WWE: 5 Forgotten WrestleMania Classics Worth Watching

Credit: WWE.com

#2: Batista (c) vs The Undertaker (World Heavyweight Championship Match) – WrestleMania XXIII

Why it’s Underrated: Worst match placement ever.

Both the Animal and the Phenom headed to the ring at Ford Fieldwith a gigantic chip on their shoulder. Despite being two of the biggest names in the company, the SmackDown stars took a backseat to Cena vs Michaels, and McMahon vs Drumpf. Unbelievably, the highly-anticipated dream match between The Undertaker and Batista, for the World Heavyweight Title, was the fourth match of WrestleMania 23.

Why it Shouldn’t Be: Rather than phone it in after learning their spot on the card, Taker and Batista used their anger as motivation, and delivered the match of the night. Their bout was fifteen minutes of non-stop action. It was arguably the best power match in the history of the show, and maybe even the company.

The crowd was solidly behind the Undertaker, hoping to see him win a world title at WrestleMania for the first time in 10 years. They cheered loudly for all of his moves, and booed just as loudly whenever Batista made a comeback. No match on the card came close to matching the bout in terms of crowd heat. Fourth match or not, the Detroit fans were clearly treating this as the main event.

After surviving a devastating running-powerslam through the announce table, the Undertaker defeated Batista with his signature Tombstone Piledriver. Though the Undertaker’s matches with Shawn Michaels a few years later would get more attention, make no mistake: this was the Undertaker’s best WrestleMania performance.