The 35 best performers in WrestleMania history

Like it or not, Hulk Hogan is the wrestler who’s most synonymous with WrestleMania and a large reason why it succeeded in the first place, even without being called “Mr. WrestleMania.” He main-evented the first WrestleMania. Then the second. And the third, which featured the immortal moment of Hogan bodyslamming Andre. He’s not part of the fourth main event…until he comes in and cheap-shots Ted DiBiase, essentially winning Savage’s match for him. WrestleMania V is then Hogan vs. Savage, WrestleMania VI is Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior, VII is Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter and VIII is Hogan vs. Sid Justice. After that, it was time for the New Generation. And then at WrestleMania X8, Hogan vs. The Rock does not main event — when it really should have. (Sorry, Chris Jericho.)

Look, he’s called “Mr. WrestleMania” for a reason. And this is where actual performance — in terms of the artistry of professional wrestling, albeit in a more athletic way than Hogan, who also excelled at it in his own way — comes in as opposed to win-loss percentage. Even his first (technically) retirement WrestleMania match — against “Stone Cold” Steve Austin — at WrestleMania XIV is a great performance, one you’d only even realize was a man wrestling through intense pain if you actually knew about it. (Exhibit A: As a 9-year-old at the time, I did not realize that was the case when I watched it live on pay-per-view.)

For a time, Edge had actually maintained his own WrestleMania streak. In fact, it was Taker who broke Edge’s streak to become 16-0 at WrestleMania XXIV. It was modest, and it was one of those iffy streaks. He was 5-0 in terms of wins-losses, but his sixth match was a Money in the Bank ladder match where he was taken out due to Jeff Hardy breaking him through a ladder (meaning Mr. Kennedy’s eventual win couldn’t be counted against him). The following year he faced The Undertaker in an underrated classic at WrestleMania XXIV. Edge went on to lose at his next two WrestleManias (and all three of these were World Heavyweight Championship matches, with Edge champion two out of the three times), only to win his final WrestleMania match (and final match ever) — and retain the World Heavyweight Championship — at WrestleMania XXVII against Alberto Del Rio. And just to go back to his streak, that was the result of his tag team ladder matches with his partner, Christian — with WrestleMania X-7 featuring the infamous moment of Edge jumping from a ladder to spear a dangling Hardy — his shampoo feud with Booker T, the first ever Money in the Bank ladder match and his hardcore match against Mick Foley — with the also infamous spear into a flaming table spot. Edge was awesome, y’all.

Like his idol, Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho’s role as one of the best performers in WrestleMania history is less about winning than it is about actual performance. To this day, Jericho vs. Michaels at WrestleMania XIX is still a criminally underrated clinic of a match. (Jericho does have yet to have that crowning “WrestleMania moment,” though, unless you want to count the cheap shot after said match. And this is acknowledging that he even main-evented WrestleMania the year before that.) His match against Christian at WrestleMania XX— and in realizing that was only a year after the HBK match, what a year that was for Jericho— is also an extremely underrated match and one that also set off Trish Stratus’ all-time great heel run. Thanks to AEW, it doesn’t look like Jericho will be in another WrestleMania match anytime soon. But that’s what the WWE Network is for.

The Rock could honestly get on this list just from that one time he had a flamethrower (WrestleMania 32). That was also the same WrestleMania where he semi-main-evented the show in a match against Rowan (nee Erick Rowan). Professional wrestling is fascinating. But when it comes to The Rock and WrestleMania, not only do you have “Once in a Lifetime” and “Once in a Lifetime 2: Shut Up & Watch It” against John Cena, but you also have prime Rocky matches like The Rock vs. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin at WrestleMania X-Seven (the second of their three WrestleMania matches) and The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania X8.

As previously mentioned, The Rock and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin faced off at WrestleMania three times. Austin won the first two matches, while The Rock won the final one, at WrestleMania XIX. But Austin’s WrestleMania moments weren’t all just entwined with Rocky’s. In fact, his most recognizable moment might have come from his second WrestleMania — at WrestleMania 13 against Bret Hart. This was the double turn, with the iconic image of a bleeding Austin passing out while in the Sharpshooter. The next year was WrestleMania XIV, against Shawn Michaels (and with Mike Tyson thinking Austin’s name was “Cold Stone”), and you know the rest...

Yes, if you see that a Triple H match is on the WrestleMania card, you know that you’re in store for a match — even if it’s great — that’s at least five to 15 minutes too long. But still, Triple H is a WrestleMania Performer with a capital “P!” It’s not just the match itself, but it’s the elaborate “I’m not a regular dad; I’m a cool dad!” entrances often inspired by some Arnold Schwarzenegger gimmick, for some reason. Triple H is “The Cerebral Assassin,” and for what one can only assume are legal reasons, he’s never tried to be called “The Terminator” despite his various WrestleMania entrances. (And now all I’m thinking is that Mackenzie Davis needs to be on "RAW" to promote the upcoming Terminator movie. Sorry, Triple H.)

“Legend Killer” Randy Orton is the one to credit for Undertaker’s streak becoming “The Streak,” so we should remember that instead of remembering the sperm snake and bug screensaver display at WrestleMania 33. We should also remember his triple threat match with Daniel Bryan and Batista at WrestleMania XXX or his awesome RKO in his match with Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 31.

The man pulled off “The Heist of the Century” on the same night he lost a match where he received the coolest, most insane-looking RKO ever. He became “The Kingslayer,” and now he’s “The Beastmaster.” Rollins is one of the best performers in WWE history, period. But it’s honestly surprising that has been able to translate to his track record at WrestleMania as well.

Having rattled off Edge’s accomplishments, remember that you don’t get Edge and Christian without, well, Christian. Christian is probably the opposite of Seth Rollins though in this case, where you’ll, of course, get great performances out of him. But expecting him to win his matches (specifically singles matches, as winning was just the way it was for him with Edge) is kind of ridiculous. If we consider Christian’s TNA/Impact Wrestling days as part of this —subbing in Bound For Glory for WrestleMania — that doesn’t really help, as he won only one of his three Bound For Glory matches. But Christian is great, I swear. His match against Chris Jericho at WrestleMania XX is great!

Let us not remember Kurt Angle’s WrestleMania performances by his retirement match at WrestleMania 35 and instead remember them by things like his match against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XIX or his match against Eddie Guerrero at WrestleMania XX or his match against Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 21 — really, all of Angle’s past WrestleMania matches, even his mixed tag team match (a Mixed Match Challenge, if you will) with Ronda Rousey last year.

Some people may not know this, but Brock Lesnar used to do a lot more in his wrestling and storytelling than just suplex and F-5 guys. And I’m not just talking about elbowing and Chimura Locking people either. Just watch his match against Kurt Angle at WrestleMania XIX (and don’t watch his match against Goldberg at WrestleMania XX) and see. Sorry in advance for the awesome moment that turns into an insane disaster and then an obvious concussion.

For a seemingly dominant Superstar, other than this year’s return match and his matches against old men (Triple H and Undertaker), Roman Reigns doesn’t exactly have the best luck as a singles competitor at WrestleMania. It’s historically been a lot of him saying he’s the only one who can beat Brock Lesnar despite a lack of canonical evidence to support that. (Rollins, who just beat Lesnar, had at least technically done it multiple times before, in multiman matches.) But again, win-loss percentage isn’t the biggest component of this list, and Reigns is a dynamic performer both at and outside of WrestleMania. Boos or not, he belongs here.

Because of WrestleMania IV, Randy Savage has the record for most wins at a single WrestleMania: four, as there was a tournament throughout the night. That was also the night he won the WWF Championship for the first time. (It wasn’t a classic, but he’d already had one at WrestleMania III against Ricky Steamboat.) The following year, that title reign came to an end courtesy of the dreaded Hulk Hogan. But the year after that? Savage and Miss Elizabeth reunited, after Savage’s “retirement” match against Ultimate Warrior. “WrestleMania moments” exist, and Savage exemplified that.

Watch the first WrestleMania main event. Piper and Paul Orndorff do everything they possibly can to make Mr. T, of all people, look like a million bucks and more. The following WrestleMania had Roddy vs. Mr. T in a boxing match. I don’t want to see anyone complain about Michael Che and Colin Jost at WrestleMania ever again. But Piper didn’t just do a celebrity gimmick match: His match against Bret Hart at WrestleMania 8 was integral in propelling Hart to superstardom, and that’s really part of what made Piper such a great WrestleMania performer: He made his opponents look even better than he did, and he looked pretty great.

*Cue emotional “My Time Is Now” trumpets.* Now that we all love Cena and only jokingly chant “CENA SUCKS,” can we just take a moment to laugh at that time during WrestleMania XXVII (in Atlanta) where Cena was so hated that the crowd booed a church choir? (By the way, if you watch the match on the WWE Network or WWE home video, the booing was edited out. But you can find the original entrance on YouTube.) We all know the “love him or hate him” talking point about Cena, but going back to watch his matches, it’s actually pretty great to see the crowd go absolutely insane over him. Remember how the mixed tag team match at WrestleMania 33 turned Miz into the ultimate hero against Cena’s robotic villain? Remember how WrestleMania 22 began the full-blown anti-Cena pushback, where the commentary had to explain why the “traditional” crowd was cheering for Triple H over Cena? Remember “Once in a Lifetime” against The Rock, and then “Once in a Lifetime 2: Hobbs & Shaw” the following year? Or remember “Doctor of Thuganomics” Cena at WrestleMania XIX, calling out Fabolous? You probably don’t remember that last one, and you really should. And then Cena came back at WrestleMania 35 with his doctorate in hand, and the crowd unanimously chanted “CENA” for the first time in about a decade and a half. Wow.

Despite the fact it happened long after Mick Foley’s prime, not only is Edge vs. Foley at WrestleMania 22 the best hardcore/extreme rules style match in WrestleMania history, but it’s also one of the best matches of both men’s storied careers. And that’s even before the flaming table spot. This was also Foley’s attempt at having a “WrestleMania moment,” and he succeeded. But it’s worth noting he made his WrestleMania debut (at WrestleMania 13, debuting in WWF the day after WrestleMania XII) teaming with Vader…against Owen Hart and The British Bulldog. The following WrestleMania featured the infamous Dumpster match with Chainsaw Charlie (Terry Funk, as Foley was Cactus Jack) against the New Age Outlaws (with the RAW after WrestleMania rematch being the cage match that led to new DX).

Funny thing about WWE: It hasn’t been until the past five years that you could definitively call any woman in WWE one of the best performers in WrestleMania history without grasping for straws. I’m going to praise Trish Stratus later on (just you wait), but women and WrestleMania (pre-Revolution/Evolution) have typically either been really bad fetish matches or solid (but very much overlooked) matches. But then we got the Revolution/Evolution, and Charlotte fricken Flair was moonsaulting and Spanish Fly-ing all over the place, from the Women’s Championship (R.I.P. Divas Championship) triple threat at WrestleMania 32 to the “Winner Take All” triple threat at the main event of WrestleMania 35. And she broke Asuka’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania 34. The woman already has a Hall of Fame career just from her WrestleMania matches alone.

Sasha Banks has wrestled at just three WrestleManias, but like her fellow Four Horsewoman, Charlotte Flair, she deserves praise for her work on the show. Her first two matches — at both WrestleMania 32 and 33 — obviously belong in the history books for the Women’s Evolution, especially the triple threat against Becky Lynch and Charlotte. Honestly, so does the third: It’s the first WrestleMania defense of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship, even if Sasha and Bayley didn’t retain. (Can’t wait for The IIconics to make this list in years to come.)

Here’s the thing: This is not because Stephanie McMahon is pulling out five-star classics come WrestleMania time. But when talking about WrestleMania and then Triple H, you can’t deny how integral Stephanie has become to his whole act come WrestleMania season since The Authority became a thing. Not just because of the annual “accidentally knock Stephanie into a table” spot either. Stephanie basically becomes the Rita Repulsa to Triple H’s Lord Zedd at WrestleMania these days, and there is no better example than at WrestleMania XXX when Triple H and Daniel Bryan face off…and Stephanie is on the sidelines in what she must imagine is New Orleans couture. Her speech at WrestleMania 32 was literally just her saying “Triple H and I are the villains; deal with it,” and it’s awesome.

Hehe. Remember when Rey Mysterio retired JBL in 21 seconds at WrestleMania XXV? (Sorry, Samoa Joe — you didn’t beat Mysterio that quickly 10 years later.) Rey Mysterio’s win-loss record at WrestleMania is a pretty mixed bag — like most on this list — but he has memorable matches like his triple threat match against Kurt Angle and Randy Orton (for the World Heavyweight Championship, which he won) at WrestleMania 22, his WrestleMania 21 match against Eddie Guerrero and even his (losing) battle against Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania XXVII. Plus, WrestleMania Mysterio means most impressive ring gear and mask Mysterio.

Bret Hart made his WrestleMania debut at WrestleMania II. That’s a shoot. It was in a battle royal, but it’s amazing to think he was that quickly a part of this whole experience. He was in another battle royal at WrestleMania IV, but WrestleMania III, V and VI  saw him and Jim Neidhart (The Hart Foundation, baby!) dominate in tag team action. They lost at VII to The Nasty Boys, but screw The Nasty Boys. After, Bret Hart became the Bret Hart we all know, facing off against the likes of Ric Flair, Yokozuna (twice, getting his win back against Yokozuna the second time around), his brother, Owen Hart (underrated classic, just like Owen), Bob Backlund, Shawn Michaels and then “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. (We won’t acknowledge the Vince McMahon match years later.)

The Ultimate Warrior had five matches at WrestleMania, and he won all but one of them. (He lost to Rick Rude. Good.) At this point, we all pretty much know Warrior wasn’t a good wrestler. But he had a presence, and it worked for what it was. At WrestleMania VI, he pinned Hulk Hogan to become the WWF’s first-ever concurrent Intercontinental and World Heavyweight Champion. He got Hulk Hogan’s respect when he defeated him at WrestleMania VI and “retired” Randy Savage at WrestleMania VII. Warrior was directly responsible for a number of WrestleMania moments.

As much as it hurts to praise Shane McMahon in any way, shape or form, his matches against AJ Styles and now The Miz have catapulted him up to “Best Performers in WrestleMania History” status. That’s all the praise I’ll heap on him though.

One of the most fascinating — and frustrating — things about Daniel Bryan’s early WWE career is intrinsically linked to Sheamus. At WrestleMania XXVII, they had a Lumberjack match for Sheamus’ United States Championship…which was the first dark match of the show. (It went to a No Contest, and since this wasn’t pre-show/kickoff show era, it didn’t ever air.) Then they got on the main show — as the opener — with heel Bryan (alongside poor AJ Lee) and the “YES” chant gimmick insanely over…and the kiss that changed everything. The 18-second loss at WrestleMania XXVIII was simultaneously the worst thing to ever happen to Sheamus’ career and the best thing to happen to Bryan’s, and there was absolutely no way Vince McMahon ever expected it. Obviously after this, we got Team Hell No. And then Punk took his ball and went home, effectively shaking things up for WrestleMania XXX. The rest? The “YES” Movement history, of course, leading to one of the best WrestleManias ever (WrestleMania XXX), thanks to Bryan’s dual performances. And as much as you want to hate him, you can’t deny how great he was against Kofi Kingston at WrestleMania 35 (because he’s actually the best wrestler in the world and has been since his Ring of Honor days.)

Matt Hardy is an Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal winner. It’s easy to forget that, though it’s no fault of his own. That’s all on WWE and how it treats this WrestleMania battle royal. But he also won at WrestleMania as “Matt Hardy Version 1” (WrestleMania XIX) and beat his younger brother, Jeff (aka “Brother Nero”) (WrestleMania XXV). At WrestleMania 33, he and Jeff made a surprise return to WWE and won the RAW Tag Team Championship, marking the first time they won tag titles at WrestleMania, surprisingly. (Those matches with Edge and Christian and The Dudley Boyz both had the Dudleys lose their titles to E&C.) To quote Matt Hardy: “WONDERFUL!”

Jeff Hardy surprisingly has fewer wins on his WrestleMania record than big brother Matt, but against, it’s all about moments. As mentioned before, there’s the return at WrestleMania 33 as well as the dangling spear from Edge at WrestleMania X-Seven. There’s also the broken ladder spot with Edge in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 23, which was actually the first iteration of that spot. It's forever immortalized, to the point it doesn’t even matter that he’s not the most winningest WWE Superstar at WrestleMania.

While The Dudley Boyz might not have offered major WrestleMania moments individually —which is why they are bundled up here, unlike their contemporaries — you can’t deny one-third of the TLC holy trinity. And…that’s pretty much it.

From the moment CM Punk was a developmental extra in John Cena’s WrestleMania 22 entrance, he was already one of the best performers in WrestleMania history. But then at WrestleMania XXIV, he won the Money in the Bank ladder match. And he won it again at WrestleMania XXV. He then, of course, had a match (that should have main-evented) against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 29. That would be his final WrestleMania match, and honestly, that’s not bad at all. But just to be clear: CM Punk totally deserved to have main-evented WrestleMania at least once.

You’re probably already tearing up just thinking of Flair’s retirement (well, “retirement” match against Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XXIV. But if you’re in the mood for more prime Flair, you can’t go wrong with his WWF Championship match against Randy Savage at WrestleMania 8. (Also, keep Elizabeth’s name out your mouth, Ric.)

That’s right — every member of Evolution is on this list. (That, unfortunately, couldn’t be the case from every member of The Shield. Sorry, Dean Ambrose. That Brock Lesnar match really boned you. You also apparently had a match against Baron Corbin? At WrestleMania? How?) And Batista is also one of the Evolution bros who has an all-time classic against Undertaker, as well as the one who was least expected to have an all-time classic against Undertaker. Yes, Batista’s retirement match against Triple H at WrestleMania 35 was a comedy of errors (and nose rings), but he would always come to play come WrestleMania time.

This one was actually touch and go because of his first WrestleMania match (against Chris Jericho, and not just because Styles lost) and his match against Shinsuke Nakamura (which at least gave us low blows for months), but AJ Styles’ match against Shane McMahon at WrestleMania 33 was so insanely good that Styles had to make it on the list. But Styles is actually kind of the inverse Seth Rollins in being a phenomenal (hehe) in-ring talent but not necessarily getting to back that up as much as you’d expect at WrestleMania.

As of this point Ronda Rousey has been a part of more WrestleMania — three, with two of them during her contracted time as a WWE Superstar — than any other pay-per-view. In fact, she’d like to be called “Mrs. WrestleMania” because of that. First, she hopped the barricade at WrestleMania 31 to help The Rock in confronting The Authority, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. Then at WrestleMania 34, she made her in-ring debut in a surprisingly awesome mixed tag team match (with Kurt Angle) against them. At WrestleMania 35, she wrestled in the first-ever woman’s main event at WrestleMania against Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Look, it’s just a fact: Chris Benoit was one of the best performers in WrestleMania history. He was one of the best performers in WWE history. The end of WrestleMania XX is a generally touching moment between Benoit and Eddie Guerrero. He didn’t have a bad match at WrestleMania. There. That’s all.

Hehe, this still involves Snooki. Kind of. Here, there’s the obvious Mickie James match at WrestleMania 22, but at the same time, that was a star-making — well, it should have been, because, in theory, Mickie should be one of the biggest female Superstars in WWE — but if you actually go back and watch her triple threats at WrestleMania X-8 (vs. Jazz and Lita) and XIX (vs. Jazz and Victoria), she actually has some underrated performances. One thing that honestly more female Superstars these days could stand to learn from in those matches? Stratus really laid in her strikes. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin would be proud.