if you’ve picked up on that from watching Raw) and take a look at this blast from the past!

 

1990 Survivor Series

 

The show kicks off with Vince’s old-school “You’re Fired!” voice introducing all of the participants and all of the teams. I’ll say this; I miss the days of the named teams! Team Authority vs Team Cena just doesn’t do it for me. In 1990, we didn’t have Team Hogan vs Team Earthquake! No! We had a lot more creativity! We had The Hulkamaniacs vs The Natural Disasters! You could even keep The Authority name, just not Team Authority. The Authority vs The Cenation or Doctors of Thuganomics. Is that so hard?

 

From there we are introduced to tonight’s commentary team of Gorilla Monsoon and Roddy Piper. I thought Piper was underrated as a commentator during his run from 1990-1991. Hard to sound bad when you have a great like Monsoon sitting next to you though! Not only are they introducing themselves, but they are also introducing that large egg that is sitting on the stage as well…oh boy!

 

The Perfect Team - Team Captain Mr. Perfect, Demolition (Ax, Smash and Crush)

Vs

The Warriors - Team Captain The Ultimate Warrior, Texas Tornado, Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal)

 

There’s a whole lot of face paint in the ring right now! We quickly saw an elimination as The Warrior pinned Ax in what turned out to be Ax’s last appearance in the WWF. A few minutes later half of the match was eliminated as the LOD and the remaining members of Demolition were disqualified for their brawl outside of the ring. This added to what should have been the biggest tag team program of the time with LOD vs Demolition, but it never surfaced. I still think that the Road Warriors vs Demolition would have made a better tag title match at WrestleMania 7 than The Hart Foundation vs The Nasty Boys did.

 

Mr. Perfect ended up eliminating the Texas Tornado, who never really got the momentum back after this even that he had after beating Perfect for the Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam just a few months prior. The Warrior followed that up with the final elimination of Perfect to become the sole survivor and move on to the Match of Survival.

 

The Dream Team - Team Captain Dusty Rhodes, Koko B. Ware, The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart)

Vs

The Million Dollar Team - Team Captain Ted DiBiase, Mystery Partner, Rhythm & Blues (Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine)

 

This turned out to be the moment that changed the WWF for the next couple decades. Ted DiBiase grabbed the mic and announced that his mystery partner would be led to the ring by his manager Brother Love (which still just confuses me). The man that Brother Love was leading? Why it was the ne superstar making his debut - The Phenom himself The Undertaker. Couple interesting somewhat unknown facts about the debut. First, did you know that he was actually introduced as “Cain – The Undertaker”? It seems like every bit of video calling him “Cain” had been scrubbed out. But, thanks to a little investigating, I found Taker’s TV debut a few weeks after Survivor Series…

 

 http://youtu.be/RSUOp5fGTEg

 

Another interesting tidbit is that, according to rumors heard and told by Mick Foley, The Undertaker was not the initial character idea that was made for Mean Mark after he left WCW. I’ll get into greater detail on that a little later.

 

The match itself was mostly an introduction as to just how dominating The Undertaker can be as he quickly eliminated Koko B. Ware and Dusty Rhodes only to be counted out after going after Rhodes to finish the job. The match ended with a wrestling clinic put on by Bret Hart and DiBiase. Hart showed great heart (sorry, I had to) as he put on a tremendous performance just a day of his brother Dean passed away. DiBiase rolled through a high-crossed body for the roll up and the final pin to move on to the night’s final elimination match.

 

The Vipers - Team Captain Jake “The Snake” Roberts, Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, The Rockers (Shawn Michaels, Marty Jannetty)

Vs

The Visionaries - Team Captain Rick “The Model” Martel, The Warlord, Power & Glory (Hercules and Paul Roma)

 

This match was pretty much built around Martel “blinding” Roberts with his cologne “Arrogance.” Roberts came out with odd white contact lens and all to help sell the injury. This all led up to the big Blindfold Match at WrestleMania 7. The evolution of production costs and values have since given us blindfolds that you can’t actually tell where the eye holes are.

 

Not really much to this match itself other than, for the first time ever, all members of one team survived as all of The Visionaries moved on to the Match of Survival.

 

The Hulkamaniacs – Team Captain Hulk Hogan, Big Boss Man, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Tugboat

Vs

The Natural Disasters – Team Captain Earthquake, Dino Bravo, The Barbarian, Haku

 

I still say that the program of Hulk Hogan vs Earthquake was very underrated. Earthquake’s finishing move was probably done so many times by me and my brother I don’t know how we still had rib cages. They didn’t have the “Don’t Try This At Home” disclaimers back then so it was ok to do :). But to see ‘quake hit the move so much that it took the Immortal Hulk Hogan out of action was just unheard up. It led to an entertaining one-on-one match at SummerSlam at the elimination match here.

 

This was a back and forth match that never saw a team have more than just a one man advantage. At the time, it was hard to predict how the match was going to end. Nowadays, of course you knew that Hogan was going to be a survivor! The only question was would anybody on his team join him.

 

The answer would be “no” as Hogan was the sole survivor who moved to the final match.

 

Macho King Randy Savage Interview

 

We take a break from the matches to see what is going on with the Macho King. As he had been doing for weeks, Savage simply made his case to take on The Ultimate Warrior for the WWF title. Nothing really else came of it this time – other than Savage, after being asked what would be next after winning the WWF title, saying that he might just go ahead and retire. Now we all know, that was a very subtle way to start the rivalry that gave us the great Retirement Match between Savage and the Warrior at WrestleMania 7.

 

Just a quick side note – it seems like I have been mentioning a lot about the following year’s WrestleMania here. Keep that in mind as you watch this year’s Survivor Series. We have seen WrestleMania storylines start around this time of year. Just something to keep in the back of your head.

 

The Alliance - Team Captain Nikolai Volkoff, Tito Santana, The Bushwackers (Luke and Butch)

Vs

The Mercenaries – Team Captain Sgt. Slaughter, Boris Zhukov, The Orient Express (Sato and Tanaka)

 

Ugh! This was just a slow moving match. It really seemed like the only purpose of this match was to have Slaughter give a promo attacking the US troops that were watching on the Armed Forces Network (this being the first PPV show that was sent to the troops). Some people had issues with Slaughter becoming the Iraqi sympathizer (to the point that death threats were made). I really didn’t have a problem with it. Of course I didn’t agree with what he was saying or doing, but it led to the most patriotic WrestleMania there was with the LA Sports Arena drenched in red white and blue as Hulk Hogan finally beat Slaughter. Business wise, well the storyline led to the most pay-per-view buys that the WWF had to that point.

 

As for this match, Slaughter ended up attacking Santana with the Iraqi flag to get disqualified and made Tito the sole survivor who moved on. The finish also helped Slaughter look ruthless and saved the inevitable confrontation between Slaughter and Hogan.

 

The Hatching of the Egg

 

For weeks the WWF had been advertising this giant egg that would be ready to hatch at the Survivor Series. Speculation ran roughshod as to what was in there. As he introduced the egg, Mean Gene Okerlund suggested that some of the possibilities included a dinosaur, ballons, and the playmate of the month. Well, after a few cheesy egg cracking jokes, the egg finally exploded and we were introduced to ….

 

… The Gobbeldy Gooker …

 

… a giant turkey suit that was work by a member of one of the most famous wrestling families of all time, Hector Guerrero. Thank goodness Eddie (and to a much lesser extent Chavo) didn’t let THAT be the way the Guerrero family will be remembered in the WWF.

 

A few years ago, Mick Foley was on the Legends of Wrestling show with the topic being “Worst Characters.” Obviously the Gooker came up and Foley brought up a rumor he had heard that could have had GRAVE effect on the WWF (you’ll see what I did there in a little bit).

 

When Mark Calaway signed with the WWF, Foley heard that the initial idea for him would be to debut as “The Egg Man” and HE would be the one to come out of the egg. Foley went on to say that he could only think they took one look at the man and realized that “The Egg Man” would be a horrible horrible mistake and decided to go in a different path and the Gooker may have just been a late throw-in since the egg had already been so heavily advertised. If you haven’t figured it out yet, instead of The Egg Man, Mark Calaway became the conscience of the WWF, The Undertaker. Just take a moment to think about that one …

 

Grand Finale Match of Survival

The Ultimate Warrior, Hulk Hogan, Tito Santana

Vs

Ted DiBiase, Rick “The Model” Martel, The Warlord, Power & Glory (Hercules and Paul Roma)

 

Not exactly the most exciting of ways to end a pay-per-view. The match started off as a back and forth bout, but quickly turned into nothing more than The Warrior and Hogan can take on anything as, after The Warlord and Tito were eliminated within the first two minutes, the rest of the match was the two biggest stars of the year dominating the remaining four members of the opposing team.

 

While I’m sure it was nice for guys like The Warlord, Paul Roma and Hercules to walk around saying they were in a WWF pay-per-view main event, the match left a lot on the table. It was the expected finish of the early 90’s.

 

While the finish of the show may not have been that memorable, the show as a whole was. To get yourself in the Survivor Series spirit, I recommend giving it a look.

 

What do you think of the show? What other shows would you like to have reviewed? Follow me @Tadigity24 and let me know what you think!

(WARNING – cliché late January WWE pun about to be made)

 

Well, it’s finally time take the on-ramp and start on the road to WrestleMania!!!!!

 

All joking aside, this is the start of the best part of the WWE year and my personal favorite event – the Royal Rumble!

 

Thinking of a way to take a look at one of WWE’s longest standing traditions, we have to do something more than just ranking the best matches or the most exciting moment, etc. So I give to you … (drum roll please – preferably from the drummer that HHH fired this past Monday which in turn made a kid cry in the front row…but much respect to HHH for his reaction to it!) … THE ULTIMATE RUMBLE!!!!

 

I went through and took a look at the order that everyone entered every Royal Rumble match and decided who was the best #1, the best #2, the best #3 etc. Only rule is that everyone could only be entered once (Stone Cold can’t be entered at #5 <1997> AND #24 <1998>).

 

So, channeling my inner-Howard Finkel, let’s all find out…who drew…number 1!

 

#1 – Two men have entered the Rumble at the number one spot and went on to win it. However, the first time it was done, it was in the shortest and possibly most unentertaining Rumble in history (plus the winner had a better performance that we’ll see later in the Rumble). AAAAAAAAAND the second decided that a strong legacy and great career were second to the thought of a double-murder/suicide decision…so…yeah he won’t be in this Rumble.

So with several other options to look at, the Ultimate Rumble will start with the swan song of CM Punk in 2014. Punk hung around for nearly 50 minutes before being eliminated by the already eliminated Kane. The elimination started a great storyline that took us to WrestleMania 30. That story involved Daniel Bryan since Punk didn’t come to work the next day, but a great story nonetheless.

 

#2 – Mr. McMahon won from this spot in ’99, but he did so by spending most of his time out of the ring. In contrast, Rey Mysterio set the record that still stands today by being in the Rumble for over 62 minutes en route to winning the 2006 match.

 

#3 – The 1992 Royal Rumble is arguably the most star-studded Rumble in history. With the impending induction of the Macho Man and the obvious eventual induction of The Undertaker, HALF of the participants in this match are in the Hall of Fame! It takes a big name to come out on top of this one. It doesn’t get much bigger than the Nature Boy Ric Flair. Flair was in the match for over an hour en route to winning the WWF Title the only time the title was up for grabs in the match.

 

#4 – In one of the first dominant performances in his career, The Rock entered the 1998 Rumble at the #4 spot and stayed until the end when he was the last one eliminated by Stone Cold Steve Austin. He didn’t win, but he definitely showed that he can hang in there for the long run. Rock would win his first WWF title less than a year later.

 

#5 – While I have just an unlimited amount of respect for Drew Carey and his performance in 2001, I’m going to have to go in a different direction. Just like The Rock started a strong 1998 with his Rumble performance, Stone Cold Steve Austin did the same the year before. Eliminating The Undertaker, Vader and Bret Hart to win in a controversial fashion, Austin would use 1997 to launch his career en route to becoming one of the biggest stars in history.

 

#6 – Rick “The Model” Martel set the record in 1991 by staying in the match for about 52 minutes (though the record would only last one year). While this was an impressive performance, Kane gets the nod here for his dominance in 2001. The Big Red Monster would be the last man eliminated after eliminating 11 superstars himself – a record that would stand for 13 years.

 

#7 – The 1994 Rumble was the first, and only, to give us two winners. Neither of the winners were nearly as dominating as Diesel was that year though. Big Daddy Cool, who was still sporting a fantastic mullet, eliminated seven men before he was eliminated by a joint effort of five men. This was the first of many impactful performances for Kevin Nash as the big man would start one of the longest title reigns of the modern era later in 1994.

 

#8 – Randy Orton punted the owner of the company in the head. Less than a week later, he won the 2009 Royal Rumble match. Something to think about, folks. (Legal disclaimer – I am not suggesting you punt your boss in the head)

 

#9 – This is not exactly the most exciting number in the Rumble’s history – some big names, but no real memorable performances. So we’ll put Hall of Famer Yokozuna's time in the 1996 match here. At least he had a confrontation with the debuting Vader which still makes me wonder why Vince didn’t have a massive monster vs monster match at WrestleMania that year!

 

#10 – The 1993 Rumble was the first to give the winner the championship match at WrestleMania. Though the match itself was a bit ho-hum, the crowd went crazy when Mr. Perfect came down. Perfect had a short stay in the match but did manage to eliminate the hated Ric Flair from the Rumble…and then from the WWF all together the next night in the memorable Career Ending match the next night on Raw.

 

#11 – While I would have loved to have put Mil Mascaras jumping from the top rope to the outside which eliminated himself from the match, we’ll put one of the most memorable eliminations (not on themselves) here instead. In 2002, The Undertaker had eliminated both Hardy Boyz who were still distracting the American Bad Ass outside of the ring. Jumping on the situation, Tough Enough champion Maven hit The Undertaker in the back with a dropkick knocking him out. Taker would head back into the ring, eliminate Maven, take him to the concourse area and throw him through the window of a popcorn machine…but that’s besides the point.

 

#12 – What’s a Royal Rumble without surprise entrants? In 2001, the Honky Tonk Man made a surprise appearance. It was good to see Honky and hear him sing again…and then pretty entertaining to see Kane grab the Honky Tonk Man’s guitar and smash it over his head before eliminating the legend. Thanks for coming!

 

#13 – Everything starts somewhere! It may not have been that exciting compared to what the Rumble is now, but Hacksaw Jim Duggan was the first Royal Rumble winner back in 1988. Can’t take that away from him!

 

#14 – Through my research I have come to the conclusion that #14 is the least exciting number there has been! So, because I want to, from 1993, I’m putting in The Berzerker! Give me one good reason not too!! HUSS!! HUSS!!

 

#15 – 11 eliminations was impressive for Kane – but as they say in the wrestling world…12 is a bigger number than 11. Roman Reigns set the new record in 2014 and laid the ground work for what could be an impressive career. An injury delayed what was set to be a smooth push at the end of last year. It just makes you think what is in store for Reigns this year.

 

#16 – So in 1996, Squat Team #2 was on his way down to the ring as the recently eliminated Squat Team #1 was walking to the back. The two identical twins decided that since no one could tell them apart they would both just go back in the ring! How smart was that?!?!? So what if their gear looked obviously different and the face paint was a little off on one, just look past that! Also look past that they were eliminated very shortly after coming back to the ring.

Yeah…#16 was a pretty boring number.

 

#17 – A year after making history as the first woman in the Rumble, Chyna entered the 2000 Rumble and became the first woman, and only since, to appear in the Rumble twice. I wonder what she’s been up to since … … …

 

#18 – Playing off of an injury return angle, Shawn Michaels went into the 1996 Rumble as the clear fan favorite. After single handedly eliminating 1,100 pounds of Vader and Yokozuna and a Superkick to knock his best friend, Diesel, out to win, ol' HBK went on to win one of the most memorable WrestleMania matches in history against Bret Hart and had a pretty good career thereafter.

 

#19 – In 2012, The Rock and John Cena had a match that was billed as “Once in a Lifetime” at WrestleMania 28. In 2013, Cena won the Rumble and started the story for the rematch against The Rock. You know – “Once Twice in a Lifetime.”

 

#20 – Kurt Angle snuck his way into the 2005 Rumble by stealing Nunzio’s number after losing the WWE Title match that night. Angle came in and made an big impact including eliminating Shawn Michaels – which began the program for their five-star WrestleMania match that year.

 

#21 – One of the earliest “big moments” in the Rumbles history came in 1990 when fans got the first face to face confrontation of Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior. The moment was quick, but laid the foundation for one of the biggest WrestleMania matches in history.

 

#22 – Sheamus won the 2012 Rumble after entering at #22…but that Rumble was horrible. A much better Rumble was the first after the WCW merger in 2002 in which Triple H came back from his first career threatening quad injury to win the match.

 

#23 – Lex Luger is the only person to win a Rumble (1994 co-winner with Bret Hart) entering at #23 so he gets to be here.

 

#24 – Stone Cold won from #24 in ’98…but he’s already in. Rock won from #24 in 2000…but he’s already in. Both were more impressive than Hulk Hogan was with his win in 1991. But, process of elimination, Hulk gets the spot here.

 

#25 – In another surprise entrant spot, Rob Van Dam made a surprise one night appearance in the 2009 Rumble and received a HUGE ovation. He didn’t really have that impressive of a showing – but neither did anyone else that came out at #25.

 

#26 – Please don’t be fooled by multiple people from the 2000 Rumble being on the list, it wasn’t that good. But Big Show had a dominant run and was the last one eliminated so he gets a spot here.

 

#27 – This has been regarded as the ‘magic number’ of the Rumble as a record four men have won from this spot – Big John Studd in ’89, Yokozuna in ’93, Stone Cold in ’01 and our #27 man Bret Hart in 1994. Hart had his leg taken out by his brother Owen in a match earlier in the night but managed to still make it to the Rumble and was the co-winner as he and Lex Luger both hit the floor at the same time.

 

#28 – It would be fun to have Dude Love in ’98 here (the third Face of Foley in the match that year) or even Santino Marella in ’09 (eliminated in a record :01). But it’s hard to pass up the fact the Batista won the Rumble match from the #28 spot TWICE – once in 2005 and again in 2014. Since Batista winning in 2014 really did not make too much sense creatively, we’re going to go with 2005 for The Ultimate Rumble.

 

#29 – Brock Lesnar won from this spot in 2003 but a surprise return from an ACL tear to win the 2010 match gives Edge the spot here. Plus, he eliminated John Cena last, so that gets him some extra points.

 

#30 – I consider 2007 to have the most exciting ending to a Rumble match when we were given several minutes and false finishes from two of the industries greats – Shawn Michaels and the winner and our #30 entrant, The Undertaker. Pretty hard to come up with anything wrestling related that doesn’t include The Dead Man.

 

#31 - #40 – In 2011, the Rumble expanded to 40 people. Instead of putting those last 10 entrants in by default, we’ll just put Alberto Del Rio in since he won that year after entering at #38.

 

So who wins the Ultimate Rumble you ask? Well…you tell me! Leave a comment here! Let me know on Twitter @Tadigity24 and tell me who you think wins the Rumble of all Rumbles!

We’re getting closer folks!

 

The Bay Area is getting ready to be taken over for WrestleMania week!

 

Some can say that the show is only as good as its main event. Some will also say that some of the “main events” weren’t the real main event of the show (i.e. WrestleMania 18).

 

As we get ready to see Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns close out this year’s version of The Granddaddy of Them All, let’s take a look back and find out what was the best main event (last match of the night) out of the first 30 WrestleMania’s.

 

#30

MATCH – Lawrence Taylor vs Bam Bam Bigelow

TITLE/STIPULATION – None

WRESTLEMANIA – XI

LOCATION – Hartford Civic Center – Hartford, Connecticut

 

For those of you that are relatively new to the wrestling world – yes, I am referring to THAT Lawrence Taylor!

 

The countdown starts with the worst main event on what many (including me) consider to be the worst WrestleMania.

 

Credit where credit is due though. The match itself was not all that bad. The fact that THIS match was the main event of the show was bad though. Diesel and Shawn Michaels put on a great WWF title match earlier in the night – simply having that match last would have made this show look a little better.

 

Having an outsider in the main event of the biggest show of the year is just wrong.

 

#29

MATCH – Hulk Hogan & Mr. T vs Rowdy Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorff

TITLE/STIPULATION – None

WRESTLEMANIA – I

LOCATION – Madison Square Garden – New York, New York

 

For the same reasons as the previous match, the inaugural main event finds itself towards the bottom of the pack. The fact that this was the main event in the very first WrestleMania give it a leg up on the LT/Bam Bam match. Having Muhammad Ali on the outside is a big help as well.

 

#28

MATCH – Bret Hart vs Yokozuna/Yokozuna vs Hulk Hogan

TITLE/STIPULATION – WWF Championship (both times)

WRESTLEMANIA – IX

LOCATION – Caesars Palace – Las Vegas, Nevada

 

This probably would have been a little higher had the event ended with the Bret Hart/Yokozuna match. However, they decided to continue the show and make people realize that the WWF wasn’t ready just yet to move on from the 80s and randomly give the belt to Hogan.

 

One year later WrestleMania ended with Bret Hart lifted up in a ring full of new stars as the WWF started what they called “The New Generation.” Much smarter move.

 

#27

MATCH – Hulk Hogan vs King Kong Bundy

TITLE/STIPULATION – WWF Championship/Steel Cage Match

WRESTLEMANIA – II

LOCATION – LA Sports Arena – Los Angeles, California

 

The main event of an event that technically had three main events – one for every city the event was held in. The event itself was on part with the aforementioned WrestleMania 11. Three times the cities and about one third of the excitement.

 

#26

MATCH – The Miz vs John Cena

TITLE/STIPULATION – WWE Championship

WRESTLEMANIA – XXVII

LOCATION – Georgia Dome – Atlanta, Georgia

 

The Miz was in the main event of WrestleMania…that’s really all that needs to be said for this one.

 

If it wasn’t for The Rock’s involvement this match would be a lot closer to the bottom - more so than it already is.

 

#25

MATCH – Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice

TITLE/STIPULATION – None

WRESTLEMANIA – VIII

LOCATION – Hoosier Dome – Indianapolis, Indiana

 

A few “why”’s come out from this event.

 

1 – After nearly a decade of debating who is the biggest star in the industry, Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair were FINALY in the same organization. Why not make that the main event for WrestleMania?

 

2 – It ended up being Flair/Randy Savage for the title – why not have THAT be the main event?

 

#24

MATCH – The Rock vs John Cena

TITLE/STIPULATION – WWE Championship

WRESTLEMANIA – XXIX

LOCATION – MetLife Stadium – East Rutherford, New Jersey

 

Do you remember the movie Airheads with Adam Sandler and Brenden Fraser? One of the running jokes was that the band’s name was The Lone Rangers – how can you plural The Lone Ranger? Well, on that note, the biggest reason that this match is this low on the list is the fact that it was a rematch for a yearlong match labeled as “Once in a Lifetime.”

 

#23

MATCH – Triple H vs Shawn Michaels vs Chris Benoit

TITLE/STIPULATION – World Heavyweight Championship

WRESTLEMANIA – XX

LOCATION – Madison Square Garden – New York, New York

 

This match was great! A whole lot of back and forth…and forth…action from start to finish ending with the culmination of a man’s long journey to the top of the industry. How could a match with all of that find its way this low on the countdown?

 

…

 

…oh yeah…

 

#22

MATCH – Triple H vs Big Show vs Mick Foley vs The Rock

TITLE/STIPULATION – WWF Championship

WRESTLEMANIA – XVI

LOCATION – Anaheim Pond – Anaheim, California

 

Nothing really worthwhile to say about this match. The match had plenty of star power plus the additional element of “A McMahon in Every Corner” but really didn’t provide a memorable moment. The best takeaway from this one was The Rock hosting Saturday Night Live and the other three competitors making cameos a few weeks prior to the event.

 

#21

MATCH – John Cena vs Shawn Michaels

TITLE/STIPULATION – WWE Championship

WRESTLEMANIA – XXIII

LOCATION – Ford Field – Detroit, Michigan

 

Same situation here. Cena and Michaels put together a solid match but it was on a show that had too many other memorable moments.

 

#20

MATCH – Yokozuna vs Bret Hart

TITLE/STIPULATION – WWF Championship

WRESTLEMANIA – X

LOCATION – Madison Square Garden – New York, New York

 

The second of two title matches on the show, WWF basically righted the wrong it made the year before at WrestleMania IX. So much so that Vince himself was quick to exclaim that THIS was the start of “The New Generation” as Razor Ramon and Tatanka hoisted Hart on their shoulders.

 

#19

MATCH – Sycho Sid vs The Undertaker

TITLE/STIPULATION – WWF Championship

WRESTLEMANIA – XIII

LOCATION – Rosemont Horizon – Chicago, Illinois

 

Bret Hart’s involvement aiding his heel transition added some intrigue to this one. Really though, the main, and possibly only, reason this match is remembered is the image of The Undertaker with the belt to close a WrestleMania. LONG overdue!

 

#18

MATCH – Triple H vs Randy Orton

TITLE/STIPULATION – WWE Championship

WRESTLEMANIA – XXV

LOCATION – Reliant Stadium – Houston, Texas

 

Decent match but really The Game and The Viper had no chance. The two had the unenviable task of following what many, including me, consider to be the greatest match in WrestleMania history with The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. They tried, but the crowd was just too blown up.

 

#17

MATCH – Chris Jericho vs Triple H

TITLE/STIPULATION – Undisputed WWF Championship

WRESTLEMANIA – XVIII

LOCATION – SkyDome – Toronto, Ontario, Canada

 

Same exact situation here. The Toronto crowd was electric for The Rock and Hulk Hogan earlier in the night. Both Triple H and Jericho has said that The Great One and the returning legend should have ended the show knowing how worn out the crowd would be. They were right, and it showed.

 

#16

MATCH – Randy Savage vs Ted DiBiase

TITLE/STIPULATION – Finals of WWF Championship Tournament

WRESTLEMANIA – IV

LOCATION – Trump Plaza – Atlantic City, New Jersey

 

This was a solid way to end the first ever WWF Championship tournament as Savage won his fourth match of the night to become the champ. If anything, it was nice to see a change after Hulk Hogan’s four year run with the belt. A change indeed … even if Hogan was in the ring to help Savage celebrate … and then win the belt back at the next WrestleMania. Gotta love change!

 

#15

MATCH – Sgt. Slaughter vs Hulk Hogan

TITLE/STIPULATION – WWF Championship

WRESTLEMANIA – VII

LOCATION – LA Sports Arena – Los Angeles, California

 

For a guy that had been back with the company for less than a year after a seven year absence, Slaughter held his own. A bloody Hogan, very taboo for the time, added a lot to this match that ended what was built as the most patriotic WrestleMania. And go figure – the American hero beat the Iraqi sympathizer.

 

#14

MATCH – Triple H vs Batista

TITLE/STIPULATION – World Heavyweight Championship

WRESTLEMANIA – XXI

LOCATION – Staples Center – Los Angeles, California

 

The beast was indeed unleashed. The classic student vs teacher battle was fantastic way to end a jam packed card. The first title win for Batista ended up being the start of a spring full of great matches between the two.

 

#13

MATCH – John Cena vs Triple H

TITLE/STIPULATION – WWE Championship

WRESTLEMANIA – XXII

LOCATION – AllState Arena – Chicago, Illinois

 

This may be a little local bias. The match was good, don’t get me wrong. But what made this match fun to watch was the atmosphere created by the Chicago crowd. I credit this event as being the start of all of the Cena hate. On behalf of the Windy City…you’re welcome!

 

#12

MATCH – Edge vs The Undertaker

TITLE/STIPULATION – World Heavyweight Championship

WRESTLEMANIA – XXIV

LOCATION – Citrus Bowl – Orlando, Florida

 

Just like WrestleMania 13, it is always a plus to have WrestleMania end with the image of the conscience of the WWE in the middle of the ring with the belt. I think that this was one of the more underrated WrestleMania’s and it was capped with a very entertaining way to keep The Undertaker’s streak alive.

 

#11

MATCH – Kurt Angle vs Brock Lesnar

TITLE/STIPULATION – WWE Championship

WRESTLEMANIA – XIX

LOCATION – Safeco Field – Seattle, Washington

 

A great match from two of the best ring generals in the business. This match had plenty of action in it. It says a lot to how entertaining this match was when the memorable moment involves Lesnar nearly breaking his neck on a botched shooting star press.

 

#10

MATCH – The Rock vs John Cena

TITLE/STIPULATION – None

WRESTLEMANIA – XXVIII

LOCATION – Sun Life Stadium – Miami, Florida

 

Once in a Lifetime…when we thought it would be seen once in a lifetime. The match was set the night after the previous WrestleMania and the match lived up to the hype. The crowd was intense and the two icons of their respective eras kept everyone on the edge of their seat from bell to bell.

 

#9

MATCH – Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker

TITLE/STIPULATION – Career vs Streak

WRESTLEMANIA – XXVI

LOCATION – University of Phoenix Stadium – Glendale, Arizona

 

These two had a lot to live up to in the rematch of their instant class a year before. It didn’t quite make it to that level, but the added intrigue from a possible Shawn Michaels retirement added to the excitement. It was odd to see a WrestleMania end on such a somber tone, but it worked.

 

#8

MATCH – Randy Orton vs Batista vs Daniel Bryan

TITLE/STIPULATION – WWE World Heavyweight Championship

WRESTLEMANIA – XXX

LOCATION – Silver SuperDome – New Orleans, Louisiana

 

(Any chance I can get to bring up Hogan calling it the SilverDome I am going to take!)

 

I have mentioned before about matches that had to deal with going on after phenomenal matches/moments. These three had to follow what many consider to be the most shocking moment in WrestleMania history when The Undertaker’s streak came to an end. The match was really good but the reason that the crowd stayed as with it as they did was the fact that there guy, Daniel Bryan, was finally getting his due! YES! YES! YES!

 

#7

MATCH – The Rock vs Stone Cold Steve Austin

TITLE/STIPULATION – WWF Championship

WRESTLEMANIA – XV

LOCATION – First Union Center – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 

The two biggest stars of arguably the biggest era in the industry collided for the first time with the top prize on the line. The match kept everyone on the edge of their seats until Austin reclaimed his title. If it weren’t for a lackluster rest of the card this match may have even been higher.

 

#6

MATCH – Randy Savage vs Hulk Hogan

TITLE/STIPULATION – WWF Championship

WRESTLEMANIA – V

LOCATION – Trump Plaza – Atlantic City, New Jersey

 

The Mega-Powers exploded a year after the two celebrated Savage’s WWF Championship tournament win. The two biggest names in the WWF in the 80s created a really intense back and forth match that really had you guessing who would win. At least at the time you would be guessing. Looking back, hard to think Hogan would lose.

 

#5

MATCH – Shawn Michaels vs Stone Cold Steve Austin

TITLE/STIPULATION – WWF Championship

WRESTLEMANIA – XIV

LOCATION – Fleet Center – Boston, Massachusetts

 

“The Austin Era Has Begun!” Jim Ross at it again to help create the atmosphere surrounding this match. The build-up itself was memorable with Mike Tyson getting involved as the special guest enforcer. Above all, the fact that Michaels put on this match with a back that forced him out of the ring for over four years is just inspiring!

 

#4

MATCH – Hulk Hogan vs The Ultimate Warrior

TITLE/STIPULATION – Title for Title

WRESTLEMANIA – VI

LOCATION – SkyDome – Toronto, Ontario, Canada

 

Two guys that would never really be considered the best in-ring performers put on a match that fans still talk about as one of the best. This was the first time that two fan-favorites locked up in such a high profile match up. Some thought that it would create a negative split in the crowd. Well it created a split, but that split just helped egg each side on to outdo to other side.

 

#3

MATCH – Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant

TITLE/STIPULATION – WWF Championship

WRESTLEMANIA – III

LOCATION – SilverDome – Pontiac, Michigan

 

Most say that the success of the WWF was based on the first WrestleMania – I say it was due to this match. The first WrestleMania planted the seed and Hogan/Andre was the blooming flower. An indoor attendance record of 93,173 people was set which was just unheard of for that time! They all came to see that match.

 

#2

MATCH – Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels

TITLE/STIPULATION – WWF Championship/Iron Man Match

WRESTLEMANIA – XII

LOCATION – Anaheim Pond – Anaheim, California

 

Hour long matches were really a thing of the south. You hear more about NWA title matches that went an hour, but not in the WWF. Pat Patterson came up with the idea of putting Bret and Shawn in an hour long match and was flat out told it would never happen – especially at WrestleMania. “It would be impossible to keep the crowd’s attention for that long” was the reason given.

 

Something changed Vince’s mind and, in my humble opinion, I think it worked out pretty well. Not only did this turn out to be one of the most talked about matches in WrestleMania history, but it is so without a fall until an impromptu overtime period. Hard to think of two other stars in that era that could have pulled that off.

 

#1

MATCH – The Rock vs Stone Cold Steve Austin

TITLE/STIPULATION – WWF Championship

WRESTLEMANIA – XVII

LOCATION – Astrodome – Houston, Texas

 

Many consider this to be the best WrestleMania in the event’s 31 year history so it would need to top notch main event. Add together two of the biggest stars of the company’s history (both as fan favorits), the action starting before the bell rang, 68,000+ people going crazy, a very underrated commentary team of Jim Ross and Paul Heyman on the call and the unlikeliest of unlikely association of Stone Cold and Mr. McMahon and you have pure entertainment in your hands.

 

So there you have it! What do you think of the list? Should a match be higher? Lower? Where do you think this year’s probable main event of Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns fall? Let me know what you think on Twitter @Tadigity24 .