Back when I used to be a huge wrestling fan, who would constantly watch the WWF (or now the WWE) whenever it was on. I still remember furiously trying to finish my homework before Monday Night Raw. However, as great as weekly wrestling was, it was the pay-per-view events that fans always looked forward to the most and none more than Wrestlemania, which was like Christmas come early for wrestling fans like myself.
Nothing beat Wrestlemania, the electricity, the excitement, the energy of it all, and it always featured some of the most anticipated matches. Wrestlemania, simply put, was (and probably still is) the WWE at its best. Here are my picks for the five best Wrestlemanias of all-time.
Wrestlemania 2000
As the first Wrestlemania of the new millennium, Wrestlemania 2000 did not disappoint. For me, as kid, it had two of the biggest matches I can remember and put some of the biggest stars together to fight for their respective title belts. It featured the first ever three-way, tag team ladder match between the Hardy Boyz, the Dudley Boyz, and Edge and Christian for the WWF Tag Team Championship. But the main event was just as awesome. Triple-H successfully defended the WWF Championship in a fatal four way match between him, The Big Show, The Rock, and Mick Foley. To make things even more interesting, each of the four competitors had a McMahon in their corner that night. Stephanie McMahon supported Triple-H, Shane McMahon backed The Big Show, Vince McMahon stood behind The Rock, and Linda McMahon accompanied Mick Foley.
Wrestlemania X
Wrestlemania X brought the WWF (and Wrestlemania) back to Madison Square Garden in a big way, as the WWF Championship had to be defended twice in one night. Both Lex Luger and Brett Hart, who forced a draw in that year’s Royal Rumble by eliminating each other at the same time, were given a shot to win the title against Yokuzanna, but they each had to wrestle in two matches that night in order to make it fair. Luger got disqualified in his match against Yokuzanna, but after losing to his brother, Owen, earlier in the night, Brett Hart came back and beat Yokuzanna to become the WWF Champion.
Wrestlemania XIX
Even though Wrestlemania XIX featured a great WWE Championship match between Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar, the reason why I put it on my top five Wrestlemanias of everyone else you had fighting; Triple-H against Booker T, Shawn Michaels versus Chris Jericho, Hulk Hogan against Vince McMahon, and, of course, The Rock versus Stone Cold Steve Austin. The only downside is that this was Stone Cold’s final match (and it ended up with The Rock beating him).
Wrestlemania X-Seven
Again, we have The Rock versus Stone Cold but this time it’s in a No Disqualification match for the WWF Championship. But that’s not all. Wrestlemania X-Seven also featured the second ever TLC (Tables, Ladders, and Chairs) match between the Dudley Boyz, Hardy Boyz, Edge and Christian. Plus, we had Triple-H versus The Undertaker, and Vince McMahon versus Shane McMahon in a street fight. All those matches, plus the twist at the end of the event, with Stone Cold teaming up with Vince McMahon, make this my personal favorite Wrestlemania.
Wrestlemania III
Wrestlemania III is the greatest Wrestlemania of all-time because it put the WWF on the map. It featured a new record attendance for a WWF event with 93,173 people showing up, making it the largest recorded attendance ever for an in-door sporting event until the 2010 NBA All-Star Game, and several million WWF fans (and estimated eight million) watched the event from home. There were countless memorable matches from Wrestlemania III, but the main event that everyone always does (and always should) talk about is the match between Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan. Hogan ended up winning the match, slamming down Andre the Giant before doing his patented leg drop, and when two wrestlers as legendary as those two meet up, one winner is always guaranteed: the audience.
Photo by Bill Olive/Getty Images
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