12) Stone Cold Vs The Rock – Wrestlemania XV
Having climbed to the top of the mountain himself at Wrestlemania XIV Stone Cold would now help establish The Rock as the future highest-paid actor in the world took part in his first of several Wrestlemania main events.
While not as good as their later encounters this match is a whole load of fun and definitely a good sample of where the company was at during the time period. There are plenty of shenanigans afoot with Vince McMahon and Mick Foley both getting themselves involved in the match up.
Austin picks up the victory in this one and the two would meet again twice on the grandest stage of them all.
11) Edge Vs The Undertaker – Wrestlemania XXIV
The streak has really become a huge selling point for Wrestlemania at this point and this would prove to be the last time The Deadman would compete for the title on the grandest stage of them all.
Edge was on fire back in 2008 and this match was one of the best of Undertaker’s iconic Wrestlemania streak. In fact, Wrestlemania XXIV remains as one of the most underrated events in the show’s history. These two put on one hell of a show, with some great spots throughout and some really well worked near finishes.
The match is also famous of course for being the one where Taker was set on fire during his entrance. Thanks to a malfunction of some description (the company never released an official explanation) The Deadman got caught up in some pyro during his entrance and his coat was visibly on fire. Interesting fact – this was also the first time Edge had been defeated at Wrestlemania.
10) John Cena Vs Shawn Michaels – Wrestlemania 23
Shawn Michaels was in the middle of his show-stealing Wrestlemania streak at this point, and while the match perhaps doesn’t feel as big as some other Main events it still had its fair share of great moments.
Cena’s detractors were out in full force by this point, and his entrance (easily the dumbest of his career) sees him hit with a barrage of boos. The crowd were firmly behind Michaels in this one, but both stars deserve credit for a hard hitting and well-paced encounter. Michaels sells the out of Cena’s moves, making him look great in the process and the ending plays out really nicely.
This is a solid and often underappreciated Mania main event. The two would, of course go on though to give us one of the best matches in Raw’s history a few weeks later, perhaps tarnishing this one somehow.
9) Brock Lesnar Vs Roman Reigns – Wrestlemania 31
Okay, so some of you might argue that the main event of Wrestlemania 31 was technically Roman Reigns Vs Brock Lesnar Vs Seth Rollins, with the latter having cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase at the end of the match. But for the sake of this list, the original match was Reigns Vs Lesnar.
The reason this match is so memorable however is because of Rollins’ aforementioned cash in right at the end. Fans had all sighed collectively when Reigns won the Royal Rumble to guarantee himself a place in the Wrestlemania main event. But when the match actually kicked off, Lesnar Vs Reigns felt like the kind of spectacle that should be saved for a Wrestlemania main event.
The matchup itself was better than most had expected, with Lesnar dominating the vast majority of the match only for Reigns to rally back on occasion. The crowd had already been won over by the time Rollins cashed in, but the place erupted when the former Shield member cashed in and pinned Reigns to win the belt.
It is one of the best endings to a Wrestlemania yet, and one of the most memorable MITB cash-ins of all time.
Originally published March 24, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
