What's REALLY the biggest Mania match of all-time?

[Rampage Bentley]

So, with John Cena vs. The Rock, the biggest promotion being given to this match is that it's the biggest in WrestleMania history. While I won't deny it is a huge match, I'm not quite sold on it being the biggest. Just looking back on past years we have matches like...

Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant WMIII
Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage WMV
Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior WMVI
Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart WMXII
Shawn Michaels vs. Stone Cold WMXIV
Stone Cold vs. The Rock WMXV/XVII
The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan WMXVIII

Those aren't all the big matches of Mania's past, nor do I think all of them are bigger than Rock/Cena (forgive me if I left out a match you think deserves to be considered, these were just a few examples) but they're just a few I think should at least be in contention.

But let's get to the point...

Do you think Rock vs. Cena is WrestleMania's biggest match to date?

If not, what is?

And as always, Esssplain yourself.

Personally, I think that distinction has to go to either Hogan vs. Andre or Hogan vs. Warrior.

Hogan vs. Andre was WrestleMania's first true main event... two titans colliding. Hulk Hogan was on an unstoppable roll and Andre had never been beaten. It's what set the precedent for WrestleMania and very few matches have had the true size as this one.

Hogan vs. Warrior on the other hand, is the first match to split the crowd. WWE's two biggest faces meeting. This match is what set the precursor for one's like Rock vs. Cena.

While neither gave us the best in-ring action (neither will Rock vs. Cena) They were two of the most edge-of-your-seat, highly anticipated match-ups.

 

[flyguy71122]

The answer has to be Hogan vs Andre only because of the slam heard around the world. However, it was far from the greatest wrestling match at a Wrestlemania.

 

[ProWrestlingFan84]

The Rock/Cena match will be a pretty big match and one might argue it's going to be the biggest match of recent mania history but by no means is it the biggest, most important match in Mania history. I think this match is really similar to how Hogan/Rock or Andre/Hogan is in that a former icon is competing against the current icon except with this, Rock has been away from wrestling for the past 8 years minus the survivor series tag match that happened. I think the most important Mania match would have to be Hogan vs Sid Justice at Mania 8... nah, seriously it would probably have to be Andre vs Hogan. Hogan was really gaining his huge Hulkamania stature and the biggest (literally in some ways) icon up to that point just really passed the torch.

 

[LegendKiller_RKO]

I don't even think it's a contest at this point. Now hear me out. This flat out without a doubt IS the biggest match to date at WM. Why? Because of the build. This match was booked a year ago, between two of the most popular superstars ever to work the ring. Two eras colliding. 2 superstars that could easily put the other one over and not a scratch on there rep. John Cena loses to Rocky then whatever, Cena loses in a long fought battle, I buy it. He came up short against maybe one of the top 5 all time. Cena wins, and he solidifies himself as the best in the business at the moment. Hogan had his matches as op had stated but this era has changed. I honestly hope Cena wins, and I'm not a fan of his. Would just like to see some non attitude era guys get some credit for once.

 

[TheHorndogSays]

While Rock/Cena will be huge, likely the 2nd biggest match in WWE History, it will not be THE biggest. The biggest match will ALWAYS be Hogan/Andre and not because of the "slam heard around the world". Wrestling in it's prime has always been larger then life characters fighting. This match is the quintessential visual of that. The image of Hogan and Andre staring at each other with Gorilla saying "the unstoppable force meets the immovable object" will FOREVER be burned into the retina of not only Wrestlemania but wrestling in general.

 

[flyguy71122]

@Horndog...i agree with some points that you made except for "not because of the slam heard around the world". To me that made Wrestlemania because nothing before that made wrestlemania special (aside from the celebrities). Also Andre was undefeated for about 15 years. That match made Wrestlemania become known as the event where special things happen and dreams come true

 

[Headman]

The reason I'm going to argue that Rock vs Cena is in fact the biggest Wrestlemania match of all time is because these are two superstars from two generations who are both still pretty close to their primes. It's not like Hogan on his last good leg taking on the Rock who was half way out the door. And I don't mean to take anything away from that match either, but to me this is the Rock who despite the fact that all his movies are pretty corny is still a high demand big budget star. And John Cena, love him or hate him is the face of the current generation and a house hold name. Add in the fact that this match has an air of realism and a one year build up this has to be the most hyped match of all time. In my mind it doesn't get any bigger.

 

[flyguy71122]

@headman...good points, and I would like to offer to meet you half way on this. Cena vs The Rock is the Biggest WMania involving 2 guys who are in great shape plus the points you made. However, Andre vs Hogan will always be the Biggest match in WMania history because shocked the world.

 

[jokernaut]

ive gotta go with rock austin wm17. andre and hogan was huge no doubt but the attitude era was the only time you had two number 1 guys. the build up was awesome, austin had only been back a couple of months while the rock gained more and more popularity and the match delivered for nearly 30 mins. all those matches posted are all huge and rock cena will be great but its not the biggest. cena is popular but not where the rock, austin or hogan ever were when they were in their prime

 

[LynchCats]

Rock Vs Austin @ WM17. Enough said...

Um, no, not really.. the OP asked for a reason...

Now to be on subject so that I'm not spamming...

Hogan and Andre will ALWAYS be the gold standard for what is the most hyped match and the biggest match of all-time. You have someone in Hogan who was champion at that time for three years, going against someone who was being billed as having never been defeated or slammed (let's ignore the fact that Hogan himself slammed Andre in 1980). As someone already said, Gorilla's quote "The unstoppable force meeting the immovable object" will be forever engrained in our minds because of this match.

Hogan/Warrior and Hogan/Rock are close, but they don't, nor will they ever match up to the Hogan/Andre standard, nor should they.

 

[theBusiness]

I'd like to make a distinction between "greatest" and "Best". IMO, the term greatest is geared toward the historical significance of the match and the hype surrounding it.. And Best is referred to as the actual execution and quality of the match. That being said...

Greatest WrestleMania match = Hogan vs. Andre
Best WrestleMania match = Bret vs. Austin

 

[ProWrestlingFan]

Rock / Austin - Wrestlemania 17 is the biggest match in Wrestlemania history. The Buildup, The Promo video, The hype, The entrances, The match, The match ending by a double face/ heel turn. All things were perfect. Wrestlemania 17 is the greatest Wrestlemania of all time.

Undertaker / HHH match at Wrestlemania was also a pretty good match in my opinion.

Rock / Austin, HHH / Taker made Wrestlemania 17 the Greatest Wrestlemanias of all Time.

Rock / Cena is nowhere near as big as Rock / Austin at Wrestlemania 17 and Wrestlemania 19.

[YOUTUBE]tliSvomIx_k[/YOUTUBE]

 

[PunkIsGod]

Hogan vs Warrior for me. I was a child and i remember arguing with my friends: who will win, Hulkamania or the Warrior? They were the two bigger babyfaces in the wwf back then and you had pro-hogans and pro-warriors. It wasn´t the typical Hogan / babyface vs the monster with the babyface as the underdog.

 

[mdj2010]

It has to be Hogan Warrior for me. it was title Vs. title, it was the oassing of the torch, it was the epitome of the irresistable force meeting the immovable object and it was the climax of one of the WWF's most succesful character creations to that date. Okay, it didn't exactly turn out as planned, but it felt like the most significant ending to any Wrestlemania and still does.

 

[mb47]

I'm not going to comment on Rock vs. Cena as that match hasn't happened, we don't know what's planned, how it will end etc...

It's not the fairest of comparisons to say Hogan vs. Andre is bigger than Rock vs. Cena because of the slam on Andre when Rock vs. Cena hasn't even occurred yet.

That said for me personally I am torn between 3 matches.

Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold - Incredible match that put over both men in a great way. The winner/loser is rarely the discussion for this match and that to me makes it one of the biggest because it is all about what happened in the ring, not the outcome that made it great.

Stone Cold vs. The Rock - I'm talking 17 for this one. It was a huge match, a clash of two of the biggest stars of all time colliding for a second time. A huge twist on the finish which kept you on the edge of your seat.

The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan - This match was special. Hogan was obviously not in the best shape and The Rock was closer towards leaving the company but that to me takes nothing away from it. Just like Cena/Rock here we had two of the best from their generation going toe to toe. The atmosphere was amazing, The Rock made Hogan look better than he was at that time and it's got to be the reason we're getting Cena vs. Rock.

 

[IHW]

Do you think Rock vs. Cena is WrestleMania's biggest match to date?
Rock vs. Cena is the biggest match in this era of Wrestling.

If not, what is?

The biggest would have to feature Hogan, because Hogan is the guy you think of when you say "Wrestling" or even sometime "Wrestlemania."
Hogan vs. Andre is the biggest. That had the biggest value to it. It wasn't the best wrestling wise, but it was amazing none the less.

 

[Derf]

Rock/Cena is easily the best built match ever, despite the fact that the past few weeks have been lackluster. No other match had been booked that far in advance, and with less then 10 days to go, it looks like it's actually going to happen.

As for most important, IMO that still goes to Hogan/Andre, if only for the ending. Most reconized moment in WWE history, easily. However, untill Rock/Cena actually happens, we won't know which actual match is bigger, only the build, which easily goes to Cena/Rock.

 

[HeenanGorilla]

Hogan/Andre gets my vote.

Stone Cold/Hart from WMXIII--you gotta be kidding me. BIGGEST match is the topic here. It was a hell of a match, but not even close to being the biggest.

Also, for being burned into so many memories, it is amazing how many times it was misquoted. Irresistible force/immovable object.

I also can't believe how the OP writes biggest and so many people change it to greatest or best. If you want to talk greatest or best, start your own post. OP came here with a question. Answer their question...don't make one up that is similar and then answer it yourself.

Amazing how many people can't read, yet can't wait to write.

Finally, Cena/Rock was not a year-long feud build up. It was mentioned, then a huge gap, then a re-visit, then another huge gap, some sprinkling and now a Mania push. I argue that Hogan/Savage was a true year-long storyline as it progressed steadily throughout the year from WMIV to WMV. Rock was here, then gone, then here, then gone...now here....soon to be gone. The EFFECT of this match will have nowhere near the effect that Hogan/Andre had. Austin/Rock was great...but didn't bring in new fans like Hogan/Andre did. It was the dream match of the time, no question. But it did nothing to elevate the business. BIGGEST = Hogan/Andre

 

[Wald]

Biggest match of all-time for me is hands down Austin vs the Rock from Wrestlemania 17.

Think about it. The three biggest performers ever in the history of this business is Hogan, Austin and the Rock, I don't think there can be any arguing with that can there?

So you had the Rock at the height of his popularity, and the years 1999/2000 were his years as the face of the company. You had Steve Austin, who had been the face of the company for 1997, 1998 and parts of 1999 coming back to reclaim his throne. They had a massive history against each other, they were both face, the WWF was as popular as it has ever been, or probably ever will be, and they were battling it out to prove who was the top dog of that era.

It doesn't get any bigger than that

 

[$uck my venis]

I go with Andre vs Hogan. It solidified Hogan as the top dog for over a decade.

Now I will say I think Undertaker vs Cena will be the greatest of all if, WWE goes for it.

 

[Mantis]

Rock / Austin - Wrestlemania 17 is the biggest match in Wrestlemania history. The Buildup, The Promo video, The hype, The entrances, The match, The match ending by a double face/ heel turn. All things were perfect. Wrestlemania 17 is the greatest Wrestlemania of all time.

I agree with your pick, but that wasn't a double turn. Austin/Hart at WM13 is an example of a double turn as you had a heel Austin turning face and a face Hart turning heel. In WM17, both Austin and Rock were faces going in and only Austin turned.

And I think people should wait to see the Rock/Cena match before having a definitive opinion on it.

Anyway, my vote goes to Austin/Rock at WM17 because it was the only one to feature two true megastars at the height of their popularity, and the match held up its end of the bargain.

It also helps that WM17 was the first Mania to feature the massively increased production values that we see today and make the others before it look like glorified In Your House PPVs.

 

[S.J. Maximus]

I think in terms of hype and build that there are three matches that stand out from the bunch: Hogan/Andre, Hogan/Warrior, and Austin/Rock. Of the three, I personally vote for Hogan/Warrior, which to my knowledge was the first major face vs face battle in the WWF and it was for the richest prize in the company, the WWF title. This was during a time where the Intercontinental Champion was actually the #2 guy in the company (something that hasn't been the case for decades) and Warrior came in as the fan-favorite IC champ going against the fan-favorite WWF champ Hogan who had been dominating and making Hulkamania run wild! The epic staredown in the beginning of the match and the crowd reaction the whole time tells the story, this match has to be the biggest ever.

Austin/Rock comes second for me due to the similar reasons of the 2 top faces battling out (but I think the gap between Austin Rock was smaller than the gap between Hogan and Warrior) for the richest prize in the biz

 

[Midnite Express 2009]

Okay 1st of all, why do all these matches feature either Hogan, Michaels or Austin? Sure, they had great Mania matches, but THE greatest single WrestleMania match of all time from bell to bell is the Randy Savage/Ricky Steamboat match. Why? If you've been on the unfortunate side of life to have never seen this match, it's the matches that other matches should be built upon. No over hype. This match was pure gold and it featured both men at their absolute best (even though Steamboat progressively got better as he went back to the NWA and had even more classic matches with rival Ric Flair). The Savage/Steamboat classic was one of the technical jewels in an era where men like those two, along with Bret Hart and others were being pushed out for the cartoonish antics of the WWF.

Nothing compares to this match, sure there's been other classic pure wrestling matches but this is what put that particular WrestleMaina on top of the world, IMO, even despite playing second billing to the Andre the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan main event. Nuf said, just watch the match, even if you've seen it before.

 

[HeenanGorilla]

Okay 1st of all, why do all these matches feature either Hogan, Michaels or Austin? Sure, they had great Mania matches, but THE greatest single WrestleMania match of all time from bell to bell is the Randy Savage/Ricky Steamboat match. Why? If you've been on the unfortunate side of life to have never seen this match, it's the matches that other matches should be built upon. No over hype. This match was pure gold and it featured both men at their absolute best (even though Steamboat progressively got better as he went back to the NWA and had even more classic matches with rival Ric Flair). The Savage/Steamboat classic was one of the technical jewels in an era where men like those two, along with Bret Hart and others were being pushed out for the cartoonish antics of the WWF.

Nothing compares to this match, sure there's been other classic pure wrestling matches but this is what put that particular WrestleMaina on top of the world, IMO, even despite playing second billing to the Andre the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan main event. Nuf said, just watch the match, even if you've seen it before.

This is a classic example of what I mentioned earlier. This match has always been one of my favorites, from the night I watched it live until now. But it IN NO WAY is one of the biggest matches ever--let alone THE biggest. Your argument for this match doesn't even address what this post is about. People like this are so stubborn that one match is "better" that they do not READ WHAT THE POST IS ABOUT. Can't wait for your response which will no doubt prove my point further.

 

[Cabana]

Hogan-Andre is hard to top. Hogan-Warrior came close in terms of meeting the hype + payoff, and so did Rock-Hogan.

The common thread here is Hogan, and it's a big reason why he's the Babe Ruth of wrestling. The man sells. Frankly, I think this should have been a part of the Cena-Rock hype, insofar as it's Rocky trying to prove that he can be just as big a draw as Hogan ever was, and bring Cena up to that level while he's at it. Functionally, this is what's happening and it's something Rock finally alluded to on Monday.

Right now, Cena-Rock does compare to Rock-Hogan in terms of hype heading in: there's mainstream attention and fans of all stripes seem genuinely excited. I wasn't old enough to appreciate Hogan-Andre or Hogan-Warrior, but I'd imagine there were at least similar levels of attention and excitement. It's been a while since there was a genuine crossover Wrestlemania moment and this should be one. I'm excited!

...And it'll be all the better when Punk-Austin proves to be a superdraw at Summerslam or next year's Mania.