Top 5 wrestlemania matches since WM20

[Angleslammer]

I meant to make this thread around the time of wrestlemania but it's one I was very curious to hear people's thoughts on.

back before Wrestlemania 20 the wwe put out a special on the top 10 WM matches of all time (it's an extra on the WM 20 DVD set if anyone wants to check it out that hasnt before)

I was wondering 2 things:

1) What would be the top 5 wrestlemania matches from WM 20 to WM 25 (and explain your choices)

and

2) what, if any, matches from the last 5 years would make the wwe's original top 10 list


my top 5 are as follows:

5) WM 20 triple threat, HBK vs. HHH vs. Beniot, tempted to leave this one off and put flair/hbk in it's place, but looking at objectively it's imo the greatest triple threat ever, (in fact one of the few 3 ways I have enjoyed in wrestling, most just arent good)

4) WM 24 Undertaker/Edge, I just really enjoy this match and think a few years from now will go down as the match where Edge firmly (yes he kinda was before but not to the extent he is now) entrenched his status as main event player capable of holding his own on the big one

3) WM 23 Undertaker vs. Batista, they literally stole the show, with everyone expecting HBK/Cena (which was good, not great, in it's own right) to steal the show taker and big dave put on a classic big man match, hard strikes and for big guys high flying, a great 15 minute match that is entertaining from start to finish and one of the best Batista has ever been able to do (obviously taker had something to do about that

2) WM 25 Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels, enough about this has been said all ready, I could very easily make the case for this being #1, and maybe as time passes it will be, but to do what they did when everyone's expectations were through the roof to begin with is amazing, it's one thing to do without the expectations but these 2 vets put on the rare instance where the match actually matched (if not passed) the hype

and

1) WM 21 Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle, wow is all i can say, people have said a lot of this match over the last few years and having rewatched it recently still cant believe what these 2 did after never having even been in a ring together before, just amazing, great build, great match, again I can understand if people put taker and shawn higher but for me personally this match is the best match I've seen the last 5 years, period


honorbable mentions: Flair/HBK (great story, and good match), HHH/Cena (dont really care for the match itself but the crowd makes this one better than it really is), and the first ever money in the bank match (to me still the best one)


as for if any of these make the all time top ten list, I'd have to say I think both Undertaker/HBK and HBK/Angle would make the list, but I doubt any of the others!


so i'm curious what people think, agree or disagree and why?

 

[Billie Jean]

I would agree with most of the list Theres only one match that i would take out of that fiveand that would be the Batesta and Taker match, all the rest were classics. (through batesta and taker still put on a great match). My top five are as follows:-

5. Triple threat WM20. Shawn Michaels vs HHH vs Chris Beniot. I agree this is one of the if not the greatest Triple threat in history.

4. Edge vs Undertaker WM24. Match of the year 2008(in my opinion). Great back and forth match with tow of the finest at the moment bringing their A game to the biggest show of the year.

3. Money in the Bank WM21. Not the best ladder match ever but it revoulutionised both the push of mid-card wrestlers and put into process the future star of Edge(if that makes sence.)

2. Tough choice but i would say that Angle and Michaels would take this spot. I was tempted to put this 1# on the list but i suppose by now you know what that is. This match in my opinion is ONE of the greatest ever! But so is the next.

1. Shawn Michales vs Undertaker WM25. Nough said alreay.

Hounorable mentions:- Edge vs Foley, Cena Michaels, Taker vs Batesta.

 

[S prince]

We've all witnessed great matches throughout history, Stone Cold vs The Rock, Shawn Michaels vs. Undertake at this past wrestlemania, etc etc. Do you know what makes a great match? Sure the wrestlers have alot to do with it, selling moves, getting the crowd involved etc, but the main thing that really creates an unbelievable match is when there are Near Falls. Kicking out of finishers, continuing the match when the crowd least expects it. Do you guys remember the match a few years back between Triple H and Taka Michinoku on Raw. Taka had so many close pinfalls on Triple H, the fans were loving it. You didn't know if he was going to pull of the miracle upset or not. What I'm saying is that you can throw any jobber into the mix with a big star, and with a bunch of near falls, the fans will take a liking to you. You can build up this jobber week by week. I don't know, something to consider??

 

[Black Snow]

You really need to make your definition of what makes a great match bigger than it is. Because if you're placing that much value on nearfalls than it's absolutely impossible for an Undertaker match at WrestleMania to be great. People are considering 'Taker/HBK absolutely outstanding but if I went by your definition then the match can't be that good because I never once bought that one of Shawn's covers on 'Taker could win the match. I'll never buy it. That's the curse of having that streak.

---

Anyway, my top of five of 'Mania XX-25... in fact, I'll give you a top ten:

10) John Cena (c) vs. Triple H - 22
9) Batista (c) vs. Undertaker - 23
8) Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero - 21
7) Edge vs. Chris Benoit vs. Kane vs. Chris Jericho vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Christian - 21
6) Edge vs. Mick Foley - 22
5) Eddie Guerrero (c) vs. Kurt Angle - XX
4) Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels - 25th anniversary of WrestleMania Zero
3) Edge (c) vs. Undertaker - XXIV
2) Triple H (c) vs. Chris Benoit vs. Shawn Michaels - XX
1) Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels - 21

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

We've all witnessed great matches throughout history, Stone Cold vs The Rock, Shawn Michaels vs. Undertake at this past wrestlemania, etc etc. Do you know what makes a great match? Sure the wrestlers have alot to do with it, selling moves, getting the crowd involved etc, but the main thing that really creates an unbelievable match is when there are Near Falls. Kicking out of finishers, continuing the match when the crowd least expects it. Do you guys remember the match a few years back between Triple H and Taka Michinoku on Raw. Taka had so many close pinfalls on Triple H, the fans were loving it. You didn't know if he was going to pull of the miracle upset or not. What I'm saying is that you can throw any jobber into the mix with a big star, and with a bunch of near falls, the fans will take a liking to you. You can build up this jobber week by week. I don't know, something to consider??

I suggest you make your own threads dude, as opposed to telling peole what they should consider before they answer the actual question.

Moving on, i'm noticing a LOT of the same matches being listed here. I'm going to go and give my personal top 5, in no particular order, and i'm sure i'll take some flack, becuase i'm not going to list 2 matches that EVERYONE so far has mentioned.

1. Chris Jericho v Christian. I LOVED THIS MATCH. I've touted on about it before, but seriously. I had never really been a fan of Jericho as a face personally, although i've always loved Christian no matter what, and i felt this match was very well put together in every aspect. You had a nice long build with the Trish/Y2J thing, then with Captain Charisma thrown in the mix, a guy who had excellent gimmick matches at WM, but never really shined in singles matches, really showed what he could do in this match, and then the 'accidental' elbow from Trish costing Jericho the win, followed by an Unprettier for good measure, and then a swerve heel turn by Trish made this match a joy to behold.

2. Benoit Triple Threat. I too agree that this is one of the better triple threat main events of the last 5 years alone, never mind WM. Back and forth, back and forth action that resulted in the culmination of the HHH/HBK fued and saw Chris Benoit finally win the big one.

3. Edge v Mick Foley. I have yet to see a Hardcore match that was as good as this one. Finally Mick was able to have a WM moment that didn't suck to high heaven, and it really helped to solidify Edge's ME status since he won the WWE title and lost it some 21 days later, some may say that he looked weak as hell as a result (and tbh, he comes off as a weakling who can't get the job done in every title match now) but having him beat Foley near enough on his own in a Hardcore match repaired any damage done. Shame about the way it progressed from there really.

4. Taker v Batista. I still haven't seen Batista put on a singles match as good as this since. Good to see the Animal vary his offence a little bit and he REALLY took it to Taker in that match. Has anyone gone all guns blazing on Taker from the moment the bell rings at Mania any other time?

5. Taker v HBK. The main reason i picked this one is because i was there to witness it in person. There were some great spots in that match and both men clearly haven't lost any of their magic since their last full match together some 10 years ago. I honestly thought when Sim 'Where do i point the camera' Snuka had let Taker fall to his death when they fucked up that spot...... ok not to his death, but i honestly expected the ref's to start calling for help after that spot, and the match to end prematurely, but thank god it didn't. MOTY so far by leaps and bounds.

Oh, and no i didn't think Taker v Edge or Angle v HBK were anything to shout about.

 

[The Todd]

Edge Mick Foley - It was a brutal war. It was the moment Edge really stepped up and went to the Main Event. It was absoultely barbaric. The spear through the flaming table was absoultely epic. Incredible, but it was not the moment for me in that match. It was after pinfall, Edge kneeling down on the ramp with the blood pouring from the drawing pins stuck in his back and a look of sheer exhaustment. He really did put everything he had into that match and it made his career. As for Foley, what more do you expect from the man. Give him a gimmick match and he will deliver.

Edge 'Taker - I was never a fan of Edge until this match. It was amazing. The psychology was great. Edge countered EVERY move in 'Taker's arsenal. 'Taker knew he had to do something special to win the match. As for the second spear from Edge, I honestly thought "Wait? They can't let 'Taker LOSE!" so 'Taker locking on the gogoplata, or whatever it is called now, was a true mark out moment, before you realised 'Mania was going to end in a submission which I am not a fan of. Still, it was an unbelievable match.

Cena HBK - Wow. The build up was good, the match was better. I honestly expected HBK to win, I really did. The piledriver on the steps was sick. They truely did war with each other and you could sense the loathing between the two tag champions. Cena winning was a surprise (to me at leastm probably not many others) and whilst I was again disappointed with the use of submission for the win, the match delivered.

HBK 'Taker - Whilst I don't rate this as highly as everyone seems to (there was waaay too much time with them both lying around) the suspense made the match. Obviously the result was known beforehand, but it was seeing what spots the two would pull off that made it. Kicking out of each others finishing manouvers was the right thing to do and the ending came off very well.

First MitB - It was new, fast paced and exciting. Shelton was awe-inspiring, shame he never followed it up on a weekly basis. The Edge win didn't please the crowd, but he was the correct character to win and plant the seeds for what winning the briefcase could present to the victor. The match may have been a spot fest, but it was a good spot fest. Every competitor brought something to the match and the new gimmick was a success.

 

[trent339]

These are my faviorite but there not in any order

ANGLE VS HBK
This match was just pure awesome and what was diffrent about this match was that hbk didnt carry the match angle did and did it well we saw hbk riverse the anckle lock like 5 times we saw angle kick out of 2 sweet chin music's its was just awesome.

CENA VS HBK
to me personaly WM23 was in my top 3 faviourite and i thing i can remeber was the last match of the night HBK VS CENA. its was an awesome match with cena winning but hbk carrying teh match and thats what made it so good

MITB wm 23
this was just insane. you have the hardy brothers i mean that means somethign crazy is going to happen and it did. When jeff hardy jumped off that ladder and landed on edge putting him threw the ladder was just great i couldnt believe my eyes and correct me if im wrong but that was the first time some one had gone threw a ladder.

Undertaker vs HBK
when i think about this realy was my faviourite match probaly ever in wm history. Why well every one who saw it would understand.

i also loved edge vs foley and triple h vs cena and undertaker vs edge

 

[rolltide_pisco]

1. Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels- Kurt proved to the world once and for all he was a main eventer.

2. Undertaker vs HBK- c'mon this was a match in the making for years.

3. Undertaker vs Randy Orton- the best Wrestlemania opponent UT has ever had.

4. Triple H vs John Cena- I don't like Cena but he drew alot of heat just for being a face.

5. Money in the Bank I (WM 21)- the beginning of Edge's rise to power.



and they're way too many to list for the worst matches. I don't wanna hurt the Divas or Big Show's feelings. lol

 

[hArdyPUNKmArk]

5. Chirs Benoit v HHH v Shawn Michaels (Wresltemania 20)
This is as you said one of the best triple threats ever. I really enjoyed the back and forth in this match and seeing Benoit win at Mania was awesome.

4. Shawn Michaels v Vince McMahon (Wrestlemania 22)
I just really liked how beat up Vince got in this match and the spot from the ladder to Vince in a trashcan was fucking sick!

3. Edge v Mick Foley (Wrestlemania 22)
This is probably my favourite hardcore match in recent years. It really established Edge and seeing Foley take it the way he did was awesome. Loved the tacks, barbie and the barbed wire socko. This had everything, great match!

2. Shawn Michaels v Kurt Angle (Wrestlemania 21)
This match is self explanatory. 2 of the best wrestlers in the world going toe to toe. And was this the first time they had met one on one? I cant remember but it was a fantastic match up.

1. Shawn Michaels v Undertaker (Wrestlemania 25)
So much said about this so I'll just say i agree with most that this has to be one of the top WM match's of all time! Great spots, bumps and technical moves. I thought Taker had killed himself with the dive over the top and honestly towards the end wasnt sure if he'd win. Great fucking match right there!

I think only the Taker/Michaels match and the Angle/Michaels match would be worthy of top ten. Also the Edge/Foley would be close...

 

[fbksmackdown]

1. Undertaker vs. Shawn Michale's- The streak vs. Mr. Wrestlemania, theres no need for explanation

2. Edge vs. Undertaker- Edge kicking out of the tombstone then hitting two spears on him and nearly getting the 3....that made the match a classic for me

3. Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michale's- 2 of the best that wwe has had to offer battling out to see who was the best.....priceless

4. MITB at every WM- All future main eventer putting their bodies on the line...enough said

5. MVP vs. Chris Benoit- it showed that MVP was a main eventer to happen.

honorable mentions- Batista vs. UT, Shawn vs. Cena, HHH vs. Batista, HHH vs. HBK vs. Benoit, UT vs. Orton, Mickie James vs. Trish Stratus( the best diva match by far)

 

[Suneeboy]

5) MITB WM 23. Awesome spots in that match.
4) HHH vs Batista WM21. HHH conducted a class for all heels on how to sell moves and put the face over. JR and The King made this match even more exciting. The crowd was hot as hell for this one.
3) Benoit/HBK/HHH WM 20. All I can say is wow, and JR totally marked out.
2) Angle/HBK WM 21...is there really an explanation needed there?
1) HBK/Taker WM 25. Nuff said.

 

[Mrmartini]

In order

1.Hbk vs Undertaker-Wm25
2.Angle vs HBK-WM21 (True classic with 2 of the best tech wrestlers ever)
3.MITB-WM24-Awesome spots and sheltons powerbomb was sick as hell
4.Benoit/hbk/hhh-wm 20 (Only good triple threat match for world title ever at any wm
5.Undertaker vs Batista-WM23 (First time they met two big faces going one on one great spots and a very hot crowd the whole match plus its batistas only good match ever imo he sucks

 

[TheGreatSPAMbino]

Here are TheNextVinceRusso's top 5:

5) Michaels vs. Undertaker- wrestlemania 25- starting things off on the countdown is the most recent match. By far the best match of wrestlemania 25 but still greatly over rated. It by no means is the best wrestlemania match of all time but it was still entertaining. It started off rather slow paced and basic for the first ten minutes but takers near death experience got me back into it. Then we got the standard kick out of everybodys finisher routine, with some cool counters and such. Still rather predictable because Michaels obviously was not going to win.
4)Benoit vs. triple H vs. shawn michaels- wrestlemania 20- best wrestlemania triple threat, and just an overall great title match. Its a shame that such an entertaining main event match is now tainted because of the heinous acts of the winner years later.
3)Edge vs. Foley Hardcore Match- wrestlemania 22- extremely exciting and fun match to watch. Probably made more fun because of the people who i watched it with but still a great match. All of the classic foley hardcore shit was in there, plus a few new things as well. Awesome finish with the flaming table providing a true wrestlemania moment.
2)Michaels vs. Flair, in Flair's last Match- Wrestlemania 24- the emotion and the drama behind this match makes it absolutely phenomenal. That drama combined with an amazing in ring performance created truly great sports entertainment. The finish was one of the most memorable and moving moments not just in wrestlemania history but in wrestling history. Fantastic.
1)Michaels vs. Angle- wrestlemania 21- classic. end of story. Clear number one.