Microstatistics Posted March 12, 2017 Report Share Posted March 12, 2017 With Wrestlemania 33 fast approaching, what is your pick for greatest match in Wrestlemania history? I am going to go with Bret vs. Owen WM 10 as my #1 Followed by Bret vs. Austin WM 13, Shawn vs. Taker WM 26, Bryan vs. HHH WM 30 and Brock vs. Roman WM 31 as rest of the Top 5 (in that order) Some other really good/great matches I can think of - Eddie vs. Angle WM 20, Shawn vs. Cena WM 23, MITB I, Edge vs. Foley WM 22, Austin vs. Rock WM 17 etc. Also what is the worst WM match ever? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverwidow Posted March 12, 2017 Report Share Posted March 12, 2017 Hart/Austin still my pick after 20 years. It's just so violent, heated, & intense with a beautifully executed story. Michaels/Undertaker WM 25 is an epic and a clear #2 for me. Those two stand out more than any others as the best WWE matches I've seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianB Posted March 12, 2017 Report Share Posted March 12, 2017 Austin/Bret is my #1 Worst? Maybe Bret vs. Vince, Lawler vs. Cole, or Taker vs. Bossman...that and the Taker vs. Gonzalez travesty are neck and neck in terms of awful. If you count the builds....I'd go Bret vs. Vince, though there's an argument for all 4 even with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childs Posted March 12, 2017 Report Share Posted March 12, 2017 Taker-Shane was really terrible given the time wasted on it and its position as the "real" main event. Last year's show was an abomination in general. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordi Posted March 12, 2017 Report Share Posted March 12, 2017 Bret vs Austin, Savage vs Steamboat, Bret vs Owen, and Bret vs Piper are all among my favourite US matches of all time. Benoit's big win and the celebration with Eddie, and Bryan's big win and the crowd going mental with the "YES!" chants were both utterly tremendous in the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parties Posted March 12, 2017 Report Share Posted March 12, 2017 If you're OK with the finish, it really could be Brock-Reigns. Just a juggernaut, fifteen-minute war. I haven't seen Bret-Austin in years, but that would have been my pick then. It's maybe the best balance of match quality and historic moment in WWE history. Though people have rightly acknowledged since that the ace role wasn't really passed onto Austin for another year after that, so YMMV, but I quite like the subsequent dynamic of Canadian Stampede, and Austin feuding with the Harts, Taker, and DX simultaneously. Not the best, but a somewhat underrated one: Rockers vs. Faces of Fear at VII. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted March 12, 2017 Report Share Posted March 12, 2017 Bret-Austin is head & shoulders above the pack for the first 10-15 years. After that Rock-Austin 17 (although 15 and 19 are both very underrated), the Michaels-Taker series, Bryan-HHH and Reigns-Lesnar are the standouts in my book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidebottom Posted March 12, 2017 Report Share Posted March 12, 2017 Apart from the obvious answers, I've always had a oft spot for Vince vs Hulk at 19. Significant opponents, it felt big, very animated match, Piper return out of left field. Just a really fun spectacle all round. Even the finger up on the stretcher job - it was fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted March 12, 2017 Report Share Posted March 12, 2017 My top three, in order, would be the submission match, Bret/Owen, and WM17 Rock/Austin. To look at it from a different angle, I decided to put together an all-time Wrestlemania card with one world title match, one secondary singles title match, one tag team title match, and one women's title match. Opening match-Daniel Bryan vs. HHH, WM30 Women's title-Trish Stratus vs. Mickie James, WM22 Tag titles-British Bulldogs vs. Dream Team, WM2 Secondary singles title-Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat, WM3 Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin, WM13 World title-Eddie Guerrero vs. Kurt Angle, WM20 Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels, WM25 Main event-The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan, WM18 The world title match was the toughest call. I love the main body of Lesnar/Reigns, but the Rollins cash-in sours me on the whole match. As for worst match, Taker/Shane's interminable length puts it over the top. All the other terrible matches named at least had the decency to be over in less than 15 minutes. Taker/Shane was thirty fucking minutes long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted March 12, 2017 Report Share Posted March 12, 2017 I don't know that I can pick one, but I do have a list of my favorites: Warrior vs Hogan WM6 Warrior vs Savage WM 7 Bret vs Owen WM 10 Bret vs Austin WM 13 Austin vs Rock WM 17 Flair vs Taker WM 18 Hogan vs Rock WM 18 Sting vs HHH Bryan vs HHH McMahon vs Hogan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted March 12, 2017 Report Share Posted March 12, 2017 Big Show vs Mayweather might be the single greatest Mania performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrzfn Posted March 12, 2017 Report Share Posted March 12, 2017 Owen/Bret, Austin/Bret, TLC at 17, Hogan/McMahon, Benoit/HBK/HHH, Taker/Edge, Taker/HBK at 25 would probably top my list. I think I'd go with Austin/Bret or the XX triple threat as my first. As for worst, it's probably not objectively worst but there are few matches that I'd hate to have to rewatch more than Taker/HHH at 27. Perhaps the most contrived drama ever. Taker/Shane and Ambrose/Lesnar would be close though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Enthusiast Posted March 13, 2017 Report Share Posted March 13, 2017 Austin/Bret and Warrior/Hogan are my picks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted March 13, 2017 Report Share Posted March 13, 2017 I'm changing my answer decisively to Hogan/Rock after just watching it again. What a perfect blend of 80s and late 90s WWF main event styles, with the hottest crowd you could possibly ever ask for, in an battle between the two biggest icons of their eras. Like if there is one match that really defines the concept of WM, it might be this. Shit is MAGICAL. They literally could have done nothing but headlocks, shoulder blocks, and tests of strength had had the most incredible reactions. Yet this is a match where you have Hogan doing chokeslams and Rock Bottoms, letting a dude kick out of the leg drop at WM, fans losing their fucking minds for Hogan (heel) low blowing Rock (face), and what might be the single greatest crowd of any match in company history. WM isn't and has never been about workrate. Arguably until the past few years, WWE's main event in general has never been. The Showcase of the Immortals tagline has never been more true than during this match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap Posted March 13, 2017 Report Share Posted March 13, 2017 Roughly my list would look like this. 1. Austin/Hart 2. HHH/Bryan 3. Owen/Bret 4. Savage/Warrior 5. Savage/Steamboat 6. Brock/Reigns 7. Punk/Taker 8. Taker/HBK 26 9. Taker/HBK 25 10. Cena/HBK The top 5 of that I feel pretty comfortable with. The bottom 5 are a bit tighter, maybe more in flux. I actually haven't watched Rock/Hogan since the night of, but have been meaning to. The Austin/Rock matches don't hold up as well to me. I watched them again in the last few months and just didn't love them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted March 13, 2017 Report Share Posted March 13, 2017 Roughly my list would look like this. 1. Austin/Hart 2. HHH/Bryan 3. Owen/Bret 4. Savage/Warrior 5. Savage/Steamboat 6. Brock/Reigns 7. Punk/Taker 8. Taker/HBK 26 9. Taker/HBK 25 10. Cena/HBK The top 5 of that I feel pretty comfortable with. The bottom 5 are a bit tighter, maybe more in flux. I actually haven't watched Rock/Hogan since the night of, but have been meaning to. The Austin/Rock matches don't hold up as well to me. I watched them again in the last few months and just didn't love them. WM 15 and 19 don't, but 17 is still a masterpiece, imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted March 13, 2017 Report Share Posted March 13, 2017 Rock/Hogan has to be seen with promo package and all. The hype video going straight to Hogan's nWo entrance is smooth and fucking amazing. The crowd inverting the heel/face dynamics for this single match and both performers playing into it on the spot was also very, very good. However, my personal favorite is Roman/Lesnar. It was the match that turned Reigns around for me, and made me look deeper into his body of work, while at the same time being eager for the matches he would have down the road. As for Lesnar, he managed to play this juggernaut and he fucking made that hope spot work so damn well, with drool coming out of his mouth and being instantly bloodied. Amazing shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted March 13, 2017 Report Share Posted March 13, 2017 With Wrestlemania 33 fast approaching, what is your pick for greatest match in Wrestlemania history? I love "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan Vs. The Rock because of how surreal it was hearing that crowd. The work of the match wasn't great but the emotion and drama was off-the-charts. The crowd and nostalgia totally made that match. I genuinely teared up when watching it live when Hogan hulked up. It was like the culmination of all of my years of watching pro-wrestling to that point. Starting with Hogan in the 80's in WWF. Switched to Hogan as a bad guy in WCW in the 90's. Then we got that match with that crowd. It was just awesome. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin Vs. Bret "Hitman" Hart in a Submission match, of course. I always forget that Ken Shamrock is the referee of that match too. The Wrestlemania X Intercontinental Ladder Match between Shawn Michaels & Razor Ramon definitely deserves a mention. So does the Wrestlemania X-Seven TLC match with Dudley Boys, Hardy Boys & Edge/Christian. I honestly don't feel like Savage/Steamboat holds up that well and George Steele actually takes away from the match to me. I also never liked Bret/Owen and found it boring but I need to rewatch it, for sure. See it with my eyes of today. Also, honorable mention to Tito Santana Vs. The Barbarian from Wrestlemania VI. Not a great match but The Barbarian takes Tito's head off with that top rope clothesline! There's also a match between Akeem/Big Boss Man Vs. The Rockers where Akeem kills Shawn Michaels with a clothesline. Good stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap Posted March 13, 2017 Report Share Posted March 13, 2017 Just rewatched Hogan/Rock and it is pretty great. I don't think it cracks my top 10, but it is close just based on the drama they are able to create, harnessing the energy from the crowd. That really was a special match in a lot of ways and one of my favorite Rock performances. I also rewatched Flair/Taker from that same card and that was a deceptively fun little match. I didn't remember liking it all that match, but this time around I thought it was put together quite well. I also looked back and I actually must not have watched 17 recently (don't have a rating for it - its the only way I can keep things straight in my mind sometimes). I must have lumped it in with the other two in my memory after going back and watching them. I'll have to add that to the list soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeg Posted March 13, 2017 Report Share Posted March 13, 2017 Something like- 1- Bret vs Austin 2- Bryan vs HHH 3- Austin vs Rock 17 4- Rock vs Hogan 5- Savage vs Steamboat 6- Bret vs Owen 7- Savage vs Warrior 8- Brock vs Reigns 9- Taker vs Shawn 25 10- Shawn vs Angle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Lacelle Posted March 13, 2017 Report Share Posted March 13, 2017 Austin vs Bret has a case for the best WWE match, not just limited to Mania. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Microstatistics Posted March 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2017 Just rewatched Hogan/Rock and it is pretty great. I don't think it cracks my top 10, but it is close just based on the drama they are able to create, harnessing the energy from the crowd. That really was a special match in a lot of ways and one of my favorite Rock performances. I agree. Big, dramatic, clash of the titans style match with a superb crowd. I usually dislike Hogan but he was pretty good here and the Rock gave an excellent performance. They adapted pretty expertly (almost shockingly so) to the crowd flipping the face-heel dynamic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrzfn Posted March 13, 2017 Report Share Posted March 13, 2017 I don't like Hogan/Rock as much as some, but it's definitely one of my favorite Hogan singles matches. I can only think of a few guys I liked him better against one on one. Bockwinkel, Orndorff, maybe that one Muta match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Microstatistics Posted March 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2017 I don't like Hogan/Rock as much as some, but it's definitely one of my favorite Hogan singles matches. I can only think of a few guys I liked him better against one on one. Bockwinkel, Orndorff, maybe that one Muta match. I think it is the best match Hogan ever had against someone who wasn't a super worker (Fujinami, Tenryu, Bockwinkel). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted March 13, 2017 Report Share Posted March 13, 2017 Just rewatched Hogan/Rock and it is pretty great. I don't think it cracks my top 10, but it is close just based on the drama they are able to create, harnessing the energy from the crowd. That really was a special match in a lot of ways and one of my favorite Rock performances. I agree. Big, dramatic, clash of the titans style match with a superb crowd. I usually dislike Hogan but he was pretty good here and the Rock gave an excellent performance. They adapted pretty expertly (almost shockingly so) to the crowd flipping the face-heel dynamic. I don't think they were really adapting. It was pretty clear fans were going to pick Hogan over Rock during that match, and Rock's promo earlier in the event was a heel promo at Hulk and his fans. The match was certainly laid out in a way that they were expecting the fans to be cheering for Hogan over Rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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