Greatest and worst wrestlemania matches.

Itssoeasy

I've checked and there have been threads about this before but ten years ago and didn't want to revive an old thread.

So seeing as it's wrestlemania season I decided to start a new one.

There have been some utter classics matches in not just WWF/WWE history but in pro wrestling history happen at wrestlemania.

Some of my favourites are
Austin vs Bret hart at WM13,
Steamboat vs savage at WM III,
savage and warrior at WM VII,
savage vs flair at WM VIII(although it's not aged that well being honest)
Austin vs rock at WM 17,
Bret vs Owen at WM X,


And the one match that comes to mind straight away for worst match is
Giant Gonzalez vs the undertaker at WM IX. It's a shocker of a match.

Anyway I'm wondering what people's favourite and least favourite wrestlemania matches are.

Lithium93_

Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon in a ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship at Wrestlemania X

TLC Triple Threat @ Wrestlemania 17

Clegg

Goldberg vs Lesnar I was awful relative to expectation. The build up was top notch and the wrestlers were two of the biggest stars in the industry. Both guys were leaving WWE after the.match, clearly couldn't give a damn about it and the crowd shat on them as a result.

gerrybbadd

There's an awful lot of bad matches in fairness!
Warrior vs HHH from 12 pops to mind. The fatal 4 way main event of Mania 2000.
Taker vs Big Boss Man, A HIAC match.
Taker vs Show & Albert.
Hogan vs Yoko at 9.

Lot of great matches too

Bret v Piper, Mania 8 being very good, for a less recent example

paulie21

Favourite: Taker v HBK (WM25)

Worst: Goldberg v Lesnar (WM20)

Necro

Favorites:
Undertaker VS Triple H (the forgotten one at WM17)
Jericho VS HBK (WM 19)
Angle VS HBK (WM 21)
TLC at WM 17


Worst:
Taker (and Nathan Jones) VS Albert & Big Show

gimmick

Worst - Iron man match WM12. It is memorable for 2 reasons. The awful finish, and how awful the entire match was.

Your Face

Best: Savage v Steamboat

Worst: Bam Bam Bigalow v Lawrence Taylor

gerrybbadd

gimmick wrote: »

Worst - Iron man match WM12. It is memorable for 2 reasons. The awful finish, and how awful the entire match was.

I'd respectfully disagree with you.

It's one of my favourite matches. It's pretty slow paced, and likely should have had some falls rather than ending 0-0, heading for sudden death.

beakerjoe

gerrybbadd wrote: »

I'd respectfully disagree with you.

It's one of my favourite matches. It's pretty slow paced, and likely should have had some falls rather than ending 0-0, heading for sudden death.

Im with Gerry here, I loved it. Both men paced the match to a tee, esp the drama in the dying seconds of the original 60 minutes was superb.

The sudden death was a great twist at the time and the over all story telling from minute 1 to 60+ was excellent. Both men trying to out do each other. Bret had it won in the original 60 but time elapsed and Michaels went on, which set the stage for a potential re match with both looking strong. Love it

My own personal fav. Shawn Michaels v chris Jericho, WM19. Just perfect.

bobby_says_hi

Agreed about Michaels vs Jericho. I think Jericho says to this day it's still his favourite.

Kurt Angle vs Brock Lesnar from XIX too was always a great one. Even more impressive considering Kurt was wrestling with a broken neck.

Eddie vs Rey from 21 was one I really enjoy rewatching. Not much of a story behind it but just some great all-round wrestling.

A really terrible one was Vince vs Bret, considering how overbooked it was and it just ran too long.

I'm probably in the minority here but I did not like Triple H vs The Undertaker HIAC at 28. About five minutes too long and the amount of false finishes made it feel like a bad indie match.

J. Marston

Orton vs HHH at Wrestlemania 25 for one of the worst. The build-up was amazing; Randy taking out the McMahons with punts, RKO-ing, DDT-ing and kissing an unconscious Stephanie, HHH's home invasion, McMahons vs Legacy brawl.

But the match was a wet fart. Boring and completely killed the crowd. Considering the build-up, it should've been a vicious no DQ match or something.

Angron

Worst matches:

HHH vs Roman Reigns last year. A giant middle finger to the fans to round off a Wrestlemania that was less a show and more a gruelling endurance contest.
Andre vs Hogan at WM3. There's a reason the slam is the only memorable part of that match. Hogan was never the best wrestler, so no chance he could drag the barely mobile Andre to anything decent.
Bret vs Vince at 26. It should have been short and sweet, with Bret finally getting one over on Vince in short order. They just dragged it out for far too bloody long and it killed the crowd.
Taker vs Gonzalez at WM9. Gonzalez was utter crap, and could barely walk. A level of useless that the Great Khali aspired to.
Lesnar vs Goldberg at 20. Patently obvious neither man gave a ****e at this point.
Jerry Lawler vs Michael Cole at 27. A rubbish feud, and a worse match.

Best:
TLC at WM17
Hogan vs Rock at 18
Shawn vs Jericho at 19
Shawn vs Razor at 10
Austin vs Bret at 13
Daniel Bryan vs Batista vs Orton at 30

gerrybbadd

Who can forget, Lawler vs Cole at Mania XXVII

oneilla

The Mania 12 Iron Man match is certainly a solid candidate for most overrated but it's not the worst - there have been way worse. If you could edit out the long rest holds and keep the cool spots, Bret working over Shawn's back and the final few minutes you'd have a pretty good match.But what's there is there - 60mins without a pinfall and without the tension and drama that 60minute Broadway matches would have usually built to. They tried on commentary to make it out that whomever got the first fall would win the match which just kinda killed the gimmick.

A combination of nostalgia and WWE pushing it as a classic has led to people hating it and/or defending it. I believe people in the audience left during the match before it even finished!

Best matches:
Steamboat v Savage Mania III
Savage v Hogan Mania V
Warrior v Savage Mania VII
Bret v Piper Mania VIII
Savage v Flair Mania VIII
Bret v Owen Mania X
Shawn v Razor Mania X
Shawn v Diesel Mania XI
Bret V Austin Mania 13
Triangle Ladder Mania 2000
Loads from Mania X-Seven
Kurt v Brock Mania XIX
Shawn v Jericho Mania XIX
Kurt v Eddie Mania XX
MITB ladder Mania 21
Kurt v Shawn Mania 21
Cena v Shawn Mania 23
Shawn V Taker Mania 25 and 26
Punk v Taker Mania 29

Standard enough list. Lots of Savage, Bret, Shawn and Kurt. Wrestlemania has had more mediocre to poor matches than it has had great matches.

I think it's worth taking expectation, promotion and placement into account when critiquing the worst.

Using that criteria the following are particularly bad IMO:

Sid v Taker Mania 13
Brock v Goldberg Mania XX
H v Randy Orton Mania 25
Brock v Taker Mania 30
H v Reigns Mania 32


Early Manias were loaded with short matches and lots of mediocre tags too. Some poor booking/card placement decisions too eg.

Mania 2 with it's three different main events.
Mania 4 tournament.
Mania VIII closing with Sid v Hogan.
Mania IX's spontaneous Hogan title match.
Mania X's mini-tournament
Mania XI and the football player.
Mania 18 closing with H v Jericho
Mania XIX promoting Hogan v Vince front as centre as the main event

correction

A couple of my favorites that are less obvious are Lesnar vs Reigns (vs Rollins) from Mania a couple of years ago, I think it blew all expectations out of the water and had a big fight feel. Another is Orton vs Taker, one of my all time favorite feuds and although the match is far from Taker's best at Mania I still really liked it.

sky88

J. Marston wrote: »

Orton vs HHH at Wrestlemania 25 for one of the worst. The build-up was amazing; Randy taking out the McMahons with punts, RKO-ing, DDT-ing and kissing an unconscious Stephanie, HHH's home invasion, McMahons vs Legacy brawl.

But the match was a wet fart. Boring and completely killed the crowd. Considering the build-up, it should've been a vicious no DQ match or something.

it still annoys me that they completly effed hhh/orton up. it was a great feud then they inexplicably put that stipulation on that if hhh was disqualified hed lose the title made absolutely no sense like none. orton beat the crap out of the mans family this should have been a war it didnt even need the title.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Your Face wrote: »

Best: Savage v Steamboat

Worst: Bam Bam Bigalow v Lawrence Taylor

In fairness to Bigalow, he managed to get a very passable match out of Taylor at that Wrestlemania.

DEFTLEFTHAND

I really loved Flair and Michaels at 24 for the story it told. I remember getting emotional watching it.

It was such a fitting end to a wonderful in ring career.

Then he comes back and starts wrestling again the next near. :rolleyes::p

Itssoeasy

I agree that the whole Orton and HHH promotion and feud from WM25 wasn't great, but the fact it went on after the classic that was taker and Shawn certainly didn't help an already poorish build.

Angron

Yeah, there's been a few matches that have suffered from going on last that (in hindsight anyway) shouldn't have. Orton vs HHH, HHH vs Jericho at 18, and Hogan vs Sid at 8 are three that spring to mind. Maybe not the worst matches ever, but there were matches at those shows that deserved the proper main event spot more.

Itssoeasy

Yeah and I agree but then again I'm old school and think that at wrestlemania the WWF/WWE world title should be the main event and the champ should be the last guy out the curtain(hogan forgot that at V)

And the way to stop against the title match being overshadowed is to book the world title as the biggest thing in the company(as it should always be)

ricero

Really enjoyed taker vs hhh hell in a cell. Great story told in the ring.

One of the most disappointing matches for me was Matt v Jeff Hardy

sky88

Angron wrote: »

Yeah, there's been a few matches that have suffered from going on last that (in hindsight anyway) shouldn't have. Orton vs HHH, HHH vs Jericho at 18, and Hogan vs Sid at 8 are three that spring to mind. Maybe not the worst matches ever, but there were matches at those shows that deserved the proper main event spot more.

Orton/hhh hogan/ sid were bad

I do feel jericho/hhh was a really good match but the crowd were just dead after rock and hogan

BalcombeSt4

Favorites:

Bret Hart vs Stone Cold WM 13 Submission Match - Probably my all time favorite WWF match, favorite Stone Cold match and second favorite Bret match

Ricky Steamboat vs Randy Savage WM III for the IC Tittle

The Hartd Foundation & Dangerous Danny Davis vs The British Bulldogs & Tito Santana WM III

Bret Hart vs Roddy Piper WM VIII for the IC Tittle

Flair w/Prefect vs Savage WM VIII for WWF Championship

Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon WM X Ladder match for IC tittle

Shawn Michaels vs Bret Hart WM XII Iron Man match for WWF Championship

The Legion of Doom & Ahmed Johnson vs the Nation of Domination in a Chicago Street Fight WM 13 I didn't really think WM 13 was as bad as people make it out, was a huge improvment from 11 imo.

LOD 2000 w/Sunny eliminate The New Midnight Express w/Jim Cornette in Tag Team Battle Royal WM 14

Kane /wPaul Bearer vs Undertaker WM 14

HBK vs Stone Cold WM 14 for the WWF Championship w/Mike Tyson a Special guest Enforcer.

Stone Cold vs The Rock WM15 for the WWF Championship

Stone Cold vs The Rock WM17 for the WWF Championship




Worst:

The Undertaker vs Giant Gonzalez WM IX

Razor Ramon vs Bob Backlund Wm IX - Just such a flat match. Bob was suppose to be the face but the crowd wanted him to loose for being stuck in the 1770's. Although I did enjoy the Mr. Backlund gimmick a year or so later.

The Ultimate Warrior vs HHH WM XII squash match

Sable vs Tori WM 15 for Womens Tittle - Oh god Sabel was just awful at everything from promos, to wrestling, to no charisma etc..

Shane vs X-Pac for the European Tittle WM 15 - JC made a comment about how it took the Undertaker all his power to beat Shane at the HIAC Taker & Shane had at WM last year & that Shane barely managed to beat tiny X-Pac with help from 7 people.

Your Face

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

In fairness to Bigalow, he managed to get a very passable match out of Taylor at that Wrestlemania.

True, Bam Bam deserves credit for that but it all felt wrong, even for a gimmick match.

briany

Undertaker vs. Bossman in HiaC, WM 15. Glorified squash match that ended with some of the worst taste of the AE when Bossman was hung by his neck from the roof of the cell. People cared about the Bossman so little at this time that the stunt barely provoked any controversy whatsoever. The reaction was more bemused disapproval.

DEFTLEFTHAND

briany wrote: »

Undertaker vs. Bossman in HiaC, WM 15. Glorified squash match that ended with some of the worst taste of the AE when Bossman was hung by his neck from the roof of the cell. People cared about the Bossman so little at this time that the stunt barely provoked any controversy whatsoever. The reaction was more bemused disapproval.

Whatculture were goofing about this recently.

Taker commits a ritualistic murder in front of 20,000 live witnesses.

It truly was a disgusting stunt. Who in god's name wrote it? Would it have been Russo?

briany

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Whatculture were goofing about this recently.

Taker commits a ritualistic murder in front of 20,000 live witnesses.

It truly was a disgusting stunt. Who in god's name wrote it? Would it have been Russo?

Certainly smells of Russo. That said, the angle where Bossman hitches a cable from his car to the coffin of Big Show's kayfabe deceased father and tows it out of the graveyard is another tasteless, possibly Russo-devised, stunt, but which I find hilariously entertaining. Bossman being hung had that uniquely sad combination of not only being tasteless and disgusting but also being part of an angle that no-one gave a sh*t about.

At least it wasn't the worst cell match that Bossman ever participated in. :pac:

Sirsok

Michael Cole v Jerry Lawlor I remember sitting watching it in total astonishment that I stayed up for this stuff

Bret v Vince was quite an uncomfortable watch at 26, I think I was expecting a vince hogan type match from 19

Hhh v orton was a total borefest that let me down so much. After such a great build

Boogeyman v Booker at 22 for some reason I just hated it.

A little hidden gem I enjoyed is Bradshaw v Finley in their Belfast Street fight at 24, was a good fun brawl.....

15 years ago today (well the 18th over here :P ) since Hogan Vs Rock at Mania 18.

Remember being able to stay up for it because I was off school the next day for Paddy's day.

Obviously not the best technical match but the atmosphere was something else and it was just surreal seeing 2 of the biggest superstars ever facing off against each other.

ERG89

Deleted User wrote:

Obviously not the best technical match but the atmosphere was something else and it was just surreal seeing 2 of the biggest superstars ever facing off against each other.

The reaction from the crowd when Hogan kicks out from the Rock Bottom & hulks up is the most animated and loud I ever remember.
Everyone was standing, so many flashing cameras & it was like men turned to children in a good way.