With the announcement that all past WrestleMania events are now available free on the WWE Network, we take a look at 10 events you should take the time to watch.
With the continued spread of COVID-19 keeping more people home and WWE having to shift WrestleMania 36 to being a crowd-free event at the WWE Performance Center, they’ve taken another action to try and entice fans to check out the WWE Network. It’s not clear how long things will last, but multiple events and original content will be available free for a limited time.
WWE announced that every single WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, NXT TakeOver, NXT TakeOver UK, and more will all be available for free to anyone who creates an account. It’s important to note that making that account does not require you to sign up for a free trial and provide payment information. If you do provide that information, you’ll get full access to the WWE Network, but will be charged at the end of the trial if you haven’t yet canceled.
It’s a massive amount of content for fans to check out, but considering it’s WrestleMania season, and that this year’s won’t exactly be the usual WrestleMania, fans should definitely take this opportunity to check out some of the past installments. We’ve chosen 10 of the total 35 WrestleMania events to highlight, presented in no particular order. These aren’t necessarily the absolute 10 best, but they all include important matches and highlight over three decades of WrestleMania.
WrestleMania 3 (March 29, 1987 from the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, MI)
To this day, WrestleMania 3 remains one of the most iconic events WWE has ever hosted. The images of the massive crowd in the Pontiac Silverdome are ingrained in the brains of many fans, and even those who are no longer fans.
First of all, it’s important to note that this is far from the best WrestleMania when it comes to in-ring action. Many of the matches are mediocre at best, but a few stand out while this also presents an amazing representation of WWE from this time period.
Throughout the show, we see performances from no less than 25 different WWE Hall of Famers, including Bob Orton, Don Muraco, Mr. Fuji, Bobby Heenan, Hillbilly Jim, Harley Race, The Fabulous Moolah, Junkyard Dog, Brutus Beefcake, Greg Valentine, Roddy Piper, Jimmy Hart, Koko B. Ware, Ricky Steamboat, George Steele, Randy Savage, The Honky Tonk Man, Jake Roberts, The Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, Bret Hart, Jim Neidhart, Tito Santana, Hulk Hogan, and Andre the Giant.
The two key highlights of the show are the WWE Intercontinental Championship Match that saw Randy Savage defend against Ricky Steamboat, which is still seen to this day as one of the greatest matches of all time. The main event was the iconic clash between Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant. While far from either man’s best match, it remains an iconic moment in WWE history that all fans should take the time to see.
WrestleMania 10 (March 20, 1994 from Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY)
Another fairly early installment in WrestleMania history, WrestleMania 10 is easily most remembered for the iconic Ladder Match between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Which, let’s be clear, is absolutely as good as the hype indicates it is.
Michaels and Ramon gave us a truly spectacular match – and one that holds up over 25 years later. Little else is often mentioned about WrestleMania 10, but that’s not because everything else on the show was terrible.
While unfortunately short, we do get a brief WWE Women’s Championship Match between Leilani Kai and Alundra Blayze. We also get some hilarious early 1990s nonsense as they had a Bill Clinton impersonator at the event pretending to be then-President Clinton, who was interviewed briefly and had a short confrontation with Irwin R. Schyster.
There’s also a chaotic Falls Count Anywhere Match between Randy Savage and Crush, with the weird stipulation that after a fall, the competitor has 60 seconds to get back into the ring or their opponent will be declared the winner. There are also performances by veterans like Bam Bam Bigelow, Luna Vachon, Doink the Clown, Yokozuna, and more.
However, the gem that gets most overlooked was the very first match of the night. Everyone talks about Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon, but the wrestling highlight of WrestleMania 10 was a 20-minute clinic between Owen Hart and Bret Hart as the night’s opening contest.
WrestleMania 16 (April 2, 2000 from the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim in Anaheim, CA)
I’ll get to WrestleMania 17 in a moment, widely regarded as potentially the greatest WrestleMania of all time, but WrestleMania 16 is just as worth a watch, albeit for different reasons. The night starts with a 15-minute Hardcore Battle Royal for the Hardcore Championship, which is delightfully chaotic.
We also get the iconic Triangle Ladder Match for the WWE Tag Team Titles that featured Edge and Christian, The Hardy Boyz, and The Dudley Boyz. This epic clash was the precursor to the creation of Tables, Ladders, and Chairs, which has gone from an occasional match to an entire themed pay-per-view event.
Chyna teamed with Too Cool to take on The Radicalz. While not exactly an instant classic, it’s a great short glimpse of Chyna, early Eddie Guerrero, and a few key midcarders from this era.
The night also featured one of the more interesting triple threat matches in WrestleMania history. Kurt Angle was both WWE Intercontinental Champion and WWE European Champion going into the event, and was forced to defend both titles in a two-fall contest against Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit. The first fall was for the Intercontinental Championship, and the second was for the European Championship, which led to a truly great match.
The night’s main event was a Fatal 4-Way Elimination Match for the WWE Championship, with Triple H defending against The Rock, Mick Foley, and Big Show. Each man had a McMahon in their corner, and this was also the first WrestleMania main event for Triple H, and the only for Mick Foley or Big Show.
WrestleMania 17 (April 1, 2001 from the Reliant Astrodome in Houston, TX)
WrestleMania 17 is widely regarded to be one of, if not the greatest WrestleMania of all time. It’s not a perfect event by any means, but it’s one of the most complete with several iconic clashes. The night got rolling with a great WWE Intercontinental Championship Match where Chris Jericho defended against William Regal.
It also featured one of the greatest WWE Hardcore Championship Matches of all time, a chaotic triple threat between Kane, Big Show, and Raven, that included everything from randomly constructed rooms to Kane almost unintentionally running his opponents over with a golf cart. Eddie Guerrero and Test also had a solid clash for the WWE European Championship.
That was followed by a 14-minute technical masterpiece from Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit, which remains a highlight of both their careers. Shane McMahon took on Vince McMahon in a Street Fight, which although it had a very problematic and absurd story behind it, was a pretty decent match where they really beat the crap out of each other.
The night featured the second, and arguably greatest ever, TLC Match in WWE history. Edge and Christian, The Hardy Boyz, and The Dudley Boyz gave us nearly 16 minutes of non-stop action, that was also highlighted by appearances from a third member of each group, namely Rhyno, Lita, and Spike Dudley.
The Undertaker and Triple H had what was technically a regular singles match, but essentially became anything goes as the referee went down and the action spilled far into the crowd. Finally, the main event was a 28-minute epic between “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and The Rock that also features one of the most shocking endings in WrestleMania history.
WrestleMania 19 (March 30, 2003 from Safeco Field in Seattle, WA)
In many ways, WrestleMania 19 represented the last hurrah of much of the Attitude Era, and also saw new faces coming into focus at the top. The show was opened with a great short WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match between Matt Hardy and Rey Mysterio.
Victoria defended her WWE Women’s Championship in a triple threat against Trish Stratus and Jazz where the women took full advantage of the 7 minutes and change they were given, an anomaly in a time where women’s matches were lucky to get 3 minutes at WrestleMania.
Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho had what some considered to be the match of the night, and what is still one of the greatest matches in each man’s lengthy careers. Triple H defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Booker T, and while the outcome may not have been the best call, it’s still a great watch.
Hulk Hogan took on Vince McMahon in a Street Fight. Again, not the best match, but it is nice to watch these two beat each other to a bloody pulp for 20 minutes. The Rock and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin faced off in what would ultimately be the last match of Austin’s career. While not the best one they ever had, it’s fun from bell to bell.
The night’s main event saw Brock Lesnar, who had won the 2003 Royal Rumble, taking on Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship. The two had an absolutely fantastic match, despite the fact that Brock Lesnar botched a Shooting Star Press late in the contest and wasn’t fully conscious for the rest of the contest.
WrestleMania 21 (April 3, 2005 from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA)
While WrestleMania 19 might have been the last hurrah for some parts of the Attitude Era, WrestleMania 21 was the definitive start to a completely new era in WWE. Before we get to the night’s two main events which both were symbolic passing of torches, there were some other amazing contests throughout the night.
Rey Mysterio took on Eddie Guerrero in a great opener, which was followed by the inaugural Money in the Bank Ladder Match. We’d seen six men in a ladder match via TLC and the Triangle Ladder Match, but those were all tag team contests.
This was the first match of its kind and remains one of the greatest MITB matches of all time. The Undertaker continued his dominant streak with a great clash against a young Randy Orton.
In what was easily the match of the night, and still one of the greatest matches in WrestleMania history, we saw Kurt Angle take on Shawn Michaels. It was the first time the two had ever locked up and led to over 27 minutes of drama that is worth watching over and over again.
The night’s two main events saw John Cena challenging JBL for the WWE Championship and Batista challenging Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship. Both were solid contests and saw Batista and John Cena head into WWE’s new era as the faces of their respective brands.
WrestleMania 26 (March 28, 2010 from University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ)
WrestleMania 26 got off to an interesting start with two oddball tag teams as The Miz and The Big Show defended the Unified WWE Tag Team Titles against John Morrison and R-Truth. That was followed by a triple threat between former Legacy members Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, and Ted DiBiase, which didn’t end as it should have, but is still an interesting watch considering where their careers have gone since then.
Next up was the massive 10-Man Money in the Bank Ladder Match, featuring a stacked field including Jack Swagger, Christian, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, Evan Bourne, Kane, Kofi Kingston, Matt Hardy, MVP, and Shelton Benjamin.
As you can probably guess, it’s an absolute mess having that many men in a match like this, but they still pulled a great match out of it. We then got a disappointingly brief match between Rey Mysterio and CM Punk, and a trainwreck of a match between Bret Hart and Vince McMahon after that.
The second best match of the night was definitely the World Heavyweight Championship Match where Chris Jericho defended against Edge. At just under 16 minutes, it was a great effort from two legendary Canadian wrestlers. The night’s WWE Championship Match had Batista defending against John Cena, which was decent, although not as good as many had hoped.
The night’s main event, and certainly the match of the night, was the nearly 24-minute long No Disqualification Match between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. It was Streak vs. Career, as Michaels vowed to retire if he couldn’t vanquish The Undertaker. It’s a must-watch for all fans, and I choose to believe it is still the last match Shawn Michaels ever had.
WrestleMania 30 (April 6, 2014 from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, LA)
When WWE struck a deal with ESPN to air previous WrestleManias in the weeks leading to WrestleMania 36, there’s a reason their first choice was WrestleMania 30. Things were epic right from the start, as Daniel Bryan had a nearly 26-minute classic against Triple H to earn his way into the WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match later that night.
We also saw the first WrestleMania appearance of The Shield, which took less than three minutes to destroy Kane and The New Age Outlaws. The night also featured the inaugural Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, which saw Cesaro eliminate Big Show to become the first winner.
John Cena took on Bray Wyatt in a match that many still believe had the wrong outcome but was still a great contest from two greats who are set to have a very different kind of confrontation at WrestleMania 36. Brock Lesnar took on The Undertaker in a great contest that saw the shocking end of The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania.
While not the best match they could have provided, AJ Lee took on 13 other competitors in the Vickie Guerrero Invitational to defend the WWE Divas Championship. Considering the mark AJ Lee left on the industry, and the other great names in this contest, it’s still definitely worth watching.
All of that led to the main event where Randy Orton defended the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a triple threat against Daniel Bryan and Batista. The reality is that Daniel Bryan should have won the 2014 Royal Rumble, but Batista was actually the one who did win.
Fans refused to accept it, and their vocal support of Bryan led to one of the most iconic WrestleMania main events and an instant classic between these three. Daniel Bryan wrestled for nearly 50 minutes on this night and walked out having overcome every possible obstacle to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
WrestleMania 33 (April 2, 2017 from Camping World Stadium in Orlando, FL)
It seems like WrestleMania 33 can get lost in the shuffle of recent years because of the more vocal fans who disapproved of the night’s conclusion, but it’s still a fantastic show to watch. Don’t skimp on the Kickoff Show here, which includes a 15-minute clinic between Neville and Austin Aries for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.
The night’s official opening contest saw AJ Styles taking on Shane McMahon. Let me be clear. On paper, there’s no reason for this match to happen or for it to be any good. I still don’t really get why it happened, but boy am I glad it did. Despite those initial issues, these two had a classic to open the show in what was easily the greatest pure wrestling match of Shane McMahon’s career.
The next match saw Chris Jericho defending the WWE United States Title against Kevin Owens. While this deserved to be the WWE Universal Championship Match, it didn’t stop Jericho and Owens from having a solid match to cap off a truly fantastic rivalry and story heading into it.
The night had two women’s matches, the first of which saw Bayley defeat Charlotte Flair, Nia Jax, and Sasha Banks in a Fatal 4-Way Elimination Match to retain the WWE Raw Women’s Title. The second was unfortunately shorter, but still a solid one as Alexa Bliss defended her WWE SmackDown Women’s Title in a Six-Pack Challenge against Naomi, Becky Lynch, Carmella, Mickie James, and Natalya.
WrestleMania 33 also saw the shocking return of The Hardy Boyz, who were inserted at the last minute in the Ladder Match for the WWE Raw Tag Team Titles that also included Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, Cesaro & Sheamus, and Enzo Amore & Big Cass. This chaotic four-team car crash was an amazing return for The Hardy Boyz, and a true WrestleMania moment.
John Cena and Nikki Bella took on The Miz and Maryse in a Mixed Tag Team Match. While the eventual breakup of Cena and Bella may taint this for some, it was a fun match that told a great story between four great competitors. Seth Rollins took on Triple H in a Non-Sanctioned Match, and Randy Orton faced Bray Wyatt for the WWE Championship in a match that certainly stuck in the minds of fans, although not for the best reasons.
Goldberg defended his WWE Universal Championship against Brock Lesnar in what is arguably the greatest match of Goldberg’s WWE career. The main event saw Roman Reigns taking on The Undertaker in a truly iconic match. Though some vocal fans expressed their disapproval here, this is still a great match between two of the greatest two ever lace up the boots.
WrestleMania 35 (April 7, 2019 from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ)
With WrestleMania 36 right around the corner, it’s definitely worth checking out last year’s installment had some gems in a show that ultimately went too long. If you have the time, do watch the Kickoff Show for two fun battle royals and two solid championship matches.
Things opened up with Seth Rollins taking on Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship. It was a hot way to start the night, and a triumphant moment for Seth Rollins before WrestleMania 35 even got rolling.
AJ Styles took on Randy Orton in a solid contest between two veterans. The Usos defended their WWE SmackDown Tag Team Titles in a surprisingly fantastic Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Match that also included The Bar, Aleister Black & Ricochet, and Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura.
Shane McMahon took on The Miz in a Falls Count Anywhere Match that featured some truly great storytelling throughout and an unforgettable ending. The IIconics carved their WrestleMania moment into stone by defeating The Boss ‘n’ Hug Connection, Nix Jax & Tamina, and Beth Phoenix & Natalya to become the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions.
The night had a few less than fantastic matches, but ones that still had some value despite that, including Samoa Joe and Rey Mysterio’s minute-long clash, Kurt Angle’s farewell match against Baron Corbin, “The Demon” Finn Balor finding a second gear to blast through Bobby Lashley for the Intercontinental Championship, and Roman Reigns triumphantly returning after sending his cancer back into remission to defeat Drew McIntyre.
Kofi Kingston took on Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship, and upon victory became the first African-born WWE Champion in WWE history after also putting on an instant classic against Bryan. This meant so much considering the history of The New Day and the history of people of color being held down in WWE, on top of being a great wrestling match.
In what will likely be the last match of Batista’s career, The Animal took on Triple H in a No Holds Barred fight that had weapons galore. It wasn’t officially a retirement match but felt like a fitting cap on the end of Batista’s career, which he’d long said he wanted to do against Triple H.
The main event, for the first time ever, had the women of WWE at the forefront. WWE Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey and WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair took on Becky Lynch in a Winner Takes All Triple Threat Match that will truly never be forgotten. These three women gave it everything they had, and Becky 2 Belts was born by the time WrestleMania 35 came to a close.