10 greatest WrestleMania main events of all time

The main event of WrestleMania was, once upon a time, the selling point for the show. Sure an important enough under-card was also needed, but the main event is what really sold the show.

The biggest stars in WWE, usually Hulk Hogan and someone at the time who was really important, would be the centrepiece of everything WrestleMania when it came to promotion. Over the years, however, the main event has become less important.

Whether it be changing the Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair dream match to Hogan vs. Sid, or Lawrence Taylor in the spotlight instead of Shawn Michaels, or even to the present day overwhelmingly negative response to the polarizing Roman Reigns closing the show, the main event is no longer what sells WrestleMania, and thus, is quite often nowhere near the best match of the card.

Despite this we have still had many epic main event matches that have gone down as some of the best matches in WWE history, and here are ten of such.

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Honourable mentions: Randy Savage vs Ted DiBiase, Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage, Shawn Michaels vs Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H vs Chris Jericho and John Cena vs Shawn Michaels.

#10. Hulk Hogan & Mr T vs Rowdy Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorff —WrestleMania

By today's standards, this match is nowhere near as good as, say my honourable mention, John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 23, but I chose this match over it because it is not always about the actual wrestling.

Hogan and Mr T vs. Piper and Orndorff was great for other reasons. Firstly, for a celebrity wrestling a match, Mr T gave a tremendous performance; he worked hard and you could tell he did. And secondly, the match was everything the 1980's WWE was all about.

But what really made the match special was having wrestling's biggest babyface, Hulk Hogan, in the ring with wrestling's biggest heel, 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper. The 20,000 or so their that night went nuts from beginning to end for both men.

Due to time constraints, the match only lasted less than 14 minutes, but they made the most of it.

#9 The Rock vs John Cena — WrestleMania XXVIII

It was a dream match, and it lived up to the hype. During an interview in early 2008, John was questioned about The Rock. Cena went off on him, essentially saying if The Rock loved WWE so much, as he often said in interviews, then why wasn't he there?

Just a few weeks later WWE announced Rocky Johnson and Peter Maivia for the Hall of Fame, and The Rock would induct them. Rock would take a jab at John on stage and the dream match was born. The Rock would return to WWE in 2011 and the match was built for an entire year as a once in a lifetime match to happen at WrestleMania 28 in Florida.

Much like another dream match The Rock had years earlier with Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania X8, this one would also not be remembered for the actual wrestling but more for the crowd reaction and intensity. The Wrestling itself was pretty good overall but this one was made by the live crowd.

Exciting near falls to the People's Elbow, Rock Bottom and Attitude Adjustment only made the fans louder. This was a special one. Unfortunately, Vince McMahon felt the need to have a rematch the following year, totally crapping on the once in a lifetime tagline, but it was still great for what it was.

#8 Edge vs. The Undertaker — WrestleMania XXIV

Easily the most underrated WrestleMania main event of all time, Edge and The Undertaker would have blown the roof off the stadium, had the Florida Citrus Bowl had one.

Although things started off a little slow, things eventually picked up. The match told a great story, especially with how Edge looked like a megastar the way he countered all of Taker's usual big moves, something we hadn't really seen much of previously.

Not many superstars, if any at all in recent years, had kicked out of the Tombstone and the string of reversals and ring psychology was excellent. Taker reversing Edge's attempted cover following a spear into his Triangle Choke was nicely done and a good ending.

The only thing missing from this match, or right before it to be more exact, should have been Florida natives Alter Bridge performing Edge to the ring.

#7 Hulk Hogan vs. The Ultimate Warrior – WrestleMania VI

I don't think anyone, anywhere expected this match to be as fantastic as it was. Hulk Hogan may have been the biggest star of the 80's and early 90's, but he was by no means the best wrestler in the world.

And The Ultimate Warrior, as legendary as he is, will only go down in the books for having 10, probably even less, really good wrestling matches in his entire career. Fortunately, this was not just one of them, but the best of them, and in turn, one of the all-time best matches of Hulk Hogan's career as well.

We had no dirty tactics or screwjob finishes for Hogan to be pinned. The action was fast-paced and the live audience loved it; even the far too long test of strength and bearhug never lost the crowds enthusiasm. The finish was designed for Hogan to pass the torch to the Warrior. That didn't last long but we at least had this scorcher of a main event.

Even now, 28 years later, the match has aged well.

#6 Randy Orton vs. Batista vs. Daniel Bryan — WrestleMania XXX

It wasn't the best match of 2014, but it was damn well close to being. Daniel Bryan was not supposed to be there. WWE saw Randy Orton vs. the returning Batista in the main event for the WWE Championship, while Daniel Bryan was to settle for a match with Sheamus.

But the fans spoke, and WWE would actually listen and change their plans for what on paper, was the most important match of the year. Daniel Bryan belonged here and that is what made the match what it was.

Randy Orton and Batista are both great performers, but it would have been very difficult for them to have the match we expect as a WrestleMania main event. Daniel Bryan gave us that emotional and match of the year calibre performance that we want and need for WrestleMania.

The action was so hot, particularly Batista and Orton's double reverse RKO/Batista Bomb through the announcer's table. Bryan made a tremendous comeback to submit Batista for the tearjerker victory.

#5 Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels — WrestleMania XII

Without a doubt one of, if not the most polarizing match in history, fans either think it is one of the greatest matches of all time or one of the most boring. As you can tell by its entry on this list, I am certainly not the latter.

Michaels and Hart worked very hard in this match. It was technical, with brawls and high flying moves and having the match go into overtime only increased its heat. This match was so good that it is a shame Michaels allegedly faked an injury to get out of losing to Hart in a rematch the following year.

#4 Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle — WrestleMania XIX

A solid match... even if Brock can't remember it

Everyone knew Lesnar was winning this one. He was the handpicked next face of the company at the time and Angle shouldn't have even been wrestling due to his practically broken neck at the time, yet the two managed to pull off an outstanding match. WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart has even referred to it as his favourite WWE match this century.

Much like their later matches at Vengeance (also involving Big Show), SummerSlam and 60 minute Iron Man on Smackdown, this was an ultimate thrill ride of speed vs strength. At one point Angle gave him a German Suplex and Lesnar sold it by flipping on his stomach, which was just an incredible sight.

The Beast Incarnate kicked out of the Angle Slam and the Olympic Gold Medalist became the first superstar to kick out of the F-5. The most famous and incredible moment came when Lesnar amazingly attempted to hit a Shooting Star Press and landed directly on his head, nearly killing himself. Bonus points for regaining conscious with enough time to hit one more F-5 for the win.

Angle hugging Lesnar after the bout and raising his hand was also a nice touch.

#3 Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Benoit — WrestleMania XX

Try remem — Try to remember the match, not the who

This is a match that, for obvious reasons, isn't talked about very often today, but it is easily the best match of 2004, one of the best WrestleMania matches of all time and the best Triple Threat match ever.

Michaels, Triple H and Chris Benoit told an amazing story here. Could Chris win the big one? Would the two-year long feud between Michaels and The Game finally end?

These led to broken tables, unlikely team-ups, suplex after suplex, excellent one-on-one and then three-way exchanges, superkicks, headbutts, high flying moves, technical offence and a whole lot of blood. No one needed to help carry the other into a great performance, all three men earned their PWI Match of The Year award.

#2 Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker — WrestleMania XXVI

An incredible end to an incredible career

Shawn Michaels, perhaps the best in-ring performer in the history of professional wrestling would step in the ring to compete for what would be his last ever time.

Just like the previous year, HBK and The Undertaker danced at WrestleMania in one of the best matches you will ever see and the best ever retirement match a wrestler has ever had. They really pulled out all the stops, and though their chemistry has always been phenomenal, the drama was incredible.

The Undertaker did a great job in looking like he believed he couldn't put the resilient showstopper away. The match featured Sweet Chin Music after Sweet Chin Music, dives, fantastic exchanges and much more. The Prince of Darkness delivered possibly his biggest and best Tombstone ever to end Shawn Michaels' amazing career.

#1 The Rock vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin — WrestleMania X-7

Without a doubt, in my opinion, not just the best WrestleMania of all time but it featured the best WrestleMania main event of all time.

Everything here was perfect. The Limp Bizcuit 'My Way' video package for them was better than some of the matches even. The match started off fast and stayed that way, the action didn't slow down once.

This was The Rock and Steve Austin were at the peak of their careers, so the best match to come out of them was expected but it was even better than anyone could have thought. The flawless performance included a dozen finishers from each, pints of blood everywhere, an incredibly hot audience, exciting brawling and a shocking conclusion.

The Austin heel turn and alliance with Vince McMahon bothered a lot of fans, but this writer thought it was genius. Austin vs. McMahon couldn't go any further and it led to an incredibly entertaining heel run from the Texas Rattlesnake. It all started here with this epic encounter.

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Edited by anirudh.b