# Top 10 WM Matches (Meltzer's Ratings)



## The Boy Wonder

*1. Wrestlemania X* | _Intercontinental Championship - Ladder Match_: Razor Ramon (c) vs Shawn Michaels ☆☆☆☆☆

*2. Wrestlemania 13* | _Submission Match_: Bret Hart vs Steve Austin ☆☆☆☆☆

*3. Wrestlemania XX* | _World Heavyweight Championship - Triple Threat_: Triple H (c) vs Shawn Michaels vs Chris Benoit ****3/4

*4. Wrestlemania 25th Anniversary* | Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker ****3/4

*5. Wrestlemania X* | Bret Hart vs Owen Hart ****3/4

*6. Wrestlemania X-Seven* | _WWE Tag Team Championship - TLC_ ****3/4

*7. Wrestlemania XXVI* | _Streak vs Career_ - Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker ****3/4

*8. Wrestlemania 28* | _Hell in a Cell_ - Triple H vs The Undertaker ****3/4

*9. Wrestlemania 21* | Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels ****3/4

*10. Wrestlemania III* | _Intercontinental Championship_ - Randy Savage (c) vs Ricky Steamboat ****1/2

*10b. Wrestlemania 21* | _Money in the Bank Ladder Match_ ****1/2

*10c. Wrestlemania 30* | _WWE World Heavyweight Championship - Triple Threat_: Randy Orton (c) vs Batista vs Daniel Bryan ****1/2

*10d. Wrestlemania XXVII* | _No Holds Barred_: Triple H vs The Undertaker ****1/2

*10e. Wrestlemania 35* | _WWE Championship_: Daniel Bryan (c) vs Kofi Kingston ****1/2

*10f. Wrestlemania 31 | *_WWE Championship - Triple Threat_: Brock Lesnar (c) vs Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins ****1/2


----------



## The Boy Wonder

Which 4.75 match do you think had the best chance of being 5 stars?


----------



## Fearless Viper




----------



## Jnewt

A damn good list of matches if a person has a free day and wants to watch some wrestling.


----------



## Jbardo37

The Boy Wonder said:


> Which 4.75 match do you think had the best chance of being 5 stars?


Undertaker v HBK mania 25
The triple threat
Owen v Bret

Are all 5 star matches. I have never liked 3/4 ratings, It’s either 4.5 or 5 stars for me.


----------



## Bobholly39

All great matches

I'm sure we can nitpick a bit, and raise or lower a couple, or have one not on the list make it - but all are certainly worthy inclusions for me.


----------



## Damned

To think he has rated the Bucks higher than some of those.


----------



## toon126

Undertaker v HBK at 25 was hands down the greatest WM match of all time. Only rivalled by Austin v Bret.

10 a) through e) are weird ones for me. Wouldn't call them particularly memorable apart from the finishes of some.

And Angle vs HBK is a too low, but can't be too mad at it there are some crackers above it.


----------



## Irish Jet

Only Austin/Bret and Michaels/Hall managed to reach the heights of Jurassic Express/Christian vs The Bucks/Adam Cole.


----------



## thorn123

Any list that doesn’t have hogan vs Andre number 1 and Hogan vs rock number 2, is not worth reading.


----------



## Erik.

A really good list - even if you don't agree with the ratings, you'd have to agree that the matches involved are all classics. 

Could watch those top two matches over and over again, alone.


----------



## THE_OD

Damned said:


> To think he has rated the Bucks higher than some of those.


Yeah. AEW do deliver good PPV's but the fact that most of their PPV's have a couple of matches rated as highly as many of these historical matches, just goes to show how silly and overhyped many of his current ratings are.


----------



## shadows123

Some weird choices in 10 which i do not agree with, but otherwise a solid list. Would have liked Hogan vs Rock in there instead of some listed under 10.


----------



## Mr. WrestleMania

I'm sensing a common theme with that list:


----------



## Blonde

The Boy Wonder said:


> Which 4.75 match do you think had the best chance of being 5 stars?


The tag team match and the triple threat. Surprised that the triple threat wasn't rated 5 stars.


----------



## TonySirico

Meltzer is a stupid dickhead and also a mark


----------



## The Boy Wonder

Michaels/Taker WM 25 was very close to being 5 stars, but two things prevented that from happening:

1. The cameraman botch
2. The ending sequence

The moonsault counter to tombstone was fine, but Taker should've staggered to his feet instead of just waiting for it.


----------



## Hotdiggity11

Yet Meltzer now gives matches that occur on random Dynamites nearly the same rating as the groundbreaking HBK/Razor ladder match or the match that made Austin a rising megastar and future face of the company. Awesome.
Want to know what else got 5 stars?

Moustache Mountain(Trent Seven and Tyler Bate)vs. The Undisputed Era (Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong)

On a random episode of NXT.


----------



## RainmakerV2

Bret vs. Owen is absolutely a 5 star pro wrestling match.


----------



## InexorableJourney

Dave likes 'em long.

And three stars for Hogan/Rock, sure Dave.


----------



## Goku

Austin/Bret - 13 / 5 stars
Shawn/Taker - 25 / 5 stars
Bret/Owen - X / 4.75 stars
Angle/Shawn - 21 / 4.75 stars (should be 5 but Taker/Shawn was undoubtedly better somehow)
Benoit/Triple H/Shawn - XX / 4.75 stars

Top 5 for me.

Probably. It can change based on the day.

Shawn has 3 matches and Bret has 2. Kind of stellar.


----------



## AliFrazier100

Damned said:


> To think he has rated the Bucks higher than some of those.


Meltzer has a new rating system now. If he had it back then, he would have given Bret/Austin and Shawn/Razor 10 stars, or however many the highest is now.


----------



## JohnMena

Owen/Bret should be 5 stars as should savage/steamboat. Austin v The Rock wm17 should be on the list.


----------



## PhenomenalOne11

The fact that neither Hogan vs Andre or Hogan vs Rock is on here makes the list invalid.


----------



## Stylebender

I cant take nothing serious when it comes to Meltzer star ratings. Shawn/Taker aint 5 stars. A gem like Neville/Zayn from r evolution aint even 4 and 3 quarters

but fucking Pete Dynasti vs Rob Stewe for the battle of east coast infront of 43 fans wearing star wars t shirts gets 5 stars. While we're at it Kenny Omega doesnt get 6 stars. He gets 7. Which then makes the 5 stars Shawn/Taker couldnt get worthless. 

Fuck Meltzer.


----------



## THE_OD

It is kinda interesting that Hogan and Rock have no matches on the list, and Austin has no matches from his hottest period.

Just goes to show the difference between what the more casual audience, and more smarky fans/journalists considers a great match.


----------



## FrankieDs316

The fact he never gave HBK vs Taker WM25, or HBK vs Angle WM21 a full 5 stars shows this guy is a fucking hack.


----------



## DammitChrist

As usual, Dave Meltzer continues to be reliable and credible with the number of accurate ratings that he's given for great/classic matches over the past few decades 

That's a great list (made by someone who continues to keep himself relevant by simply giving his opinions) too.



PhenomenalOne11 said:


> The fact that neither Hogan vs Andre or Hogan vs Rock is on here makes the list invalid.


Nah, his list is *definitely* valid.


----------



## PhenomenalOne11

DammitChrist said:


> As usual, Dave Meltzer continues to be reliable and credible with the number of accurate ratings that he's given for great/classic matches over the past few decades
> 
> That's a great list (made by someone who continues to keep himself relevant by simply giving his opinions) too.
> 
> 
> 
> Nah, his list is *definitely* valid.


 A list that doesn't include the two biggest WrestleMania matches of all time objectively is not valid. You can't not include those matches.


----------



## MC

It's an interesting set of matches. Most of them hold up fairly well for quality, with the exception of Angle vs Shawn Michaels, personally. Bret Hart vs Stone Cold is my #1 pick for best WWE/F Match of all time and, despite the list of good runner-ups, it's ahead by quite a bit.

My top five Mania matches would probably be something like this:

Austin/Bret - WM 13
Brock vs Roman (vs Seth) - WM 31
Bret vs Owen - WM 10
Bret vs Piper - WM 8
Austin vs Rock - WM 17


----------



## Mr. WrestleMania

DammitChrist said:


> As usual, Dave Meltzer continues to be reliable and credible with the number of accurate ratings that he's given for great/classic matches over the past few decades
> 
> That's a great list (made by someone who continues to keep himself relevant by simply giving his opinions) too.
> 
> 
> 
> Nah, his list is *definitely* valid.


Yeah, it's a good list. It really highlights just how much WM is Shawn's show. No one was more consistent; that's for sure. Got me thinking what my top WM matches are:

1) HBK/Taker
2) HBK/Angle
3) Angle/Brock
4) HBK/Razor Ladder Match
5) HBK/Triple H/Benoit

He really is Mr. WrestleMania and it's not even close. Isn't it wonderful?


----------



## Goku

PhenomenalOne11 said:


> A list that doesn't include the two biggest WrestleMania matches of all time objectively is not valid. You can't not include those matches.


It's not a list of the biggest matches. A list is by definition subjective.


----------



## The real Axel

Crazy no 5 stars for the Taker/Shawn matches. Both perfect in my opinion. 

I also preferred Triple H vs Undertaker at Mania 27 instead of 28 - better entrances (Johnny Cash ain't no grave cmoooon), truly what I believe to be the last match of Taker's prime (last ever over the top rope dive I think?), Triple H tombstone while screaming "it's over", Undertaker barely scraping a win with the submission and needing to be carried out of the arena on a stretcher. Great story.


----------



## VitoCorleoneX

The Boy Wonder said:


> Which 4.75 match do you think had the best chance of being 5 stars?


Angle vs HBK was always a 5 star match.


----------



## One Shed

Now realize he has rated gymnastics routines by the Hardly Boys higher than all of those matches and stop taking anything he says seriously.


----------



## arch.unleash

The young bucks has better matches than all of these. This guy should have a special place in hell.


----------



## Shaun_27

Goku said:


> Austin/Bret - 13 / 5 stars
> Shawn/Taker - 25 / 5 stars
> Bret/Owen - X / 4.75 stars
> Angle/Shawn - 21 / 4.75 stars (should be 5 but Taker/Shawn was undoubtedly better somehow)
> Benoit/Triple H/Shawn - XX / 4.75 stars


I genuinely thought you making fun of the weird star system until I got to "X" and realized you were talking about the Mania number.

"Austin/Bret gets a solid 13/5 stars for me"


----------



## Punk_316

The following 4 matches are required for any top WM lists:

Hogan / Andre (WM 3)
Austin / Bret (WM 13)
Austin / Rock (WM 17)
Hogan / Rock (WM 18)

I'm also a huge fan of Punk / Taker @ WM 29


----------



## Reasonable_Fan

The Boy Wonder said:


> Michaels/Taker WM 25 was very close to being 5 stars, but two things prevented that from happening:
> 
> 1. The cameraman botch
> 2. The ending sequence
> 
> The moonsault counter to tombstone was fine, but Taker should've staggered to his feet instead of just waiting for it.


Regarding the cameraman botch, most commentators I've seen say it actually added to the story of the match. Taker looking legit knocked out, Shawn getting back in the ring and selling the moment perfectly with his facial expressions. Wrestling isn't always about executing a script of a match to a T, but being able to adjust to unforeseen events on the fly with quick thinking and professionalism.


----------



## Goku

Shaun_27 said:


> I genuinely thought you making fun of the weird star system until I got to "X" and realized you were talking about the Mania number.
> 
> "Austin/Bret gets a solid 13/5 stars for me"


Would you believe me if I said I did it on purpose?


----------



## promoter2003

I think not having Hogan/Andre, Hogan/Rock, and Austin/Rock missing is a slap in the face to the actual event.

The list he has is indeed full of great matches, but none of those matches with the exception of Taker/HBK WM25), Razor/HBK(WMX), Savage/Seamboat (WM 3), Bret/Owen(WMX), Bryan vs Orton vs Batista(WM 30), Kurt Angle/HBK (WM 21) have any right to be ranked with Hogan/Rock, Austin/Rock, Hogan/Warrior, Hogan/Andre.

The reason I say this is that WM greatest matches list of top ten should include epic aspect, game changer, once in a lifetime, and something that was never before or hard to duplicate atmosphere. I think if you remove some of these matches out of a top ten you are removing historical art that represent Vince Mcmahon's grandest creation.

The reason I would not put Rock/Cena on here is that they ruined it with that rematch the following year. The biggest aspect of the feud was Rock coming back after years of Cena calling him out for selling out and shockingly winning. The passing of the torch thing flopped which came off like a parody of Hogan vs Warrior. 

Speaking of Hogan and Warrior, the only two landmark passing of the torch style matches included Hogan/Andre(I know Hogan was already the star, but Andre put stamp on it) and Hogan/Warrior. Hogan was never the same after that loss and in some ways the whole company.

HBK/Hart was a possibility, but we seen how that turned out a year later with those two. The reason Meltzer won't put Hogan on there is that if you put Hogan/Rock then Hogan/Warrior and Hogan/Andre need to be up there for its similar impact and work. It's politics.


----------

