10 Biggest Swerves WWE Made On The Road To WrestleMania

Being Vince McMahon and WWE's fabled creative teams must be an absolute pain in the rear end at the best of times, never mind in the build-up to a WrestleMania.

I always find that once Survivor Series is out of the way in November, the bulk of the following year's WrestleMania card is pretty clear. The seeds of a number of rivalries have been sewn, the dirtysheets are already reporting the favourites to win each of the Royal Rumbles; WWE's plans start to unravel like a freshly pressed duvet made from the finest Egyptian cotton.

So then, with the Road To WrestleMania™ as predictable as any given Brock Lesnar house show match, Vince McMahon and those fabled creative teams need to provide programming that is entertaining, but also delivering of a narrative that most already know the ending of - it's a horrible place to find yourself in.

This year, for example, WWE haven't really deviated too far from the WrestleMania script we all saw coming towards the end of last year. Yes they've provided potential swerves like the Fastlane main event, Braun Strowman has provided us with a few more memes, but other than that it's been pretty formulaic ahead of the New Orleans spectacular which takes place tomorrow. I know, the world is spinning too quickly this year.

It hasn't always been this way though...

10. Randy Can't Make His Mind Up

WWE did a marvellous job of covering up an underwhelming 2017 Royal Rumble winner when Randy Orton eliminated everyone's favourite, Roman Reigns. After that, it appeared The Viper finally started to hit puberty even though he was rapidly approaching his 37th birthday - he was confused, emotional, irrational, and didn't appear to know what he wanted to do with his life.

For a very long time, Bray Wyatt wanted Randy to join his family over on SmackDown Live. Randy, like any classy lady would, resisted the advances of his suitor for as long as he could before finally caving in.

Randy would eventually join forces with Bray, and in the process gave up his hard-earned WrestleMania main event place. This allowed AJ Styles to earn the title of number one contender, with the pair facing off and Randy's 'Mania main event spot on the line.

This is all as confusing as it sounds, and then it gets worse because out of nowhere, Randy turned on Bray and wanted his WrestleMania main event spot back - making his Road To WrestleMania twice as hard as it should have been.

I guess that's better than just seeing a Royal Rumble winning cutting endless promos with the Champion each week. But bloody hell, Randy's rationale doesn't half make your brain hurt.

Some murder then happened live on WWE TV in front of the world as the journey to SmackDown Live's 'Mania main event took more turns than Big Show's 18-year WWE career. It's a shame the destination wasn't anywhere near as captivating as the journey.

9. Angle Steals From The Game

I remember getting No Way Out 2002 on VHS after receiving a trademark flawless school report and losing my bananas when Kurt Angle stole Triple H's main event spot at WrestleMania X8.

After winning the 2002 Royal Rumble - following on from

that

eight-month layoff for

that

quad tear - Triple H and Stephanie McMahon's relationship hit the rocks - not a series of Dwayne Johnsons, some metaphorical big hard rocky things. They were fighting, they were arguing, they weren't really having the best of times tbh.

In an attempt to save their marriage Steph suggested the pair renew their wedding vows, something The Game initially rejected before Mrs Ladyballs revealed that she was pregnant. The pair then had a meeting with a doctor, a little Game was on its way into the world.

Then, because this was now Eastenders for some reason, Linda McMahon sent Trips a tape revealing the doctor they saw was an actor and Stephanie was lying. Then, in true babyface fashion, while renewing his wedding vows ol' Hunter claimed that he finally saw Steph "for what you truly are... a no good lying b*tch!"

During this time Kurt Angle had challenged HHH to a match where his main event spot at 'Mania - earned by winning the Rumble - was on the line. Being the noble horse that he was back then, Triple H accepted. The problems with Steph bit him on the arse, however, as Steph - who was hurting after being humiliated at the wedding vows renewal - inserted herself as the Special Guest Referee.

True to form, Angle would win the match at No Way Out 2002 and take Hunter's WrestleMania main event spot before Triple H won it back from the Olympic Gold Medalist the very next night on Raw. It might have been brief, but it was one hell of a swerve.

I'll never forget being that angry about HHH losing his shot, WWE - you swines!

8. Angle Vs. Lesnar Two Weeks Before Angle Vs. Lesnar

The last month before WrestleMania is a frustrating time for us fans. We know the matches we're going to see on the Grandest Stage Of Them All and we can't wait to see them. Because professional wrestling is a business - and because we all know WWE

would

give these huge matches away for free on Raw and SmackDown if they could because they're lovely people but they can't really because IT'S ALL ABOUT DA MONEY -  we're forced to sit through promo after promo - package after package before we spend a bit of our hard-earned money to see the matches we're gagging to see.

Imagine the surprise then when a scheduled WrestleMania main event is booked to take place on an episode of SmackDown Live not too long before the GSOTA is erected - step forward, 'Mania 19's Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle.

The Beast Incarnate won the 2003 Royal Rumble match to set up a date with the Olympic Gold Medalist, but the challenger was desperate to get his massive sweaty hands on the champ before the Showcase of the Immortals took place. A gauntlet match was set up, and even though Brock took out Team Angle members Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin, a Paul Heyman interference with a steel chair called off the first potential meeting and allowed the three grappling scallywags to beat down the then 'currently' Big Thing.

So with Kurt quite literally crapping his pants a singles match with Brock was booked for SmackDown. There was no way out. A hooded Angle prayed in the ring. Brock came down, F-5'd his foe and hooked his leg for the pin. For some unknown reason, a shocked Beast relinquished the fall and appeared to take on the form of a student the morning after a big night out - dazed and confused. During this time, the person Brock was facing swapped out for another bloke dressed in the same attire - he then Small Packaged Brock for the win. The second bloke turned out to be Kurt, with his look-a-like brother Eric taking the earlier F-5. GENIUS! That's what the third Angle 'I' would be if it began with a 'G'.

Getting a booked WrestleMania main event FOR FREE a couple of weeks before the big event appeared to be too good to be true on paper, and thanks to a very clever get out of jail card played by Kurt Angle, it was.

7. Chaos In The Cage

They called him The Big Show because he left the small show to join the big show haha lol.

Paul Donald Wight II's WWE debut was one of the biggest swerves on the Road To WrestleMania even if his involvement in a big match only served to provide an outcome everyone was predicting beforehand.

Hear me out...

When Vince McMahon won the 1999 Royal Rumble everything went a bit Fresh Prince as our lives got flipped turned upside down. Stone Cold Steve Austin was robbed of a third Rumble win in a row - as things stood, Vince McMahon would be contesting for the WWF Championship and that just isn't right at all, is it?

So the match was set for St. Valentine's Day Massacre, with Austin and McMahon locked inside a steel cage - if Austin won, he was in the main event of WrestleMania.

He did so, as Paul Donald Wight II came out from under the ring to get involved in the match. It initially looked like the Texas Rattlesnake's chances of main eventing another 'Mania were up in smoke, but in the process of throwing the baldy baldo against the wall of the cage, it gave way, swang open, allowing Austin to drop to the mat below to win. What was intended to give Austin a slice of pain, ended up winning the match for him. It's a funny old game...

Thankfully, in the grand scheme of things, Vince's Rumble win was a massive swerve. Imagine if WrestleMania XV was main evented by Vince McMahon and The Rock... I wouldn't know whether to crap or wind my watch!

6. Andre The Giant Is All About The Money

The Million Dollar Man - presumably worth roughly $1,000,000 - tried to buy the WWF Championship from Hulk Hogan. He failed, so enlisted the help of the world's largest weapon, The Eighth Wonder of the World, Andre the Giant. Frankly, I would have taken the money if I was The Hulkster.

After losing

that

match at WrestleMania III, DiBiase's advances provided an extra layer to the onion that was Hogan and Andre's feud which rumbled onto The Main Event - a televised special that would see the giant do the unthinkable and win the big one from a man who simply never, ever lost back then. Of course, the win wasn't a clean one, with Ted paying off official Earl Hebner to detain his brother Dave - the scheduled official for the match - and take his place. Montreal wasn't the first time Earl had been involved in some controversy...

Andre's attempts to sell his belt to DiBiase is the reason we got that tournament to crown a new champion at WrestleMania IV, and given how well that thing went down, I bet you're bemoaning me for even bringing this whole scenario up. However, it simply can't be underestimated how big of a moment Andre beating Hogan was at the time, never mind the extreme measures he took to do it.

We all thought we were getting a simple Hogan vs. Million Dollar Man main event at WrestleMania IV, and oh how wrong were we?

Very.

5. The Yes Movement/2018 Return

Very few things could have overshadowed the Yes Movement in terms of this list, but recent goings-on have done so and then some.

We all know how Vince McMahon had his heart set on a WrestleMania XXX main event between Batista and Randy Orton and how the passion and drive of a fanbase forced his hand into making it a Triple Threat and providing the feelgood 'Mania moment of this, and maybe the last generation combined? Yes? Good. And breathe...

But the fact that Daniel is back to take part in the same event in the same arena four years on is nothing short of a miracle - and perhaps the biggest surprise in recent history. That's the only thing keeping it from the top of this list - it's a surprise that provided a swerve, rather than something that was intended to be a swerve from the get-go.

Either way, whether it be the fans forcing a man who once defeated God at wrestling to do something he didn't want to do, or Daniel Bryan getting medicine, doctors and their opinions and throwing them out of a proverbial window, they're both massively monumental shifts on the Road To WrestleMania.

4. Eddie Beats Brock

Talking about feelgood moments... If you watch this back now and don't smile you are dead inside. Please seek help because your emotions are no longer working.

Kevin Nash bought into Vince McMahon's view of professional wrestling because

he was

Vince McMahon's view of professional wrestling. He was a massive sweaty man who labelled Eddie Guerrero, and a few of his close pals, 'vanilla midgets'. McMahon certainly agreed with that sentiment when the liar, the cheater and the stealer arrived on the scene in WWE.

Despite being the best in-ring performer the company had seen since Shawn Michaels' retirement in 1998, it appeared the ceiling for Guerrero was the Intercontinental Championship. Due to the standards of the day, and Eddie's 5 ft 8 frame, he was simply not destined to make it to the top of the mountain - or so we thought.

Almost in spite of the drawbacks of his diminutive stature in WWE's land of the giants, one of the fabled SmackDown Six got over like rover. He almost forced WWE's hand to push him to the top of the card, even though he looked like playing a supporting role at the upcoming WrestleMania XX.

Eddie's WWE Championship win was unexpected for a lot of reasons, chief of which was his opponent at the No Way Out event - Vince McMahon's early noughties wet dream, Brock Lesnar. The Beast was the man earmarked to take the company forward and already had stellar rivalries against the likes of The Rock and Undertaker under his considerable belt. Not to mention that it looked like we'd be getting a championship showdown between Lesnar and Goldberg at 'Mania 20 - a match that would go on to live in infamy for all the wrong reasons.

Simply put, Eddie should not have beaten Brock back in 2004 but he did. And what a moment it was on the road to

that

closing scene inside Madison Square Garden with real-life good pal Chris Benoit.

3. The Heartbreaking Kick

Shawn Michaels wanted to wrestle The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVI but The Deadman wasn't having it. I know it might have felt a lot like 'Taker's build with John Cena this year - it's inevitable, right? - but this is a swerve that nobody saw coming due to its timing more than anything else.

You'd imagine that if any match would stave off the threat of an interference from outside it's the Elimination Chamber. The chains are so thick, the floor is watertight - the only way in would mean having to cut a large hole somewhere and by the time you'd be halfway through the endless string of referees around the ring would have stopped you - maybe...

So imagine then when Shawn Michaels spent the entirety of the 2010 World Heavyweight Championship chamber under the ring, right up until the final stretches. He'd appear, Superkick Undertaker in the face and cost the then Streak holder his title - Chris Jericho the lucky party of this particular piece.

Of course this forced 'Taker's hand and of course he and Shawn knocked it out of the park once again. While this match was probably earmarked for a title vs. career stipulation by fans early on the road to 'Mania 26, this swerve took half of that away. Michaels would end up losing his career because of his actions here - the silly goose!

2. Foley's Back!

Mick Foley

officially

retired from in-ring competition after losing a Hell In A Cell match to Triple H at No Way Out 2000. Chris Jericho was earmarked as a man to enter the main event scene and even made a few posters promoting WrestleMania 2000 - one of which hangs in Lance Storm's academy, I believe - but he didn't make it. The 'McMahon In Every Corner' angle had three corners filled, with the Charismatic Enigma Linda McMahon still on the hunt for her man.

HHH vs. Cactus Jack at NWO is one of the greatest matches of the of the 2000s when you look at the package it brought to the table in full. Their match at the Royal Rumble will always be their pinnacle in terms of action, but the culmination of a feud built on some power hungry arseholes taking the livelihood away from a hardworking everyman unjustly - plus the stipulation of career vs. The Game's WWF Title - should have been enough to see that match on the 'Mania card at the very least.

The fact that Linda brought Foley back for one night only got a wonderful response initially - because of course it did, it's Mick f*****g Foley for crying out loud - but it really diminished the impact of what was a monumental HIAC match a month prior. You have to look at the bigger picture sometimes...

1. 'Once In A Lifetime'

TWICE. Twice In A Lifetime - WWE should have been sued for misrepresentation or something because the only way John Cena vs. The Rock could legitimately happen once in your lifetime is if you're a Dragon Fly - who only live for around four months apparently. I doubt the number of Dragon Flies with access to the WWE Network - or PPV TV as it would have been back in 2012/13 - stretches too far past zero...

It may seem a little bit stupid to complain about seeing this dream match to end all dream matches more than once, but they said one thing, and provided another - how have we been able to trust WWE since? Not very well given how this year in particular has gone. "RONDA ROUSEY WILL APPEAR ON EVERY SINGLE RAW UNTIL WRESTLEMANIA (apart from the one immediately after this announcement was made on WWE.com) - STOP MESSING WITH OUT EMOTIONS LIKE THIS YOU DICKS!

You have to question why WWE would be so restrictive on themselves in terms of their marketing. Of course fans were going to be looking for another one of these matches. However, with some kind of clever (not unanimously popular, I must add) booking that saw Rocky win the WWE Championship from CM Punk on the same night Cena won the Rumble, a rematch we were told we'd never see was back on and CM Punk was out of the main event once again... poor old Punk.

19. Shane McMahon vs. The Miz - WrestleMania 39

There is a massive asterisk next to this one, but we couldn’t leave it off the list, because it was just so damn funny.

On the second night of WrestleMania 39, The Miz was complaining to co-host Snoop Dogg about the rapper springing a surprising opponent on him, Pat McAfee, the night before.

Instead of apologising, Snoop played the same trick again, announcing that Miz had yet another impromptu match in the offing. Who was his opponent this time? Shane McMahon.

These two had previously tussled at WrestleMania 35, in a surprisingly decent Falls Count Anywhere match featuring a run-in from Miz’s Dad. This time, however, things would not run so smoothly.

During what should have been a relatively simple sequence, Shane legitimately tore his quads, which led to an on-the-fly decision to have Snoop take his place. After hitting the worst People’s Elbow ever, Dogg got the win.

18. Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt - WrestleMania 37

At Elimination Chamber 2017, Bray Wyatt bested five other men to win his first WWE Championship, setting the stage for a big WrestleMania clash against his then-follower, Randy Orton.

The Viper had spent months infiltrating The Wyatt Family, before finally turning on the cult leader by… burning down his shed?

The match was even worse, featuring a big projector that flashed up images of bugs onto the ring mat. Orton then won anyway.

Four years after this wet fart of a title match, Orton and Wyatt had the chance to do better at Mania 37.

With Wyatt now in his Fiend era, this was the perfect opportunity for him to get revenge on The Apex Predator and avenge his loss. That isn’t what happened, though, and a Vince McMahon change of plans led to The Fiend losing following an RKO after Alexa Bliss became more powerful than him. This all happened after Orton set The Fiend on fire at TLC 2020.

Both Orton and Wyatt matches were utter disasters, leaning way too heavily into the spooky side of Bray’s character, which distracted from the actual wrestling on display.

Sadly, this would be Wyatt’s final appearance at The Show of Shows; an ignoble way to go out.

17. Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan - WrestleMania 28

We toyed over whether or not to include this one, as the first Mania singles meeting between Sheamus and Daniel Bryan actually happened on number 27’s pre-show.

This Lumberjack match was for the United States Championship, but ended in a schmoz when all the men around the ring started on each other. This led to a spontaneous battle royal, which had no prize and was won by The Great Khali.

The following year, The Celtic Warrior and The American Dragon were promoted to the opening match of the main card, which this time was for Bryan’s World Heavyweight Championship.

Unfortunately, this is that match - the one that ended after 18 seconds when Sheamus hit Bryan with a Brogue Kick after he kissed AJ Lee at ringside.

Fans were livid that WWE hadn’t let these two talented grapplers put on an actual match. They were proven right the following month, when the two had a stellar rematch at Extreme Rules.

At the very least, this moment sparked fan support for Bryan, which in turn led to his triumphant Mania 30 win two years later. At the time, though, it was a load of crap.

16. Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns - WrestleMania 34

Whilst you could say that the main event of WrestleMania 31 was technically a triple threat featuring Seth Rollins, the advertised match - and the one that happened for most of the allotted time - was WWE Champion Brock Lesnar against Royal Rumble winner, Roman Reigns.

Just saying those words makes my skin crawl.

Despite Reigns being as popular as a hand grenade in a submarine at the time, the match itself was pretty decent. Three years later, WWE ran it back for Brock’s Universal Championship, only this time, there was no Money in the Bank to save the day.

At WrestleMania 34, Reigns and Lesnar had a bafflingly bad match to close out the show, which saw both men repeatedly spam their finishers over and over again until the champ finally put the challenger down to end the bout on a severe anticlimax.

Fans didn’t want Roman to win, but they were also more than ready to see Lesnar drop the title. Knowing that Lesnar would continue to hold the belt hostage sent them into a rage, as the night’s finale was met with a chorus of boos.

15. Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns - WrestleMania 38

Four years on from the Superdome fiasco, Reigns and Lesnar were in very different places heading into Mania 38. Brock was even more of a part-timer than before, having grown a beard and ponytail and begun his Cowboy Brock character, but he was the WWE Champion.

As for Roman, he was now the Tribal Chief; an all-conquering baddie in the midst of a record-setting Universal Championship reign. This would have been a recipe for a mouth-watering main event, had fans not already seen these two fight about a bajillion times already.

It also didn’t help that WWE got to this point in the most convoluted way possible, moving the WWE title off and back onto Lesnar with reckless abandon. Then it was announced that the match would be for both belts, and everyone groaned even louder.

When time came to ring the bell, nobody was excited for Lesnar versus Reigns, and the match itself lived down to those low expectations.

Neither man did anything particularly original, and when Reigns pinned Brock to unite the championships, everyone was just glad it was over.

14. Triple H vs. Batista - WrestleMania 35

At seven-and-a-half hours long including the pre-show, WrestleMania 35 remains the longest single-night pay-per-view WWE have ever produced.

You know what could have been cut to save time? A 25-minute snoozefest between two old men fighting over an even older man.

Batista had instigated his Mania 35 match with Triple H by kidnapping and brutalising Ric Flair, Hunter’s long-term friend and mentor. This led to that hilarious “give me what I want” segment from Raw.

14 years earlier, these two had fought in the main event of WrestleMania 21, where The Animal beat The Game to win the World Heavyweight Championship and cement himself as a new top star.

This time, things were very different, as the two plodded their way through an extremely slow No Holds Barred match that had absolutely no right being the longest bout on the card.

Triple H pulled out Batista’s nose ring with some pliers, but can you remember anything else that happened here except Batista stacking it during his entrance? Didn’t think so.

After everything, Triple H got his win back, finally defeating his former Evolution faction mate.

13. Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna - WrestleMania 10

WrestleMania 10 famously hosted two WWE Championship matches, as the 1994 Royal Rumble had been won by both Bret Hart and Lex Luger.

Luger came up short against champion Yokozuna, which left only one man capable of stopping the gigantic sumo wrestler from leaving Mania with the belt - a man who knew exactly what it was like to go toe-to-toe with the behemoth.

One year earlier at WrestleMania 9, Hart was the champion defending against Rumble winner, Yoko. With a big assist from Mr. Fuji and his salt pot, the not-really-Japanese-Japanese star beat The Hitman, which then led to Hulk Hogan ending the night as WWE Champion after he came down to the ring to check on ‘friend’ Bret Hart and had an impromptu match with Yokozuna.

Not only was Bret looking to shake off the previous year’s loss, but also his defeat earlier in the night to younger brother Owen. Even with these crushing odds, Hart did it, ending the night as champion on the shoulders of the babyface locker room.

The match wasn’t spectacular or anything - even Bret couldn’t get a classic out of Yoko - but at least it ended Mania on a high, and at least it was better than the nonsense from the year before.

12. The Rock vs. John Cena - WrestleMania 29

You know that Talking Heads song Once in a Lifetime? Well, Vince McMahon sure didn’t, because he clearly didn’t understand the phrase when he booked The Rock and John Cena to fight again at WrestleMania 29!

The previous year, WWE had put on the exact same match with that very misleading tagline. This main event of WrestleMania 28 had been set in stone one year earlier and was marketed as a clash between two generational talents.

Whilst both men were certainly deserving of this moniker, neither was what you might call a ring general. The ‘Mania 28 match wasn’t half bad, but nobody wanted to see it again. Sadly, The Rock was WWE Champion and Cena had just won the Royal Rumble, so that’s exactly what happened.

Again, this battle was just fine, being greatly hampered by The Rock tearing his abdomen and abductor muscles. It was nothing special and somehow felt no different to the previous one, despite there being a whole year’s worth of history to draw on. Cena got his win back after taking an L the year before, leaving with the championship and Mr. Johnson’s respect.

11. The Undertaker vs. Kane - WrestleMania 20

In terms of actual in-ring action, this clash from Mania 20 should probably be further down the line. But this “match” wasn’t really a match - it was more of a spectacle.

At Survivor Series 2003, The Undertaker, wrestling in his American Badass guise, lost a Buried Alive match to Mr. McMahon, after intervention from his demonic half-brother, Kane.

The Big Red Machine claimed to have finally killed Taker, but a series of ghostly incidents quickly cast doubt on this. To prove once and for all that his brother was dead, Kane challenged Undertaker to show up at Mania and face him in a match, which is exactly what happened.

With torch-wielding druids and even Paul Bearer back at his side, Undertaker returned under his Deadman guise for the first time in over four years, as a bewildered Kane watched on in horror. The Phenom then proceeded to crush his satanic sibling in less than eight minutes.

Their Mania match six years earlier, when Kane still had his mask and was less than a year into his run, was definitely better between the bells, but in terms of pure wrestling theatre, it doesn’t get much better than this.

10. Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant - WrestleMania 4

The first honest-to-goodness WrestleMania rematch took place at the fourth ever event, and was a rerun of what is perhaps still the quintessential match in the show’s history.

One year on from their epic main event encounter, Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant were paired together in the one-night world championship tournament at WrestleMania 4.

Two of the biggest stars in WWE history going at it once again, now with even more history between them. This had the potential to be epic… so of course it ended in a double DQ after about five minutes.

Goddammit.

After both men struck each other with chairs - Hogan did it first, so technically Andre should have won - they were both removed from the tournament, which ended up giving Ted DiBiase a bye straight into the final.

Whilst the match itself was a load of garbage, this one gets a pass because it was integral to the marketing of the show and ended up playing a key part in the night-long story. Just don’t get your hopes up if you’re expecting to see the same level of drama that there was at Mania 3.

9. Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg - WrestleMania 33

If you’d told a wrestling fan in 2004 that, in 13 years’ time, Brock Lesnar and Goldberg were going to have a WrestleMania rematch that would be one of the best bouts on the card, they’d have laughed you all the way out of Madison Square Garden.

What could have been a true clash of the titans at Mania 20 turned into the slog to end all slogs, as both men sabotaged their own match off the back of negative fan reaction to them leaving the company.

Not even special referee Stone Cold Steve Austin could save it, and that’s saying something.

Nearly a decade-and-a-half later, after renewing their rivalry at the 2016 Survivor Series, Lesnar and Goldberg were booked in a Universal Championship match at WrestleMania 33, and it was fantastic.

With less than five minutes of match time, these raging bulls played to their strengths, which basically boiled down to hitting all their big moves one after another and crashing each other through barricades.

Brock got the win and the belt, but both competitors had finally lifted the shadow of Mania 20, in this blistering, non-stop thrillride of a wrestling match.

8. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin vs. The Rock - WrestleMania 19

Lord of the Rings. The original Star Wars movies. Indiana Jones.

These are some of the greatest trilogies in film history, just as this match was the final instalment in one of the greatest wrestling trilogies of all time.

First meeting in the main event of WrestleMania 15, Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock battled once more over the WWE Championship - which we’ll get to later - before going at it one more time in a bitter grudge match at Mania 19.

The Rock, who was fully in his Hollywood douchebag phase at this point, couldn’t get over how he’d never beaten Austin at WrestleMania. This was all this story needed to be great, as the pair’s long history added all the necessary context.

Even though The Texas Rattlesnake was being held together by chewing gum and prayers at this point, he put in a stellar performance against his greatest foe, but it wasn’t enough. Rocky got the pin, finally winning the big one against Austin in what would be the Texan’s final wrestling match for 19 years.

7. Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley - WrestleMania 39

In 2020, Rhea Ripley was red hot as the NXT Women’s Champion, and was being pegged as one of the stars of the future. Unfortunately, she hit a bump in the road; a bump that looked suspiciously like the daughter of a 16-time world champion.

After winning the Royal Rumble, Charlotte Flair decided to challenge for Ripley’s title at Mania 36, and she won. This loss sent the Aussie on a downward spiral, affecting her confidence both in kayfabe and behind the scenes.

Fast forward three years, Mami had a shot at vengeance. This time, Ripley was heading into Mania as the Rumble winner, whilst Charlotte was the defending SmackDown Women’s Champion.

Although the build to this match had been trash, both women showed why they were two of the best performers on the roster, putting on a stunning match that might have main evented any other show.

After a stonking fight, Ripley struck with a top rope Riptide to pin Charlotte, and claim her rightful place at the top of the mountain.

6. The Undertaker vs. Triple H - WrestleMania 28

Alongside Rock-Austin and Roman-Brock, the other trilogy of singles matches to take place at WrestleMania was between The Undertaker and Triple H.

The third and final Mania encounter between Triple H and The Undertaker went down at WrestleMania 28, and WWE did everything they could to make it as grand as possible. Not only was Shawn Michaels, a man with deep connections to both participants, serving as the special guest referee, but this war would take place inside Hell in a Cell!

Though it may have overstayed its welcome a little at half an hour long, this gladiatorial clash lived up to the hype.

Drawing on decades’ worth of history between all three men, the match played out like a Shakespearean final act, including the greatest near-fall of all time, when Taker somehow kicked out of a Sweet Chin Music-Pedigree combo.

The Phenom eventually scored the win to keep his Streak intact, bringing to a close a spectacle befitting of the tagline “End of an Era”.

5. The Undertaker vs. Triple H - WrestleMania 27

For some bizarre reason, WWE went out of its way to promote the WrestleMania 27 clash between The Undertaker and Triple H as the first time these two had met at the Showcase of the Immortals.

Anyone with a decent memory or access to the Internet knew that they’d already faced each other at WrestleMania 17 - the crash pad match - but WWE carried on regardless, and Hunter and The Deadman pulled out all the stops to make everyone forget about a decade earlier.

Trips was fighting for the honour of his best bud Shawn Michaels, who had been retired at Undertaker’s hands the previous year. This added some extra spice to the match, which was no DQ, by the way, as these veterans damn near killed each other.

After spinebusters through announce tables, multiple chair shots, and another all-time great kick out by Taker, Mean Mark narrowly edged a win by trapping H in the Hell’s Gate. He then required assistance when leaving the ring, whilst Trips could head to the back under his own power, laying the storyline foundations for their third fight one year later.

A great match - certainly better than everything else on this wretched show.

4. Edge & Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz vs. The Dudley Boyz - WrestleMania X-Seven

At WrestleMania 2000, a show with more ups and downs than a yo-yo factory, three of the Attitude Era’s greatest tag teams elevated the art form to a whole new level with the first ever Triangle Ladder match.

This triumvirate would meet again at SummerSlam 2000 in a similar match now called Tables, Ladders, and Chairs - or TLC, as it would become known - setting the stage for their final battle at Mania 17.

The teams in question were, of course, Edge & Christian, whose Con-Chair-To move was feared throughout the land, The Dudley Boyz, the masters of tables, and The Hardy Boyz, those ladder-loving daredevils.

With all three groups’ favourite toys in play, and with the World Tag Team Championships at stake, this was going to be wild.

Trying to describe this match would be like trying to describe the Mona Lisa - it has to be seen with your own eyes to be truly appreciated. And that’s the only time you’ll ever see Leonardo Da Vinci compared to Edge spearing Jeff Hardy in midair.

Boundary-pushing, bone-breaking, edge-of-the-seat stuff, TLC 2 is one of the damndest things you will ever witness.

3. Bray Wyatt vs. John Cena - WrestleMania 36

Out of all of the mad stuff we’ve seen on this list so far, this was the hardest match of all to place, principally because it’s not really a match.

When it was announced that Bray Wyatt would be taking on John Cena at WrestleMania 36, fans assumed this would be The Eater of Worlds getting his win back from Mania 30, where a loss to Cena seriously derailed his momentum.

Instead, possibly due to the fact that Mania 36 was held behind closed doors, we got this avant-garde video essay instead.

The Firefly Funhouse match was the pinnacle of pandemic wrestling - a pre-taped cinematic journey through all the worst parts of Cena’s career. The burials, the politics, the fan rejection, it was all there, as Bray picked his opponent apart piece by piece in the most creative way possible.

Some might argue that this shouldn’t be this high, or even on the list at all, but the Funhouse match was unlike anything wrestling had seen before and has seen since.

It is a true work of art and a reminder that, when the wrestling world lost Windham Rotunda, it lost one of its brightest minds.

2. The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels - WrestleMania 26

It’s strange to think that, despite being in the same company on-and-off since 1990, it took until 2009 for Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker to meet at WrestleMania. To the surprise of no one, they put on one of the best matches in the show’s history.

HBK then spent the next year haunted by the fact that he’d come so close to ending the Streak, desperate to get another shot. After costing Taker his World Heavyweight Championship, Michaels finally got his wish, but under one condition. If he lost, his career was over.

One year on from their all-time classic, Taker and Michaels put on another match for the ages in the main event of WrestleMania 26. Not only were both participants at the top of their physical game, but the stakes here were so high they may as well have been Rob Van Dam.

After a gruelling back and forth with more melodrama than an Eastenders omnibus, a defiant Showstopper slapped Taker round the face, leading to the mother of all Tombstone Piledrivers to end the match and bring Michaels’ extraordinary career to an extraordinary close.

1. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin vs. The Rock - WrestleMania X-Seven

Whilst their match at Mania 19 had more history behind it and their one at Mania 15 had the novelty of being the first, for the greatest Austin vs Rock WrestleMania match, you have to go straight down the middle.

We could tell you how these two got to the main event of WrestleMania 17, or we could just direct you towards the legendary ‘My Way’ video package.

With Rock’s WWE Championship on the line, these two forever-intertwined deities of our sport went hell for leather in front of a rabid Houston crowd, making full use of the No Holds Barred stipulation to batter each other within an inch of their lives.

Then came the infamous turn; when Vince McMahon assisted Austin in winning the title, leading to the Rattlesnake shaking hands with Satan himself in a moment so big, it basically killed the Attitude Era.

Great in-ring action, exceptional storytelling, and an ending that will be talked about for decades, Rock-Austin 2 was a rematch worthy of a spot on The Grandest Stage of Them All.