WWE: The 5 Best Intercontinental Title Matches in WrestleMania History

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5. 7-Way Ladder Match – WrestleMania 32

A year earlier at WrestleMania 31, the first ever 7-Way ladder match for the IC title took place. On that night in Santa Clara, Daniel Bryan emerged victorious over Dolph Ziggler, Wade Barrett, Stardust, R-Truth, Luke Harper, and Dean Ambrose. In what turned about to be a terrific match on one of the better Mania’s of the past decade, these seven men went to battle in the opening match and kicked things off in style.

The success of that match spawned a repeat performance at 32 with Ziggler and Stardust once again involved along with Zack Ryder, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Sin Cara, and champion, The Miz. And for how good the WM31 ladder match was, this one was just a bit better.

A lot of these types of matches can easily turn into “spotfests” and there was a little of that going on in Arlington, Texas on this night. However, that took a back seat to the amazing psychology and edge of your seat emotions. Everyone played a great role in this match. Owens and Zayn fueled their vicious rivalry while still trying to capture the gold.

Ziggler’s superkick spots were a terrific throwback to Shawn Michaels’-like ladder matches, Sin Cara’s overall performance may have been the best of the entire night, and Stardust’s moment paying homage to his father, Dusty Rhodes, was a nice touch. And The Miz, say what you want about him, but he carried this match. His heat with the 100,000 plus in attendance propelled this match from good to great.

And to cap it all off, the Zack Ryder win was shocking and heart-warming all at once. For a guy who the company managed to ruin over and over again, he was able to not only get his Wrestlemania moment, but the best overall best moment of his career. Great opener, great ladder match, great IC title bout.