King James Presents: List It! - Top 10 WrestleManias!

[Hoss]

Nothing like Hulk Hogan beating Yokozuna in 20 seconds to end a Mania with a bang!

 

[Postman Dave]

Wrestlemania IV was one of the first wrestling shows I can remember seeing. The three things I remember most from the show are Andre/Hulk, Dibiase/Savage and Bret smashing up the Battle Royal trophy. Weird how engrained the Bret one is. :

Only seen the main from 14, but I did enjoy it. Even better when you consider the state of Shawn's back at the time.

I can't wait for when you do a show I've actually seen all of :

 

[Hoss]

Number 7
WrestleMania XXVI​

It’s the WrestleMania famous for Shawn Michael’s last match as a WWE superstar. It also had a nice triple main event, all of which were good. Furthermore, I found it had a solid crowd and kept a great pace. The 72,219 fans packing the The University of Phoenix Stadium really came through.

The undercard was strong, featuring Truth and Wisdom vs ShoMiz for the Unified Tag Team championship, in which ShoMiz made quick work of JoMo and R-Truth to retain. Legacy’s splintering lead to a triple threat match between Orton, DiBiase and Rhodes. Of course, Orton won, but it also set the stage for Rhodes to emerge as one of WWE’s cult favorites in the midcard!

We also had the first ever 10-person Money In The Bank ladder match. I was never impressed by this match but I didn’t hate it either. It still beats one or two other MITB matches that have happened before. This particular match would be won by Jack Swagger, who would go on to cash in his briefcase on Chris Jericho and have an uneventful (yet entertaining IMO) reign as World champ.

[video=youtube;HryG8Xrm68o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HryG8Xrm68o[/video]​

I always wished they gave him something better to do as champ and then maybe we would be looking forward to a much more intense title match at this year’s Mania (not that I don’t love Jack right now, also, but still).

Now the next match is really hated on a lot because of the ending, but Triple H beating Sheamus here was the stuff. I love brawls. A lot. This one was a great brawl and on top of that, Triple H sold the beating great. Ultimately, Trips win with a pedigree that I definitely didn’t even see coming and got a great ovation. But the fact that Sheamus brutalized Triple H and all the work that the commentators put in to putting Sheamus over easily makes up for the fact he didn’t get the win here. Plus Sheamus would technically put Triple H into semi-retirement a month later, so in the long run, Sheamus is the clear winner.

Mysterio vs Punk. Eh, pretty good match. But you already knew that.

McMahon vs Hart. OMG terrible match. But you already knew that, too, right?

Now we’re in main event territory. All three deliver! I remember Chris Jericho vs Edge was just great. It’s up there with Edge’s best single matches and may even be his single best one on one match that didn’t have some gimmick. This match had it all. From well orchestrated counters to fist to face brawling. This one was a real nail biter and could have easily have been THE main event of the show because the crowd was THAT hyped. They really wanted Edge to win here, but they made the right choice I think and had Jericho go over with the codebreaker.

The WWE title match between Batista and Cena is easy to forget, but it was a good match with a really mediocre build unfortunately. But all in all I give these two a lot of props for providing excitement here. There are a lot of finisher kick outs, which most people don’t like, but to put on a good nailbiter at Mania, it’s the way to go. My favorite spot is Batista countering the AA into a DDT.

And then there’s Taker vs HBK. Streak vs Career. No need for me to even detail this one. May as well watch it again for yourself, eh?

[video=youtube;0TTVNgDQqv0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TTVNgDQqv0[/video]​

As you can see this match is near perfection. Some like the first better.. Me? Eh, I see them as about equal. I think the wrestling alone in the first one may have been better, but the drama wasn’t the same and it obviously didn’t have the added emotion of it being HBK’s last match.

Top to bottom, this Mania was really good. There were some weak spots, of course. The opening match was too short to be anything good, the Hart-McMahon match was dreadful and the Eight-Diva Tag Match blew (though it needed to be there to give the fans a chill down period) but when you get a show like this with THREE awesome main events, you can’t hate on it. Purely entertaining IMO..

Watch

Sheamus vs Triple H (***)
Chris Jericho vs Edge (***1/2)
Batista vs John Cena (***)
Shawn Michaels vs Undertaker (*****)

Avoid

Bret Hart vs Vince McMahon (DUD)
Eight Diva Tag Match (*)

Match of the Night

Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker

Promo of the Night

HBK/Taker Video Package

Tonight’s MVP

Shawn Michaels

 

[Horrorfan_1986]

Since I've been pretty negative in this thread, I'll start with all of my positive thoughts.

Even though I wasn't as impressed with others when it came to Taker/Michaels WM 25, I thought the rematch delivered in a huge way. You literally have my MOTY (Not just for WWE either) with the match. It also marks your first Mania in this countdown that did score my pick for WWE MOTY. If there's hate for Sheamus/Hunter, it baffles me. Easily Sheamus' best match up to this point. Despite the lack of time, Mysterio/Punk was a highly enjoyable undercard match. Lastly, Cena vs Batista delivered their best match of their 2010 series.

It's taken me repeated viewings just to think Edge/Jericho was the tiniest amount of good. It's the first Mania where I feel as if the WHT match doesn't mean a damn thing (I can say the same about every Mania after this). Edge isn't a good babyface and the entire booking of it was off. Edge wins the Rumble, can't even get a Mania main event match and then loses to a guy who just won the belt the month before. Before the next PPV, Jericho would lose the title. A couple of months later, Edge is a heel again and teams a little with Jericho. It all felt so pointless. MITB continues to drag down it's legacy with another poor choice for a winner. It seems like every year, MITB becomes less and less important. It's quite a shame too as MITB 1 was my pick for WWE MOTY. To be honest, Bret/McMahon gets a little too much flack. The only problem with it is that it went on too long.

 

[Hoss]

Number 6
WrestleMania 21​

WrestleMania goes Hollywood! And they would do so with a bang.

Why do I like this show? Well there are a few reasons. One of the major reasons is that it was the night that both Batista and John Cena won their first world titles. Not everyone is a fan of either, but hey, they carried the company for years, like it or not. And I, personally, thought that both of these guys were really entertaining for a number of years, though Batista’s quality would drop off pretty fast.

On top of that, it is the debut of the Money In The Bank ladder match. If you ask me, they nailed it with this edition and it’s been downhill since. Not only has the quality declined, but the briefcase would never be used more effectively than by Edge. With the possible exclusion of Daniel Bryan.

And furthermore, we had a real show stealer featuring two of the best to ever enter the squared circle. I hope you all know what I’m talking about -- Big Show vs Akebono!!

Nah, I’m just kidding. That match blew and was easily the worst thing on the card. What I’m talking about is KURT ANGLE vs SHAWN MICHAELS! You though I loved Michaels vs Austin, Jim... well I love this match more. I think the competition is just up a notch. Not only that but the build was good to with Angle feeling like his glory was taken from him by HBK. I still remember Kurt putting Sherri in the ankle lock.

[video=dailymotion;x98pun]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x98pun_wrestlemania-21-kurt-angle-vs-shawn_sport[/video]​

And if Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels wasn’t enough, how about Eddie Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio? It may have been a little lost in the scuffle of the show with Cena vs JBL, Batista vs Triple H, the first ever MITB, and Angle vs HBK, but it was really entertaining. Eddie was such a wonderful heel. I really miss Latino Heat. No one could work the crowd like him and this is another great example.

So in a nutshell you get a WrestleMania with 5 top of the line matches. Cena and Batista were both still a little raw, so their matches did underdeliver a little, I’m not going to lie. But I give it credit because booking was on spot. Plus the pageantry of it all kinda made up for the lack of technical presence.

Oh and let’s not forget about Orton vs Taker, right? Pretty solid streak match.

Watch

Eddie Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio (***1/4)
Money In The Bank (****)
Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels (****1/2)
Randy Orton vs The Undertaker (***)
Triple H vs Batista (***)

Avoid

Akebono vs Big Show (DUD)
Trish Stratus vs Christy Hemme (*)
John Cena vs JBL (**) - the match was ok, but you’d be better served watching their Judgment Day match. That was a real barn burner.

Match of the Night

Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels

Promo of the Night

Hulk Hogan saves Eugene / Roddy Piper and Stone Cold bicker

Tonight’s MVP

The WWE is the big winner. A great Mania event in the books, and they create the two biggest stars of the next five years in one foul swoop

Spoiler

[video=dailymotion;x5i4m6]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5i4m6_john-cena-vs-jbl-at-judgement-day_sport[/video]​

 

[Horrorfan_1986]

Man, Michaels/Angle has to be the most overrated Wrestlemania match ever! :

On the plus side, MITB 1 was an awesome match and Orton/Taker provided plenty of entertaining moments. I can't say the rest does a lot for me though. What's kind of frustrating is that both World Title matches would have superior rematches. That's something Wrestlemania shouldn't have.

 

[Postman Dave]

End WM 21 after Angle/HBK and you have one of the best WM's ever, and potentially one of the best 3 hour PPV's ever.

Sadly, everything after Angle/HBK fell pretty flat, highlighted by Cena/JBL. That should have been a much bigger deal than it was, but the match ended up sucking real hard.


I hold a special place in my heart for 26, as it currently stands as the only PPV I stayed up overnight to watch live. Outside of the usual Divas pap and Bret/Vince, there's nothing outrightly bad on the show.

 

[Sabretooth]

I also agree with the notion that everything up to Angle/HBK was good.

Eddie and Rey put on a good match to get the ball rolling
The MITB match featured great action from all men
The Undertaker and Randy Orton had an emotional well put together match
Kurt and HBK was fucking awesome.

Big Show and Akebono- Well...
John Cena and JBL had a 10 minute match that sucked ass. Funny thing is their sequel matches ruled
Triple H and Batista also had a crappy match but Batista's emotional win saved it a drop.


I loved WM 26 actually so no complaints from me.

 

[The Viper]

Eh, I went to Wrestlemania 21, so that show will always be a personal favorite of mine.

I can see where the "overrated" comes from for Angle/Michaels, but I enjoyed it very much.

 

[Hoss]

Number Five
WrestleMania XXIV​

From the Citrus Dome in Orlando, FL comes the 24th edition of Wrestle.... Mania!

There are some negatives to this PPV but I think its deserving of praise. Everyone doesn't love it, but it's my personal number 5!

If you ask me, it was one that started strong and was consistently entertaining until the end. Even for the bad matches, they weren't too drawn out and had glimmers of being almost decent.

The opening match was the Belfast Brawl between Finlay and JBL. That's a solid match. We then get the MITB where Punk wins and cashes in on Hardy setting up an entertaining fan. There's some 'eh' with Umaga vs Batista and of course Kane beating Chavo in 8 secs. While subpar, neither match really crushed the momentum of the show, so give en credit for that.

Flair cuts his final promo as a WWE Superstar and then gets beat in a nailbiter with HBK. It was a great rollercoaster match with drama to spare. HBK missing the Asai Moonsault was a sick spot. Then there's the epic "I'm sorry... I love you.." gets me every time. This one's a classic and one of my favorites as it would be the last time I got to see my favorite wrestler of all time in a WWE match.

As I list these it's becoming increasingly apparent why Michaels is called Mr. WrestleMania..

Anyways, the first title match delivers. Cena vs Orton vs HHH. Lots of near falls to get the crowd pumped up. Some hard hitting spots too. After a long string of what looks like match enders, Orton finally wins with the punt. Really shocking considering Trips and Cena are usually protected at Manoa, yet Randy beat them botg AT THE SAME DAMN TIME to become champ.

The Mayweather vs Big Show match blows but we all knew it would. At least Show gets his face blown off by Mayweather who socks him with a chain so that's a plus.

The final match is Taker vs Edge. A solid backstory leading into this one. And I have to say, this thing was way better than it probably should have been. You expect Taker to tear the house down and Edge usually doesn't disappoint but this is a barn burner. Wayyyy better than Taker vs Tista from the year before. It legit seems like Edge will win this thing at times! Ultimately he is done in with the Hell's Gates though. Still, awesome match.

I found this Mania to be a strong all-aroubd event with three really good main events with the addition of one of the best Money In The Bank matches we've seen and a fun opener to set the tone. My only regret is that I wish Batista vs Umaga would have cone across better and there wouldn't be any major drop in action. But its all good. This Mania is still solid.

Watch

MITB (***3/4)
Flair vs Michaels (****1/2)
WWE Title Match (***)
World Title Match (****)

Avoid

Umaga vs Batista (*1/2)
Kane vs Chavo (N/A)

Match of the Night

Shawn Michaels vs Ric Flair

Promo of the Night

Ric Flair's

Tonight's MVP

The Nature Boy

 

[Horrorfan_1986]

I have some very different opinions than you.

The Triple Threat WWE title match wasn't very good at all. It wasn't as dull as the following year's match, but Hunter is such a kiss of death when it comes to World Title matches on Mania around this time period.

Umaga/Batista was a massive disappointment. I actually thought that it had the potential to be the sleeper of the night.

Flair/Michaels gets so overrated due to some of the emotion. Really though, it's a broken down Flair, having to be carried by Michaels. Michaels did a hell of a job though, but who wants to see a shell of his former self, Flair?

Big Show/Mayweather was an awesome celeb match. Easily one of, if not the very best celeb match in history. They somehow figured out a way to book the match where there was nonstop drama and excitement.

 

[Postman Dave]

the triple threat was pretty standard affair really, and I seem to be in the minority of people who don't think Edge/Taker is a MOTYC (not crap, but not outstanding either).

Seeing HBK/Flair for the first time was such an emotional experience, something very few matches have matched since. Floyd/Show was a great celebrity match, I wish Mayweather was around wrestling more, dude was perfect.

 

[Horrorfan_1986]

Taker/Edge could be a WWE MOTYC. 2008 was sorta an off year for MOTYC's compared to 2007 and 2009. Off of the top of my head, the only match I can think of that was better than Edge/Taker was Hardy/Hunter from No Mercy.

 

[Hoss]

Number Four​

WrestleMania XXVIII​

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I know Jim's been hovering over his keyboard for this one. Last year's Mania from Miami. Perhaps overrated since it still hasn't had time to set in but Jesus... I liked it.

The show went down well IMO. I remember watching it like it was yesterday and recall being entertained from start to finish. Except that the show began with Sheamus beating Daniel Bryan in a matter of seconds. Did not set the tone there, but they'd make up for it.

They even made me appreciate a Big Show match at Mania. He and Rhodes did terrific. Well, maybe not terrific, but they did well. Same goes for Orton and Kane.

Furthermore, the Kelly and Maria Menunos tag match against Beth and Eve was even half watchable

Team Johnny vs Team Teddy wasn't even difficult to watch. It actually had a pretty smooth flow and featured mostly good wrestlers.

CM Punk vs Jericho was the show stealer. No doubt. Taker vs Trips is a goody but it is scrutinized because of the lack of real action and the spot heaviness. I can understand that but it was as good as advertised.

Cena vs Rock was supposed to be once in a lifetime. Anyone logically knew it wouldn't be and I'm glad it wasn't. They just simply did not get the most out of this match. Fans were fairly pleased but it could have been much better. Still a good overall match.

Anyways. I realize this is a little high on the list and I'm sorry. More accurately it should be 8 or 9 maybe but I think it deserves a shout out for staying consistent throughout.

I understand skepticism about this one.

Not even gonna do the watch/avoid thing. Not really feeling it.

 

[Horrorfan_1986]

If there's one show stealer, it's Trips vs Taker. That's how you tell a story. Easily the MOTY for 2012 and a rare 5 stars at Mania.

I seem to remember the undercard being pretty weak, but I haven't seen the show since it happened.