20(tie). Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant — WrestleMania III
70 points, ranked by 4 of 11 voters, highest ranked by Glenn Butler at No. 1
Glenn Butler: In a rare move for late-80’s WWF, Jesse Ventura breaks kayfabe during the introductions for this match and issues a shoot comment when he intones “This is the biggest match in the history of professional wrestling.” Argumentum ad populum is a logical fallacy, but it remains difficult to dismiss in this case, where there were many fantastic wrestlers on the card whom ninety-three thousand people did not buy tickets to see. This match was the highest point of the 80’s boom period, when the WWF’s pop-culture penetration was at its most penetrated, not only in terms of celebrity presence in marginal roles, but in terms of the wrestlers themselves being celebrities, with the Hulkster at the fore. So many parts of the build to this match are iconic: the champagne; the tag matches; the trophies; “LOOK AT ME WHEN I’M TALKING TO YOU.” “We’re friends, Andre, please!” The torn shirt; the cross; “You’re bleeding.” The match itself has many aesthetic pleasures to offer; Andre was definitely breaking down by this point, but his sheer size made any movement he could manage look devastating, and Hogan’s expert selling and absolute mastery over the crowd complete the picture of a truly epic bout. If you’re ever feeling desolate and devastated, look within yourself, and consider: HE SLAMMED HIM!
19. Hulk Hogan vs The Rock — WrestleMania x8
73 points, ranked by 7 of 11 voters, highest ranked by Glenn Butler at No. 2
Glenn Butler: How often does something happen that ought to be a cross-generational dream match, but one competitor is past his prime or the other hasn’t yet reached his? This match is a rare, glorious example of one legend with incredible longevity facing another in the prime of his career (that Rock would be gone so soon wasn’t something anyone would’ve really known at the time). The Toronto crowd knew it, too, and from the entrances through the entire match the crowd reaction matched the enormity of the moment: the crowd exploded at Hollywood Hogan’s entrance and stayed approximately 1000% in favor of the Hulkster until the match’s final moments. (This was as it should be. It’s Hulk at WrestleMania; you show some respect.) Rather than letting the obviously unplanned crowd reaction cause a distraction, Hulk and Rock were so good at milking their reactions that they quickly adjusted and used the reactions to create a true epic. Let’s all take a moment of silence to commemorate the two matches that followed this, as did the crowd in Toronto.
18. Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage — WrestleMania V
79 points, ranked by 8 of 11 voters, highest ranked by Jordan Duncan at No. 9
Jordan Duncan: As a kid, the quality of a match wasn’t a big deal to me. As long as guys I liked were in it, and as long as who I was rooting for got the win….I thought the match was great. But even at the age of 9, sometimes greatness stands out. I probably watched this match 100 times in my childhood, and I never got sick of it. Even in my cynical internet smark, “Hogan is evil”, star ratings obsessed days as a fan, I still had a soft spot for this match.
Why? Simple. It’s awesome! Savage of course delivers with his chaotic intensity that made him so good, but Hogan does more than just get dragged along, he full on hangs with Macho throughout. That’s the dirty little secret of the IWC: 80’s Hogan had some pretty darn good matches, and this MAY be the best of them!
17. Triangle Ladder Match: The Dudley Boyz vs The Hardy Boyz vs Edge & Christian — WrestleMania 2000
88 points, ranked by 9 of 11 voters, highest ranked by Glenn Butler at No. 10
Ben Morse: While the general consensus seems to put the WrestleMania X-Seven TLC match between the three primary pairings of the Attitude Era as the high watermark for tag team wrestling during that time, I’ve always had a soft spot for and while content that when the Dudleys, Hardys and E&C met up for the first time a year earlier, it left more of a mark. Sure, they didn’t have the added elements of Lita, Rhyno, Spike Dudley, a year-long build, etc., but we’d never seen anything like this before, and being first has its merits.
At WrestleMania 2000, a show generally remembered for being crash and burn, six men went out with the goal of stealing the show, not caring what they had to sacrifice physically to do so. A year prior, the Hardys were jobbers, the Dudley were big fish in the small ECW pond and Edge & Christian repelled from the ceiling as two-thirds of the Brood; they all had plenty to prove.
The benchmark for ladder matches at WrestleMania had been set six years earlier by Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon while the Hardys and Edge & Christian had established their own classic the previous fall at No Mercy, but this match took things to a whole new level. The two high-flying duos had developed a comfort level with one another, while the experience and toughness of the Dudleys reinforced an already strong structure.
You remember this match for the big spots—Edge performing the mid-air spear, Jeff Hardy’s Swanton off a giant ladder, Bubba Ray Dudley crashing through table upon table—but watching it back, note that over the course of over 20 minutes, there are virtually no dead spots when you won’t find your eyes glued to the action. It’s easy to write this match off as a spot fest with no psychology, but choreographing not only these dangerous stunts but a flow in which six guys aren’t tripping all over each other while telling a story takes its own kind of genius.
I certainly didn’t expect Edge & Christian to pull off the win, so that element of surprise added the cherry on top of a sinful sundae. Every guy in this match would go on to do great things working together in the future as well as apart, but this was ground zero, and I’ll never forget it.
16. Roddy Piper vs Bret Hart — WrestleMania VIII
89 points, ranked by 9 of 11 voters, highest ranked by Chad Campbell at No. 10
Steven Graham: This may be the greatest “Rowdy” Roddy Piper match on tape. Bret “Hitman” Hart was made in this match. What a great performance, from the amazing selling to the great blade job (and he was able to convince Vince McMahon that it was “hard way”). Usually in a face vs. face match, Bret plays a great subtle heel, but Piper takes that role tonight as Bret is an epic underdog. There is a moment when the referee is down and Piper grabs the ring bell, however the crowd is so pissed off that Piper throws the bell away. That is great storytelling there. Without this match you may not have got Bret the WWF Champion later in that year as he proved he can be in there with the top dogs and hold his own. Let’s talk about the finish. Piper gets his sleeper hold finisher on Bret, but Bret walks up the ropes and flips over, causing Piper to pin himself. This finish is so great it plays an important role in “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s career, as Bret uses it at Survivor Series 1996 to beat Austin. Austin then uses it at WrestleMania X-7 in his match with The Rock.
