{"id":123642,"date":"2024-03-29T11:12:09","date_gmt":"2024-03-29T15:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=123642"},"modified":"2024-03-29T11:12:09","modified_gmt":"2024-03-29T15:12:09","slug":"5-times-wwe-wrestlemania-grandest-stage-5-times-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2024\/03\/29\/5-times-wwe-wrestlemania-grandest-stage-5-times-not\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Times WWE WrestleMania Was the &#8220;Grandest Stage&#8221; (And 5 Times It Was Not)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>WWE<\/strong> has many PLEs on its schedule, but all pale compared to <strong><em>WrestleMania<\/em><\/strong>. <em>WrestleMania<\/em> has been the biggest show of the year since 1985. Its success was the reason WWE added more PLEs to its schedule and it remains the most important two nights of the year.<\/p>\n<p>Now the fact that <em>WrestleMania <\/em>is the most important night of the year doesn\u2019t mean that it always delivers. For every great <em>WrestleMania<\/em>, there have been those nights that are a huge flop. Nights that show <em>WrestleMania<\/em> as the worst show of the year.<\/p>\n<p>Below we will look at times when <em>WrestleMania<\/em> was the best show in the year and when it was the worst.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Best: WrestleMania 17 \u2013 2001<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/r8e_HCf18Hw?si=XhIzzSf4HQW_3GX7\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>2001 was a banner year for WWE. We saw an influx of former <strong>WCW<\/strong> wrestlers enter the company, and the company saw record profits. They were also responsible for producing PLEs that were fantastic. Everyone was a home run, but none were better than <em>WrestleMania<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>WrestleMania 17<\/strong> <\/em>is often considered the best of all time and with good reason. There were three 5-star matches on the card with <strong>The Rock<\/strong> vs. <strong>Steve Austin<\/strong>, TLC, and\u00a0<strong>Triple H<\/strong> vs. <strong>The Undertaker<\/strong> setting the bar.<\/p>\n<p>They were followed by some great undercard matches featuring <strong>The McMahons<\/strong> going to war and <strong>Kurt Angle<\/strong> putting on a wrestling clinic. Top to bottom the card had no faults and set the tone for the year.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Worst: WrestleMania VIII &#8211; 1992<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/t35mZ8W86lY?si=0RZSu4LDIAuBfQCH\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>WrestleMania VIII<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0was a what-if with WWE. Leading up to the show we were all salivating for a showdown between <strong>Hulk Hogan<\/strong> and <strong>Ric Flair<\/strong>. Unfortunately, due to various reasons, the company pulled an about-face and changed a good amount of the card. A change resulting in an underwhelming event.<\/p>\n<p>Hogan and Flair were gone and in their place, Hogan and Sid Justice stunk up the place. This capped off a night filled with bad matches. There was a sprinkling of greatness on the card, but not enough to make up for the letdown. It was a card that was not too hard to beat when comparing the rest of the shows that year.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Best: WrestleMania XIX \u2013 2003<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/p7tLSf4agZA?si=C_a2MzDHeh7nOUTm\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>2003 was the end of an era for WWE. The &#8216;Attitude Era&#8217; was ending but that didn\u2019t mean that there wasn\u2019t any gas left in the tank. Men like Austin and The Rock put on another great match to close out their \u2018Mania trilogy.<\/p>\n<p>Hulk Hogan and <strong>Vince McMaho<\/strong>n put a button on their &#8216;Golden Era&#8217; issues and <strong>Brock Lesnar<\/strong> and Kurt Angle put on a heck of a main event. Those matches were supported by one of the best undercards in WWE history.<\/p>\n<p><em>WrestleMania<\/em>\u00a0was a stacked card, but that didn\u2019t mean it had a hard time besting all other shows in 2003. The brand split was in full force and that stretched the roster thin. The single-branded PLE\u2019s didn\u2019t catch on, and the big shows didn\u2019t wow anyone.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Worst: WrestleMania XI \u2013 1995<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FCyFabDqhy8?si=doEVbeljNKQn1VmD\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The &#8216;New Generation&#8217; Era was not one of great rewards for WWE. There were fantastic performers on the roster but the PLEs were not bringing it home. This was very apparent when <em><strong>WrestleMania XI<\/strong><\/em> came.<\/p>\n<p>Outside of an, admitted, great WWE Championship match there wasn\u2019t one good match on the card. There were some intriguing matchups but none that blew us out of the water. It was a night of C-List celebrity appearances and felt nothing like a <em>WrestleMania<\/em>. Not even a main event featuring <strong>Lawerence Taylor<\/strong> could save the evening.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Best: WrestleMania XXVIII \u2013 2012<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/i9jQpKf4hcM?si=4W4jTg2JV8aTZJyA\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>WrestleMania XXVIII<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0was on the receiving end of one of the biggest builds in <em>WrestleMania<\/em> history. The Rock and<strong> John Cena\u2019s<\/strong> &#8216;once-in-a-lifetime&#8217; match was a massive deal and one that proved to be a very entertaining contest.<\/p>\n<p>It was not the only fantastic match on the card, though, as <strong>HHH<\/strong> and The Undertaker put on one heck of a Hell in the Cell contest and <strong>CM Punk<\/strong> and <strong>Chris Jericho<\/strong> engaged in a severely underrated match. That is not to mention the <strong>Sheamus<\/strong> and <strong>Daniel Bryan<\/strong> opening match that started a movement.<\/p>\n<p>What followed <em>WrestleMania<\/em>was a year of underperforming PLEs. John Cena and <strong>John Laurinaitis<\/strong> main evented a show for crying out loud. It was not a well-booked year and this translated into poor PLEs that couldn\u2019t hold a candle to <em>WrestleMania<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Worst: WrestleMania XXVII \u2013 2011<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Z9HPeLcc2Zg?si=bC_ScS5HkUFvCvjT\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>As great as <em>WrestleMania XXVIII<\/em> was, it was the one just a year before that stunk out the city of Atlanta. It was the night that started the build between Cena and The Rock but that was the only thing of note the entire evening. HHH and The Undertaker had a passable match, but it was at the bottom of their <em>WrestleMania<\/em> trilogy.<\/p>\n<p>This was a night that didn\u2019t feel like a <em>WrestleMania<\/em>. Sure, the Georgia Dome looked great, and the crowd was huge, but there wasn\u2019t anything else to talk about. Once the &#8216;Summer of Punk&#8217; took off, a few months later, the quality of the shows jumped drastically. It was a year that ended on a high note.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Best: WrestleMania X \u2013 1994<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YegEqMalt1Y?si=JQCr3eUD0Blyz97-\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In 1994 the WWE roster was thinning but there was still some gas left in the tank. Enough left to put on one of the best\u00a0<em>WrestleManias<\/em>\u00a0in history, and the best PLE of 1994.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>WrestleMania X<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0was a historic night for the company. It was the 10<sup>th<\/sup> edition of the &#8216;Showcase of the Immortals,&#8217; and they did everything they could to make the night special. There were two standout matches with <strong>HBK<\/strong> vs. <strong>Razor Ramon<\/strong> and <strong>Bret Hart<\/strong> vs. <strong>Owen Hart<\/strong> tearing the house down. Outside of that, there were some entertaining undercard matches but not much of note.<\/p>\n<p>What sets <em>WrestleMania<\/em> at the top of the 1994 mountain is the quality of every other show. There wasn\u2019t a good show for the rest of the year. The feud between Owen and Bret Hart carried the company and those shows, but that didn\u2019t make up for the shoddy undercards that littered every show in 1994.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Worst: WrestleMania 32 \u2013 2016<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FWGU8hIoVuk?si=PBxfzRR2FCpMwcR9\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The initial <strong>Roman Reigns<\/strong> experiment was an abject failure. Fans didn\u2019t take to the new \u2018Face That Runs The Place\u2019 thus making <em><strong>WrestleMania 32<\/strong><\/em> a flop. Reigns taking on Triple H was a match that no one wanted, and no one cared about. It also highlighted a night of matches that were uninspired and had no business being on a <em>WrestleMania<\/em> card. No match made the card feel special.<\/p>\n<p>When <em>WrestleMania<\/em> was over WWE got their act together. They put together some great PLE including one of the best <em><strong>Extreme Rules<\/strong><\/em> in recent memory. They began to listen to the fans and didn\u2019t book Reigns as an unstoppable force.<\/p>\n<p>It was also a time when we got to see greats like <strong>Seth Rollins<\/strong>, <strong>Kevin Owens<\/strong>, and <strong>Dean Ambrose<\/strong> get their shot at the main event. A much more palatable end to the calendar year.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Best: WrestleMania 21 \u2013 2005<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xSpz42vAhew?si=duCQXydpZZMJ8bKq\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>WrestleMania 21<\/strong><\/em> was the dawning of a new era, in WWE. It was the year in which <strong>Batista<\/strong> and John Cena broke through to the main event. In two great matches, they prevailed and took their respective championships home.<\/p>\n<p>It was also a night of fantastic wrestling as HBK vs. Kurt Angle and <strong>Eddie Guerrero<\/strong> vs. <strong>Rey Mysterio<\/strong> put on clinics. Not to mention this was the first appearance of the Money in the Bank match, a WWE staple.<\/p>\n<p>For the rest of the year, there were some good to great PLE but none that would match the critical and commercial success of <em>WrestleMania 21<\/em>. Most of the year was filled with &#8216;Super Cena&#8217; and Batista vs. Triple H matches that we all got bored of.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Worst: WrestleMania VI \u2013 1990<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BfqV3xI8l_s?si=ZEFESSEOfrl7TNGm\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Sure, <b><i>WrestleMania VI <\/i><\/b>was a huge deal. The title vs title main event was a classic that saw Hulk Hogan pass the torch to <strong>The Ultimate Warrior<\/strong>. Unfortunately, outside of the main event, there weren\u2019t any other matches worth watching. There were great wrestlers smattered all over the card, but most of their matches resembled something that one would see on a house show.<\/p>\n<p>When we look at the other shows of the year, most were easily better than <em>WrestleMania<\/em>. None had the standout match that \u2018Mania VI did but they put together a more solid show. The <em><strong>Royal Rumble<\/strong><\/em> was incredibly entertaining, and even <em><strong>SummerSlam<\/strong><\/em> and the <em><strong>Survivor Series<\/strong><\/em> were good to great. It is interesting to consider a <em>WrestleMania<\/em> that many are fond of not being the best of the year, but it\u2019s the truth.<\/p>\n<h3>More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/h3>\n<p><em>Header photo \u2013 WWE \u2013\u00a0<span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Stay tuned to the\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can check out an almost unlimited array of WWE content on the\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/watch.wwe.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">WWE Network<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peacocktv.com\/watch\/home\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Peacock<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WWE has many PLEs on its schedule, but all pale compared to WrestleMania. WrestleMania has been the biggest show of the year since 1985. Its success was the reason WWE added more PLEs to its schedule and it remains the most important two nights of the year. Now the fact that WrestleMania is the most [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4518,"featured_media":123648,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,2192,4,3],"tags":[396],"class_list":["post-123642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-north-america","category-wrestling","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","tag-wrestlemania"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4518"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123642\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}