5 Longest Matches In WWE WrestleMania History
Where does Edge vs. Randy Orton rank among these epics?
Apr 20, 2020
One match from WrestleMania weekend that earned a fair bit of criticism was that pitting Edge against former partner Randy Orton. The Last Man Standing match doubled as a guided tour of WWE's Performance Center, and proved to be a little more glacial than fans and critics were expecting. It was also the longest match of WrestleMania 36 by a wide margin, and most agreed that a match half its length would have been more effective.
Regardless of your feelings on that slugfest, Edge and Orton did prove historic in the sense that it became one of the longest matches in WrestleMania history. This little fact called for a deeper dive into 'Manias past, to see where it ranks historically, and what other matches surround it on the all-time leaderboard.
As it turns out, the top five is quite a blend of matches that are historic, polarising, and perhaps a little bit of both. With that, we present to you the five longest matches in the history of WrestleMania.
One match from WrestleMania weekend that earned a fair bit of criticism was that pitting Edge against former partner Randy Orton. The Last Man Standing match doubled as a guided tour of WWE's Performance Center, and proved to be a little more glacial than fans and critics were expecting. It was also the longest match of WrestleMania 36 by a wide margin, and most agreed that a match half its length would have been more effective.
Regardless of your feelings on that slugfest, Edge and Orton did prove historic in the sense that it became one of the longest matches in WrestleMania history. This little fact called for a deeper dive into 'Manias past, to see where it ranks historically, and what other matches surround it on the all-time leaderboard.
As it turns out, the top five is quite a blend of matches that are historic, polarising, and perhaps a little bit of both. With that, we present to you the five longest matches in the history of WrestleMania.
Chances are, you'll agree that this is the best match on this list. Many fans and critics rate it among their choices of top WrestleMania matches ever, and some go so far as to place it number one.
Here, the half-hour run time did not diminish the quality, as Michaels' quest to end the legendary Streak had Undertaker pushed to the brink, before one final Tombstone brought an end to the battle.
The "End of an Era" Hell in a Cell match brought Undertaker to the 20-win milestone at WrestleMania, a mark that no other wrestler is likely to achieve. Unlike the previous year, Undertaker was in far minter condition than "The Game".
However, that whole "End of an Era" label ended up being rendered moot, given that both men continued on as wrestlers, and even faced off (perhaps regrettably) in a pair of matches in 2018. By then, 2012 may as well have been an eternity ago.
This went down as something of a misfire. During a scorching-hot period for the then-WWF, WrestleMania 2000 paled mightily to a number of brilliant cards from that year, its main event emblematic of a show gone wrong.
What could've simply been The Rock challenging for top heel Triple H's gold grew to include all the McMahons, Mick Foley, Big Show, and a bloated run time that ceased with a rare heel victory. Not Attitude's finest moment.
The inspiration for this list has already had its excess noted in the intro, but that wasn't the only annoyance - there was also the dull, lethargic commentary from Tom Phillips and Bryon Saxton. Was this filmed at three in the morning?
Going into WrestleMania this year, Edge and Orton had the most intense, hate-filled issue, so expectations were high, even if Edge hadn't wrestled a singles match in nine years. Thirty-six minutes later, we got what we got.
It's a sixty-minute Iron Man match, so clearly, this will remain number one until somebody in WWE decides to use WrestleMania to try and somehow outdo Okada and Omega. But given the stip, the run time made sense.
Hart and Michaels had one hour to outdo their fellow top-level technician. The first 30 minutes is mostly just a so-so exhibition of technical wrestling, but the last half hour (plus overtime) kicks into match-of-the-year-level gear. Had it been that enthralling all the way through, it'd be far, far less polarising.