Wrestlemania 1:
- Hulk Hogan & Mr T Vs Paul Orndorff & Roddy Piper - The main event of the first WrestleMania showcased an all-star class of talent. You had the on-going feud between Hogan and Orndorff/Piper, but Hogan would get some help from Rocky 3 friend Mr.T.. ugh the 80’s. The era of Rock N Wrestling was in full effect at this time with many celebrities in attendance and actually participating in the show. It’s not the greatest match in ‘Mania history, very sloppy work from all participants, whilst it’s seen as a commercial success at the time, people still had their doubts about it compared to NWA at the time which featured more wrestling and less ‘entertainment’. I wonder if they went with Hogan Vs Piper in the first main event whether or not it still would’ve been a success. Also Wrestlemania Rewind discussing the match.
Wrestlemania 2:
- Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid Vs Brutus Beefcake & Greg Valentine – WWF Tag Team Championships – 4* - Very fun match between two good tag teams, I really enjoyed Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid teaming up – think they were an excellent tag team.
Wrestlemania 3:
- Roddy Piper Vs Adrian Adonis – Hair Vs Hair, Retirement Match – 3 ½* - This match was builded as not only a ‘Hair Vs Hair’ match, but also as Roddy Piper’s Retirement match, whether he won or lost (spoilers, he wouldn’t stay retired). This match is actually pretty fun and I think there are a few reasons that this match isn’t remembered much because it’s overshadowed (and rightfully so) by the Steamboat/Savage classic and also the Hogan/Andre bout. The reasoning this match was builded as Pipers Retirement, was because he wanted a break from wrestling so he could act in movies (such as They Live) and because he wanted to spend more time with family.
- Ricky Steamboat Vs Randy Savage – WWF Intercontinental Championship – 4 ½* - I know my role here is to look back at ‘Essential Matches’ of wrestlers, and if you’re not familiar with these two wrestlers this would be a great starting point for yous to really familiarise yourself with. People have called this match the first great match at a Wrestlemania, and honestly it’s somewhat hard to debate that. It still holds up today in 2017, the build up to this match is months in the making when Savage injured Steamboat and took him out. Future spoilers now, it’s a real shame that Steamboat never had a WWF Championship reign, because the matches he would’ve had with some of wrestlers back then would’ve been great.
- Hulk Hogan Vs Andre the Giant – WWF Championship - -4* - Now I’ll tell you straight-up people paid to see this match at ‘Mania, I could lie and say that people wanted to see the other matches on the card but from everything I’ve read about this show was that people had bought a ticket to see this match. It was the ‘Irresistible force meeting the immovable object’. Two legends, two icons in the squared-circle. Arguably two of the biggest wrestling names in households across the word, were main-eventing Wrestlemania and nearly everyone wanted to see how Hogan would be able to beat Andre. It’s a shame that Andre was in so much pain and that his health was fast deteriorating as the days went by, but he knew there was a job to do and that was to put Hogan over. Hogan has been very open saying he was worried about how this match would end and if Andre would go through with the ending, thankfully he did which saw Hogan Bodyslam Andre to remain the WWF Champion. I know Meltzer has harshly rated this -4 stars (1 star on second review, I believe) but this will forever be a big Wrestlemania moment, and even in WWE history. Also Wrestlemania Rewind discussing the match.
Wrestlemania 4:
- Hulk Hogan Vs Andre the Giant - WWF Championship Tournament Match - ¼* - So these two would have a rematch from their last Mania match which is very forgotten, thankfully people who were getting over Hogan didn’t need to deal with him being involved in the championship match.. at least not as a competitor in the match. You can see Andre in significantly more pain in this match; he’s moving increasingly slow and doing a very little amount.
- Macho Man Randy Savage Vs Ted Dibiase – WWF Championship Tournament Final Match – 2 ¼* - 16 Matches at this Wrestlemania, finally coming to an end in a great pay off. The WWE Championship was vacated by WWF president Jack Tunney which featured 14 wrestlers, Savage had won all of his previous matches against: Butch Reed, Greg Valentine and One Man Gang. I opted not to include all those final matches because frankly they’re pretty short and not that great. But this final match was fantastic, the millionaire heel Ted DiBiase wanted to be WWF Champion, but he’d have to go against Macho Man Randy Savage in the finals. With Hogan and Steamboat both in this tournament I’m kinda surprised that they didn’t give Macho Man an opportunity to face them, people would’ve really enjoyed a rematch from the previous ‘Mania or loved to seen Hogan/Savage (they didn’t have to wait too long for this). A great little thing is that for all of Savage’s matches him, as well as his manager/wife Elizabeth come out in different attires. Also, Wrestlemania Rewind discussing the match.
Wrestlemania 5:
- Mr Perfect Vs The Blue Blazer - 2 ¼* - A really fun short match between two legends that we lost before their time. A decent match in both mens careers, it’s not fair that both these men didn’t become big main event stars or even WWF champions.
- Hulk Hogan Vs Macho Man Randy Savage – WWF Championship – 2 ¾* - The jealousy of Randy Savage with Miss Elizabeth was art imitating life, and life imitating art. Many wrestlers always recounted that Savage was very controlling of Elizabeth and would always be worried if someone stared at her for too long or if she spoke with another man. Hogan would find himself in another main-event with now heel Macho Man who was into his 12 month WWF Championship reign, this match was a really good way to end their feud. Also, Wrestlemania Rewind discussing the match.
Wrestlemania 6:
- The Ultimate Warrior Vs Hulk Hogan – WWF Intercontinental Championship & WWF Championship Match – 3 ¾* - The Toronto crowd were hot for these in this match, it wasn’t the greatest show but this crowd were ready for these two to battle it out in the main event, championship for championship. Even with both Hogan & Warrior having limited wrestling abilities in the ring it didn’t matter, people were so excited to see this match, ever since they teased it at the Royal Rumble that year. This was Hogans ‘passing of the torch’ to Warrior, whom Vince believed would be the next big star for the WWF.
Wrestlemania 7:
- The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs & Jerry Sags) Vs The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart) – WWF Tag Team Championships – 3 ½*
- The Undertaker Vs Jimmy Snuka – 1* - This was the first match at Wrestlemania and also the start of his Undefeated Wrestlemania Streak.
- The Ultimate Warrior Vs Macho Man Randy Savage – Retirement Match – 4 ¼* - I’m going to say it quite honestly, this should’ve been the main event. There was no need to have Hogan main event this year (and the following two years either). Really you could’ve just kept the WWF Championship on Warrior or had Savage won in at the Survivor Series/Royal Rumble. This is another great Savage match, this is also probably my favourite Ultimate Warrior match in his career. The post-match antics of Savage’s manager Sensational Sherri attacking Macho Man then his former manager/wife Elizabeth coming to make the save is one of the most emotional moments in not just Wrestlemania, but wrestling history.
Wrestlemania 8:
- Bret Hart Vs Roddy Piper – WWF Intercontinental Championship – 3 ½ - A very underrated Wrestlemania match, this is probably my favourite Roddy Piper match. Great Intercontinental title match that really helped Hart establish himself as a standalone star instead of a tag team wrestler. In the recent ‘True Story of Royal Rumble’ documentary, Piper admits he would’ve preferred keeping the championship for a long time because it’d help bring food to the table for his family, but he was happy losing the championship to upcoming rising star – Bret Hart.*
- Macho Man Randy Savage Vs Ric Flair – WWF Championship – 4 ¼* - This match was originally meant to be Hogan/Flair at the Rumble, but for some reason WWF Officials decided to change it to a ‘double main-event’ of Flair/Savage and Hogan/Sid.. the later actually closed the show. So what that we didn’t get to see Hogan/Flair face each other, we got a match that would be much better between Flair and Savage. It is the first time that either man would face each other in a wrestling ring and it’s honestly one of the most underrated Wrestlemania matches of all time – it’s criminally forgotten. I absolutely adore this match.
Wrestlemania 9:
Wrestlemania 10:
- Owen Hart Vs Bret Hart – Brother Vs Brother Match - 4 ¾* - I might be in the small majority that prefers this match over their Summerslam 1994 match, but to me this is a perfect 5 stars match and showed how placing to brothers who had been doing this since they were kids could put on an absolute clinic for all wrestling fans around the world. This along with the Triple H Vs Daniel Bryan match from Wrestlemania 30 may be the best Wrestlemania opening matches of all time. Also Wrestlemania Rewind discussing the match.
- Razor Ramon Vs Shawn Michaels – Ladder Match – WWF Intercontinental Championship – 5* - The innovators of the ladder match before the Hardy’s/Dudley’s/E&C lot of matches; these two set the standard for ladder matches and helped raise the popularise the Ladder Match. This match really brought mainstream attention to the Ladder Match in American wrestling, it’s crazy how 23 years later how popular the ladder match has become, furthermore how we have two PPV’s in WWE that involve the Ladder Match stipulation.
- Bret Hart Vs Yokozuna – WWF Championship – 2 ¼* - Bret Hart would compete in two matches at this Wrestlemania, his second match would see him compete for the WWF Championship in a rematch of their Wrestlemania 9 match. Bret would win this match and get a celebration post match with all the baby-faces of the locker room. Also Wrestlemania Rewind discussing the match.
Wrestlemania 11:
- Diesel Vs Shawn Michaels – WWF Championship – 4* - I’ve always thought this match should’ve main event Wrestlemania that year but I understand that there was more money invested in the Lawrence Taylor/Bam Bam Bigelow fight, and I also believed that Shawn could’ve potentially won the title instead of waiting a year, but it was good to see the team finally battle each other. Kevin Nash (Diesel) isn’t known for being the greatest wrestler, but his matches with Shawn were always good.
- Lawrence Taylor Vs Bam Bam Bigelow – 2 ¾* - At Wrestlemania 11, WWF decided to go with the old ‘celebrity attraction’ as their main event for their show. American Footballer Lawrence Taylor had signed a contract with the WWF to wrestle one match against WWF Star Bam Bam Bigelow at Wrestlemania. Vince McMahon believed this would help get big mainstream-attention and do a killer in PPV-Buys, however as u/daprice82 reported in his Wrestling Observer Rewind, it actually didn’t do so well. People were upset that this match main evented over Shawn Michaels Vs Diesel, which had plenty of build up and celebrity endorsements, such as 90’s famous TV Show Star Pamela Anderson. But in my opinion, this match gets too much flack it’s not a spectacular match, but it sure isn’t bad – I think this is one of the rare times a non-wrestler vs a wrestler actually went pretty well.
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