Jake’s Top 10 WrestleMania moments
Wrestlemania. Wrestle bloomin Mania. The show of shows. The showcase of immortals. The biggest wrestling show of the year. I love Wrestlemania. I love the buildup. Every Wrestlemania is always good to excellent. Of course, there are few that are lacklustre in places but they are still good shows. With there being so many incredible moments, it was hard to put it down to just ten but I will try to do just that.
10. John Cena wins his 1st WWE championship- Wrestlemania 21
This was in my eyes the beginning of the rise of John Cena. This was a personal one for me. Of course, I would have been 4 years old when this happened but even when I went back to watch it, it was class. The doctor of thuganomics, coming into the match the underdog and eventually dethroning JBl. Cena is my favourite WWE superstar of all time. To go back and watch his 1st championship victory really is great.
9. Ronda Rousey’s in ring debut- Wrestlemania 34
Everything about this was excellent. The anticipation that was built as she waled down the ramp and the anticipation of waiting for her to enter the ring as she stood on the apron. I will not lie; I was incredibly nervous about Ronda being in the ring. I had seen how excellent she is in the octagon, but could she take to wrestling. She did. Her interactions with Stephanie were great and her interactions with Triple H were even better. She proved there and then she had what it took. She’s of course gone on to be, well… a bit of a dick. However, the debut was incredibly memorable and will forever be a huge WrestleMania moment.
8. Triangle Ladder Match- Wrestlemania 17
This is that match were Edge did that incredible spear to a hanging Jeff Hardy. It is one of the most iconic Wrestlemania moments and it makes a great picture. As well as that moment, the match was incredible and was the blow off to an excellent year long three way feud. This is the match in which Spike Dudley, Rhyno and Lita interfered to add more people and something different to the match. Jeff Hardy also delivered a swanton bomb off the top of a ladder onto everyone. Eventually, Edge and Christian would retain their tag team titles. Excellent match, Excellent moments.
7. The Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels- Wrestlemania 25/26
Is this cheating? The whole feud was excellent. They had one of the best Wrestlemania matches of all time at Wrestlemania 25 maybe even one of the best WWE matches of that decade. Then the whole build up to the rematch at Wrestlemania 26 might be my favourite build up to a Wrestlemania match in recent memory. With Shawn calling out Taker at the slammy awards, trying to win the Rumble to get a title match with Taker and then when that failed, he broke into the Chamber and cost Taker the heavyweight title. Then they proceeded to have another excellent match, maybe just short of the Wrestlemania 25 match and it was a perfect way to finish his great career. We all know what happened 8 years later though.
6. The 1st triple threat ladder match- Wrestlemania 16
This was the one that kickstarted the year long feud. It was a great way to begin and was really a great kickstarter. The spots in this match were the 1st of there kind and nothing in my opinion has really come close since to beating this ladder match in terms of quality and creativity in the spots. I’m begging for a three way feud between three teams one day that can surpass this in terms of complete quality.
5. Charlotte Flair vs Becky Lynch vs Sasha Banks- Wrestlemania 32
This was the beginning of a new era for womens wrestling. From this point onwards, we would no longer see 2 minute matches between Jillian Hall and Kelly Kelly. We would now see 15-minute barnburners between Asuka and Charlotte and that’s just on an episode on Smackdown. This match was also the introduction of a new championship and the end of women being called “Divas”. The match was incredible. Some great spots such as Charlottes corkscrew splash onto the outside and Sasha paying homage to her idol Eddie Guerrero. It was all great and in hindsight putting the belt on Charlotte was the right move as she was the right person to lead the women into a new era.
4. The Rock vs John Cena- Wrestlemania 28
The best thing is to forget the second one ever happened. The first one was great. The build was intense, the trash talk was incredibly entertaining and they threw some great barbs at each other. The match was also really good, two icons of the sport, going through their greatest hits. Eventually, The Rock would take his victory and leave John Cena in despair.
3. The Hardy Boyz return- Wrestlemania 33
I marked the hell out for this. Watching it live in my living room, 2am in the morning and you hear that beat drop. I screamed. Jeff was my hero growing up and to see him back in a WWE ring was just great. Then of course they went onto win the Raw tag team championships. A full circle moment. Loved it.
2. Daniel Bryan wins the WWE championship- Wrestlemania 30
Does much need to be said? One of the best long-term storylines WWE have done. Bryan constantly having to overcome the odds. In one night, he defeated three surefire Hall of Famers to finally win the big one and no longer be a B+ player. Great, emotional stuff.
1. Seth Rollins cashes in Money in the Bank- Wrestlemania 31
I personally don’t understand how there is an argument for this not being the greatest Wrestlemania moment of all time. It was a complete surprise, nobody saw this coming. Brock and Roman were in the middle of a great match when suddenly Seths music goes off and next thing we know this is now a triple threat and he wins his first WWE championship. What a way to end Mania too, with Rollins on the stage lifting the gold.
