My 10 Favourite WrestleMania Matches Ever

It's me again! I remembered we have this website and I'm going to actually write on it! (Don't look back at this post in three months.)

Anyway, it's WrestleMania weekend and despite the world being awful and WWE being not much better, it's still exciting time if you enjoy people in spandex pretending to fight.

Whether I like it or not, WWF/WWE has been a big part of my life and there are a lot of WrestleMania matches that have meant something to me. Here are ten.

Before I start, let me say that these are NOT the ten best matches in WrestleMania history or the ten most important or most entertaining or anything. These are ten matches that I personally enjoyed the most at the time they took place. And that last part is important. Most of the things I liked as a ten year old probably sucked, but I liked them at the time, and that's what this list is. Anyway, here we go!

Macho Man Randy Savage vs Crush:
Fallls Count Anywhere
WrestleMania X 

Look, okay, remember that I said this is the matches I enjoyed the most at the time, and I really enjoyed this one at the time. Randy Savage is one of my favourite wrestlers ever and I was honestly a fan of Crush as well. 

You add to the fact that this was probably the first time I saw a Falls Count Anywhere match, and I was enthralled. It's definitely not "hardcore" by any stretch of the imagination, but it was cool to see something different and I stand by liking it. 

TLC II
The Hardy Boyz vs the Dudley Boyz vs Edge & Christian 
WrestleMania X7

This was the biggest spectacle at the greatest WrestleMania of all time. The Hardyz, Dudleyz and Edge & Christian were great teams and they went absolutely all out for this match. Add to the fact that Lita, Rhyno, and Spike all got involved and it's both a car crash and a classic at the same time. 

Shawn Michaels vs Kurt Angle
WrestleMania 21

Another match between two of my all-time favourite wrestlers. These guys put on an amazing match. That's it. That's the recap. It's an amazing match. Watch it. It's right above. 

Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns (vs Seth Rollins)
WrestleMania 31

A lot of people say that Rollins' Money in the Bank cash-in "saved" this match, but I disagree. It saved the crowd reaction, but the match itself was a great match even before Rollins got involved. His cash-in just made it even more memorable.

Boneyard Match
The Undertaker vs AJ Styles
WrestleMania 36

This was the perfect way to use the Undertaker in 2020. Not only was he old and broken down, but the lack of fans in the building would have made a standard match between these two almost unbearable. By doing a cinematic match, they could tell a great story and end the Undertaker's WrestleMania career with a really cool moment. 

As an aside, I almost put the Firefly Funhouse match from the same show on this list, but decided against it. 

Ladder Match
Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon
WrestleMania X

If the Crush/Savage match mentioned above was my first intro to "hardcore", this match kicked that door wide open. It's tame by today's standards, but it absolutely blew my mind at the time. 

Also, this is the second match from WrestleMania X that I've put on this list and I almost included Bret vs Owen as well. That was a great show. 

Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage
WrestleMania 5

Everything about this was perfect. The long-term story was excellent, the intensity was high, and the match itself was great. It wasn't a "typical" WWF/Hulk Hogan match either. It seemed much more aggressive and you truly believed these guys hated each other (and maybe they really did, I'm not sure how their relationship was going at this time). 

Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker
WrestleMania XXVI

Either of the two matches these guys had at WrestleMania could easily be on this list. I went with this one because it was the end of Shawn Michaels' legendary career (let's just forget about the Saudi Arabia match, please) and the build up to it was incredible. The match itself was excellent as well. 

Submission Match
Bret Hart vs Steve Austin
WrestleMania 13

The Bret Hart/Steve Austin feud is probably my favourite feud ever. These guys are both amazing here. The story they told was incredible and the double turn was an iconic moment in WWF history. 

Kofi Kingston vs Daniel Bryan
WrestleMania 35

Kofi Kingston winning the WWE Championship may be my favourite WrestleMania moment ever. The story between Kofi and the New Day and the build to the match was incredible. Daniel Bryan played his role perfectly here as well. It was an excellent call back and role reversal as well. This time he was the champion facing the guy who felt like he was being held down. This time he wanted to stop the man who scratched and clawed to get to the main event against all odds. It was perfect. 

And there you have it! What do you think? What are some of your favourite WrestleMania matches? 

Oh Yeah, WrestleMania is this Weekend!

 

I know what you're thinking "Why would I want to read a WrestleMania preview from someone who has barely seen any WWE shows in the last year?" Well, first of all, great point. Seriously. Good critical thinking. However, before you close this post and move on with your life, let me mention that there are A LOT of people who are in the same position. Along with the Royal Rumble (which I did watch), WrestleMania brings back a lot of lapsed fans each year. Since that's true (and I'm basing this argument almost entirely on speculation and anecdotal evidence, so you know it's true), doesn't it make sense to read a preview from someone who's in the same situation as the average WrestleMania viewer?

Yeah, see, it makes sense! So keep reading!

Anyway, enough justification. If WWE doesn't need to use logic in their storylines, I don't need a logical reason for writing this post. I've seen some YouTube clips, that's enough to catch me up! Here we go.

Night One

WWE Championship
Bobby Lashley (c) (with MVP) vs. Drew McIntyre

Let me start by saying that WWE did a great job with the way Lashley won the title. It really felt like a big deal, which is how someone winning their first WWE title should feel. But then... sigh... they broke up the Hurt Business...!? That seems like an insane decision to me. Maybe it's a swerve and they'll reunite to screw McIntyre out of the title? Maybe, but I feel like the point of this match is to give Drew McIntyre the title win in front of a crowd that he didn't get last year. 

Oh yeah, there's going to be fans. That's weird. 

Bad Bunny and Damian Priest vs. The Miz and John Morrison

I'm supposed to know who Bad Bunny is, right? Look, I'm an old man. I have no clue. Anyway, apparently he's done a great job both on TV and backstage, so I feel like he'll win here. 

WWE Raw Tag Team Championship
The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) (c) vs. AJ Styles and Omos

It really seems like this match was just thrown together so that AJ Styles could become a Grand Slam Champion, so my guess is that's what happens.

Steel Cage Match
Braun Strowman vs. Shane McMahon

For the love of God, please don't have Shane McMahon win and keep this going any longer. 

Anyone remember when Strowman was really over and he should have won the WWE title from Lesnar? No? Just me? Okay.

Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins

It would be nice to see Cesaro win here, but it's also just nice seeing him in a relatively high profile singles match, so anything else is just a bonus. Rollins probably wins because some heels need to win on this show.

Tag Team Turmoil Match
Winners receive a WWE Women's Tag Team Championship match on Night 2
Lana and Naomi vs. Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose vs. The Riott Squad (Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott) vs. Natalya and Tamina

I honestly have no idea. Maybe the Riott Squad?

WWE SmackDown Women's Championship
Sasha Banks (c) vs. Bianca Belair 

This is an interesting choice to headline the first night, but that doesn't mean it's a bad one. Both wrestlers deserve it and it's going to be a great match. There's no doubting that.

They're both very talented and very over and Bianca won the Rumble, so it makes a lot of sense to have them headline night one. However, on the other hand, the build has been really weak. They did the "rivals become tag partners/can they coexist?" angle with them, didn't they? That only works when Mick Foley is involved. The storyline could have been so much better.

I guess the build has been weak for most of the matches though. Sasha Banks remains awesome and Bianca Belair is definitely a future star, so it works. I'm looking forward to it. It should be a really good match and my guess is Belair wins. She deserves it and it's a great way to send the fans happy on night one. Having fans again is going to be weird.

Night Two

For the record, I like WrestleMania as two nights and wish it would stay that way. It's much better than having the crowd collapse before the main event of a seven-hour show.

WWE Raw Women's Championship
Asuka (c) vs. Rhea Ripley

I hope Rhea Ripley wins. She's great and she deserves it, especially after her nonsensical loss to Charlotte at last year's WrestleMania. I know Asuka has routinely been screwed as well, but Ripley's my pick.

The Fiend (with Alexa Bliss) vs. Randy Orton

This is just, like, a regular match? No wacky stipulation? No flames or anything? Odd. 

My guess is.... the Fiend? As long as they don't have any weird projections on the ring during the match, it should be fine. 

Nigerian Drum Fight for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
Big E (c) vs. Apollo Crews

What the hell is a "Nigerian Drum Fight?" I guess Apollo Crews wins it because it's his stipulation? No clue, honestly.

Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn (with Logan Paul)

Probably Kevin Owens, but I really don't know. Isn't this a great preview?

WWE United States Championship
Riddle (c) vs. Sheamus

Calling him just "Riddle" is still so, so stupid, but I feel like he'll win.

WWE Women's Tag Team Championship
Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler (c) (with Reginald) vs. Tag Team Turmoil winners

Again, no idea, sorry. Keep reading. 

Triple Threat match for the WWE Universal Championship
Roman Reigns (c) (with Paul Heyman) vs. Edge vs. Daniel Bryan

I always thought that Edge facing Roman was odd. Roman has had an awesome bad ass heel run and he should be beaten by a younger face who is ready to get a big push, but WWE doesn't do that anymore. I guess Edge beating him would have been a redemption story, but it still never really made sense to me. Adding Daniel Bryan makes more sense, since he's always super over, but it remains kind of odd. 

This is a tough match to pick, but I guess Bryan wins. WWE likes to send fans home happy and ending WrestleMania with the crowd chanting "YES!" will be a good image following a year without fans. Edge's return has been kind of underwhelming thus far, but maybe losing here will cause him to go on a really good heel rung himself.

And, speaking of the fans cheering, I really hope they don't cheer Roman Reigns. He's finally being the excellent heel that we all wanted him to be, so give him the respect of booing him. 

There have been a lot of awful things about the pandemic, but not having live crowd reactions allowed Roman Reigns to truly be a heel. If there were actual fans in the buildings, Reigns would have been cheered as soon as he started acting heelish with Heyman and it would have ruined everything. So boo him or Vince is going to get sick of fans entirely and just control the reactions himself until he dies. 

To be fair, crowd reactions are probably another reason Bryan was added to the match. It will increase the chances of Roman being booed since Bryan is such a big face.

But, honestly, just boo Roman Reigns. You booed him for years so you know how to do it. Just do it.

Enjoy the show! 

The 5th Annual Wrestling Shame Hall of Shame

Folks, once again it's time for the ceremony for the Wrestling Shame Hall of Shame! Can you believe it's been a year since our last induction ceremony??? 

*thinks about the previous year* Dear god.

Anyway, we are doing things a little differently this year. We have just ONE inductee to the hallowed, shameful hall.

One terrible, awful, disgusting human being.

A person we've discussed before.

A person we are inducting only to THROW HIM OUT of the Hall of Shame.  

Folks...

This year's sole inductee -- and first person to be kicked-out of the Hall of Shame -- is Donald Trump.

Why?

Well -- below are a few small reasons why.

Shameful Entrance Music: Donald's Trump's Theme

Dear lord. When you want to rip-off "Money" by the O'Jays (which is a god damn amazing song) but you don't wanna clear the rights to the song. 

It's fucking terrible, cheap, and awful to listen to -- and the song is bad too.

Shameful Promo: Hulk Hogan Before Wrestlemania V

Now hold on, you might be saying -- that's Hulk Hogan, not Donald Trump! And you're right. But this promo of Hogan mentions Donald Trump and is awful.

A little background: one of the best programs the WWE ever booked was the rise and fall of the Mega Powers of Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage.  It was a masterclass in how to present a long-narrative story-line that, I argue, you don't really see much in pro wrestling anymore. And there's a personal connection for me: the Mega Powers formed in Hershey PA and then had their big show-down in Atlantic City, NJ -- places where I either lived or spent a lot of time in. 

But Hogan's promo here promotes this idea of Donald Trump being concerned with Atlantic City and the potential danger that the implosion of the Mega Powers might have on the New Jersey city. The man who bankrupted casinos, ruined the Boardwalk of the city, and defaulted on so many businesses in the town? Yeah, I'm sure Trump has so much concern. 

Shameful Contract Signing and Booking: Battle of the Billionaires

I could probably do an entire post of this alone. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this, this was the build-up to Wrestlemania 21 where Donald Trump and Vince McMahon -- two real life friends who collaborated together for Wrestlemania IV and V -- bet their hair through their proxies Bobby Lashley and Umga. Like many wrestling feuds, this began rather stupidly and just kept getting dumber. But I feel the stupidity reached an apex of sorts in the contract signing for the match. Among the stupid things:

-While I loathe Vince McMahon, I feel bad for him here in that he's trying really hard to carry this segment, and that segment is just piss poor. It's like when you see a group project and there's that one student trying really hard to make it work when the other students haven't done shit.

-Trump's responses here are, surprise, barely coherent. His timing is terrible, and he repeats every phrase at least twice. 

-This is also the height of the worst Stone Cold persona era, the damn "What?" stuff that was honestly the worst thing in pro wrestling for years (aside from the unfair labor practices of wrestling itself).

But as we've pointed out before, the symbolism of two men of color fighting on behalf of two racist, reactionary wealthy men cannot be ignored. The whole match and narrative surrounding that match becomes a sort of Plantation Myth fantasy that is also a harbinger for the Trump presidency. It deserves scorn not only as one of the worst programs in WWE history, but also one of the most problematic high-profile pop culture moments of the last two decades.

Worst Wrestling Botch / Move: Trump Being Stunned by Stone Cold

I've been watching wrestling for a long time and this is, honestly, the worst I've ever seen anyone take a wrestling move, let alone a finisher. To be fair, according to Austin, Trump didn't know what a Stunner was and is not a trained wrestler, but...lord, it's like a toddler tripping over some playground equipment.

No, I am not equating toddlers with Donald Trump -- that's unfair to toddlers.

Most Shameful Segment: The Money Drop

Ah, the money drop segment. In short, as Vince McMahon berates the fans, Trump appears on the giant in-arena television and decides to "give the fans what they want" and thousand of fake and real dollar bills drop from the ceiling of the arena. To me, I read this moment as the WWE mythologizing the notion of the benevolent Captain of Industry who happily engages in philanthropy; it's also not off-base to see this segment as something of a visual representation of literal trickle-down economics.

Most Shameful Everything: Donald Trump

We are fans of a performance art that is problematic for a lot of reasons: unfair labor practices, dangerous working conditions, gender and racial bias. But more than anything, wrestling sometimes reveals the worst of who we are. It reveals and refracts our biases and fears and hatreds. And at times, wrestling confronts that. But on the whole, the history of that happening in wrestling is rare. 

Rick and I are of course very aware of this. 

And then came Trump.

We've written about Trump before. A lot actually.  And I will rehash a lot of my thoughts from those pieces. When Donald Trump was first running for office, clips like the one above made a lot of rounds, connecting his experiences in the WWE with his campaign. And the tone of these pieces was, at times, tongue-in-cheek. But what we saw for four years was a man who -- whatever actually happened in the White House -- treated the presidency like a cheap-heat promo. There was never a moment that he wouldn't put himself over. There was never a point he didn't play to his audience. There was never a point he didn't treat one of the most important offices in the world as a wrestling event. 

Wrestling is not real. But wrestling is real. People get hurt. The barbed wire in matches is real. Wrestlers suffer through pain and psychological trauma for years. Many die too young. But what has happened in the past five years to us -- to all of us -- is suffering. We were placed in danger by a man who thinks of himself as a wrestler. A morally bankrupt, racist, homophobic, misogynist con man. A man who encouraged white supremacists. A man who operated the most corrupt administration in American history. A man who made many of my friends and community members afraid for their safety. A man who worsened a pandemic. A man who openly encouraged an insurrection among his "marks" and cheered as they sought to lynch members of Congress.    

For all these reasons, Donald Trump deserves to be in the Hall of Shame.

And for all these reasons, we do not want him in here.

Be safe all.

Congratulations to the March Macho Madness Champion!

 

The tournament is over! The winner has been crowned! After a somewhat unexpected run to the final, the red cape look was defeated by what could have been considered a pre-tournament favourite. 

Congratulations to this sequins, tassels, and cowboy hat look! It took just over 69% of the vote (nice!) to win the tournament. Also, thanks to everyone who voted.