Ranking every Wrestlemania

I did this on 606 last year, and it seems a good time to re-post, with WM26 included.

Do you agree or disagree strongly with any of these rankings? Where do you think WM27 is likely to fall on this list?

1st
17: firstly, the match quality was probably higher than on any other WWE PPV ever. secondly, the writing for a whole year leading up to this event had been excellent in general, and everything was over. thirdly, it has massive historical significance, as the end of the attitude era and the end of the monday night wars. i may be in a minority, but i feel that the ending lets the event down, however i still give it the highest recommendation.

2nd
8: the first great wrestlemania, for me. Two excellent title matches, a decent undercard, and one of the best endings in wrestling history.

3rd
20: i loved this event at the time, and it has gained massive significance since. goldberg-lesnar is really interesting to watch, and there is some great wrestling although the undercard does have some slow parts.

4th
19: possibly the most underrated wrestlemania. WWE just created the hottest feuds and matches they possibly could, and the wrestlers did the rest.

5th
14: a personal favourite, although it didn’t have any classic matches. it did however contain a number of good to very good matches, and it had one of the best build ups of any wrestlemanias, as a number of hot feuds reached their culmination.

6th
3: a very enjoyable event, although most of the matches weren't particularly memorable. savage vs steamboat was a classic, and hogan vs andre is a match that every fan should see.

7th
21: historically significant for the elevation of cena and batista, plus the debut of MITB and a phenomenal shawn-angle match. this felt like a new era and was a very enjoyable event.

8th
10: two phenomenal matches, and everything else was ok. for the brilliance of bret-owen and shawn-razor, i have to recommend this one highly. but you can fast forward through the rest.

9th
24: shawn-flair is compulsive viewing for wrestling fans. the rest is good but not great, but an enjoyable event overall.

10th
7: Savage vs warrior was one of the best matches in wrestlemania history, with one of the best angles post-match. there was some other ok stuff on the undercard but a weak main event.

11th
13: the least exciting line-up of all the wrestlemanias, but totally saved by one match. bret-austin is a must-see. the rest isn't great, but interesting as it was the first wrestlemania to show "attitude", and even more interesting given everything that was going on backstage at the time. High recommendation for the submission match, mild recommendation from a historical perspective.

12th
1: great to watch from a historical perspective, but not much good wrestling and a poor card. hogan & mr T vs piper and orndorff was surprisingly good.

13th
23: the build-up was very well booked, and the two big title matches delivered. the rest was decent at best.

14th
25: one of the greatest wrestlemania matches of all time, and two good undercard stuntfests in MITB and jeff-matt, but there was definitely something missing from the main events.

15th
26: a show that failed to live up to expectations, but was still decent. i actually enjoyed part two of taker-michaels more than their first match, and loved the ending. but everything else was a notch below what it could have been.

16th
15: i think this one was very overrated and way too storyline-driven. this was vince russo's wrestlemania more than any other. a very good main event, and the start of triple h's push to the moon, but not much of note otherwise.

17th
22: good but not great. there was some good wrestling but it didn't feel like a supercard. cena vs triple h was very well done, and edge-foley was an exciting swansong for hardcore, but the rest just felt a bit flat.

18th
16: another that i consider overrated. i didn't consider the main event wrestlemania-worthy and i don't now looking back. the tag team title match was amazing, and angle-benoit-jericho was good, but there was just too much gimmickry going on for even those two matches to feel special.

19th
6: this one really drags but there are a few gems. Recommended only for the main event.

20th
5: not fantastic, but it had some decent matches on the undercard. it does drag at times but is worth a look. hogan vs savage was also very well laid out, and the culmination of a great angle.

21st
18: hogan-rock was a fascinating match without being technically great. the rest, for me, just wasn't particularly interesting. WWE was going through something of an identity crisis at the time.

22nd
12: i'm not a fan of this event. it was all about the bret-shawn match, which i don’t consider a classic although it was fundamentally sound. historically, it was an interesting line-up, and there was some decent stuff on the undercard but also the embarrassment of piper-goldust.

23rd
2: not a good wrestlemania, although the undercard was probably stronger than the original.

24th
4: an event that didn't quite click, for me. interesting from a historical perspective, but not from a wrestling perspective.

25th
11: the most boring wrestlemania of all time. the company had no direction and no clue. celebrities couldn't paper over the cracks.

26th
9: awful venue, awful crowd, awful undercard, awful ending. in some ways, an interesting watch, because of the number of new guys coming into the WWF at the time as they went through a transition period. but still, don't watch this event ever.

Interesting list.... Agree with a lot of it to be fair. 8 is my all time favourite due to the star power in WWE at the time. It could of been even better though imagine this....
Hogan Flair
Warrior Taker
Savage Jake
Bret Piper
Michaels Jannety
.... Don't even know where to throw Sid onto the mix

I'd have 11 as worst with 9 2nd worst, worst ending by far

17 is overated but probably top 3 material. Whereas 12, 13 & 14 I consider unrated... Everything since 20 just feels the same

Completely Agree with you saying 19 is underated one of the best Wrestlemanias....Shawn v Jericho, Lesnar v Angle and Rock v Austin biggest stand outs.

I loved WM8, the only downside for me was no Warrior match, could have been better tho

WWF Title - Hogan Flair
Warrior Taker
Savage Jake
IC Title - Bret Piper
Michaels Jannety
Tag Titles - LOD vs Money Inc
Sid vs Slaughter

Looking over this list reminded me of the Edge v foley match at WM 22... it was fantastic and I must say I can't see too many of the current top guys in the WWE being prepared to go through what Edge went through in that match. Could you see Cena doing an AA onto a burning table?

If anyone wants to watch it again https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4w544_wrestlemania-22-edge-vs-mick-foley_sport

is the link for you - a great way to spend 20 or so minutes!

i agree 100% with wrestlemania 17 being top , Rock-Stone Cold best match ever

BrahmaBull - hated the ending to it though, a heel turn in that way never suited Austin's character. It was as though they were trying for an age defining moment like Hogan's nWo moment by pairing Austin with McMahon (anti-Austin) but I just thought it was the wrong way of doing it and while Austin-HHH pairing was interesting it struck be as rather forced. Why would Hunter now accept being number 2?

They could have turned him heel by making him brutalise Rock with a chair or something (meaning he would have been free to make that Mummy film) and not pairing him with McMahon... for a character who was always ostensibly a loner it seemed bizarre.

Or at least after taking the chair from McMahon and winning he should have smacked Vince with it.

I agree Josh, the ending was the one thing that let WM17 down. Even Austin himself has said that he'd have changed the plans there and then if he knew how it would turn out.

JoshSansom wrote:and while Austin-HHH pairing was interesting it struck be as rather forced. Why would Hunter now accept being number 2?

Simple - because Triple H saw a spot for himself as the number 1 babyface in the Rock's absence whilst he filmed The Mummy Returns. They were going to split up the 2 Man Power Trip and the Game-uhh was going to become the all conquering babyface hero who vanquished the evil forces of Austin & McMahon.