Now that Wrestelmania XLII has been completed, it is time for me to update my ranking of all-time Wrestlemanias. Obviously, the main focus of my blog (and sporting life as a whole) are mainstream sports, specifically college football and basketball. However, my sport fanaticism is actually rooted in wrestling which I began to follow around the age of 5. The process of cheering on “good guys” as I called them (aka babyfaces) and cheering against “bad guys” (heels) prepared me for a life of boisterously cheering for and against various teams. Now, my nine year old son is going through his own “wrestling phase”, so I have been publishing a series of wrestling rankings on this blog over the past few years. . This is an updated version of an article I published on this blog during Covid when I was ranking anything and everything related to the world of sports. Please feel free to comment or debate.

1	Wrestlemania III (1987)

This event is still the standard by which all Wrestlemanias are measured. It is still the most attended and most famous. The Hogan vs. Andre main event is still one of the most legendary matches in the history of the sport, and it may not have even been the best fight on the card. Retrospectively, most wrestling experts instead rank the Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat match as one of the best in Wrestlemania history. Either way, this was the event that really took WWF to the next level of mainstream popularity.

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2	Wrestlemania XIV (1998)

The Austin era begins with his epic win over Michaels with Mike Tyson simultaneously double crossing DX. This event also featured the first ever matchup between the Undertaker and Kane.

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3	Wrestlemania VI (1990)

The Hogan vs. Warrior main event in one of the greatest WWF/WWE title matches ever. This event also had a really cool mixed tag match between the legendary duos of Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire taking on Randy Savage and Queen Elizabeth.

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4	Wrestlemania XVII (2001)

This Stone Cold vs. Rock main event was likely the best match in their lengthy rivalry. Also, the Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Tag Team Championship match between The Hardy Boyz, Edge and Christian, and the Dudley Boyz (pictured above) is considered one of the greatest tag team matches in Wrestlemania history. This event had an absolute loaded card with tons of stars.

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5	Wrestlemania XXX (2014)

This event contained the most shocking result in Wrestlemania history with Undertaker’s epic 21 match Wrestlemania win streak come to an end at the hands of Brock Lesnar. Daniel Bryan’s Cinderella run to his first World Heavyweight Championship victory in the main event (pictured above) is also an all-time memorable Wrestlemania moment.

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6	Wrestlemania IX (1993)

A fun, quirky, and memorable outdoor event in Vegas that was the subject of its own full length documentary in 2025.

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7	Wrestlemania XL (2024)

Cody Rhodes completes the story in an awesome main event featuring cameos by the Rock and Undertaker. Rhea Ripley and Becky Lynch also faced off in one of the greatest women’s matches in Wrestlemania history.

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8	Wrestlemania XIX (2003)

Any event that features matches involving Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, the Rock, Shawn Michaels, and the Undertaker on its UNDERCARD has to be the considered an all-timer. The main event delivered as well with a great WWE title match between Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle.

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9	Wrestlemania V (1989)

Ultimately, this card had too many matches on it, as they had 13 short, underwhelming bouts to start the show. However, the epic main event between Hogan and Savage was good enough to put this show in the all-time top ten.

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10	Wrestlemania I (1985)

You have to put the inaugural Wrestlemania in the top ten, as Vince McMahon brought a slew of top celebrities in (see Mr. T power slamming Roddy Piper above) to make sure this first event really grabbed the attention of mainstream society.

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11	Wrestlemania XXII (2006)

This was the last wrestlemania held in a standard arena, as all future wrestlemanias have been played in football stadiums with the exception of the Covid Wrestlemania in 2020. The Cena vs. XXX main event match was really good but the hardcore match between Mick Foley and Edge was even better and may have been Foley’s greatest Wrestlemania performance of all-time.

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12	Wrestlemania X (1994)

This event featured the first Wrestlemania ladder match ever (pictured above), as Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels demonstrated just how awe-inspiring this gimmick could be. It also had the first brother vs. brother feud as Owen and Bret fought on televeision against one another for the very first time. Given the lack of well-known celebrity talent in the WWF at that time (no Hogan, Savage, Roddy Piper, or Ultimate Warriors), this was a really well done event.

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13	Wrestlemania XVIII (2002)

The main event between Triple H and Chris Jericho was a little underwhelming, but the rest of this card was absolutely loaded with outstanding matches based on fresh feuds between all-time greats who rarely ever faced one another. The Undertaker battled Ric Flair. Kurt Angle took on Kane. Scott Hall and Stone Cold faced off. The Rock and Hollywood Hogan put on a great match (pictured above). This event showed that a great undercard can make up for a lackluster main event.

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14	Wrestlemania XV (1999)

This event featured the first Wrestlemania match between Stone Cold and the Rock (pictured above), as well as the only non-kayfabe (“fake”) match in Wrestlemania history, as Butterbean knocked out Bart Gunn in what by all accounts was a real mixed martial arts fight.

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15	Wrestlemania XIII (1997)

This was the Wrestlemania that really turned Stone Cold into a WWF superstar, as his submission match with Bret Hart was truly epic.

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16	Wrestlemania VII (1991)

The Hogan vs. Slaughter match wasn’t the greatest in Wrestlemania history, but it may have had the most intense build-up as Slaughter’s Iraqi sympathizer angle caused him to get legitimate death threats in the midst of the Gulf War. The career ending match between the Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage was also a classic that produced a heartwarming reconciliation between Savage and Miss Elizabeth.

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17	Wrestlemania XXXI (2015)

I didn’t like this overall event as much as most wrestling fans and pundits do, but the surprise DX vs. NWO face-off is is one of the most iconic moments in Wrestlemania history.

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18	Wrestlemania XXXVIII (2022)

This event appears to have featured Stone Cold’s last professional wrestling match, as he put on a great show in his main event match against Kevin Owens, despite not having wrestled in over a decade. Roman Reigns also permanently consolidated the WWF Universal and Championship belts with his win over Brock Lesnar.

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19	Wrestlemania XXIII (2007)

Future president Donald Trump provided one of the most iconic celebrity moments in Wrestlemania history when he shaved Vince McMahon’s head after their battle of billionaires match. Cena also won a memorable main event over Shawn Michaels.

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20	Wrestlemania XXVIII (2012)

Like a lot of these events, this Wrestlemania had two matches that really stood out. The first was a Hell in a Cell match between the Undertaker and Triple H, and the second was the main event between the Rock and John Cena. Interestingly, neither of these two contests were title matches.

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21	Wrestlemania XXXV (2019)

One could argue that this Wrestlemania was the most “inclusive” Wrestlemania of all-time, as we had the first all-female main event in a triple threat match between Ronda Rousey, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte Flair (see Lynch victory celebration above), and Kofi Kingston provided the most memorable moment of the event by winning the WWE championship for the first time with his upset of Daniel Bryan. Unfortunately, the rest of the card was fairly weak aside from those two matches.

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22	Wrestlemania XXIV (2008)

There is a long history of WWE Hall of Famers ending their careers at Wrestlemania, and that is exactly what happened in this event when Shawn Michaels cried just before hitting Flair with a sweet chin music in his retirement match. Aside from that, none of the other matches on the card were especially memorable but there weren’t many bad matches either.

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23	Wrestlemania XLII (2026)

You will see that Wrestlemanias 40-42 really cover the full gamut of this list. Wrestlemania XL was one of the best ever. Wrestlemania 41 was one of the worst. And right in the middle is Wrestlemania 42 which had some highs and lows. The most memorable match was undoubtedly the epic clash between CM Punk and Roman Reigns where Reigns reclaimed a WWE world championship belt for the first time in two years.

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24	Wrestlemania XXXIII (2017)

The ultimate “so-so” Wrestlemania. It had both good matches (Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg, Seth Rollins vs. Triple H) and bad matches (Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt, mixed tag match with Cena and Bella vs. the Miz and Maryse). It had a lot of star power but very few memorable moments. It was the ultimate “mediocre” Wrestlemania, which is why it is right near the middle of this list.

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25	Wrestlemania XXXIX (2023)

Many people thought this was going to be the event where Cody Rhodes “finished his story” and won his first world title. Instead, Reigns beat Cody to retain both the WWE World and Universal championship belts in what was a fairly lackluster main event. Rhea Ripley ended up being the breakout star of this Wrestlemania as she claimed the Women’s World Championship for the first time and became the youngest “grand slam” winner (male or female) in wrestling history.

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26	Wrestlemania XII (1996)

They say “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and that phrase certainly applies to the Shawn Michaels/Bret Hart Iron Man match in Wrestlemania XII. Some fans and pundits consider it one of the most epic matches in Wrestlemania history. However, I have always thought of it as the “Gone with the Wind” of wrestling matches in that its 1 hour and 2 minute run time made it a painfully long snoozefest. Still, this Wrestlemania retains some value as it features both Steve Austin’s first Wrestlemania match as well as the Ultimate Warrior’s last.

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27	Wrestlemania XXXVI (2020)

It is difficult to compare the “Covid Wrestlemania” to all the others because of the absence of fans. This event had some really cool concept matches: including a Firefly Fun House match between Bray Wyatt and John Cena, a Boneyard Match between the Undertaker and AJ Styles (which serves as Taker’s final professional wrestling match), and a Last Man Standing Match between Edge and Randy Orton, but it can’t really be considered a great Wrestlemania due to the total lack of atmosphere and fan-generated excitement.

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28	Wrestlemania XXXII (2016)

We’re starting to get to the portion of this list that features Wrestlemanias I didn’t really like for whatever reason. Wrestlemania 32 is in this category because it was too long and overdone. It ended up lasting five hours in total and featured a slow, meandering main event match between Triple H and Roman Reigns. The classic Undertaker vs. Shane McMahon match in the middle of this card provided enough excitement to this Wrestlemania from dropping to the very bottom of these rankings.

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29	Wrestlemania XXV (2009)

The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels put on an epic match but the Triple H/Randy Orton main event was weak and this event lacked the overall fanfare and celebrity presence you would expect in a milestone edition of Wrestlemania.

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30	Wrestlemania XX (2004)

Unlike Wrestlemania 25 above, the quality of this milestone Wrestlemania was salvaged by its main event triple threat match between Chris Benoit, Triple H, and Shawn Michaels. The rest of the event was really bad including a match between Goldberg and Brock Lesnar (pictured above) in which both wrestlers were booed and heckled by the crowd based on their impending departures from WWE.

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31	Wrestlemania XXVII (2011)

I am sorry but the Miz just never seemed like a main event caliber wrestler to me, yet here he is beating Cena in this Wrestlemania’s lackluster main event. This show also featured possibly the worst Wrestlemania match of all-time as Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler proved that being a wrestling announcer does not translate to any sort of in-ring ability. Interestingly enough, two of the top ten worst matches in Wrestlemania history had Steve Austin as special guest referee (Lawler vs. Cole and Lesnar vs. Goldberg in Wrestlemania 20 discussed above).

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32	Wrestlemania XXXIV (2018)

The highlight of this event was the debut wrestling match for Ronda Rousey as she joined Kurt Angle to take on Stephanie McMahon and Triple H in an entertaining battle. The rest of the SEVEN HOUR card (way too long) was lackluster at best, as Brock Lesnar ended up beating Roman Reigns in a tired and trite main event matchup in which the crowd actually chanted “boring” and “this is awful” during the match (photographed above).

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33	Wrestlemania XXXVII (2021)

You know you have a bad WWE title match when it is selected as the night 1 opener to Wrestlemania, and that is exactly where the Bobby Lashley/Drew McIntyre match landed. The event ended with Roman Reigns retaining his Universal Title against Edge and Daniel Bryan in a predictable main event result (see photo above). The atmosphere of this event was also hampered by Covid restrictions that limited the crowd size.

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34	Wrestlemania XVI (2000)

This is the point where the WWF Attitude Era started to take a downturn, as this wrestlemania was substantially worse than the three that immediately preceded it. Steve Austin’s absence from the event due to injury was noticeable and really put a damper on thing. This show also featured too many gimmicky matches with special rules and stipulations. There in fact were no traditional 1 v. 1 wrestling matches on the entire card and the only 1 v. 1 match at all was a silly cat fight between Terri Runnels and The Kat. The fatal 4 way main event in which Triple H beat the Rock, Mick Foley, and the Big Show also fell flat due to too much intertwined McMahon family drama.

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35	Wrestlemania XXVI (2010)

I consider this the most overrated Wrestlemania of all-time, as most fans and pundits rank this event as one of the top 10 Wrestlemanias of all-time. Yes, it was memorable in that it featured the last wrestling match of his career, but the Undertaker/Michaels feud had been overdone at that point. Meanwhile, the rest of the card featured one horrible match (Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon) and a lot of mediocrity.

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36	Wrestlemania XXI (2005)

I admit that I am probably fairly biased against the Wrestlemanias held between 2000 and 2013, as I think those were definitely the “down years” in modern professional wrestling. That trend is perfectly exhibited in this show which featured weak main event title matches involving mid-carders Batista and Bradshaw.

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37	Wrestlemania XLI (2025)

This was one of the most poorly booked events during Triple’s H reign as chief content officer in the WWE. The main event featuring the heel version of John Cena beating Cody Rhodes with the assistance of Bad Buddy was both poorly contrived and executed. The rest of the card was also very weak, most notably the silly three minute surprise match between Randy Orton and Joe Hendry. The first and only really bad Wrestlemania during the TKO era.

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38	Wrestlemania VIII (1992)

This Wrestlemania wasn’t horrible but it was just startlingly worse than the three historically memorable Wrestlemanias that preceded it. The Hulk Hogan vs. Sid Justice matchup was an extremely underwhelming main event compared to the classic feuds Hogan had with Sgt. Slaughter, The Ultimate Warrior, Macho Man Randy Savage, Andre the Giant, King Kong Bundy, and Roddy Piper in Wrestlemanias 1-7. Many, in fact, argue that match was the worst main event in Wrestlemania history. The Flair vs. Savage match was really good though which keeps this event from being ranked in the all-time bottom four.

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39	Wrestlemania XXIX (2013)

The last of the “PG era” Wrestlemanias that were among the worst in my opinion. The Cena vs. Rock feud had grown stale at that point and didn’t need to be made into another WWE main event. The rest of the card was also extremely weak in terms of both style and substance. Just a bad event overall.

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40	Wrestlemania IV (1988)

Interestingly, Wrestlemania 3 is my # 1 event on this list but both the Wrestlemania preceding it and succeeding it are two of my bottom 3. Whoever thought it was a good idea to try to cram a poorly formatted 14 man tournament into one four hour event that also features three other full length title matches and a battle royal should be fired. Even worse, the two biggest stars of the tournament, Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan, squared off in the first round and were both eliminated via double disqualification. It is like someone in creative was trying to intentionally sabotage this event. Sadly, Macho Man’s historic ascension to WWF champion at the end of the night wasn’t as memorable as it should have been because of how gimmicky and flawed the tournament, as a whole, was (see full bracket above).

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41	Wrestlemania II (1986)

The only Wrestlemania booking idea worse than the aforementioned tournament in Wrestlemania 4 was this three city abomination that occurred two years prior. I mean I guess I admire the creativity of this concept, but sometimes it is better to do “too little” than “too much”, and this is a classic example of that. You can’t replace one epic event by dividing up your talent into three different events held in three different cities. The result of this effort was three lackluster four match cards that felt more like house shows than Wrestlemanias. There were actually some good wrestling matches in this event like the original Andre the Giant Battle Royal and the King Kong Bundy vs. Hogan cage match, but no one really noticed them because of how disjointed this show was.

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42	Wrestlemania XI (1995)

There is not much you can do when all of the top talent that you have promoting over the past ten years suddenly vanishes. Unfortunately, that is what the WWF faced entering Wrestlemania XI. Hogan, Andre, Savage, the Ultimate Warrior, Roddy Piper, and several other WWF stars from the Golden era had all either gone to WCW or otherwise left the business. The infusion of Lawrence Taylor into the main event was a desperate cry for attention that backfired when it was discovered the legendary linebacker couldn’t really wrestle. This was just a bad card from top to bottom that would have honestly been on par with a weak house show a couple years before. Ultimately, the three or four years between the Golden Era of WWF and the Attitude Era were truly the worst of times for the company, and the pinnacle of that was Wrestlemania 11.