BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
(FOUR) WRESTLEMANIA 25
Easily the best Wrestlemania of the “PG Era”. The Money in The Bank was solid, Jericho had a memorable spot against the legends, Edge and Big Show carried Cena to a good match, and Triple H and Orton had a solid main event. The match that everyone talks about is the Michaels/Taker match. It was their first Mania match and many would say their best. It was a great match and really showed the world how an emotional rollercoaster of an athletic performance is done.
(THREE) WRESTLEMANIA 17
I loved the finish to the Austin/Rock main event. Austin went crazy with the chair and got uncomfortably brutal in order to win. It just worked out well. The rest of the card was top notch too. I think this might be the best OVERALL card of Wrestlemania history. Out of the 11 matches, I don’t think any were too horrible. Sure the “Gimmick Battle Royal” was silly, but it was like five minutes and fun filler. Chyna had a really short match with Ivory. It sucked, but it was short to the point that it was a non-factor. The rest of the card is filled out with Jericho/Regal, Kane/Raven/Big Show, Eddie Guerrero/Test, Angle/Benoit, Shane/Vince, Taker/Triple H, and that crazy TLC match between Edge and Christian, Dudleys, and the Hardys. This card sounds pretty awesome even now. I’m going to have to check this card out again sometime soon.
(TWO) WRESTLEMANIA 3
Wrestlemania II did the three locations and it was really cool, but Wrestlemania 3 was the show that really cemented wrestling’s place in 1980s pop culture. The main event was history making, but the under card was good stuff. They crammed in a lot, but it was a lot of icons. Harley Race and JYD was barely four minutes, but fun. Piper beat Adrian Adonis in a Hair vs. Hair match, The Hart Foundation and Danny Davis went over on The British Bulldogs and Tito Santana, The Honkey Tonk Man beat a good guy version of Jake Roberts, and one of the greatest matches of all time went ninth on the 12 match card. Of course I’m talking about Steamboat and Savage for the IC Title. I don’t need to say anything more about it. Watch it and love it. It’s such great pure classic wrestling. Then there are those crazy mythos. They drew like a billion thousand people and Hogan body slammed the fourteen hundred pound nine foot monster that was Andre The Giant. Those numbers are exaggerated, but not by much and I’m pretty sure Hogan’s own exaggerations are way more off.
(ONE) WRESTLEMANIA 10
This show was great. The crowd, the simple arena set up, and the card was perfect. I think this might be my favorite PPV of all time. For sure it’s my favorite Mania though. The opening match and story between Owen and Bret was a twenty minute classic. The night was capped off with Bret Hart defeating Yoko to win the WWF Championship. It was a great story and a great finish. The rest of the card wasn’t too bad either. The crazy Falls Count Anywhere Match between Randy Savage and Crush is really underrated. The ending could be criticized, but I dug the creativity. Granted some stuff didn’t exactly rock, this show also featured one of the greatest matches of all time. It wasn’t the first Ladder Match, but it was the first to be showcased in such a big spectrum. Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon tore the house down and innovated the shit out of wrestling that night.
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