This article originally ran on March 27th, 2015, and it has been lightly updated/corrected where appropriate.
There have been hundreds upon hundreds of matches throughout the years with countless wrestlers.
It would take several days to watch every one of them in a row.
One of the things that makes the show so great is that its supposed to be the big climax.
The big finale or high point to certain storylines.
So Im going to talk about what I consider to be the 50 bestWrestleManiastorylines.
If someones attacked after the bell rings, it counts.
If something stupid happens onRawthe day after or a week after, it doesnt count.
Dont get me wrong, there are alotof great matches that wont be on the list.
No Money in the Bank matches, for one.
This is about storytelling and build.
Fight me, then!
Even Hulk Hogan vs.
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Also, spoiler alert, John Cenas only on the list an entireonetime.
Sorry, I just plain hated the Cena vs. Rock trilogy.
In what was looking to be a really underwhelmingWrestleMania(and it was!
), the signed match between the two announcers was the only one to truly be excited for.
Lawler won and proceeded to keep kicking his ass after the bell.
Either the numbers game would win out or Jericho would be the man who beat up three old dudes.
Luckily, they were able to make a great build out of it.
This worked out in part because of some great work by Steamboat.
Then he proceeded to cut one of the better promos in his career to sell Jericho as a hypocrite.
Jericho beat down Steamboat, as he would do to Piper, Snuka, and Flair on separate occasions.
Jericho still won, beat up Flair, and then called out Mickey Rourke.
He knew deep inside that he couldnt measure up against this kid.
Orton couldnt leave well enough alone and started producing political attack ads based on Foley being a coward.
Not only was Foley back, but he was pissed beyond belief.
CRUSH VS. DOINK THE CLOWN
WrestleMania IX
With Crush vs. Doink, you get two interesting situations.
Its a great case of pick on someone your own size!
Doink was kind of badass here.
For months, Doink would pull pranks on kids at ringside, but Crush had enough and reprimanded him.
Jake Roberts had a bad back and Dibiase went over the line attacking it, giving Roberts an injury.
Boss Man thought he was doing this for moral reasons and not because he was being bribed.
That set up our two matches.
Roberts then laid him out with a DDT, getting his revenge.
With Boss Man vs. Akeem coming next, Dibiase recovered enough to ambush Boss Man and weaken him.
The two had an altercation and were separated.
Then when Undertaker had the match won, Diesel interfered and got the match thrown out.
He defiantly flipped Undertaker off.
He kept getting under Diesels skin, including one point where a casket was delivered to ringside.
Diesel cautiously opened it, expecting Undertaker.
Instead, he foundhimselflaying there, dead.
Diesel was rightfully spooked.
As they went at it, they appeared to be evenly matched.
Diesel could have won it at the end, but his ego got in the way.
They did a big battle royal where the two finalists would later have a match for the vacated belt.
Meanwhile, Michaels came back and was all, Um, Im still the champ.
I dont know what youre talking about.
I never lost the belt.
I still have it here.
Whatever, Im going to enter the Royal Rumble.
Hogan had a match with the Rock and McMahon decided to interfere on Rocks behalf.
If Hogan lost, hed have to retire.
RODDY PIPER VS. ADRIAN ADONIS
WrestleMania III
Roddy Piper had his interview segment Pipers Pit.
This caused some friction when Piper came back and they had a crossover segment where both shows ran concurrently.
Piper later returned from the beating to smash up the Flower Shop set with a baseball bat.
He announced his retirement (haha, yeah right), but first he would have a Hair vs.
Hair Match against Adonis atWrestleMania.
In the match, Piper had some problems due to Adonis and manager Jimmy Harts cheating.
Then we got a pretty brilliant torch-passing moment.
Then atWrestleMania III, the Dream Team split up and Beefcake was left alone.
Feeling betrayed, Beefcake went to help out Piper in his match and evened the odds.
Undertaker agreed to Ortons terms, but then things started to get out of hand.
REY MYSTERIO VS. CM PUNK
WrestleMania XXVI
This one is mostly pretty by the numbers.
Solid, but nothing too special.
Exceptfor the birthday celebration.
Mysterio brought out his family to wish his young daughter Aaliyah a happy birthday.
Instead, Randy Savage was named #1 contender, guaranteeing us a good match.
Flairs mantra was that Elizabeth was his before she was Savages.
It was a short-lived victory, though, as Flair and Mr.
Perfect attacked Savages knee after the bell.
Flair forced a kiss on Elizabeth, who angrily slapped him in retaliation.
Savage had the belt, but this was far from over.
DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE VS. CHRISTIAN
WrestleMania X8
Christian was having a pretty bad time.
After losing his long-running feud with Edge, he couldnt win a match to save his life.
His pre-match pyro fizzled out.
He was a huge loser.
It broke him and he started having massive tantrums after his matches.
European Champion and motivational speaker DDP saw this and decided to take Christian under his wing.
In a humorous partnership, Christian was taught lessons in positivity.
He thought he was on a roll and he was going for that European title.
DDP won the match, but appeared to be proud of Christian despite everything.
He pointed out that although Christian lost, he won in a way.
He didnt lose his cool.
He didnt throw a tantrum.
A loss that would be remembered for years to come.
Losing atWrestleManiais a pretty big deal, after all!
Jericho ultimately got back at him with two classic segments.
Doink ended up attacking Regal after the match and locked him into the Walls of Jericho.
Doink unmasked to reveal Jericho and Regal staggered to the back.
The two opened one of the most well-regardedWrestleManiasand Jericho retained his Intercontinental Championship in a quality match.
Even McMahon, who wanted to teach some tough love, was horrified and wanted JBL to stop.
JBL explained that Hornswoggle was never Vinces son, but Finlays.
This led to a Belfast Brawl atWrestleManiawhere JBL won and threw a trash can into Hornswoggle.
Match was pretty good too.
Although Mountie won, he dropped the belt days later to Roddy Piper.
That set up Piper vs. a fully healthy Bret atWrestleMania.
Their talks of mutual respect started to get a bit hairy when Pipers tone became more patronizing.
They finally had it out in the ring in what Id easily consider the match of the night.
With the referee knocked out, Piper had the chance to brain Bret with the ring bell.
On commentary, Bobby Heenan yelled at him to go through with it.
Piper realized he couldnt bring himself to do it and discarded the weapon.
Naturally, the match was on forWrestleMania.
Angle made this feud by deciding to outdo Michaels.
For instance, he had a match with Michaels old partner Marty Jannetty and made him tap.
Then Angle ended up making Sherri tap for the crime of being wistful about Michaels career.
Angle won decisively by forcing Michaels to tap.
If anything, I was totally jazzed to see Michaels and Jannetty hanging out on-screen again.
EDDIE GUERRERO VS. KURT ANGLE
Eddie and Angle were pretty good friends.
When Eddie was having issues with his cousin Chavo, Angle was there to try and keep the peace.
He went on to defeat Lesnar while Angle won another #1 contender match the same night.
Things started out honorable, but once it was convenient, Angle attacked Eddie.
Eddie viciously attacked him andSmackDownGM Paul Heyman had him arrested.
Heyman signed a match of himself and Eddie where Eddie would wear handcuffs.
When it came time for the match, it seemed like Angle had Eddies number.
He kept putting him in the Ankle Lock again and again with Eddie barely escaping.
Batista started kissing up to Vince McMahon, which earned him one hell of an opportunity.
In an Elimination Chamber match, John Cena became the new WWE Champion.
McMahon came out to announce an impromptu title defense against Batista, who easily won.
Cena did so…only he won via getting kicked in the nuts by Batista.
While well never get heel Cena ever again, at least Batistas few months post-turn would be close enough.
UNDERTAKER VS. CM PUNK
WrestleMania 29
This ones divisive and had a pretty rotten start.
CM Punk demanded a match against the Undertaker, as did several other wrestlers.
They were put in a Fatal Fourway to earn the spot, which Punk won.
Funny thing, the guy who came up with that idea was immediately fired.
Tragedy struck when William Moody, otherwise known as Undertakers old manager Paul Bearer, passed away.
Fans were split during the match up until one point.
Suddenly everyone was on the Undertaker bandwagon.
Undertaker shut Punk up and avenged Paul Bearer.
Friends of Moody would insist that he would have loved this angle.
I hope you like Shawn Michaels because thats what the next page is all about.
Instead, Tyson revealed that he was on their side by wearing a DX shirt.
Despite Austins overwhelming tenacity, he spent the build getting trumped and trolled by Michaels again and again.
Austin landed a Stunner and made the cover.
When Michaels got in Tysons face about it, Tyson knocked him out.
MEGA MANIACS VS. MONEY INC.
The story goes like this: WWF Tag Team Champions Money Inc. beat up Brutus Beefcake.
Hulk Hogan came back to help him.
They challenged for the belts.
Money Inc. won by disqualification, but got their just desserts.
Everything boils down to the moment Money Inc. attacked Beefcake.
It was honestly one of the first truly great moments inRawhistory.
Beefcake was in a parasailing accident that destroyed his face and he had to have lots of reconstructive surgery.
He took on Dibiase in a singles match and IRS attacked.
Amongst all of this, Jimmy Hart manager to Money Inc. begged and pleaded for them to stop.
SHAWN MICHAELS VS. BRET HART
I feel bad for Bret on this one.
Dude was in a face vs. face title match where the narrative was against him.
We didnt want him to win, but we also didnt want to boo him.
First he turned face and rejoined his buddy Diesel.
Then he redeemed himself in a second Ladder Match against Razor Ramon.
Michaels concussions were holding him back and came off like a dark cloud amongst any success he had.
After a boring 60 minutes that WWE insists was anything but, they ended at a draw.
The match was restarted, much to Brets chagrin, and Michaels finished him off with two superkicks.
Finally, the boyhood dream was realized after a year of fantastic build.
Jericho tricked Michaels at the Rumble by having Christian dress up as a decoy.
Jericho destroyed Michaels with a chair and easily eliminated him.
Their match atWrestleMania XIXwas a bona fide classic that the two would talk about for years to come.
Michaels won with a roll-up and tried to appeal to the devastated Jericho.
This feud would continue.
UNDERTAKER VS. SHAWN MICHAELS I
Shawn Michaels trifecta!
JBL wanted to be the one to end the Undertakers undefeated streak, but Michaels stood in his way.
They had a match and Michaels won.
Then Vladimir Kozlov demanded the match.
Michaels beat him too.
So it was settled.
The man who couldnt be beat atWrestleManiawas going to be facing Mr.WrestleMania.
Michaels turned on Undertaker after a tag match with a superkick.
I should also mention that this match was built up over three consecutiveRoyal Rumbleshows.
REY MYSTERIO VS. JBL
After being mocked by Charlie Haas, JBL had a major identity crisis.
Nobody took his seriously anymore.
He needed to do something huge.
WithWrestleManiataking place in Texas, he figured hed go in as champ and be received as a hero.
To make it easier, he hired Shawn Michaels who desperately needed the money to be his reluctant henchman.
JBL tried to use Michaels to his advantage to win the WWE Championship.
He tried to earn a spot in the Elimination Chamber.
He wrestled Michaels for the rights to Michaels entire name and life.
He wrestled Michaels for a shot against the Undertaker atWrestleMania.
Finally, he got some good news by defeating CM Punk for the Intercontinental Championship.
He would be going to Texas as a champion after all!
His match with Rey Mysterio lasted only 21 seconds.
JBL lost the title in embarrassing fashion.
Standing there before the laughing fans, JBL glared in a stupor, speechless.
Then in the heat of the moment, he shouted, I QUIT!
and appeared surprised at his own decision.
Part of this came from an event calledThe War to Settle the Score.
Wonderful Paul Orndorff attacked Hogan, onlooker and Hogan supporter Mr. T rushed the ring to even the odds.
Whatcha gonna do when Hulkamania runs wild on you?
The match was pretty okay considering Mr. T wasnt a trained wrestler.
The end came when Orton accidentally smashed Orndorff in the face with his cast and Hogan got the pin.
Piper and Orton left in disgust.
If anything, that little moment was the real highlight for me.
It was a good enough build to makeWrestleManiaa regular thing, so I suppose they did something right.
RIC FLAIR VS. UNDERTAKER
Flair vs. Undertaker was like the Earth-3 version of Austin vs. McMahon.
Flair was the co-owner of WWF and didnt like Undertakers brand of bullying.
He helped Rock in a match against Undertaker, which caused the big, undead biker to target Flair.
He wanted a match, but Flair wouldnt give in.
The latter was especially fun to watch if you were a viewer of latter-day WCW.
Finally, Flair gave in.
During a brawl between the two, Flair accidentally struck a fan, which got him arrested.
Vince lost his mind and suddenly dedicated his time and energy to making Michaels suffer in every way possible.
Here, he was just being purely evil and vindictive.
In the weeks that followed, Michaels got screwed out of the Royal Rumble.
He was forced to kiss Vinces bare ass.
He was drugged and forced to take a urine test in the middle of the ring.
Over time, Michaels was able to get past all of them and then tore Vince apart.
Vince was wheeled off on a stretcher, but had just enough strength to flip Michaels the bird.
Triple H match from the year after.
Michaels couldnt get the job done and retired.
Triple H wanted to avenge that loss and failed.
At the same time, Undertaker onlybarelywon and wasnt looking all that good in victory.
Eventually, he relented and said that by taking part in the match, he would reluctantly destroy Undertaker.
He made it a Hell in a Cell with Michaels as ref.
Brothers go to war on the next page.
Time to break into the top 20…
20.
In the months that followed, Undertakers presence started haunting Kane.
Kane became increasingly desperate, swearing that Undertaker was dead.
That made it that much easier for Undertaker to handily defeat him in his big return.
BIG BOSS MAN VS. MR. As a commentator onWrestling Challengeand co-host ofPrime Time Wrestling, Heenan relentlessly mocked Boss Mans mother week after week.
After dealing with Haku and the Barbarian, Boss Man set his sights on Mr.
Perfect and the Intercontinental Championship.
The two had a hell of a match and towards the end, Andre the Giant appeared.
BIG SHOW VS. CODY RHODES
Heres another rivalry that usesWrestleManiaitself to build up the match.
Cody Rhodes was Intercontinental Champion and was the closest thing that belts had to a legit reign in years.
WithWrestleManiacoming up, he chose to mock Big Show for his less-than-stellar history with the show.
Despite being around sinceWrestleMania XV, Big Shows record there was rather unfortunate and embarrassing.
It would have made way more thematic sense as payoff for Big Shows lack of a positiveWrestleManiaMoment.
Months earlier, Mickie earned a title shot for the Womens Championship and failed to beat her idol.
Trish wanted Mickie to back off, which only proceeded to set her off and make her violent.
Mickies creepy lesbian stalker characteristics actually netted her the win in the end.
She escaped Trishs Stratusfaction by grabbing Trishs crotch and weirding her out enough to let go of the hold.
She capitalized with a Mick Kick and became the new Womens Champion.
Really, the pre-fight hype package used My Way and made it seem like the most badass thing.
This match became official about a month before atNo Way Outwhen Rock pinned Kurt Angle for the WWF Championship.
It made Austin jealous and later incensed when Kurt Angle attacked her.
As far as Austin was concerned, that was Rocks fault.
The two finally opened up to attacking each other regularly with Stunners and Rock Bottoms passed out whenever possible.
He had to win and wouldnt accept any other way.
Right before the match, it was randomly announced that it was no disqualification.
Late in the match, Vince walked out and helped Austin.
Too bad they had to do this heel turn in Texas.
Austin could have eaten a newborn baby and people would have cheered for him over the Rock.
UNDERTAKER VS. KANE I
The match was lousy, but this feud still ruled.
Undertaker was at war with former manager Paul Bearer.
Kane was depicted as absolutely unstoppable and invincible.
He spent the next few months going through Bearers other clients Mankind and Vader.
AtRoyal Rumble, he helped Michaels beat Undertaker in a Casket Match, then set the casket on fire.
Undertaker didnt want to fight his own brother (Im havingHalf-Bakedflashbacks), but that was the last straw.
This is one of those times when WWE actually listened.
AtNo Way Out 2008, Big Show made his grand return and seemed in great spirits.
He showed his true colors by attacking Rey Mysterio moments later.
Big Show laughed and went down to a knee to let Mayweather get a free shot.
With a quick punching combination, Mayweather busted Big Shows face open and cheesed it.
As the build continued, the fans started to turn against Mayweather and cheer Big Show.
Maybe it was because Mayweather is a natural heel.
Regardless, they hated him and the company noticed.
The match remained the same, but Big Show was portrayed as more of a fan favorite.
What a match it was, too.
Possibly the best guest celebrity match in wrestling history.
The bad guy won, but at least they let him be the bad guy.
CHRIS BENOIT VS. SHAWN MICHAELS VS.
TRIPLE H
Being part of the brand extension had its perks.
For months on end, Chris Benoit was at odds withSmackdownGeneral Manager Paul Heyman.
Heyman did everything in his power to keep Benoit out of the title picture.
Yet at the same time, Triple H was in the middle of a never-ending feud with Shawn Michaels.
When that didnt work, he delivered a superkick and signed his name on the contract.
It worked great on a meta level for fans who wanted to see Benoit succeed.
Were they actually going to have him go over?
Were they going to just have Michaels win and treat that as a feel-good moment?
Or was Triple H going to bury him like he did Booker T a year earlier?
Triple H tried to push his way out of it, but it didnt do him any good.
There was no way out and Michaels was just a bloody heap on the outside.
Triple H tapped and a new champ was crowned.
I cant really blame them.
Its a silly gimmick and it goes on for at least five minutes too long.
At the same time, its the culmination of one of the prime examples of a perfect blood feud.
When you do all that bullshit, whats the point of the match?
The match isnt about pinning the other guy, even if the belt is on the line.
The match is about the good guy getting his hands on the bad guy and making him pay.
Theres no reason for us to care anymore!
The feud began with Jake and Martel as guests on the Brother Love Show.
Martel was grossed out by Jakes snake Damien and kept trying to spray it with his perfume.
He and Jake got into it and Martel accidentally-on-purpose sprayed him in the eye with his atomizer.
In a later edition of the Brother Love Show, Jake returned with a walking stick and sunglasses.
For months and months, Jake couldnt get a piece of Martel.
They were opposing captains atSurvivor Seriesand he couldnt get Martel.
They were in the Royal Rumble and he barely got at him.
Finally, it was decided that they would have a Blindfold Match atWrestleMania.
That suited Jake just fine.
Snakes do it better in the dark.
Probably should have gone with the experience, dude.
Jake ended up DDTing Martel and pinned him before wrapping him up with Damien.
Vengeance was sweet and patience paid off.
Considering Hogan was constantly hotdogging as Savage would always put it its hard to blame him.
Well, other than being an abusive and possessive nutjob.
When Hogan returned, Savage slapped him in the face and left him to fight the Twin Towers himself.
Then Hogandid exactly thatand won, which is the only reason this entry isnt in the top ten.
The two argued backstage with Elizabeth pleading for them to stop.
Finally, were reaching the top ten.
Who made the top spot?
Read on and find out!
RANDY SAVAGE VS. CRUSH
For my money, this may be the best blood feud inWrestleManiahistory.
Randy Savage and Crush were buddies back when Savage was a commentator onRaw.
In a match against Yokozuna, Crush got demolished and Yokozuna kept hitting him with Banzai Drops.
On a later edition ofRaw, they talked to Crush on the phone from the hospital.
Crush seemed in better spirits, but once he realized that Savage was there, he hung up.
Crush ended up siding with Master Fuji, since unlike Savage, he visited him regularly at the hospital.
Savage tried to make amends and it looked like Crush was going to forgive him.
Savage had it won, but Crush interfered.
This gave us what I believe to be Savages all-time best promo.
I love how he even tossed in a sly reference to Hogan and the Mega Powers.
Savage did what he said he would do and beat Crush atWrestleMania X.
TRIPLE H
For several years, Triple H held onto the World Heavyweight Championship as the leader of Evolution.
Triple H still had a good thing going as champ with Ric Flair and Batista as his henchmen.
Problem was that Batista was starting to get really popular and really successful.
He was basically a face even though he was still Triple Hs muscle.
Then Batista won the Royal Rumble.
That meant he was the #1 contender for Triple Hs belt.
Triple H even staged an attack on Batista and made it seem like it was JBL.
Batista overheard Triple H and Flair plotting and claiming that Batista should be subservient.
Owen had a huge chip on his shoulder from being the younger brother and always being in Brets shadow.
Bret was able to talk some sense into him and they tried for the tag titles together atRoyal Rumble.
Owen beat on Brets leg some more and told him off.
Later that night, Bret was the co-winner of the Royal Rumble match with Lex Luger.
Bret Hart would get a warm-up match with Owen.
Regardless of which Hart brother won, Bret would face the winner of Luger/Yokozuna.
Bret and Owen opened the show with an excellent battle.
Owen won in the end, clean, with a roll-up.
His match with Yokozuna was nothing special, since it was mostly just Yokozuna throwing a weak Bret around.
Bret endured and took advantage of one of Yokozunas mistakes, rolling him up for a pin.
Bret was the champ again and redeemed his loss against Yokozuna from the previousWrestleMania.
The faces in the locker room came out to congratulate him and hold him up on their shoulders.
Not Owen, though.
He walked out and stared wide-eyed at Bret.
Bret was a loser.
If anything, this meant that Owen was the rightful WWF Champion and Brets days were numbered.
Actually, wait, thats not quite accurate.
He vibrated like a bobblehead and said, NNnnnnNNnNOOoOooOOooooOOOOO!!
Savage didnt take it well.
Theyd get their match atWrestleManiaand the loser would have to retire.
Vindicated, Warrior left Savage alone with an irate Sherri.
Sherri kicked at the half-conscious Savage, screaming at him for his failure.
Elizabeth had enough and ran to the ring to protect her old flame.
Savage got up and was first confused and thought Elizabeth was the one attacking him.
Then he came to his senses and reconnected with her.
After all they had been through, the two realized that they loved each other.
With people actually crying in the crowd, Savage hoisted Elizabeth over his shoulder and the two left together.
It was a blow-off match where everyone won.
The Ultimate Warrior won one of the biggest matches in his career and got revenge.
Sherri remained a terror and was able to move on to other clients.
Randy Savage and Elizabeth got to bring closure to their story in an emotional and meaningful way.
That almost happened the last time he pushed Kevin Nash.
The Rock showed up and mixed compliments with blaming Hogan for his own downfall.
They BELIEVED in you!
And damn it, the Rock BELIEVED IN YOU!
Rock challenged Hogan to a match and Hogan accepted.
Rock thought it would be cute to Rock Bottom Hogan and Hogan responded with an attempt at vehicular manslaughter.
Rock recovered and we ended up with Rock and Austin vs. the nWo for a month.
Austin took on Scott Hall atWrestleManiaand beat him, even with Nashs involvement.
Hall and Nash didnt take too kindly to that.
The match was incredible.
Hogan was over the hill, but the two told a story and improvised like nothing else.
The Canadian crowd loved Hogan and gradually turned on Rock as the match went on.
Hogan started playing to them while Rock started heeling it up.
The young lion defeated the old lion and Rock came out on top.
Nash and Hall attacked Hogan for being soft and losing.
Rock evened the odds and celebrated with his hero-turned-enemy-turned-hero.
He wanted another shot, damn it.
Michaels entered the Royal Rumble, but lost, causing him to go completely mental.
His obsession led to him interfering with Undertakers Elimination Chamber match, costing him the title.
Having Undertakers attention, he suggested that maybe Undertaker was afraid that Michaels would win.
Michaels accepted, since beating Undertaker was all that mattered to him.
Despite having two world titles on the show, Undertaker vs. Michaels was the main event.
They once again put on another classic, but this time the ending was more one-sided.
Undertaker had Michaels dead to rights.
Michaels had no chance to win.
Undertaker told him to just stay down.
Michaels refused and slapped him in the face.
Turning red as his brother, Undertaker picked him up and finished him with a jumping Tombstone.
The Streak was intact and Michaels was gone.
They had been feuding the past few months anyway, ever since Bret came back.
Bret won the title in that match, but lost it shortly after to Sycho Sid.
Their match was arguably the best match inWrestleManiahistory and told its story through its unforgettable ending.
Bret busted up Austin with the ring bell and Austin was bleeding profusely.
Bret locked in the Sharpshooter and Austin had no way out.
For a second, it looked like he could power out, but his strength subsided.
With blood pouring from his face and a look of pure agony underneath, Austin refused to give up.
Instead, he passed out and the ref had to call for the match to end.
Bret won, but he didnt stop.
He reapplied the hold and punished Austin some more.
Something a heel would do.
Once Bret was removed, the officials tried to help Austin up.
Austin shoved them away.
He was barely able to stand.
But he was going to leave on his own strength.
The moment he lost, he had to retire.
Naturally, he won every single time.
Shawn Michaels asked to take him on atWrestleMania.
Flair accepted the challenge.
He didnt want his career to end in some lame Khali/Umaga handicap match or something.
He compared it to putting down Old Yeller, which infuriated Flair to no end.
Their match was as good as youd expect.
Flair gave his all, but Michaels gave…well, almost his all.
At one point, he could have nailed Sweet Chin Music, but hesitated and almost lost.
The match continued and Michaels once again had Flair dead in his sights.
This time, Flair got up, seeing that his tank was empty and he had no recourse.
He egged Michaels on to finish the deed.
Michaels tearfully told him, Im sorry.
I love you, and struck him down.
One three count later and Flairs WWE career came to an end.
He walked off to a massive ovation befitting one of the greatest of all time.
This time they made the mistake of making it part of the narrative.
The company dared us to!
Bryan wasnt meant to main eventWrestleManiaor ever sniff the main event again.
He was supposed to have a match with Sheamus or maybe a tag match with Bray Wyatt.
He also wanted to be inserted into the title match if he were to win that match.
Triple H agreed and did a wonderful job mixing his fictional persona with how certain fans perceive him.
Triple H threatened to bury Bryan.
He brought up all the other guys like him who got buried against him.
He played up his online reputation beautifully.
The rest wrote itself.
Bryan defeated Triple H and was brutalized after the bell.
He came out the big winner.
Triple H may have graded him a B+ player, but that night Daniel Bryan taught Evolution.
HULK HOGAN VS. ANDRE THE GIANT
There is no story in WWE more classic than this.
Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant.
The Immortal vs. the Eighth Wonder of the World.
WWEs guilty of sliding a lot of facts under the rug.
They made up Andres 15-year winning streak.
They pretended he had never been bodyslammed.
They tried to hide that his body was falling apart on itself.
It didnt matter because the angle was so exceptional that it was easy to roll with the lies.
Thats kind of how wrestling works, isnt it?
Hogan and Andre were best buds.
Andre had gone on record to say that he didnt want a shot at Hogans title belt.
Andre started to have second thoughts about his decisions and stormed off.
Later, he returned under the management of the scheming Bobby The Brain Heenan.
Heenan convinced him to turn on Hogan and demand a title shot.
Out of reluctance, Hogan did so, but it broke his heart.
They had a contract signing back in the days when those were pre-taped.
Andre stayed completely calm and ominous.
Hogan couldnt sit still.
He let loose a promo that was equal parts over-the-top hammy, distraught, and intense.
Andre was portrayed as a force that Hogan simply could not handle.
The match has been looked down upon for lacking in technical excellence, but I dont care.
Its a wonderful spectacle.
Its everything it should be.
There would never be a more believable challenge to overcome without coming off as ridiculous.
Everything from Savage to Zeus to Slaughter to Sid Justice was secondary and cartoonish.
When Hogan bodyslammed Andre, it was the exclamation point that definedWrestleMania.
