Awesome / WrestleMania

WrestleMania is called "The Showcase of the Immortals" for a reason.

WrestleManias 1- 10

WrestleMania (1)

• The fact that the first WrestleMania was a success, as the event was a massive gamble for Vince McMahon, definitely counts. In 1985, few homes outside of the East Coast were wired for cable television, and the technology for pay-per-view barely existed; Vince did hedge his bets a little by also airing the event via closed circuit broadcast to venues across the US, but that was also an unproven technology, and one most felt would never work. The fact that Vince was able to go out, bet the farm on a pair of then-niche technologies, and make WrestleMania such a runaway success that pay-per-view would become the standard for big sporting events (particularly boxing and, later on, MMA) is a CMoA in and of itself. Ric Flair said it best on the "Top 10 Greatest WrestleMania Matches Countdown" feature included on the WrestleMania XX DVD.
  Ric Flair: WWE bet the house on a little idea called WrestleMania *pushes a pile of casino chips onto a blackjack table*. It all paid off big time.

WrestleMania 2

• Even though this wasn't a great event overall, it did have four great matches:
  • The Dream Team vs. the British Bulldogs for the WWF Tag-Team Championship
  • Ricky Steamboat vs. Hercules Hernandez
  • The Funk Brothers vs. Tito Santana and the Junkyard Dog
  • Hulk Hogan vs. King Kong Bundy for the WWF World Championship inside a steel cage

WrestleMania III

• Hulk Hogan, at the zenith of his popularity, bodyslamming the then-550 pound André the Giant in front of a WWE-record 93,173 (reported) fans.
  • Also a moment for Andre, who, at the time, was struggling with intense pain due to the disease that caused his gigantism - to the point of having to wear a back brace; in the end, he still chose kayfabe and his work over his own needs. Vince McMahon even paid for Andre to have back surgery to alleviate his pain somewhat, just to help him compete in the match.
  • While many critics complain that this was not a great match in and of itself, what made this match all the more awesome was how it was promoted and sold, as "irrisistable force meeting the immovable object." The storyline that paved the way to the match — Hogan and Andre were close friends, always having each other's back, until the WWF's powers-that-be unwittingly gave Andre less recognition for an equally impressive accomplishment (being undefeated for 15 years) than Hogan's three years as champion; and then Bobby Heenan somehow managing to convince Andre that he wanted a WWF World Title shot all along, but that Hogan used his friendship to duck the challenge; then on an edition of Piper's Pit Andre (flanked by Heenan) demanding a title shot at WrestleMania III, and Hogan initially refusing because he was so shocked and stunned at Andre's apparent association with their mutual sworn enemy; and then, on a subsequent edition of "Piper's Pit," Hogan — having had time to absorb the news that Andre was no longer his friend, giving a thunderous "YYYYYYYEEEEEEESSSSS!!!!!!" to let Andre know he will face him, the title on the line.
• Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat defeated Randy "Macho Man" Savage for the WWE Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship in a show-stealing match paving the way for smaller, more skilled wrestlers to be in the limelight. Even despite several matches mentioned below, many consider this to be not only the best WrestleMania match ever, but the best match ever, period. The match itself set a new standard in how matches are planned, Steamboat has written in many accounts years later, and that he and Savage worked meticulously to plan out the match, spot-for-spot ... and everything came together perfectly.

WrestleMania IV

• The Macho Man, Randy Savage, makes it to the finals of the one-night tournament for the vacated WWE Championship, turning back "The Natural" Butch Reed, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, and The One Man Gang, while his finals opponent, the "Million-Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase has a relatively easier time of it, even getting a bye straight to the finals after Hulk Hogan and André the Giant got double-disqualified. It seems like DiBiase is going to prove that nice guys finish last, with Virgil and Andre in his corner against Savage, who only has the non-wrestling Elizabeth by his side, but he sends her to the back, and she emerges with none other than HOGAN to even the odds, and Savage not only gets the win, AND the WWE Championship, but he would go on to hold the belt for just over a year before losing it to Hogan at WrestleMania V.
  • More awesome? Savage was initially going to win the Intercontinental Title from the Honky Tonk Man, who refused to drop the belt. Instead Savage was given the World Title as a hell of a Consolation Prize. Slightly tarnishing this is that in the process, Ted DiBiase was bumped from the World Title match; DiBiase would never win the World Title in his career.

WrestleMania V

• The battle between Rick Rude and the Ultimate Warrior for the Intercontinental Championship Belt. This is both an impressive match both in terms of ring performance and the behind-the-scenes storyline. According to WWE, the Ultimate Warrior's ring skills were very limited but Rick Rude was good enough to give a twenty-minute impressive match which sold them both as very skilled wrestlers.
• The Battle of The Mega Powers between Macho Man Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan. While the match was somewhat hampered by an unnecessary Work Love Triangle between Miss Elizabeth, Hogan, and Savage (which actually bothered Savage in real life), the match itself was an electrifying one and easily the best of the Main Events so far. While less iconic than the battle against André the Giant at WrestleMania III and the Ultimate Warrior vs. Hogan next year, it would be considered by many to be the best match of Hogan's career.

WrestleMania VI

• The Ultimate Warrior (then the Intercontinental Champion) won a "Champion vs. Champion" Match against Hulk Hogan, becoming the first man to beat Hogan cleanly by pinfall for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship since he first won it from The Iron Sheik. For a man not known for doing the job cleanly, this is still seen as a monumental moment.
  • This is also a surprisingly good match, considering neither man was known for his sterling ring work; this is due to the lengthy planning that went into it.
  • Hogan gained the nickname "The Immortal" after he put the Warrior over further by handing him the belt after the match and embracing him in the center of the ring.
  • This match inspired two young fans, both of whom were Canadian, to pursue wrestling careers - Adam Copeland (Edge, who was in attendance) and Chris Irvine (Chris Jericho). Fellow Canadians William Reso (Christian, Edge's BFF) and Lance Evers (Lance Storm) were also in attendance and went on to become pro wrestlers. It doesn't hurt that WrestleMania VI took place at the then-new SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto, and this would happen a second time with WrestleMania X8.
• After Demolition defeated WWE World Tag Team Champions the Colossal Connection (André the Giant and Haku) (w/Bobby "The Brain" Heenan) for the titles, Andre beat the living stuffing out of both Heenan and Haku after Heenan foolishly slaps him.
  • Also a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming, after being one of the top Heels for three years (he was one of the top Faces before his Face–Heel Turn) Andre left the WWF as a good guy one last time.
• One that was mostly downplayed at the time: prior to the Hercules/Earthquake match, Earthquake had sent, according to Gorilla Monsoon, a total of 28 wrestlers to the hospital after hitting them with his finishing move, the Earthquake Splash. While Hercules lost the match, he was not number 29—he was able to get up and leave the ring on his own, to the applause of the crowd.

WrestleMania VII

• Miss Elizabeth's return, saving Randy Savage from being brutalized by Sensational Sherri Martel. Also works as a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming and a bit of a Tear Jerker, given that Savage has just lost a "Career Ending" Match to The Ultimate Warrior (a damn good match in its own right, too).
• The Undertaker makes his WrestleMania debut by defeating WWF legend Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka in a fairly short match. While no one knew it at the time, it was the start of something big.

WrestleMania VIII

• The first three matches are considered to be a passing of the torch from the old guard to the new generation, such as...
  • Shawn Michaels defeating "El Matador" Tito Santana (who had competed at every WrestleMania to date) in the opening match.
  • The Undertaker beating Jake "The Snake" Roberts, the latter competing in his last WWF match for nearly four years.
  • Bret Hart defeating Roddy Piper to win the Intercontinental Championship. This match was awesome for a couple of reasons:
    • Hart bladed during the match, something that wasn't allowed at the time, but he was able to make it look like an accident.
    • Piper effectively turned heel during the pre-match interview, turning face near the end of the match after deciding not to hit Bret with the ring bell after the referee had been knocked out, plus him helping Bret up after the match and putting the belt on him.
• Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair for the WWF Championship. A contender for match of the night (along with the aforementioned Hart/Piper match), this match also had blading (although Flair was much more blatant, resulting in him getting fined), and Savage (whose leg had taken a beating from the Figure-4) taking a page out of Flair's book to win (rolling him up and using the tights for leverage).

WrestleMania IX

• Giant González, the tallest pro wrestler in history, is the only victim of the streak that The Undertaker didn't have a clean win over; Gonzalez lost by DQ. Despite the terrible costume and sub-par wrestling abilities, Gonzalez was mesmerizing to look at.
• Who do the fans call for when it looks like The Undertaker is down and out for good at the hands of Gonzalez? Hulk Hogan, a fact that Bobby Heenan comments on. It's easy to understand why, too. Hogan was known for fighting monsters. Including The Undertaker himself. With Taker seemingly unconscious and Gonzalez refusing to leave the ring, the fans are calling not just on the four-time champion of the world, but one of the only men to ever pin the Undertaker's shoulders to the mat. It's clear that the fans are hoping that he could drive the monster heel from the ring. Undertaker himself comes back out and does it on his own, but it's pretty incredible that the fans' first hope to see the Undertaker avenged is the man he'd once feuded with...
• Mr. Fuji throwing salt into Bret Hart's eyes, and later accidentally throwing it into Yokozuna's.
• Hulk Hogan winning the World title for the fifth time. This instance is eventually Condemned by History, but at the time a number of fans were rejoiced to see the Hulkster winning the big one once again amidst retirement rumors.

WrestleMania X

• The Owen Hart vs. Bret Hart match is often considered the best opening match at a WrestleMania ever and also proved Owen pretty much was going to be a great world champion one day had fate gone differently. At the very least, it made Owen a main-eventer for the rest of the year and cemented him as one of the top heels in the company for years after.
  • Bret also regained the WWF World Championship that night over Yokozuna, which, if you realize all the backstage shenanigans with the title the year before, was a tremendous, vindicating moment for the Hitman.
• Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon put the Ladder Match on the map with the one they had for the Intercontinental Championship. This match (and their Ladder Rematch at SummerSlam 1995) would set the standard for Ladder Matches for years to come. Shawn gets an extra one, as one reviewer put it, "It wasn't Shawn and Razor Ramon having a match with a ladder in the ring; it was Shawn Michaels having a match with a ladder with Razor Ramon in the ring." Also, this was the first match in the company to receive a 5 Star rating from Dave Meltzer.

WrestleManias 11- 20

WrestleMania XI

• Diesel and Shawn Michaels battle it out for the WWF World Title in an entertaining match.
• Owen Hart wins his first WWF title (the Tag Team Championship) with Yokozuna over the Smoking Gunns.

WrestleMania XII

• The Iron Man Match between WWE Champion Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels - a sixty-minute affair that ended in a draw (neither man scored a fall), then went into overtime as officials declared that the match was now in "Sudden Death", and the first man to score a fall would win the title. A few minutes and a well timed superkick later, Shawn Michaels had fulfilled his "boyhood dream".
  • Shawn had quite the entrance, too, riding a zipline from the rafters into the crowd.
• Ultimate Warrior returning after a three-year absence to decimate arrogant upstart Hunter Hearst Helmsley.
• The Undertaker battled Diesel in a solid bout between two of the best giants, which ultimately sees Taker extending his WrestleMania winning streak to 5-0.

WrestleMania 13

• "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's first WrestleMania Crowning Moment Of Awesome came at the end of his Submission Match with Bret Hart, when - beaten and bruised, with his face turned into bloody hamburger - he was locked into Bret Hart's signature Sharpshooter. He kicked and crawled and yelled and screamed, but never gave up; instead, he passed out in a pool of his own blood, giving his last bit of energy to try and escape rather than admit defeat. Austin had a lot of really great moments both before and after this, but this was the precise moment that everybody realized that Steve Austin was going to be huge.
  • This is made even more awesome by the fact that the iconic image of Austin trying to grab the ropes while a bloody mess wasn't supposed to happen. Both men have said in interviews that WWF bookers told them not to blade; the company was at a point where they simply didn't want wrestlers bleeding. In Hart's book, he says that he bladed Austin anyway... and then told everyone that it was an accident when he threw Austin into the ringside steps.
    • On top of this is that this match caused a Face/Heel Double-Turn - Hart tried to brutalize Austin after he'd passed out (but was stopped by Ken Shamrock), gaining a huge amount of heat from the crowd, while Austin earned the audience's adoration by virtue of refusing to submit.
• The Undertaker also gained his second WWF championship against Sycho Sid, starting his first proper title reign, since his actual first one was very short lived. It was also nice to see him wrestle in his original attire for one more night, by this time he'd switched to his Lord of Darkness attire.
  • Sid reversing the Tombstone was quite impressive as well.

WrestleMania XIV

• The Attitude Era becomes official as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin defeats Shawn Michaels for the WWF Championship. This is a Crowning Moment for both men: it marked Austin as being the biggest draw in pro wrestling, and it marked the end of Michaels' career for four years - he had worked the entire match with a bad back, one that had been injured for months and only got worse thanks to the match.
  • It's also a Crowning Moment for Mike Tyson, who had been appointed the Special Enforcer for this match, due to his role in taking part in history. Tyson famously helped counted the pinfall win for Austin, then later revealing that he was always backing Stone Cold rather than D-Generation X. This would be capped off by Tyson knocking Michaels out when the latter took exception to his support of Austin.
• Sable and Marc Mero vs. Luna Vachon and Goldust was one of the first good performances of women at WrestleMania, especially when Sable delivers the TKO to Luna.
• The Undertaker vs. Kane. It was their first encounter of many, and the culmination of almost a year-long storyline. Kane survived two tombstones before going down for the count with a third, which was unheard of back then. He managed to kick out just after the three count, further proving what a beast he is.

WrestleMania XV

• At the height of the Attitude Era, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and The Rock fight for the WWF Championship and put on a great match with cameos by Vince McMahon, Shawn Michaels, and Mick Foley.

WrestleMania 2000 (16)

• Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, and Chris Jericho all make their WrestleMania debut in a great triple threat match with 2 falls (for Kurt's IC and European belts) where Smug Snake Angle lost both titles without ever getting pinned.
• Edge and Christian beat The Dudley Boys and the Hardys in a triangle ladder match for the Tag Team Championship in a match that will become the genesis for the TLC match a few months later at SummerSlam.
  • At one point in the match Edge and Christian were the only team at full strength numbers-wise in the vicinity of the ring itself as Jeff had sacrificed himself to lay out Bubba Ray with a Swanton Bomb off a ladder through a table.

WrestleMania X-Seven (17)

WrestleMania 17 is widely considered by many to be the best wrestling pay-per-view ever held; coming off the heels of the death of ECW and WWF's purchase of rival promotion WCW, the show is considered to be the official end of the Attitude Era, and features just about every star made during that era. Nearly every match delivered, and then some:

• The event opened with an outstanding opening between Chris Jericho and William Regal for the former's Intercontinental Title. Jericho retained.
• Next was a solid 6-man tag team match that the crowd was hot involving The APA (Faarooq and Bradshaw) and Tazz, with Jacqueline accompanying, against Right to Censor (Bull Buchanan, The Goodfather and Val Venis competing, with Steven Richards at Ringside) in the latter's last PPV match as a stable. Bradshaw defeated Goodfather with The Clothesline From Hell after a failed Ho Train.
• The Hardcore title match between Kane, Big Show, and Raven. Kane won with a Diving Leg Drop off of the Entrance Ramp onto Big Show after he'd Chokeslammed the latter off the Stage through a crate of Sound Equipment.
• Next was the European Title match between Eddie Guerrero and Test. Eddie won the Title with the help of his Radicalz buddies Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn.
• Another outstanding technical match took place between Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit, rated four and 1/4 stars by the WON.
• The street fight between Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon with Mick Foley reffing. At one point, Linda McMahon standing up from her wheelchair (she was playing as she was catatonic after a nervous breakdown) and kicking Vince in his grapefruits, followed by Foley giving him The Mandible Claw and finishing with Shane debuting the Coast To Coast through a Trash Can.
  • Trish Stratus completing her Heel–Face Turn when she slaps the taste out of Vince's mouth for all the humiliation he subjected her to in the previous month.
• TLC II, the second Tables Ladders and Chairs Match between the Hardys, the Dudleys, and Edge & Christian; each team got a little help from a third party (Lita, Spike Dudley, and Rhyno, respectively), and there were several memorable moments, including the insane mid-air Spear that Edge delivered to a dangling-from-the-belts Jeff Hardy. It was the highest-rated match of the event, at four and 3/4 stars, by The Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
  Jim Ross: OH MY GOD! EDGE WITH A TWENTY-FOOT LADDER, WITH A SPEAR ON JEFF HARDY!
• A highly entertaining Gimmick Battle Royale with a slew of retired greats, including The Bushwhackers, The Gobbledy Gooker, The Iron Sheik (the eventual winner), Hillbilly Jim, Jim Cornette, Kamala and Sgt. Slaughter, among others, with "Mean" Gene Okerlund and Bobby Heenan taking over the commenting for the match. Slaughter would get a measure of revenge by putting Shiek in the Cobra Clutch afterwards.
• The Undertaker vs. Triple H would have been a memorable main event at any normal pay-per-view, but because of WM 17's Austin/Rock main event, this is one of WrestleMania's overlooked gems. Notable because it contains a key commentary line by Jim Ross that officially inaugurates The Streak, then at 8 and eventually 9-0^note This had actually been mentioned by Vince McMahon at WrestleMania XI as well, though nobody made a big deal of it then.:
  "The Undertaker has never lost at WrestleMania!"
• And finally, the shocking ending of the show's main event, where "Stone Cold" Steve Austin turned heel and teamed up with longtime rival and WWF owner Vince McMahon to defeat The Rock and win the WWF Championship once again. The match itself got four and a half stars from the WON.

WrestleMania X8 (18)

• The opening. Previous WrestleManias would build up the event itself, the main draw card, etc. However this (and WrestleMania XIX) opened to the theme from Pearl Harbor that had been worked into other CMOA, as Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Triple H, The Undertaker, The Rock and other described how momentous an occasion it is, how honored they are to appear in a match there, how much it means to them.
• The Rock's match against "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan. Not only was this a dream match (and one of the last "dream matches" that can truly live up to that billing), but the crowd was so into the match that they cheered then-heel Hogan and rooted for him to win, something that not even WWE expected to happen, because the audience reaction to the feud wasn't great... until the two men had stepped into the ring and the place was teleported back to the 1980's. Because of this reaction Hogan was quickly moved out of the nWo and turned face.
  • This turned out to be a minor Crowning Moment of Awesome for the Rock, as he decided not to fight it, and basically turned heel in mid match, and then turned back once the match was over.
  • Hogan's Hulking up generated a massive pop from the gigantic crowd & even Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler were marking out when Hogan started Hulking up, with the final line in the quote below widely considered the greatest piece of wrestling commentary ever.
  (after Hogan kicks out of a pin attempt)
  Jerry: Look at this!
  J.R.: And I don't think that The Rock can believe it!
  Jerry: Wait a minute! Is he gonna Hulk up JR?! He is!
  J.R.: Rock can not believe it!
  (Rock hits Hogan, causing Hogan to do his classic finger point, which causes Jerry to squeal with excitement)
  J.R.: Oh my God.
  Jerry: Whatcha gonna do, Rock?
  J.R.: My God, The Rock can't believe it!
  Jerry: Whatcha gonna do?
  J.R.: And Hogan scores with a right hand. Hogan sending The Rock for the ride, the end could be near for The Rock at WrestleMania X8!
  (as Hogan hits the legdrop)
  Jerry: Look out! He got him!
  J.R.: The leg drop! He beat Andre the Giant with that move!

WrestleMania XIX

• Rey Mysterio made his WrestleMania debut dressed in a Daredevil-themed outfit.
• Shawn Michaels made his WrestleMania return (with an awesome entrance) in a fantastic match with Chris Jericho.
• Hulk Hogan went up against Vince McMahon in a Street Fight which saw one of the commentators getting hit with a chair, Vince leg dropping Hogan off a twenty-foot ladder, and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper returning to clock both men with a lead pipe.
• The Rock and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin faced each other for the third and last time at WrestleMania, in what turned out to be Austin's last match in nineteen years. The awesomeness of this match is elevated even higher with the knowledge that Austin nearly died the night before.
• How do you make an already awesome entrance by The Undertaker even more awesome? Have Fred Durst act as his herald, with one of the most awesome versions of Rollin' in that era's history.
  • Even more insane? Big Show and A-Train had beat up Undertaker's intended partner for the match (Nathan Jones), and yet he still won cleanly! (Granted, there WAS a little help from Jones)
• The final match of the night saw Brock Lesnar defeat Kurt Angle (with a broken neck) to win the WWE Championship. One of the final spots in the match saw Lesnar climb up to the top rope and attempt a Shooting Star Press (a move that the Hulk-like Lesnar hadn't done since his days in OVW); he under-rotated and ended up concussing himself (and very nearly breaking his neck), but he won the match anyway. Afterwards, he shook hands with Angle and hugged him in the ring to cap off Angle's face turn.

WrestleMania XX

• The WWE Championship match. A month prior at No Way Out, Eddie Guerrero won the WWE Championship against Brock Lesnar and would face Kurt Angle at WrestleMania with Kurt often lambasting Eddie in the weeks prior for his former drug and alcohol addictions and felt he didn't deserve to be champ. The match itself was spectacular as the two performers really utilized their mat skills for a truly technical match. Towards the end, Eddie untied one of his boots and then faked a limp. Angle, catching the limp, immediately went for his signature ankle lock. When he grabbed Eddie's boot, it came flying off and Eddie took advantage of the surprise by executing a roll-up on Kurt that won the match.
• The Undertaker returning to WWE and bringing back his "Deadman" gimmick, led by Paul Bearer and the druids, to wreak his revenge on Kane. Kane couldn't believe it. "I KILLED YOU! I BURIED YOU ALIVE! YOU ARE NOT REAL!" Also marked the end of his "American Badass" era.
• The show's main event. The story going into WrestleMania was that Chris Benoit was in a Triple Threat match with Shawn Michaels and Triple H (the reigning World Heavyweight Champion), and the Smarks believed that Benoit stood only a small chance of winning. After one of the best WrestleMania matches ever, Benoit made Triple H tap cleanly to the Crippler Crossface in the middle of the ring to finally win a world title (in Madison Square Garden on the twentieth anniversary of the Showcase of the Immortals, no less), and then-WWE Champion (and close friend) Eddie Guerrero came out to celebrate with him, and the two friends hugged, in the center of Madison Square Garden, while openly weeping, creating one of the most iconic images in WrestleMania history. Thanks to the Benoit double-murder suicide and its Canon Discontinuity, as well as Eddie's death, the image has since become rather heartbreaking.
  • To give the above its proper context and explain why the sight of those two men with their title belts is awesome, heartwarming and tear jerking all at once; for years, Guerrero and Benoit had toiled in WCW only to be regarded as, at best, mid-carders who would never achieve top-level status - this treatment was not from fans, but from WCW brass directly. Yet now, here they were, on the 20th anniversary of WrestleMania, at Madison Square Garden, on top of the mountain. With the fans celebrating every second of it.
• The Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar match is rightfully considered terrible. However, two fans had an awesome moment—they showed up dressed as Hulk Hogan and "Macho Man" Randy Savage (completely independent of one another, mind you), and spent the entire match cutting promos on each other and mocking the in-ring action in full view of the cameras. They got so much of a positive reaction from the surrounding crowd—even the commentary teams were gawking at them!—that security stepped in to tell them that while they personally thought they were hilarious, Vince McMahon said to knock it off.
• The Rock and Sock Connection reuniting and battling Evolution's Ric Flair, Randy Orton and Batista in an exciting two on three Handicap match. Ultimately, Orton scored the victory in his WrestleMania debut.
• John Cena winning his very first gold by defeating Big Show for the U.S Championship to a massive pop in the opening match.
• Jim Ross' closing commentary on the event, just before the cameras cut to black, with Chris Benoit holding his newly won title aloft:
  Jim Ross: Ladies and gentlemen, this has been WrestleMania, where it has all begun again! Thank you very much!

WrestleManias 21- 30

WrestleMania 21

• Shawn Michaels turned in another "Mr. WrestleMania" performance by taking Kurt Angle to the limit.
• Two of the biggest stars of the next five years of WWE history, Batista and John Cena, both won their first world titles on this night (Batista won the World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Triple H putting an end to the much maligned reign of terror, and Cena won the WWE Championship by dethroning John "Bradshaw" Layfield - who had held the title for nine months, the longest reign for that title in years).
• After months in the World Title hunt, and many displays of anger and paranoia, Edge in the middle of his first main event push, wins the first Money in the Bank Ladder match and a World Title opportunity anytime he wants.
• Randy Orton nearly ends The Undertaker's undefeated streak in a solid bout.

WrestleMania 22

• Shawn Michaels facing his boss, Vince McMahon. Vince had done just about everything to undermine Shawn's born-again pacifist attitude and had gone out of his way to make Shawn look bad on numerous occasions. But on this night, it was a No Disqualification Match that was their final showdown. Shawn winds up beating up five different hired guns at the same time, humiliates Vince's son Shane in a fashion that can't be described here without setting off Slash Fic everywhere, then warps a chair on Vince's head. Three minutes of solid beating later, Shawn threatens to find an 8-foot (standard-size) ladder so he can leap off the top step and crush Vince. He changes his mind at the last second... and about two minutes later, he's leaping off of a 12-foot ladder onto a prone, semi-conscious, trashcan-over-the-head-wearing Vince, crushing the table beneath him at the same time. Then when paramedics show up, he threatens to attack them as well should they try to help Vince. Why? Because he hasn't pinned Vince yet, so the match isn't over. Oh, and Shane has been handcuffed to the ropes at ringside, so he was unable to do anything to stop it. To say this led to a career resurgence for Shawn Michaels would be putting it very lightly.
  • A small one for Vince afterwards, as he's carried out on a stretcher, he's still conscious enough from the onslaught to give Shawn a defiant middle finger all the way down the ramp. Even Shawn seemed a bit impressed by that.
  • Shawn had performed the D-Generation X crotch chop before executing the elbow off the ladder, which eventually led to an official DX reunion a couple months later.
• Edge spearing Mick Foley off the ring apron and through a flaming table, capping off what some think is the best Hardcore Match in WWE history.
  • And before that moment, we had Foley wrapping "Mr. Socko" in barbed wire and using it as a weapon. When Foley brought out Socko, Joey Styles said, "It may not be hardcore, but it's effective." Decorated in its newfound barbed wire attire, however, Styles noted that, "Now it's hardcore!"
  • Even before that, Edge went for the Spear on Foley the first chance he got, knocking Foley down... and then rolling around on the mat in agony himself! Mick stood up and opened up his flannelette shirt to reveal he'd wrapped his own torso in barbed wire in preparation for Edge doing that. Mick Foley you Magnificent Bastard you!
• Mickie James defeating Trish Stratus to win her first women's championship in a match that was arguably the best one in WrestleMania history. Her win also ended Trish's over a year-long reign.
• Rey Mysterio dressed in a beautiful Aztec headdress and then pinning Randy Orton to become World Heavyweight Champion in honor of Eddie Guerrero.

WrestleMania 23

• Shawn Michaels once again proves he's the man by having a great match with John Cena.
• ECW got its very own ]]WrestleMania]] Moment at WrestleMania 23, when ECW "originals" Tommy Dreamer, Sabu, The Sandman and Rob Van Dam defeated The New Breed (Elijah Burke, Marcus Cor Von, Matt Striker and Kevin Thorn) in the only match on the card for the ECW brand.
• Batista and The Undertaker had a good match, mostly notable for setting off the chain of increasingly awesome 'Taker matches that has continued through the present.
• The Bobby Lashley vs. Umaga match was okay, but it principally proved once more that Vince McMahon would do anything for a storyline, this time getting shaved bald. He's a billionaire and synonymous with the industry, and he's probably in the top 10 (if not number one) in the amount of ridiculous punishment he's taken for the business.

WrestleMania XXIV

• Both Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair deserve a CMOA for their match, in which Ric Flair would be forced to retire if he lost (which he did ^note if only for a little while).
  • And Shawn deserves an extra one for one simple line from that match that could only be seen, not heard: "I'm sorry. I love you."
• The Batista vs. Umaga match was slow and plodding. The few fans cheering were Umaga fans. He was clearly happy with that.
• CM Punk being the unlikely winner of the Money in the Bank match, in what must have surely pleased his legions of internet fans that had followed his career from the indy circuit all the way to WWE. Considering he won over a returning Chris Jericho and a pair of up-and-coming heels in John Morrison and MVP, it's pretty impressive.
• Edge vs The Undertaker was pretty damn good too. Too bad the crowd was dead for the first half of it.

WrestleMania 25

• Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker. Undertaker, who had never defeated Michaels in one-on-one competition, incremented his WrestleMania undefeated streak to 17-0 by beating Michaels one-on-one in what was easily the best match of the night; it was hard for anyone - especially the live crowd - to care about the two title matches that followed it.
  • The specific Crowning Moment of the match itself was when Undertaker dove over the ropes at Michaels... where Michaels shoved a cameraman in the way instead, resulting in a broken camera, a downed cameraman, and Undertaker practically killing himself with a head-first landing on the mat (and, from the initial camera angles, looking like he'd actually done so!). There were countless other great moments in the match, but that moment was when it became clear that this was shaping up to be an all-time classic.
  • Something else to keep in mind: both Michaels and Undertaker are over 40. Two men over 40 showed up everyone under 40 on the Grandest Stage of Them All.
  • The buildup was a chain of awesome moments for Shawn, playing the cocky as hell heel for that feud. Constantly outmatching Taker during promos and showing absolutely no fear when he showed up? That seemed to put even more on the line than just The Streak...
• Other events that were most notable:
  • Ricky Steamboat coming out at 56 years old and proving he could still go in the Legends vs. Chris Jericho match, some 14 years after he'd suffered a career-ending back injury in his match against "Stunning" Steve Austin at WCW Clash of the Champions XXVIII on August 24, 1994.
    • This led to another moment the following month when Jericho and Ricky had at it in a singles match. The match at 'Mania was a 3-on-1 handicap match but the match at Backlash really gave Ricky the chance to shine.
  • John Cena lifting up over 700 pounds of humanity (Big Show and Edge) on his shoulders. Edge, who was on top before the AA was actually executed, wisely bailed in advance (Big Show was about the combined weight of Edge and Cena).
  • Kofi Kingston's work in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match, including running up a closed ladder that Mark Henry was holding up.
    • CM Punk wining the briefcase two years in a row.
  • Rey Mysterio's insanely awesome Joker-themed outfit, worn during his squash of JBL to win the Intercontinental Championship and become a Triple Crown Champion in the process.

WrestleMania XXVI

• Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker II, the first time Undertaker has wrestled the same man at WrestleMania in consecutive years. As expected, the match stole the whole damn show; not only did they go for nearly a half-hour, they did so with Undertaker having injured his leg and barely able to put weight on it. The match itself was just brilliant, fall after fall, with every major move given the respect it deserves (with kickouts of both the Tombstone and Sweet Chin Music). Shawn's Asai moonsault into a prone Taker on the announcer's table is guaranteed to be one of those WrestleMania moments. And the finish might have topped Flair/Michaels for heartbreaking: Taker increases his record to 18-0, and (due to agreed-upon stipulations) Shawn's wrestling career was ended.
  • One of the best moments was at the end of the match: Michaels has just kicked out of a near-fall from a Tombstone Piledriver. Taker stands over Michaels, and begins to give his signature throat-cut taunt, signaling for another Tombstone... but then he stops midway, and we are treated to the visual of Shawn literally clawing his way back up to his feet by grabbing onto Taker. Both men look at each other, utterly exhausted, and Taker demands, pleads, almost begs for Shawn to "stay down". Michaels responds by doing the throat-cut himself and SLAPPING UNDERTAKER ACROSS THE FACE with his last ounce of strength, remaining defiant to his very end (almost like Ric Flair, who - two years earlier - begged Shawn to pull the trigger and take him out). Taker retaliates by grabbing Michaels and executing a jumping Tombstone - a rather shocking feat considering that Taker's knees are known to be in rather bad shape - to put Shawn down for good.
  • Before the match even started, this amazing video package was a CMOA for WWE's production staff.
• Jack Swagger becoming Mr. Money in the Bank, despite no one giving him a chance in the match. He would then proceed to blow up the Internet two days later by cashing in the briefcase at the SmackDown tapings, becoming the new World Heavyweight Champion in the process.
  • Also from the Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Kofi Kingston using both halves of a broken ladder as stilts to try to reach the belt. He didn't quite think it through so well, but it was still an amazing visual.
• Bret "The Hitman" Hart, after years of simmering frustration over the Montreal Screwjob, finally gets a chance to get his hands on Vince McMahon in a no-holds-barred match. After manipulating Vince into accepting the match by feigning a leg injury, Vince tried to pay off the Hart family to back him up, only to find out the hard way that blood is thicker than water. Giving Vince a massive beatdown, then capping it off by making him tap out to the Sharpshooter at WrestleMania, Vince's greatest creation, had to be a massive moment of catharsis for The Hitman. Even more impressive was the fact that, despite being in his sixties, McMahon went through with the beating, to give the fans what they wanted to see.
• John Cena would further prove himself as a pretty awesome guy after regaining the WWE Championship from Batista. There happened to be a rather loud and vocal group of anti-Cena smarks in the front row near the ring. Most other wrestlers would simply ignore them, some heels possibly start insulting them for heat, that sort of thing; Cena, however, simply walked up to them, beaming with joy, and posed on-camera with his regained title alongside them. Like him as a wrestler or not, that is both hilarious and fantastically awesome.
  • He also did it a year earlier... with the very same fan right beside him both times.
  • Starting with WresleMania 22, John Cena would come out with stylized entrances, such as acting as a Mafia leader (WM22, accompanied by gangsters that included Chicago native CM Punk), or following an army of John Cenas ala Eminem's Real Slim Shady live performance (WM25). This year, however, saw an honorary drill team of the United States Air Force perform a complex drill lasting 90 seconds, with their team commander walking through the very real guns and bayonets thrice. After John Cena came out to a massive pop, Michael Cole could only give a shocked "WOW!", before explaining what was just seen.

WrestleMania XXVII

• While most of the event was very lackluster, one match stood head and shoulders above the rest: Triple H vs. The Undertaker II. Specifically, the moment where Triple H tombstoned Undertaker and then recoiled in sheer horror when Undertaker kicked out has to be seen to believed.
• Cody Rhodes' impressive victory over Rey Mysterio.
  • Rey Mysterio coming out wearing a Captain America costume.
• Randy Orton giving CM Punk an RKO in midair.
• The Rock and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin meeting face-to-face for the first time in eight years.

WrestleMania XXVIII

• John Cena vs The Rock was expected to be this before it even happened, it was hoped to be as exciting to the fans as Rock/Hogan was at WM18. In fact the announcement itself was so big that they've announced the main event an entire YEAR before the show! And it didn't seem to disappoint.
  • One moment really stood out in that match and it was near the ending: As John Cena had The Rock laying down on the ground, he decided to become overconfident and cocky (possibly hinting on a heel turn) by trying to finish the match with the People's Elbow. This gave The Brahma Bull all the time he needed to recover in order to land the Rock Bottom, thus winning the match.
• Triple H. The Undertaker III. Hell in a Cell. Consider the fact that WM28 is in an outdoor venue, therefore marking the first time the Hell in a Cell match has taken place outdoors.
  • Right before the cage was lowered, Taker and HHH were having a staredown until they looked up at the cage. Right around that time, the smoke from Taker's entrance covered the ring just as the cage was being lowered. AWESOME.
  • Even more awesome, the cell lowered to this.
  • The match itself delivered on all accounts and ended with 'Taker continuing his legendary streak to 20-and-0. Bonus points for the post-match bit, where Undertaker and Shawn Michaels^note Who was named the special referee for this encounter lift up a battered Triple H and carry him down the ramp, finally ending with the three men sharing an embrace for one hell of a Hell in a Cell match. To top it all off, this match won the 2012 Slammy Award for Match of the Year, decided by fan vote.
  • Who could forget about the moment when Shawn hit a Sweet Chin Music on 'Taker, Triple H caught him in a Pedigree, and 'Taker STILL kicked out at the last possible moment? The selling on Triple H and Shawn's faces, as well as the massive pop from the crowd, amplified the excitement.
• Kudos to Maria Menounos for not only competing with broken ribs, but doing most of the work in her match, taking a lot of hits and bumps.
• The Big Show finally gaining a proper WrestleMania moment by winning the IC title From Cody Rhodes after years of humiliation and jobbing during the Show of Shows, thus becoming the 12th Grand Slam Champion.
• Even though he didn't win the awesome match against CM Punk, Chris Jericho still managed to get a moment of awesomeness: Countering a Hurricanrana into the Walls Of Jericho!
• Rock/Cena, Punk/Jericho, and Triple H/Undertaker all living up to the hype.

WrestleMania XXIX

• CM Punk vs. The Undertaker. Everything about it, starting with Living Colour performing Cult of Personality live.
  • One highlight of the match was Taker doing his signature sit-up while he was in Punk's Anaconda Vice. Punk freaks out, and so does the crowd.
• Daniel Bryan gets the winning pin in his tag team match, and leads the entire football stadium full of fans in a deafening "YES!" chant. The camera zooming out from the ring to show the entire arena doing the taunt with Bryan made up for his poor treatment at the previous two WrestleManias.

WrestleMania XXX

• Much like the first WrestleMania, XXX was an experiment on a grand scale; it was the first major live event to be shown on the WWE Network as opposed to traditional PPV, making it available for free to anyone who paid the $10 monthly subscription fee as opposed to the $50-60 to watch the event on terrestrial TV. WWE's previous attempts at streaming its PPVs had had mixed results, with the PPV webstream of WrestleMania XXIX going down for most users less than five minutes after its start time, and the network's servers had not been stress-tested on a level even approaching that of the 700,000 subscribers the Network had at the time. And yet, aside from a few minutes of glitchy audio during the pre-show (before the event proper even started), the broadcast went off without a hitch.
• Hulk Hogan, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, and the Rock sharing the ring to open the show and toast each others' legacies. Enough said. The crowd is screaming "This is awesome!" and we're not even having a match yet!
• Triple H made his entrance for the introductory match in a Game of Thrones-ish style, being rolled in while sitting on an iron throne accompanied by slave girls, clad in a chainmail coif with crown and skull mask, cape with Iron Cross collar, a skull on a pike, and a warhammer. Then he gets his f'n head kicked in by Daniel Bryan.
  • For additional awesome, the girls accompanying Triple H's entrance were the NXT Divas Sasha Banks, Alexa Bliss, and Charlotte Flair.
  • The match itself was quite a way to start the show, with Bryan dishing out everything he had at Triple H and then some, while Hunter himself pulled out a few technical wrestling moves of his own, including a crossface and Tiger Suplex.
• The Shield beating Kane and The New Age Outlaws with a double triple powerbomb on the NAO.
• The ending of the André the Giant Memorial battle royal, in which Big Show, who was favored to win and even competed wearing a one-strap singlet like that which his kayfabe father wore, was eliminated in the end by Cesaro. Not just eliminated, but tossed out like he weighed less than a diva (he's 450 lbs, btw).
  • And Kofi Kingston avoiding elimination by having his feet only touch the steps.
• Mark Crozer and the Rels, wearing New Orleans Voodoo-inspired costumes (Crozer himself in skull facepaint a la Baron Samedi, and his bandmates wearing the masks of medieval plague doctors) performing Bray Wyatt's theme song "Broken Out In Love" live as he made his entrance to face John Cena.
  • The Cena/Wyatt match itself was largely a reenactment of the final act of Return of the Jedi, beginning with Bray Wyatt falling to his knees and demanding that Cena strike him down, and continuing throughout the match with Bray taunting Cena to fight dirty and become a monster in order to beat him. In the end, Cena seemingly relents and drags a steel chair into the ring... and uses it to rail Luke Harper and Erick Rowan as they attempt a run-in, before discarding it and beating Bray clean, marking the first time that Bray Wyatt had been pinned in WWE.
• Brock Lesnar conquers the Streak, pinning The Undertaker for the first time in Taker's 22 WrestleMania appearances. Punctuated by Paul Heyman's Big "OMG!" after the bell.
  • And it's an Awesome moment for Heyman, as far as bragging rights are concerned. For as much distaste as Stephanie McMahon has had over the years with him, she and her husband ended the night in failure on all counts. Meanwhile, he guided Brock to one of the most shocking victories in WrestleMania history (after which he spent the next several weeks rubbing his client's victory in everyone's face).
  • Undertaker standing proud as the crowd cheers and applauds the phenom, including the announcers.
  • It would later be revealed that the only people who knew the ending of the match in advance were Brock, 'Taker, Vince, Triple H, and Steph. Everyone else involved - the lighting and sound techs, the timekeeper, the announcer, the commentators, the referee, even Paul Heyman - had not been informed that 'Taker would be losing. Their reactions immediately after the finish are genuine.
• A.J. Lee retaining her Divas title in a better-than-expected 14-Diva-match. She'd lose it to the debuting Paige the following night.
• After being attacked by The Authority, being teamed up on by both Randy Orton and Batista, and nearly being carried out on a stretcher, Daniel Bryan would win the main event, by making Batista tap out, to finally win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
  • During that match, Batista and Orton decide to double-team Bryan and take him out of the match by sending him through a table with a combined Batista Bomb and RKO. The EMT's are then sent out to wheel Bryan out of the ring as Orton (whose entrance music was performed live by Rev Theory) and Batista resume facing each other off. That is when Bryan, in a spot that would make Mick Foley proud, removes the braces and wills himself back into the ring as the crowd erupts.
    • During that table spot, Orton seemed to legitimately injure himself when he landed on a monitor that hadn't been pulled out of the table while hitting the RKO on Bryan, but still managed to soldier on to finish the match.
  • Speaking of Foley, he and his daughter cheered Bryan's win. So did Jim Ross, Matt Hardy, Justin Roberts, Renee Young, Kofi Kingston, Bret Hart, Joey Styles, not to mention millions and millions of wrestling fans.

WrestleManias 31- 40

WrestleMania 31

• The pre-show opens with a fun 4-way Tag-Team Championship match between Tyson Kidd and Cesaro, The Usos, The New Day, and Los Matadores, which includes Jimmy Uso and Naomi doing a double top rope plancha onto all the other teams, and Natalya putting El Torito in the Sharpshooter.
• Also on the pre-show is the second André the Giant memorial battle royal. Highlights include Cesaro tossing Kane over the top (like last year) and almost tossing Big Show out again; Damien Mizdow eliminating The Miz, and Big Show winning.
• The actual card opens with an awesome IC ladder match. Sick spots included Luke Harper powerbombing Dean Ambrose to the outside through ladders, and Dolph Ziggler and Daniel Bryan headbutting the hell out of each other. Bryan wins, and later celebrates backstage with past champions Pat Patterson (the first IC champ), Roddy Piper, Ricky Steamboat, Ric Flair and Bret Hart. The win also made Bryan a Grand Slam Champion in WWE.
• Randy Orton then faced Seth Rollins in a good match with an awesome ending: Curb Stomp into RKO.
• The Triple H vs. Sting match was a dream match 14 years in the making. After both made awesome entrances, both competitors not only hitting each other with everything, but even their respective factions: Triple H's D-Generation X, as well as Shawn Michaels, and the New World Order backing up Sting. After Triple H won, it looked like it was gonna be one big brawl, but the two end the long rivalry between WWE and WCW on a handshake.
• Less than a year after debuting on the main roster, Paige (whose mother is in the crowd) wrestles in her first WrestleMania, teaming with A.J. Lee to defeat the Bella Twins. Paige hits a nifty senton to the outside.
• John Cena hands Rusev his first clean defeat. Highlights include Rusev's entrance on a tank, with the Russian National Anthem playing, and Cena hitting him with a springboard Stunner from the second rope. Props also to Lana for taking a bit of a hit at the final moments of the match.^note Definite YMMV on this one; this was the match that is blamed for delivering a massive hit to Ruzev's momentum that he never really recovered from.
• The Undertaker vs. Bray Wyatt. Bray was absolutely amazing, beating the crap out of Taker, and even mocked the Deadman at one point. But never doubt the Deadman; Undertaker got the pinfall victory, and the crowd erupted. The highlight has to be Bray going for his crab walk only to see Undertaker sit up seconds after. Bray's reaction to it is priceless.
  • Props to Bray for doing the whole match with a sprained ankle. And still being able to do the Spider Crawl.
  • Note that this is the very first time that Bray gets a Villainous Breakdown. Whenever he was threatened by another Wrestler before, he always responded with a creepy laugh, and dared them to try it. With Undertaker? Bray nearly shat himself. Do Not Taunt Cthulhu indeed.
  • Another highlight was Bray's entrance involving zombie scarecrows coming to life whenever Bray shined his lantern on them.
• The main event involved Brock Lesnar dishing out one hell of a beating to Roman Reigns who takes everything he has to give out from countless trips to "Suplex City", to three F-5s, and Roman's laughing like a madman as if to say "Is that all you got?" Eventually, Roman's Heroic Resolve starts to show up as he busts Brock open the hard way, then laying him out with Superman Punches. Then while both men are down, Seth Rollins cashes in his Money in the Bank briefcase, thus turning it into a Triple Threat match! After dishing out Curb Stomps to both men, especially after Roman spears Brock as he's about to F-5 Seth. Your winner and new champion, Seth Rollins!
  • Must be mentioned that all three looked good here. Brock wasn't pinned, Roman wasn't ruined (many thought it was too soon for him) and still looked strong, and Rollins is the champ. So not only was Seth the first to cash in at WrestleMania, and the first to cash in during a match, but it was done while making everyone look good. If anything, Seth looked like a coward, but it fits his slimy mastermind role.
  • More emphasis needs to be put on Reigns' performance, despite not winning. In most of his notable fights, Lesnar has left his opponents bleeding. This time, Reigns made Lesnar bleed like a stuck pig! TWICE!
• Ronda Rousey and The Rock (who had flown in on a red-eye after hosting Saturday Night Live the night before) make fools out of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon in a Curb-Stomp Battle that must be seen to be believed!
  • Rousey doing it with a Dragon Ball Z shirt on was a nice touch as well. And not just any shirt, but the one with the infamous OVER 9000!!!

WrestleMania 32

• The Ladder Match for the Intercontinental title. Aside from numerous intense spots (including a bump from Kevin Owens that looked like he was half-dead in the rungs of a fallen ladder), the ending came out of absolutely nowhere. The Miz is posted to pull down the belt, only to choose to sit atop the ladder to do so. Up from behind comes Zack Ryder^note replacing an injured Neville, who shoves Miz off the ladder and scoops up the championship for himself. Zack gets to celebrate a major championship victory after nearly four years of neglect from WWE brass and celebrate in the ring with his father.
  • Just as awesome is the truth about how that shocking ending came about: the other six guys in the match (Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler, The Miz, Stardust and Sin Cara) all united in agreement that Ryder deserved his own WrestleMania moment and pressured the bookers into letting Ryder take the belt and the glory, even if only for one night.^note Miz beat him to take the title off him the next night on RAW aided by his returning wife Maryse, which really just supports the idea that Miz was most likely the original intended winner before plans were changed.
• The League of Nations had just dominated The New Day and, as they celebrated their victory, they proclaim that "There are no three men stronger than the League of Nations!". Enter (in exact order) Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley, and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, who lay the utter smackdown on the group!
• Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks (with Raven Felix and Sasha's cousin Snoop Dogg performing her theme), and Becky Lynch wrestled an excellent match for the Women's title (replacing the Divas' title).
  • Not to mention Charlotte's robe she wore to the ring was made from pieces of the robe Ric Flair wore to his match against Shawn Michaels.
  • And Sasha donning Eddie Guerrero's No Way Out 2004 WWE Championship colors for her gear.
• Shane McMahon and The Undertaker go to war in Hell in a Cell and even with his new MMA training, he can't get Taker to tap out. Shane breaks out Coast to Coast, nothing. Shane pulls out one hell of an All or Nothing attack by climbing to the top of the cage, only to miss Undertaker and crash through the table. Even after that, Shane still has the balls to say Bring It, only for Taker to finish him off with the Tombstone. The last moments are of Shane being carried off in a stretcher, his thumbs-up prompting the crowd to applaud him.
  • Notably, during Shane's second Bring It moment, The Undertaker lightly pats his cheek before hitting the Tombstone.
  • Also, immediately after the jump, watch The Undertaker's reaction as he's sitting against the barricade watching the refs tend to Shane - it's a mixture of gratitude for having dodged that elbow, and the same expression he wore when he threw Mankind off the Cell the first time.
  • Another one for the set builders, for finding a way to do such an insanely reckless spot without killing Shane. ^note The table he jumped onto was actually topped with a piece of hard foam instead of the usual wood, and a crash bag was cleverly hidden underneath
• Baron Corbin makes his WrestleMania debut by winning the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
• The Rock gets surrounded by The Wyatt Family in a middle of a promo, but then a familiar tune starts playing, and just when everyone thought he was to skip this year's grandest show, John Cena makes his return and helps The Rock take on the Wyatts to a massive pop.

WrestleMania 33

• The event kicked off in a big way by having AJ Styles and Shane McMahon open the show, and they absolutely tore up the ring. In particular, their back-to-back attempts at Coast-to-Coasts as well as Shane busting out a shooting star press have to be mentioned, as was the way Shane locked Styles in a Triangle Choke in midair and reversed the first Phenomenal Forearm attempt into a DDT.
• Nia Jax appears to have dominated Charlotte, Bayley, and Sasha Banks; but the cherry on top here is the three women Jax just dominated earlier teaming up to perform a triple powerbomb on Jax, eliminating her in the process.
  • The lead up was awesome enough, with a tossed out of the ring Bayley, Charlotte and Sasha Banks all making it to the rope at the same time. They all look at each other, then across at Nia Jax... who simply tells them to Bring It. Nia even got in some offense on all three on them!
  • After Nia was eliminated, Charlotte performed an insane corkscrew moonsault on both Sasha and Bayley to the outside. It has to be seen to be believed.
• The Hardy Boyz making their return and winning the Raw Tag Team Championship. The two of them were also welcomed with DELETE chants.
  • Doubles as one for The New Day for pulling an incredible Bait-and-Switch. Just as the triple threat ladder match between Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, Enzo and Cass, and The Bar was about to start, the New Day's music hits, and they walk out onto the stage:
  Big E: "Ladies and gentlemen, as your WrestleMania hosts, we must inform you that we have just received word...that this ladder match has now become A FATAL FOUR-WAY!"
  Xavier Woods: "Which means: There is one more team involved in this match!"
  Kofi Kingston: "Now, I wonder who this fourth team...could possibly be?"
  Crowd: (begins chanting "Who?" as Kofi takes his hat off and the New Day pause and take a step forward onto the ramp... before hopping out of the way as the real fourth team comes out)
  (The Hardy Boyz' music hits)
  [crowd explodes]
  Michael Cole: Things are about to be BROKEN! TEAM XTREME IS BACK!
• After seven long months of waiting, calling out, and injury, Seth Rollins finally gets his revenge against Triple H. Highlights of the match included a chain of pedigree attempts, Seth superkicking Triple H into Stephanie McMahon, sending her through a table (credit to her), and Seth finally nailing that last sweet pedigree and putting Triple H down for the three-count. Special mention should also be given for their entrances, with Triple H and Stephanie coming out on a three-wheel motorcycle to a police escort, and Seth coming out with a torch and virtually lighting the ramp on fire.
• Goldberg and Brock Lesnar have their best match with each other yet. It lasted only five minutes, but those five minutes were brutal. Goldberg hit Brock with some damn impressive spears (including one through the barricade), topped off by Brock jumping clear over the last one, with Brock ultimately putting Goldberg away with ten German suplexes and an F5. Oh, and did we mention that Brock kicked out of the JACKHAMMER? Only one other man (Hulk Hogan) had ever done that before.^note And that wasn't even supposed to happen; Kevin Nash was supposed to break up the pin attempt, but he missed his cue, forcing Hogan to lift his shoulder.
• Naomi reclaiming the SmackDown Women's Championship from Alexa Bliss after she was forced to vacate the title due to an injury scare, and doing so in her hometown.
• And while the final match of the night, The Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns, was somewhat controversial, special mention must be given for one fact: It took FOUR SPEARS to put Taker down.

WrestleMania 34

• The Undertaker's return. Before WrestleMania, John Cena called out the Undertaker, wanting a match with him. When it came for that match, it seemed that the Undertaker was a no-show. Cena took on Elias and frustratingly headed back up to the Titantron... until the lights die out. They cut on to focus on the ring, where the 'Taker's hat and coat were now there. Lights die out, lightning strikes the items... and to the haunting tune of his theme, the Undertaker appears and makes his entrance. Challenge accepted and he begins his return 1-0.
  • He didn't just accept the challenge, he completely routed Cena in John's most one-sided defeat since Brock Lesnar annihilated him at SummerSlam 2014.
• The Mixed Tag Match between Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle vs. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. There was a lot of pressure on Rousey for this match, both in- and out-of-kayfabe due to this being her debut; she needed make a good impression to prove her naysayers wrong and get wrestling fans to buy into all the hype. Well, in this match, Rousey blew even the best expectations out of the water, showing impeccable selling, timing, storytelling, and character. Even her ring work, while clearly green, was smooth, quick, and powerful. She had the entire Superdome eating out of her hand.
  • Triple H decides to take Ronda on himself (because, Ronda wanted to fight him!), and is quickly and convincingly put on the defensive. She even locks him in an armbreaker, which Stephanie has to save him from.
• Nia Jax finally winning the Raw Women's Championship and ending Alexa Bliss' title reign. She recruits Ember Moon to team with her on the following night's Raw.
• Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair. The finish may have been divisive but that doesn't change the fact that, in possibly the biggest women's match ever, they delivered.
• Seth Rollins defeating The Miz (the reigning champion) and Finn Balor to win the Intercontinental Championship in the opening match, making Seth a Grand Slam Champion.
  • The win also cemented The Shield as one of the greatest stables in WWE history for having all members achieve this feat, the only stable in history to do so.

WrestleMania 35

• To put it mildly, THE WHOLE SHOW can be considered a Moment of Awesome, with many already naming it one of the best Manias of the modern era. To name some of the highlights:
  • Curt Hawkins finally snaps his 269-match losing streak by teaming with Zack Ryder (his go-to tag buddy from the La Familia days) and defeating The Revival for the Raw Tag Team Championships.
  • Seth Rollins finally putting an end to the Universal Championship reign of Brock Lesnar despite The Beast attacking The Architect prior to the match starting. And yet Seth did exactly as promised, and slayed the beast in 2:30 - a literal Curb. Stomp. Battle! This was Lesnar's biggest loss since his Survivor Series squash to Goldberg in 2016, and set the bar for what was to come.
  • Shane McMahon and The Miz engaging in a brutal falls count anywhere match that saw the action spill all over MetLife Stadium and Shane taking a lot of risky bumps, including falling on top of a golf cart then to the floor. The end of the match saw The Miz suplex Shane from the top of a production tower with the latter only winning after a sneaky pin.
  • After months of buildup and heartbreaking losses, Kofi Kingston, for the first time in his 11-year career, captures the WWE Title from "The New" Daniel Bryan in a ballistic match that saw a crowd of 82,000 on its feet as Kofi kicked out of a Running Knee while The New Day fended off Rowan. This also marked Kofi being the first ever African-born WWE Champion, and with it becoming a Grand Slam Champion. KofiMania indeed.
  • At one point, Elias is performing for the crowd, and is suddenly interrupted by John Cena, but not just any Cena: The Doctor of Thuganomics! Cena pretty much gives Elias nothing short of a verbal beatdown while mincing no words, ending with him giving Elias not an AA, but an FU (the AA's old name).
  • The main event alone is one for the history books, as for the first time ever, the women will close out The Show of Shows. For over 20 minutes, Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey beat the ever living hell out of each other, at one point bringing tables into the mix. Sketchy circumstances behind the ending aside, it did not disappoint as The Man managed to counter Rousey's finisher to pin her and win both the Raw and SmackDown Women's Championships, closing the show on a high note.

WrestleMania 36

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, this became the first WrestleMania filmed without a live audience, and while it has been weird to some fans watching WWE's programming in an empty venue for almost a month, it still delivered. Big time.

• The match between Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins, which initially ended in a disqualification victory for KO after Rollins brained him with the ring bell, only for it to restart as a No DQ match after KO refused to accept that finish. This culminated in KO jumping from atop the WrestleMania sign and elbowing Rollins through the announce table, then dragging him to the ring for one last Stunner to take the second win.
  Owens: How's this for your WrestleMania moment!
• The Night 1 main event was a half-hour Boneyard match between The Undertaker and AJ Styles on what turned out to be Taker's final match. It blew all expectations by simply being different to the rest of the night. Filmed in a boneyard, instead of it being presented like a wrestling match (or even the previous Buried Alive matches in WWE), it was given the cinematic treatment (similar to Lucha Underground or any of Matt Hardy's Deletions). Add in a dramatic score (including Metallica in place of 'Taker's normal theme), blood, a Radial Ass Kicking against an army of druids, a load of snarky dialog, and of course the return of Taker's American Bad Ass persona (with the supernatural powers intact this time!), this was seen by the fans as massively entertaining. Booker T compared this to watching Friday the 13th.
• And then the second night brought us the Firefly Fun House match between John Cena ... and John Cena, as Bray Wyatt wanted us to think of it. This ended up being a Mind Screw series of Pensieve Flashbacks through Cena's career (and even some moments that weren't part of his career, such as being teleported to WCW Monday Nitro to basically become "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan to Wyatt's Eric Bischoff), intended to present An Aesop about how he was able to bully his way through his career without having to work for it. Dolph Ziggler made a tweet comparing it to an episode of Black Mirror and given how it deconstructs Cena's character at such a visceral level, that's the best way to describe it. The match was so awesome, Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter gave it 6 stars, surpassing even NXT's best.
• Edge defeating Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing match in his first one on one in 9 years, and in the second longest match in WrestleMania history to boot.
• Drew McIntyre against Brock Lesnar closed Night 2. Drew kicks out of the first F-5 at one. And then proceeds to Claymore Brock's head off to decisively win his first WWE Championship, finally fulfilling Vince McMahon's prophecy after a decade of setbacks, missteps, and turbulence, and becoming the first Scottish person to win the big one. Props also go to Lesnar for not only giving McIntyre his moment, but selling the Claymore like death, laying in the ring during the entirety of Drew's celebration.

WrestleMania 37

• Just the mere fact that the event happened in front of a live crowd for the first time in ages and on the scale it was on is an Awesome moment in of itself.
• Cesaro finally getting not only his revenge on Seth Rollins in a banger of a match, but his first singles win (not counting the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal in 2014) in WrestleMania history and the crowd was fully behind him especially when he hit the UFO and Giant Swings.
• With help from Omos, AJ Styles wins the Tag Team Titles, and with it becomes the second wrestler to be a Grand Slam Champion in both TNA/Impact and WWE.^note Kurt Angle was the first
• Bad Bunny silencing his doubters in an epic debut performance, teaming with Damian Priest to defeat on The Miz and John Morrison that included him and Priest hitting tandem Falcon Arrows and taking out Morrison with a Canadian Destroyer on the outside, easily turning out one of, if not the best celebrity match.
• The main event of Night 1 was history making in of itself as Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair became the first black women to main event WrestleMania and they definitely did not hold back, putting out all the stops to create an emotional and brutal affair that ended with Bianca completing the journey she started at the Royal Rumble and becoming the SmackDown Women's Champion to thunderous applause.

WrestleMania 38

• Much like Bad Bunny last year, Logan Paul delivers a surprisingly good performance in his debut match, working the crowd like a natural heel, even using the moves of Eddie Guerrero like the Three Amigos and Frog Splash on Eddie's real life friend Rey Mysterio, all while soaking up the heat.
• It was understated, but Drew McIntyre is the first wrestler to kick out of the End of Days delivered by Baron Corbin since NXT. The first.
• To cap off the story initially set up by their shockingly sudden match at SummerSlam, Bianca Belair finally gets her hands on Becky Lynch in a sustained one-on-one title fight worthy of both women's status in the industry, delivering a hard-hitting and emotional match that saw The EST avenge every humiliation and roadblock she's suffered at the hands of Big Time Becks in order to claim superiority...and the Raw Women's Championship.
• After weeks of speculation and rumors, who did Vince McMahon choose as the opponent for Seth Rollins? None other than The American Nightmare himself, Cody Rhodes, who delivers a banger of a match against Seth. Props as well for having Cody enter to "Kingdom" as well.
• Instead of ending with Charlotte Flair vs. Ronda Rousey, Night 1 ends with Kevin Owens doing The KO Show with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin where after Owens insults Stone Cold and his home state of Texas, he lays down the impromptu main event: KO vs Stone Cold, no holds barred. The Rattlesnake accepts, and wastes no time taking the boots to Owens as the crowd are firmly behind him as if he never left. Despite his age and neck problems, Stone Cold has no problem brawling all around with Owens, even giving and taking suplexes, before ending the night with an epic Stunner and beer bash for old times sake.
• Night 2 opens with a fun triple threat tag-team match between RK-Bro, The Street Profits, and Alpha Academy, as all three teams show amazing chemistry with each other. The big highlight however is Riddle interrupting Montez Ford's attempt at a Frog Splash with an RKO off the top rope (complete with Ford's Oh, Crap! face as he realized what will happen to him upon seeing Riddle beside him!)
• Johnny Knoxville and Sami Zayn have a fun match that, despite the inherent ridiculous nature of it, got the crowd pumped, with some of Knoxville's Jackass co-stars getting their own Mania moments, including Wee Man body-slamming Zayn and the crowd reacting like Hogan slamming Andre! And props to Knoxville for busting out some legit moves including a tornado DDT.
• Pat McAfee gets his time to shine in his WrestleMania debut, having an entrance involving Dallas cheerleaders performing to The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" blaring and the crowd chanting along. He also showed off his incredible athleticism including doing a backflip off the top rope then effortlessly jumping back to the top rope to superplex Austin Theory! McAfee ended up defeating Theory, then goading Vince McMahon himself to get into the damn ring and fight him! While Vince and Theory took advantage of this to sucker McAfee into a trap allowing The Chairman to easily pin him for the run-back W, this bit of chicanery earned the two of them... another Stunner and beer bash from "Stone Cold" Steve Austin!
  • Michael Cole's commentary when Pat does the Superplex deserves a mention as he screams "FOR THE BRAND!" as a rallying cry.
• Say what you will about the main event, but to those who've gotten tired of Brock Lesnar over the past few months, seeing Roman Reigns absolutely dominate him is quite cathartic, and shows just how powerful The Tribal Chief has become since his return. Keep in mind, just 6 years ago he was in the main-event in the very same stadium, and the crowd couldn't care less about him. Here, they were more than happy to acknowledge him as champion.

WrestleMania 39

• The Tag Team Showcase Match in Night One blew everyone's expectations out of the water. What was expected to be a filler match grabbed everyone's attention and gave each tag team time to shine at the showcase of the immortals. The highlight of the match was after everyone was basically stacked on top of another, Ricochet cross-bodies them and all eight men fall onto the mat like a house of cards.
• Rey Mysterio vs Dominik Mysterio was an action packed Father vs Son match starting with their entrances. First, Dominik arrives in a prison van with police guards. The door to the van opens and out pops Dominik in black and purple gear and one of Rey's masks, harkening back to Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio's famous WCW Bash at the Beach 1997 match (when Rey's outfit was based off The Phantom). Rey decides to one-up his son with Snoop Dogg, a low rider and Viva la Raza! to the crowd. Other moments include Rey taking his belt off to give his son a spanking, the newly-reformed LWO (Latino World Order) and Judgment Day getting involved outside the ring, and even Bad Bunny (who was on Spanish Announcer duty) interfering by stealing the chain Dominik was going to use to attack Rey, giving the father an opening for a 619.
• Rhea Ripley manages to redeem herself in Night One, by defeating Charlotte Flair for the Smackdown Women's Championship in what was Match of the Night in an entire card of fantastic wrestling. This win made Ripley the youngest Grand Slam and Triple Crown Champion in WWE history. The match was so good, Charlotte broke kayfabe after it was over and was beaming in pride at the loss.
• The Usos vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn for the Unified Tag Team Champions main evented Night One of WrestleMania 39. This historic match not only marks the first time the Tag Titles are defended on a prestigious spot, it has already given the participants accolades in their resumes as well.
  • Kevin Owens now has main evented two consecutive WrestleManias and has become the 22nd Grand Slam Champion with his and Sami's victory over The Usos for the tag team championship.
  • Sami Zayn became the first Muslim Superstar to main event a WrestleMania.
  • The Usos not only defended the Tag Team championships twice a WrestleMania under the same reign, but they join their fellow family members Yokozuna, Roman Reigns and The Rock in being the 4th and 5th members of the Anoa'i Family to main event the show as well.
  • To top it all off, this match managed to achieve one of the highest notches in Wrestling history, Dave Meltzer's 5-star rating, given how strict and downright bias this rating can be at times, this is no small feat. This achievement makes it the first time all four men ever achieved such an honor, and it puts the Usos one above their entire family, including The Rock, in being the first and currently only Anoa'i members to have that rating under their name.
  • The ending deserves special mention. Owens suplexes Jey Uso off the top rope, making him open for the pin. However, Owens then notices Sami begging to be tagged in and decides to let his friend exact some long overdue payback. After giving Jey three corner Helluva Kicks, and with Owens delivering a Stunner to Jimmy to prevent him from breaking the pin, Sami goes for the cover as Michael Cole gives the call.
  Cole: Three’s the one! Cover! (Ref counts to three) The Bloodline be damned!
• Snoop Dogg gets an unexpected one in Day 2. After Shane McMahon got injured in his match against The Miz, Snoop saves the segment by punching Miz in the jaw before giving the People's Elbow!
• The Intercontinental Triple Threat between Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, and Gunther was less of a wrestling match, more of a brutal European pub brawl in the best possible way, as all three lads took turns doing what they did best and beat the crap out of each other, battering each others' chests and delivering chops and blows that resonated throughout SoFi Stadium, pumping the crowd from beginning to end and getting a well-deserved standing ovation from the Los Angeles crowd by the end of it. This too also earned a 5-Star rating from Dave Meltzer, making this Mania to be the first one to feature two 5-Star matches on the same show. (Even with each being on separate nights)
• Edge vs Finn Balor in Hell in a Cell had dark and demonic entrances. Balor emerges in his Demon King makeup with a spiky mohawk while Edge dives deep into his Brood days with fire, a skull-like mask made of mosaic and vampire wings, complete with Slayer blaring in the background with the properly titled "South of Heaven".

WrestleMania XL

• Rhea Ripley (with Motionless in White performing her entrance music live) retains her title against Becky Lynch, becoming one of the very few wrestlers in the company to have scored a victory against all of the Four Horsewomen.
  • Props to Becky too for wrestling the match while sick with a fever and strep throat.
• Awesome Truth becoming RAW Tag Team Champions in the 6 Tag Team Ladder Match. More specifically, R-Truth getting rid of Damian Priest with an Attitude Adjustment before grabbing the belts himself, earning him his first win at WrestleMania and symbolically proving that he's now done with The Judgment Day.
  • Special note must be given to Truth near the end of the match. Damian Priest is about to go for a move but referee Jessica Carr is pulling him back. But it's not part of the script; she's trying to warn him that the ladder he's about to use is basically busted and someone is going to be injured if that ladder doesn't get swapped. But Priest doesn't listen and eventually pushes Miz off the ladder. Truth, however, does and he decides to subtly guide Priest by dragging a fresh ladder into the ring to replace the broken one and then toppling Priest off that ladder when he starts climbing to make it seem like it was a work, showing that Truth is both an amazing athlete and someone who cares for his fellow man.
  • #DIY have amazing spots trying to stop New Catch Republic like Gargano hitting Dunn with the One Final Beat from the inside of the ring to the outside through a table or Ciampa's Air Raid Crash from the ladder onto Tyler Bate.
  • New Catch Republic's double moonsault from the same ladder on the outside.
  • The New Day stopping the Judgment Day from getting the belts by throwing JD onto a table and striking Finn Balor with a chair.
  • Points to Grayson Waller, who still clings to the SmackDown Tag Team Championship belt while being powerbombed through a ladder on the outside.
• Sami Zayn being the one to end Gunther's longest reign Intercontinental Championship is nothing short of impressive, he was on the losing end throughout the match but his sheer determination as well as a well executed brainbuster paid off, adding another achievement of ending the longest running reign of a championship in WrestleMania. Doing it while his wife and son was watching makes it a heartwarming moment as well.
• During the Rey/Andrade vs Santos/Dominik match, Joaquin Wilder is literally catapulted from the middle rope onto Legado del Fantasma.
• Jade Cargill cleaning house once she gets tagged in, with the Kabuki Warriors screaming in terror over being within five feet of her.
  • In the same match, Bianca Belair reminds everyone her braid isn't just for show when she whips Asuka with it. One could actually hear the sound of the hair making contact with Asuka.
• Props to Damien Priest for being the second person to do something what many call the heist of the century, cashing in his Money In The Bank contract on Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania after he won the World Heavyweight Championship. Although the match wasn't as long as when Seth Rollins did it, him doing it at just the right moment when everyone thought he'd forgotten about it more than makes up for it.
  • Rollins himself does deserve a mention too. Although he lost both matches he was booked to do, he still stood his line and fought to the best of his ability even when recovering from an injury. Along with him trying to save Rhodes from the Bloodline at the main event, Seth may have lost his battles at WrestleMania but he definitely won the war in the end, compared to McIntyre, who for all of his claims that Rollins' obsession with antagonizing the Bloodline would cost him the title, would himself lose the title due to his own obsession with antagonizing CM Punk (as Punk attacking him after one too many taunts from McIntyre set the stage for Priest's cash-in), and the Bloodline, who despite doing everything they could to rig the odds against Cody, still got defeated.
• Bayley vs IYO SKY has Bayley arriving in an all Egyptian inspired entrance with a pyramid and four men carrying her, all while wearing Anubis masks accompanied by a Triumphant Reprise of her previous theme. That's followed by Bayley overcoming a bad leg to beat IYO for the title, scoring her first victory at the Grandest Stage of them All.
• Cody Rhodes vs Roman Reigns at Night 2 can only be described with four words: Cody finished the story.
  • Due to Roman and the Rock winning the tag match against Cody and Seth Rollins on Night 1, the Bloodline were permitted to be at ringside per the stipulation. When Jimmy Uso tries to run interference for Roman, however, Jey comes in and the twins brawl up the ramp, which ends when Jey spears his brother off the side of the entrance ramp, taking him out of the match.
  • Later, Cody has Roman dead to rights in the Cross Rhodes when Solo Sikoa shows up and sucker punches him with a Samoan Spike. Solo drags Roman over Cody for the cover, only for the latter to kick out at two. It is at that moment that John Cena shows up to knock Solo out of the ring and deliver an Attitude Adjustment to Roman before proceeding to give Solo an AA on the Spanish announcers table, paying him back for Crown Jewel.
  • It's also worth noting before Cena ran in, Rhodes survived the brutal Samoan Spike/Spear combo that Reigns and Solo had used as a tag team.
  • The Rock's music then hits as he and Cena confront each other in the ring, a scene harkening back to their previous clashes at WrestleMania. Cena performs his trademark "U can't see me!" taunt and tries to swing at Rock, only to receive a Rock Bottom from the Great One. With Cena neutralized, the Rock takes out a weight belt and prepares to make good on his threat to have Cody's blood smeared all over the ring.
  • Cue the words: "Sierra. Hotel. India. Echo. Lima. Delta. SHIELD." as Seth Rollins, battered and bruised from the tag match with the Bloodline and his title defense against Drew McIntyre earlier that night, makes his way to the ring through the crowd in his old Shield gear with a steel chair in hand, making good on his promise to serve as Cody's "shield". But as he tries to strike Rock from behind, Seth gets waylaid from a Superman Punch by Roman. With all of his allies down, it seems the clock is about to strike midnight for Cody's story...
  • ...*GONG*. The Deadman Cometh. As the Rock turns and realizes who is standing behind him, the Undertaker delivers a chokeslam to the self-proclaimed Final Boss before disappearing with the Rock after the lights go back out, paying Cody back for Dusty helping put him on the map at Survivor Series 1990.
  • Roman gets to his feet first and grabs the chair as Cody and Rollins struggle to their feet. Reigns is ready to strike Cody down when he notices Seth on the opposite rope with his back turned and delivers a chair shot to Rollins instead, paying him back for his betrayal of the Shield a decade prior. He then tosses the chair aside and goes to the turnbuckle as he readies to finish off Cody with a Spear... only for Seth's plan to serve as Cody's "shield" pay off, as Cody countered the spear with a kick to the midsection and delivered the rolling Cross Rhodes in the center of the ring. He goes for the cover as Michael Cole makes the call:
  Cole: (in time with the referee's 3-count) FINISHED. THE. STORY!
  (the bell rings and the arena erupts into CHEERS)
  • To put all of the above into perspective, many fans and critics have said that the previous year was basically WrestleMania: Infinity War, and this year was WrestleMania: Endgame.

Other Awesome Moments

• No recounting of WrestleMania Crowning Moments would be complete without one of the reasons fans always go and watch it: The Undertaker's winning streak. His opponents were generally no slouches, either.
  • Until WrestleMania XXX, where Brock Lesnar did the unthinkable and ended the streak at 21-1.
• Shawn Michaels isn't called "Mr. WrestleMania" for nothing; besides his show-stealing performances already mentioned above, other notable performances include the Ladder Match against Razor Ramon at WrestleMania X, his match against Chris Jericho at WrestleMania XIX, and his match against Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 21.
  • Hell, you'd be hard-pressed to find a single WrestleMania match of his that wasn't good, going all the way back to his debut at WrestleMania V as part of The Rockers.
  • Another factor to add is, even though he's retired, he's still so much a staple of WrestleMania that the next year they made him Special Guest Referee of The Undertaker vs Triple H match, and the year after that, they put him in Triple H's corner when he wrestled Brock Lesnar (during which he ate an F-5 and planted his foot in Paul Heyman's face).

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