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Welcome back to the Road to WrestleMania 31. Hundreds of men and women have performed on the grandest stage over the course of its rich history. For the next few months, we will celebrate them all…from worst to best. Anyone who has ever had the honor of competing on a Mania card has joined an elite group of pro wrestlers. I salute them all. Great performances, headlining positions, the fondness with which a wrestler is held in the memories of fans across the world, victories in major bouts with high stakes, and the like will shape the top of the ranking hierarchy. Number of appearances takes a backseat to quality of appearances in a more pronounced manner. And it's not just about matches; it's about the prominence of role. Enjoy the Countdown! QUESTION OF THE DAY (35): Imagine Ric Flair in his prime wrestling for WWE…who are the two guys from the 1980s/1990s that you’d want him to have faced at Mania? 30. Yokozuna 29. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat 28. Razor Ramon 27. Chris Benoit 26. Daniel Bryan 25. Mick Foley 24. Diesel 23. Ric Flair 22. Brock Lesnar 21. Roddy Piper 24. Diesel I will readily draw the line in the sand right here and state that Kevin Nash was the final selection before we get into the most prominent members of this list. Diesel was a huge star in the New Generation and, though Bret Hart usually gets the fan adulation as the face of that era, it was a moniker that was adopted by WWE during Diesel’s run at the top. They really wanted him to be the guy, hence his yearlong WWE Championship reign from shortly after Survivor Series ’94 to Survivor Series ’95. He was a cool, calm, and collected big man with a natural charisma. He began connecting with the audience after several memorable appearances as HBK’s #2 in 1994. To his credit, he had a lot of passion for the wrestling business, allowing his association with the Kliq to blossom. Nash improved just enough in matches with and against his friends that WWE gave him a chance with a push to the moon that made a lot of more talented stars envious. Diesel, as a character, only had two matches at WrestleMania, but they were both very, very good. He defended the WWE Championship against Shawn Michaels in 1995. Somehow, history tends to forget how good that match really was. I’d like to take this opportunity to remind people that it was an outstanding effort from both guys. Had it been the main-event, maybe it would have been more fondly remembered. Nash had the ability to hold up his end of the bargain against someone who could guide a match logically and thoroughly. Bret Hart and HBK, for instance, had incredible chemistry with him. So, he was not a bad worker; he just needed the right opponent to bring out his best. His best was pretty damn good. We saw that again at Mania XII with Undertaker in another of Mania’s forgotten, borderline classics. Personally, I love that match. I think it’s the second best “big man” match in Mania lore. Nash made one other Mania appearance as a member of the New World Order at WrestleMania X-8 and it was, again, memorable. I’m a Kevin Nash mark. 23. Ric Flair The Nature Boy was narrowly edged by Brock. It boiled down to the fact that, while his matches were more critically successful than Lesnar’s, Brock’s were placed in higher positions relative to selling the PPV. It’s one of the unfortunate things in WWE history that they were not able to keep Flair around for more of his prime. We got to see the full extent of what he brought to the table during the Mania 8 stretch in 1992, but that was the only Mania at which he appeared while at the peak of his powers. His feud with Randy Savage was short, but outstanding. The payoff match was one of the finest of the early Mania Era and remains, to this day, one of the top 20 matches in 30 years of grand stage lore. The heat on that match was incredible. They had the Hoosier Dome crowd eating from the palms of their hands. Ten years was how long it took for Naitch to once again grace the Mania platform. His confidence was noticeably shaken and he had aged to his 50s, but he proved against Taker that he still had it. Flair vs. Taker was overshadowed by another icon vs. icon scenario later in the night, but it was a memorable performance that is still a joy to re-watch. The same could be said of Evolution vs. Rock and Sock from Mania XX. That match has aged well given the added historical significance of what Batista and Orton were able to accomplish in their careers. Flair was great in his three Manias as a member of Evolution, bookending his Mania XX efforts with highly entertaining roles as Triple H’s manager against Booker T and Batista, respectively. Flair was underrated, in that regard. Harley Race has often been praised for how well he transitioned to being a manager for Lex Luger and Vader in the early 1990s. Flair deserves similar praise for what he did in the early 2000s with Hunter. The fact that he ended his career at Mania is not lost on this writer when ranking his overall accomplishments for list consideration/placement. I was there in Orlando. I’ll never forget that, nor will I ever consider anything he did outside WWE to count against that moment. 22. Brock Lesnar There are very few stars that were made after Mania was already an established brand that jumped right onto the scene in positions of prominence without having to, first, spend time on the undercard working their way up. It’s a very short list. Brock Lesnar is at the top of it. His first Mania match was the main-event at XIX against Kurt Angle, whom he defeated for the WWE Championship in what is largely considered one of the top 30 matches in Mania history. It was his biggest match and his best match at Mania to date. He never came close to achieving what he did that night again, perhaps because he was never more motivated. There have not been many times in Brock’s wrestling career where, seemingly, he had to work his butt off to achieve the top guy’s paycheck. Mania XIX was one of those times. The rest of his “Show of Shows” resume has been a mixed bag, critically, while being a major success, financially. His matches with Triple H and Undertaker elicited a wide range of opinions from reviewers. Generally, critics gave solid marks for the bout with Trips, despite it having virtually no crowd heat. They’ve not been so kind to the Taker match. Brock concussed the Deadman in the early minutes and the bout suffered mightily for it. I still thought it was very good on the first viewing, but it’s an eyesore now. I found it to be quite similar to the Trips match. Dead crowds just kill those matches. Brock vs. Goldberg a decade prior was definitely something that fans need to see just to appreciate how influential a crowd can be in a more negative context than, say, Hogan vs. Rock. Nevertheless, it was not well received. Pushing Taker’s record to 21-1 was as historically relevant an occurrence as has happened at Mania in the modern era. Ending the Streak is one of Mania lore’s greatest accomplishments. Add to that his WWE Championship win in the Seattle main-event and Brock’s got a helluva track record on the grand stage. 21. Roddy Piper Roddy Piper was, in the context of this ranking, a product of the early WrestleMania Era. What I mean by that is simple: Piper was unable to consistently be given the chance to outshine his peers on a big stage because the PPVs were fewer in number and structured differently. His role at the original Mania in 1985 was integral and those that argued, myself included, that it would not have been as successful without him are spot on. He was the perfect foil for Hogan and the ideal antagonist to logically and safely execute the plan to integrate celebrities into the main-event situation that sold the show. He was glorious. Critical success was not something that WWE seemed to care about in those days, though. Those that mock and denounce the idea that critical acclaim should be factored in need to go study wrestling history. Having great matches (that sold out the house) was the foundation on which NWA Champions made their names. Why do you think wrestling for an hour was once such a heralded accomplishment? It was athletically challenging and gave wrestlers a canvas to paint masterpieces. Mania 1’s main-event was less than a quarter hour long. Piper’s great match with Adrian Adonis at Mania III lasted less than 7-minutes. Was Piper still able to have memorable encounters with less time? Yes, he was. He did it numerous times, most notably at Mania VIII with Bret Hart for the IC title. He always delivered. Yet, there’s a reason why Piper is best remembered in WWE for what he said and not what he physically did. That reason was opportunity. TV was all about selling the product and Piper’s verbal range outshined his peers. He was the greatest talker of his WWE era. When the major shows came around, however, Piper was not given the chances to shine in the ring as often as he was given them to shine on the microphone. Thus, his great Mania resume that included the original WM main-event, headliners at 2, 3, and 12, and very good matches against Adonis and Hart, lands him outside the top 20. 27. Chris Benoit I find ranking Benoit, as well as the next superstar on the list, to be an arduous task. WrestleMania XX was an amazing achievement for the Rabid Wolverine that deserves to be celebrated no matter what he did a few years later. I’m adamant about trying to separate the events that ended Benoit’s life from the career that preceded (and maybe caused) it. It was my birthday when Benoit made Hunter tap out in the greatest triple threat match of all-time. That’s a special memory for me, as tarnished as the final hours of his life may attempt to render it. For that one night, Benoit was the biggest deal in the wrestling world. He also had a very good resume beyond March 14, 2004. He had a heralded match with Kurt Angle in Houston that was once praised as a top 10 match through the first 20 Manias by his peers. Personally, I thought it was a very good mid-card match. He made a habit of outperforming his position on the card. Along with the rest of the combatants in Seattle, Benoit deserved a lot of credit for his work in the WWE Tag Team title bout. Take nothing away from the other five guys, but the original Money in the Bank Ladder match would not have been the same without him. He played the role of the match’s top protagonist, making Edge’s win all the more meaningful. JBL vs. Benoit felt like a bigger deal than it was while they were grappling and brawling in Chicago. I have nothing but love for the Benoit vs. MVP match in Detroit. Outside of the triple threat to win the World Heavyweight Championship, Benoit’s US title defense against Porter was, in my opinion, his best Mania match. Frankly, he should probably be higher, but the key words in the opening ‘graph were “trying to separate.” I can’t completely do it. 26. Daniel Bryan I had the hardest time figuring out where to place Bryan. On the one hand, he was involved in one of WrestleMania’s greatest stories ever told a year ago. He wrestled two incredible matches in New Orleans, including what I believe will one day be remembered as the best curtain jerker in WrestleMania history, even eclipsing that of Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart. The wave of momentum that he created with the “Yes!” movement exploded in 2014. I’ve been a fan of pro wrestling for a very long time and I’ve seen that brand of audience enrapture on just a small handful of occasions. That means something, historically. On the other hand, outside of Mania XXX, Bryan hasn’t done squat at WrestleMania. He was on the marquee as a headliner for Miami, but 18 seconds was all he received to do his work against Sheamus. Two years prior, that same pairing was knocked off the main card for the US title and, a year later, all he was able to muster was a Tag Team title match. That one night, though, is hard to ignore. Randy Savage created the formula for one night babyface heroics spaced out over multiple matches. Bret Hart built on that foundation. Daniel Bryan was able to take advantage of better production quality, nostalgia, and the WWE know-how that comes from having done a “Show of Shows” thirty times. The manner in which Bryan was presented was just flawless. As such, he’s still kind of like Sgt. Slaughter in that he’s had that one glorious Mania built around him, but he doesn’t have anything else on his resume to move him past many of his more esteemed peers. Is one phenomenal night greater than or even equal to, say, two very, very good nights (ala someone like Kevin Nash)? 25. Mick Foley God Bless Mrs. Foley’s baby boy. I’d love to have a conversation with that guy. I just find the man to be fascinating. I need to get to one of his comedy shows some day. I feel like that would be well worth my time and effort. He had such an awesome career. Interestingly, not much of his success can be credited to what he did at Mania. He represents a rare exception in WWE history of a talent that did the bulk of the work that made him an all-time great outside of the Mania ring. It’s hard to make the argument that a change in eras would have been best for his resume, by the way. Often times, with a wrestler that had a lot of success, but did not get a ton of chances to show it on the grandest stage, you could just make the assumption that a shift in eras would have accomplished providing him greater opportunities. I do not believe that to necessarily be true for Mick. His style was perfect for his time. He would not have been as effective if he couldn’t put his body at considerable risk. That was his hallmark; it’s what made him so special. The promos would have stuck, but it was his willingness to go the extra mile with the things he’d allow his body to endure that set him apart. The Attitude Era was, thus, the ideal environment for him to make such a strong connection to the fanbase. WrestleMania 22, which took place during a transitional year from what we’re accustomed to, now, and what we had grown accustomed to during the Attitude Era, offered Foley his best shot at Mania glory. He and Edge had a candidate for one of Mania’s top 30 matches. It was bloody, risky, innovative, and violent. Frankly, it was the only time that Foley was let loose on the Mania stage. He delivered, accordingly. Before then, he was half-hearted in his attempt to deliver a memorable main-event in 2000 (he had already retired and been talked into coming back for one more match). Matches prior to with Big Show and Owen Hart / British Bulldog did not give him the environment necessary to put his best on display. Other than his bout with Edge, the only other match that put Foley in his element was Mania XIV’s Dumpster match, alongside Terry Funk against the New Age Outlaws. 30. Yokozuna Yokozuna is the only wrestler in WWE history to wrestle multiple times at two different WrestleManias. He was in the advertised main-event at Mania IX against Bret Hart, defeating him to win the WWE Championship. Immediately afterward, he lost the title to Hulk Hogan. The next year, he retained the WWE title against Lex Luger, only to drop it to Hart in Mania X’s main-event. So, kudos to the WWE Hall of Famer for his little-known accomplishment. What a year that was for him, between 1993 and 1994. The Royal Rumble winner and a two-time main-eventer at Mania all within the span of 15 months. It doesn’t get much better than that, in the kayfabe sense. In celebration of Yoko’s life and career, I will simply state that he was not the kind of wrestler that was ever given the chance to earn critical acclaim, but I personally rank his match with Bret at Mania IX amongst the top 100 matches in Mania lore. He had to be dominant. There was no getting around that given that he came up in a WWE era that placed a premium on monsters. He was capable of much more than he actually showed. As his peers have described, he was nimble as could be for a sumo-sized grappler. That was especially the case in 1993. The two Mania appearances that he made after his back-to-back main-events were prominently positioned. He was the surprise tag team partner of Owen Hart in 1995, creating a formidable duo that won the Tag Team Championships and held them for several months. In 1996, he relinquished his title of “WWE’s most threatening super heavyweight” to Vader, including the opening match at Mania XII. 29. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat Like our next entrant, Steamboat’s Top 30 spot is owed to his classic match for the Intercontinental Championship. The Dragon, at WrestleMania III, combined with Randy Savage for the very first classic match in Mania lore – a pacesetter that remains to present day a blueprint for “how to steal the show” from your main-event peers. It was WWE’s Match of the Decade for the 1980s, without which Steamboat might not have even made the Top 100. There’s just something magic about it. Steamboat and Savage were such a beautiful contrast of personalities. People that grew up in that era like to cite the characteristic distinguishments of Steamboat and his greatest rival from NWA, Ric Flair. The same differences were, partly, what made Steamboat and Savage such perfect opponents. The Dragon was an even-keeled kind of guy. Macho Man was the personification of intensity. Put the two of them in the ring together and you had an electric mixture. The other main ingredient to their chemistry was their pace. WWE was such an action-based promotion in the early Mania Era. Dramatic tales were told only in the context of the “bang bang” formula that made them so comparable to 80s action films. What was so incredible about Steamboat vs. Savage was that it taught aspiring WWE wrestlers how to tell an in-depth story in fast-forward. The match was not even 15-minutes long, but they packed so much into so little time that it felt like a much longer bout. As such, it was critically acclaimed to no end and inspired the generation of WWE grapplers that forced management to concentrate its attention on a more sophisticated style of wrestling. The Dragon also gave us quality performances at Mania 1 with Matt Bourne, Mania 2 with Hercules, and Greg Valentine at Mania IV. Then, he came back in 2009 for a retro performance of a lifetime against Chris Jericho. 28. Razor Ramon The Kliq are going to be well-represented, aren’t they? Scott Hall never main-evented a WrestleMania like so many of the men ahead of him and a few of the wrestlers behind him, but he headlined twice and gave us one half of arguably WrestleMania’s greatest match. The Ladder match at Mania X has been unfairly labeled as a “Shawn Michaels” match. Those people who say that must not have watched it. Razor Ramon is a Hall of Famer for a reason. He was an awesome talent. When he was dialed in, he was one of the top 40 wrestlers of the WrestleMania Era, as defined by a critically acclaimed publication on the topic. The Ladder match was definitely a two-way street with plenty of give and take. It certainly needed its bumper to make it as memorable as it was, but it also needed someone to prompt the bumping. And it’s not like Razor didn’t do any bumping of his own. He took a beating, as well, just in less flashy fashion. When Hall left for WCW to create the New World Order, he put himself in an incredible position that allowed him to come back years later to WWE and headline WrestleMania X-8 against Steve Austin. The match was not that great, but think about the historical significance of it for a moment. Hall wrestled HBK and Austin at Mania, not to mention Bob Backlund (one of the greatest champions in WWE history) and Jeff Jarrett (a horribly underrated star, historically). WrestleMania X-8 was built around the N.W.O. Hulk Hogan may have been the biggest star in that entity. However, Hall was right there flanking him. To wrestle WWE’s choice for biggest star in history, Stone Cold, was an incredible honor. Razor was the face of the IC title division for several years. I wish he would have faced Goldust in a Royal Rumble ’96 rematch for the strap as originally planned at Mania XII. I imagine that would have been, much like Razor vs. Jarrett in 1995, a match worthy of numerous repeat viewings.
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