10. bret vs. owen, mania 10. set the standard for all family feud rivalries, had great storytelling, ring action, amazing build with several months leading to mania, and quite the upset finish. this is a landmark match.
9. hbk vs. razor, mania 10. another landmark match, although this time for ladder matches, obviously. gotta be considered if only because of the standard it set.
8. rock vs. hogan. read the editorial on wrestlezone about this match. great thought provoking article. to date, there have only been 2 matches like this; rock vs. hogan at mania 18 and now rock vs. cena this year. could have also been flair vs. hogan at mania 8 but it never happened. just shows how hard these types of icon vs. icon matches really are to make.
7. savage vs. warrior, mania 7. this match barely survives the list for me. i always hated how warrior kicked out of 5 elbow drops, savage kicked out of the warrior splash and then got pinned with one foot on his chest after a shoulder block. just seemed like a burial. but it was a good match, out of warrior no less, and also has the amazing reunion between savage and elizabeth. saving grace.
6. hbk vs. angle. the term "dream match" gets thrown around a lot, but this really was the case here. good build, loved the involvement of sherri and jannetty, etc. of course, the ring work was second-to-none as well.
5. savage vs. steamboat. i might get mugged for saying this, but i always thought that this was a bit over rated. even as a child i thought it was kind of slow, as in not exciting, and even cheesy with mean gene explaining steamboats recovery from the injury due to his "tremendous physical conditioning and massive amounts of heart". saving grace here? jesse ventura's quip on commentary that steamboat didn't have heart, but a lot of throat. classic heel line.
4. hbk vs. flair. not the most brilliant match, but a career ending match between arguably the 2 greatest in ring performers of all time. some say it's flair, others say it's hbk. whichever you choose, both were in this match and it was fantastic. never thought i'd see this match when i first saw them cross paths in the 92 royal rumble. what an amazing journey for both these men!
3. austin vs. hitman. this is a, if not the, defining moment of the attitude era. great match, iconic imagery and a double turn at the end.
2. rock vs. austin, mania 17. perhaps the best title match at the best mania of all time. 2 of the greatest of all time, and the 2 biggest of their era meeting on the biggest stage. the heel turn by austin gives this one the rub over their other 2 encounters for me.
1. hbk vs. taker, mania 25. nothing else comes close for me. two of the best legends of all time with so much history to share. both on the first raw, in the first hell in a cell match, the career ending injury in the casket match, etc. this match did what no other taker mania match did for me; it suspended my disbelief enough to make me think that hbk could end the streak. if it was going to happen, it was gonna be at the 25th anniversary of the grandest stage of them all, not the 26th.
loads of honorable mentions: triple ladder match and tlc 2 between edge and christian, hardy boys and dudley boys, hitman vs. piper, piper vs. gold dust, taker vs. edge, edge vs. foley, christian vs. jericho, jericho vs. hbk, angle vs. benoit, benoit vs. hbk vs. triple h, savage vs. flair, savage vs. hogan, hogan vs. andre and i'm sure i'm missing some others. but there's my top 10.
it'll be interesting to see how we feel about best and biggest manias and best show stealers this time next year after we see jericho vs. punk, triple h vs. taker inside the cell with hbk as the referee and cena vs. rock all in the same show!!
