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Ranking the WrestleManias - The Bottom 10


JaymeFuture

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So, for the next three weeks, we're going to be doing a series of podcasts debating the rankings for all 30 WrestleManias in order, from worst to first in blocks of ten, and would like to get some feedback to read on the shows.

 

I've written an article on what I feel are the bottom 10 (if you're interested you can read it here: http://steelchair.co.uk/ranking-the-wrestlemanias-the-bottom-10), and want to hear what agreements or disagreements people have with it, what they would rank higher or lower, and why.

 

For those who don't want to read the whole article, the bottom 10 are:

 

#30 - WrestleMania 9 (1993)
#29 - WrestleMania 11 (1995)
#28 - WrestleMania 4 (1988)
#27 - WrestleMania 2 (1986)
#26 - WrestleMania 1 (1985)
#25 - WrestleMania 15 (1999)
#24 - WrestleMania 6 (1990)
#23 - WrestleMania 5 (1989)
#22 - WrestleMania 29 (2013)
#21 - WrestleMania 27 (2011)

 

We'll be debating the order on the shows and reading your responses and crediting you accordingly, so what do you think?

 

EDIT - To those looking for the first time, the podcast taking the feedback and debating the list is now up at this link: http://squaredcirclegazette.podbean.com/mf/play/aixp2f/SCGRadio31-RankingtheWrestleManias-TheBottom10.mp3

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Wow 15 is way too high. 15 is the worst by far. A hundred hot shot angles. Shitty short matches. Chyna turns twice on the show? Bossman being hung? Heck, two matches are devoid of heat because the titles change hand 6 days before. Rock-Austin is a good match, but is by far their worst big match. Fuck that show.

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I think 15 is by far the worst Wrestlemania. You have a card that ultimately looked nothing like the build up to the show. They did that stupid hot hot with Road Dogg and Billy Gunn which really screwed up the undercard. Nothing other than Austin/Rock was good.

 

At least 9 had a couple of decent matches.

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Haven't thought about this for a while but as far as the worst Mania's go, it would be for me ...

 

WM 11 (1995) - Bad show with the audio issues and poor matches. Also, it was held in Hartford and felt like any other run of the mill PPV at the time. Really, how much credit can you give a show that Bret Hart states was his "worst match ever".

 

WM 27 (2011) - A show I have no desire to re-watch anytime soon. Between the Rock gab segment to open things up and the "Miz"-erable main event, this wasn't a good show by any means. The first bit was good with Rey/Cody, Edge/Del Rio, and Punk/Orton. After that and the HHH/Taker match, things went to the toilet pretty fast.

 

WM 5 (1989) - An interminable show that just drags and drags and drags. Rockin Robin singing the anthem, Run DMC rapping to everyone's displeasure, and a goofy Piper's Pit segment along with a crowd colder than an Alaskan winter's day didn't make this a fun show to sit through.

 

WM 2 (1986) - The first half was dreadful but from the football players battle royal, things picked up a bit. Also, Susan St. James on commentary. Please, no.

 

WM 9 (1993) - Not a bad show and memorable only for the Roman Coliseum stuff. I found the Headshrinkers/Steiners match to be fantastic and some of the mid-card matches to be somewhat solid. The Bret/Hogan/Yokozuna stuff at the end still comes across bad.

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WM5 will always be special to me because it was the first I saw - but thankfully, the Sky TV version was majorly edited down to the point of it being fairly well paced. WM9 was the worst foe me....I loathed that show at the time. Have never gone back to it.

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WrestleMania X would be a serious contender if it didn't have Bret-Owen and the ladder match.

 

I wanted to hate 28 so badly after the debacle that was the 18 second Daniel Bryan/Sheamus fiasco and a totally shoehorned Randy Orton/Kane match, but with Punk/Jericho, Taker/Triple H in HIAC, Cody/Show which over delivered and the underrated first Rock/Cena match you have a pretty damn good wrestling show, IMO.

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#11 for me really sums up what a flux the Federation was in at the time. The biggest crying shame is how Bret Hart in his prime was wasted when he was badly needed to deliver the goods. Playing armchair booker, I wouldn't have minded seeing a match built as the final encounter between him and Owen. The street fight they had a week earlier should have been booked here on a bigger scale, showing how they have intertwined throughout the former year and how we have gone from hesitantly (for Bret) accepting a match, to needing a down and out street fight to end it now, once and for all. Owen basically cost Bret the title at the prior two PPV's so it books itself. We could have had a classic match to save a rotten card.

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27 seems to be taking too much of a beating to me. I was at WM 27 and 29 and Im not sure which show overall I liked better. 27's main event of Cena vs. Miz isn't good but neither is Cena vs. Rock at 29. I don't think anything on either show was as bad as the Lawler vs. Cole segment but HHH vs. Taker is my favorite match of both shows (yes, above Punk). I also don't think 29 had a Punk vs. Orton type match that is good from an undercard perspective. I have no problem calling WM 27 maybe a bottom 10 WM, but I don't see how it is worse than 4, 9, 15, 2, 1, or 11. I also think it is interesting that you listed 6 in the bottom 10 as I could see that being a point of contention even from a match quality standpoint, it is a one match show.

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Love the responses here, and am happy to say I was able to read the vast majority of them on the show, which is now up to listen to at the following link:

 

http://squaredcirclegazette.podbean.com/mf/play/aixp2f/SCGRadio31-RankingtheWrestleManias-TheBottom10.mp3

 

This ended up being a really fun podcast, breaking down the different elements of all the shows in the Bottom 10 and debating the order of the list itself. Check it out and let me know what you think!

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I still enjoy 9. Part of that is that I had it on video as a kid taped from the PPV feed and watched it over and over and over

 

I like the outdoor/Ceasar's Palace aspect. I think HBK/Tatanka and Steiners/Headshrinkers were really solid matches. I like the commentary on the show. I even like the Doink/Crush match.

 

I've got to go with 99 or 00 which were enjoyable at the time but don't hold up at all to me. Some of the recent ones I'm not terribly high on either, and aside from certain matches and stuff a lot of them blend together to me

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My picks would be:

 

#30 - Mania 9 (1993)

#29 - Mania 2 (1986)

#28 - Mania 4 (1988)

#27 - Mania 1 (1985)

#26 - Mania 5 (1989)

#25 - Mania 6 (1990)

#24 - Mania 7 (1991)

#23 - Mania 11 (1995)

#22 - Mania 15 (1999)

#21 - Mania 12 (1996)

#20 - Mania 14 (1998)

 

I kinda hate a lot of WWF stuff from the late 80's and early 90's, so most of those early Manias are pretty unwatchable for me. I think they're all pretty much one match cards, and for a lot of them, that one match isn't even very good.

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To be honest I don't remember much about 14 besides Taker/Kane and HBK/Austin, neither of which I thought were great. Some good moments for sure, and definitely a very historic one, but I don't remember it too fondly as a whole.

 

I'm not really a fan of 1998 and 1999 WWF in general, but maybe that show warrants a rewatch?

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I remember freaking out when LOD 2000 came out during 14 because I thought they were going to have a huge run in the tag division(not so much). The dumpster match, the mixed tag, and Shamrock/Rock were all fun. It had the beginning of Pete Rose's funny feud with Kane. Largely a solid show for me before even factoring in the two main events.

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