Wrestlemania 5's: Shows

[Postman Dave]

The second edition of this series of threads asks you what are your favourite shows are from the last 27 years. Again, don't just list, get involved and actually get some reasoning in!

5. Wrestlemania 23
Between the two World Title matches, an excellent MitB match, and an entertaining Battle of the Billionaires, it's hard to look past this show. It does have it's downers, Khali/Kane, the divas match, and the time wasting "all grown up" vignettes, but the good far outweighs the bad.

4. Wrestlemania 26
The only show I've ever stayed up for the whole of, start to finish. That there only means it holds a special palce in my wrestling heart, but it also features the fantastic career vs. streak match, one of my all time favourite matches. Like 23, it's two world title matches delivered, everything else was good, not a lot to complain about here.

3. Wrestlemania 19
A massive FIVE main event matches, all delivering in terms of match quality and entertainment (yes, even HHH/Booker). With a great undercard too, this is a awesome show top to bottom. The lowlight is the Miller Lite Catfight girls. This must have been an American thing, becuase I have zero idea who these chicks are, or why they took so much time away from the undercard.

2. Wrestlemania 24
Personal fave here, with as an emotional wrestling match as you could possibly get between HBK & Flair. Not a big fan of the main event, but I love the rest of the show enough for it to place this high.

1. Wrestlemania X7
C'mon, what else? Seen by many as the best wrestling show in North American history, there's barely a dud in sight. Everyone was on their game this night, giving the whole event a real "end of an era" vibe.

 

[Fuji Vice]

Are we basing this on match quality or personal preference? If its personal preference then its the following....

5. Wrestlemania XIX
As Dave mentioned, there was definitely a lot of great matches on this card but more than anything else I remember this 'Mania as being the last one I watched with my friend Paul, who was killed in a car accident a few months later. The fact that we grew up watching wrestling together makes this a little bittersweet, but a memorable show nonetheless.

4. Wrestlemania X-7
Along with the previous one, this show also involves my friend Paul, along with several others, as we ordered this show and proceeded to have a huge party in our townhouse at University. At one point there had to be over 100 people over and it was one hell of a mess, but a good one.

3. Wrestlemania III
The first 'Mania I vividly recall watching live (via Closed Circuit of course) and just a great experience for a young wrestling fan such as myself. The spectacle of Hogan/Andre, Piper's "retirement match" along with Beefcake's face turn, King Kong Bundy bodyslamming a midget and of course Steamboat/Savage tearing the house down. There's just no substitute for the classics sometimes.

2. Wrestlemania VI
The first 'Mania I attended live and though the match quality wasn't the best there was no stopping me from enjoying it fully. Hogan/Warrior was absolutely insane live and the noise in the Skydome was downright deafening. I also had the chance to meet Mr. Fuji, Bobby Heenan, Andre the Giant and several others before the show, and yes, I had a boner.

1. Wrestlemania 18
The second 'Mania I attended live (once again at the Skydome) but this time I could drink, which led to an even more amazing time. I thought Hogan/Warrior was loud but it was nothing compared to Hogan/Rock (yes, I cheered for Hogan), though as I've mentioned before, the crowd was just as loud when Arn Anderson appeared from under the ring and hit 'Taker with his patented spinebuster during his match with Ric Flair. Truly the greatest wrestling show I've ever gone to and one of the best experiences of my life.

 

[Postman Dave]

Are we basing this on match quality or personal preference? If its personal preference then its the following....

Both, or whatever you like. If anything, having a personal memory attached to a show just makes it that bit more special.

 

[Fuji Vice]

Both, or whatever you like. If anything, having a personal memory attached to a show just makes it that bit more special.

Yep, I went for personal rather than quality. It's more important to me anyhow.

 

[Death Dealer]

5. WrestleMania XXIV
One great World title match in Taker/Edge, a good one in the Triple Threat and a fantastic match in Flair/Michaels. Belfast Brawl was fun and MiTB delivered. Show/Mayweather was a pleasant surprise because I thought it would suck but it ended up being really good.

4. WrestleMania X8
Hogan/Rock being amazing and Taker/Flair with Double A's run in make this one of my favorites. Everything else was pretty good as well.

3. WrestleMania XIX
Top to bottom this card kicked ass and it's hard for me to pick a favorite match between Rock/Austin III and Y2J/HBK. Brock's botched shooting star is something I'll always remember.

2. WrestleMania XX
What's not to love? MSG, Brock/Goldberg getting their sorry asses booed out the building and stunned, Taker's return, two fantastic World title matches, Rock n Sock/Evolution and my all time favorite moment: the aftermath of the main with Benoit/Eddie. Still brings a tear to my eyes watching that it's just a shame it ended the way it did for both those guys.

1. WrestleMania X-Seven
This show signaled the end of an era, much like 19 the card is stacked with only a couple of duds but almost everything delivers. Ending the night with one of my favorite matches ever (like XX) with Austin's shaking Vince's hand at the end it's one of those moments I'll never forget.

 

[Sabretooth]

5. WrestleMania 21
Shawn Michaels vs Kurt Angle was an absolute fantastic match from start to finish. Batista and John Cena both won their first major title going over Triple H and JBL. The MITB match was born with none other than Edge coming out victorious. Randy Orton vs Undertaker sold a good story which saw Taker go 13-0. Hulk Hogan returned and took back America. Just a really good WM.

4. WrestleMania XIX.
Kurt Angle vs Brock Lesnar, Triple H vs Booker T, Hulk Hogan vs Mr McMahon, The Rock vs Stone Cold III
Everyone gave it their all this night. It was a good card from top to bottom with all of the main event matches delivering. Brock "botch of the century" Lesnar's failed shooting star press was talked about for a long time but he still won the title. Mr McMahon vs Hogan was a good match considering the age of both men. It involved tables, ladders, chairs, pipes, it was a good street fight. Triple H vs Booker T was a solid match, nothing too special but solid. Obviously Rock vs Steve was fantastic and got Austin more over than ever before despite losing. All the undercard matches delivered and it was a good WrestleMania.

3. WrestleMania X8
Possibly the most anticipated match after Hulk vs Andre. It was Hollywood Hulk Hogan vs The Rock. Two icons collided and Hulk was a heel. But guess what, the fans cheered him. There was so much emotion in this match and the match was great too. You had another feel good moment when Triple H defeated Chris Jericho for the undisputed title after returning from a career ending injury. Edge gained his first singles victory at WrestleMania by defeating Booker T. Stone Cold wrestled his last WrestleMania as a fully active wrestler against Scott Hall. While the match wasnt so good, it feature Stone Cold so it didn't matter. Of course The Undertaker battled Ric Flair which featured Arn Anderson spinebuster taker which gained possibly the biggest pop of the night. The match was a good bloody brawl which saw Taker gain another WM victory.


2. WrestleMania X-Seven
Theres no need to tell why this WM was so good. Everyone was on their A game tonight. Stone Cold and The Rock were both in their primes and wrestled a 30 minute match which saw Steve align with Vince McMahon turning heel. Triple H and The Undertaker put on a great match all over the arena. Little did fans know ten years later they would collide again. Of course Chris Benoit vs Kurt Angle was fantastic. And them there was the TLC match. The hell that the men put themselves through was insane. Edge spearing Jeff Hardy off a ladder is one of the most famous moments in history. Also Matt and Bubba going through four tables. Christian getting destroyed everywhere. This match was just so risky that it captivated everyone.


1. WrestleMania XX
Every match on this card was good. Even Brock vs Goldberg. It started off slow but once it got going it wasn't bad. But when Stone Cold stunned them both out of WWE, it made up for everything. Chris Benoit vs Triple H vs Shawn Michaels remains one of the best WM matches in history. Undertaker vs Kane sucked but just the presence of The Undertaker returning as the deadman made it worth while. Eddie Guerrero cheating to beat Kurt Angle was priceless and the match was great too. Chris Jericho vs Christian was an amazing match. Its under appreciated, it went 15 minutes of back and forth action. Molly Holly got her head shaved, the cruiserweights put on a good series of matches, both of the four team tag matches had good action. Randy Orton made himself legit when he along with Ric Flair and Batista defeated The Rock and Mick Foley when Orton pinned Foley. And of course the end where Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero stood in the ring with the WWE championship and World Heavyweight Championship crying and hugging remains as the most heartfelt moment in history. The fact that their both gone makes it more special in a sad way.

 

[Fuji Vice]

5. WrestleMania IV
a tournament to crown the WWF champion. It featured some great matches. Randy winning the title was a feel good moment and all the tournament matches were at least ok. In addition there was a tag title match and a battle royal. It was a solid WrestleMania with a bunch of good matches and the era of The Macho Man began.

I have only one question. How can you include this as one of the best without having seen it?

I've seen every WM except 4, 6, 7, 8, 9

 

[Sabretooth]

I have only one question. How can you include this as one of the best without having seen it?

Highlights

 

[Fuji Vice]

Highlights

Ok then can you tell me how from highlights you got that all the tournament matches were at least ok when several of them completely blew?

Duggan/DiBiase, Gang/Bigelow, Gang/Savage, Muraco/Bravo were all well below average matches. Roberts/Rude was decent but it was a draw and 9 minutes of it was spent in a chinlock.

 

[Postman Dave]

I'm sorry, but you can't say out of 27 shows one you've only seen highlights of is one of the best. I've seen bits and pieces of other shows but no way would I actually rate them above ones I've seen in full.

 

[Sabretooth]

Ok then can you tell me how from highlights you got that all the tournament matches were at least ok when several of them completely blew?

Duggan/DiBiase, Gang/Bigelow, Gang/Savage, Muraco/Bravo were all well below average matches. Roberts/Rude was decent but it was a draw and 9 minutes of it was spent in a chinlock.

Alright you've got some points I changed it to 21

 

[Lover Boy]

I was just thinking about how many WM I have actually seen, I haven't seen that many. WM 19 and onwards really.

 

[Sabretooth]

I was just thinking about how many WM I have actually seen, I haven't seen that many. WM 19 and onwards really.

Watch X

 

[Lover Boy]

I'm not really much of a fan of old wrestling. I have a different views to most fans on wrestling. Most people want to classic wrestling but I want to really want to see the "rebranded" sports entertainment. I like to be entertained with promos and segments which I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) old wrestling didn't have that much of.

 

[Sabretooth]

I'm not really much of a fan of old wrestling. I have a different views to most fans on wrestling. Most people want to classic wrestling but I want to really want to see the "rebranded" sports entertainment. I like to be entertained with promos and segments which I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) old wrestling didn't have that much of.

Randy Macho Man Savage vs Ricky The Dragon Steamboat from WrestleMania III