WrestleMania is the end all, be all for professional wrestling. The "Showcase of the Immortals" has been a staple in the industry since its inception in the mid-1980s.
It is the Super Bowl of professional wrestling, carrying a legacy that is unmatched in the industry. To be on the card in any form is a major accomplishment and main eventing the show cements a place in the annals of wrestling history.
That being said, not every WrestleMania is remembered fondly. And frankly, some were downright terrible.
Today, we're looking back and ranking every WrestleMania.
The Worst WrestleManias
No. 40 - WrestleMania II
After the success of the inaugural WrestleMania, Vince McMahon decided to split WrestleMania II into three events in three cities (New York, Chicago and Los Angeles). Already a weird idea and it didn't help that one of the main events was even weak on paper and the other two were pretty weak in the ring. New York got Roddy Piper and Mr. T in a boxing match, Chicago got the British Bulldogs defending the tag titles against the Dream Team and Los Angeles got Hulk Hogan and King Kong Bundy in a steel cage. Probably wouldn't have been great even if it was all in one city, but splitting it definitely didn't help.
No. 39 - WrestleMania IX
There's really nothing redeeming about this show. The main event is particularly terrible with Yokozuna defeating Bret Hart, only to be challenged by Hulk Hogan. Despite it being 1993 and Hogan being at a relative low point in popularity, the show ended with him as champion. Not only that, but this card also features the worst Undertaker match in Mania history. Taker and Giant Gonzalez had an absolute stinker and a DQ ending with chloroform is just the worst.
No. 38 - WrestleMania XI
The main event of this show was Bam Bam Bigelow vs. New York Giants star Lawrence Taylor, meaning the WWE Championship match between Diesel and Shawn Michaels didn't close the show. This WrestleMania was a perfect showcase of McMahon's obsession with involving stars outside of wrestling, sometimes to the detriment of the actual wrestlers.
No. 37 - WrestleMania XXVII
This card is just rough. The lone bright spot is Undertaker defeating Triple H in a No Holds Barred match. Outside of that, other winners include The Great Khali, Snooki (yes, that Snooki) and Michael Cole. Even the presence of The Rock couldn't save this sinking ship of a show.
No. 36 - WrestleMania IV
You love tournaments, I love tournaments, wrestling fans love tournaments. But making the entirety of the WrestleMania card be one, singular tournament is a bit strange. Maybe its place in history hurts it, as it follows up WrestleMania III (and one of the most iconic moments in professional wrestling history), but at least the main event between Randy Savage and Ted DiBiase was good.
No. 35 - WrestleMania 32
This was a massive commercial success for the company, drawing the third-largest audience in WWE history (80,709) and $17.3 million. But, it was not a very good show. Roman Reigns defeated Triple H in the main event for the WWE championship in a plodding match that went nearly a half hour, Brock Lesnar defeated Dean Ambrose in a street fight that Lesnar clearly had little interest in working and Undertaker defeated Shane McMahon in a Hell in a Cell match that went more than 30 minutes and created a singular memorable moment. The lone bright spot on the card was the Triple Threat between Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks for the WWE Women's Championship.
No. 34 - WrestleMania XV
Currently the only WrestleMania to feature a hanging, as Undertaker defeated Big Boss Man in a Hell in a Cell match and then committed murder. We also got the finals of the Brawl for All, with Butterbean knocking out Bart Gunn. The main event was the first of the Steve Austin and The Rock trilogy.
No. 33 - WrestleMania V
The Mega Powers forming and exploding was one of the best storylines in the history and it culminated at this WrestleMania. But outside of that, the card was a bit bloated with few standout matches.
No. 32 - WrestleMania VIII
The match we should've gotten was Hogan vs. Ric Flair for the WWE Championship. Instead, we got Hogan vs. Sid in a grudge match in the main event and buried in the middle of the show is Savage taking the title off Flair in a near-20 minute match. Bret Hart defeated Piper for the Intercontinental Championship in one of the best WrestleMania matches ever.
No. 31 - WrestleMania VI
Neither Ultimate Warrior or Hogan were known for five-star classics and immaculate in-ring skills, the two titans put on an excellent match for the WWE Championship. Piper donning blackface is definitely a mar on an otherwise decent show.
No. 30 - WrestleMania 34
Charlotte defeating Asuka was a mistake, John Cena and Undertaker going just three minutes was a mistake, AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura's WWE Championship match was a letdown considering the expectations and the main event between Lesnar and Reigns was an utter disaster. On the flipside, Daniel Bryan returned to the ring and was excellent and Ronda Rousey made her in-ring debut, looking great.
The Middle of the Pack
No. 29 - WrestleMania 33
No. 28 - WrestleMania 2000
No. 27 - WrestleMania 22
No. 26 - WrestleMania 36
No. 25 - WrestleMania 35
No. 24 - WrestleMania 25
No. 23 - WrestleMania I
No. 22 - WrestleMania XXIV
No. 21 - WrestleMania XXVI
No. 20 - WrestleMania XII
No. 19 - WrestleMania XIII
No. 18 - WrestleMania XX
No. 17 - WrestleMania 38
No. 16 - WrestleMania 29
No. 15 - WrestleMania 37
No. 14 - WrestleMania 23
No. 13 - WrestleMania XIV
Diving into the minutia of these Manias isn't really worth it, considering most of these shows were either "one match" cards, boring affairs or otherwise messy. They certainly aren't bad, but they're not great either.
WrestleMania 2000 is particularly head-scratching, because 2000 was a great year for the company. But they just didn't have it put together for Mania and the main event was a bloated affair that put all the emphasis on the McMahon family and little on the talent.
WrestleMania 36 was certainly nice to have at the time, but it's hard watch wrestling without a crowd. WrestleMania XX would likely be regarded as one of the greatest shows ever, if not for the despicable final moments of Chris Benoit's life.
WrestleMania I deserves its flowers for being the first, but it doesn't necessarily hold up incredibly well. It was a great blend of wrestling and non-wrestling talent though and it obviously set up the next 40 years.
The Best WrestleManias of All Time
No. 12 - WrestleMania VII
There was a lot working for this show, especially for its time. Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter is good, the Undertaker begins his WrestleMania winning streak, Ultimate Warrior vs. Macho Man was great, Big Bossman vs. Mr. Perfect was entertaining. Some of the storytelling might seem hokey now, but for its time it was great.
No. 11 - WrestleMania X
Not that Dan Meltzer's ratings are everything, but the fact that this show has two five-star matches is really pretty incredible. Bret and Owen Hart were excellent as were Michaels and Razor Ramon in the ladder match.
No. 10 - WrestleMania 39
There was really only one mistake made on this card, which was Edge defeating Finn Balor. Everything else was expertly booked and the card on both nights was absolutely stacked. Reigns defeating Cody Rhodes seemed questionable at the time, but the company wove the next 12 months of story very well.
No. 9 - WrestleMania XXVIII
Ah, yes, "Once in a Lifetime," even though the company knew the main event of the following year's Mania would also be Cena vs. The Rock. Still, taking that out of the equation and focusing on what we were give, this was an excellent card. Undertaker vs. Triple H in Hell in a Cell is one of the best WrestleMania matches ever, CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho for the World Heavyweight Championship is a 20-minute banger and Cena vs. The Rock was an unreal spectacle.
No. 8 - WrestleMania 31
Orton turning Seth Rollins' stomp into an RKO is one of the coolest things to ever happen inside a wrestling ring, Cena and Rusev had a fun U.S. title match that saw the latter enter on a tank, Daniel Bryan won a fun ladder match for the Intercontinental strap and Undertaker met Bray Wyatt a year removed from The Streak Ending. All very, very good. The only "bad" from this WrestleMania was Triple H defeating Sting in what I imagine was the final "screw you" from McMahon to Ted Turner. However, Rollins cashing in the Money in the Bank contract to save an otherwise abysmal main event from Reigns and Lesnar will forever be remembered by wrestling fans.
No. 7 - WrestleMania X-8
The main event was a flop, but that was simply due to the fact that it had to follow the single greatest match in the history of professional wrestling: Hollywood Hogan vs. The Rock.
No. 6 - WrestleMania 21
A true changing of the guard for WWE, WrestleMania 21 established new top stars in John Cena and Batista, as well as the first Money in the Bank ladder match, a great Undertaker match with Randy Orton and Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels in an incredible bout (one of the greatest in WrestleMania history).
No. 5 - WrestleMania III
One simply cannot overstate the importance of Hogan slamming Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III. It has become immortalized and rightfully so. It's probably the biggest moment in wrestling history.
No. 4 - WrestleMania XIX
Jericho and Michaels was excellent, Rock and Austin was great as always, the Fatal 4-Way for the Tag Team Championships was a banger, McMahon and Hogan's street fight was perhaps McMahon's best match and then the coronation of Lesnar against Kurt Angle provided one of the most mind-boggling things you've ever seen. Lesnar's botched Shooting Star Press probably would've killed anyone else.
No. 3 - WrestleMania XXX
The fans forcing McMahon's hand to finally embrace Bryan and give him a main event push is probably one of the best power plays in wrestling history. Bryan finishing his story, winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in front of 65,000 screaming fans is just perfect. Also of note, Lesnar ended The Streak, which remains a questionable decision.
No. 2 - WrestleMania XL
Speaking of finishing stories, Rhodes finally winning the Undisputed WWE Championship and pinning Reigns in a bonkers main event is about as good as professional wrestling can get.
No. 1 - WrestleMania X-7
Stone Cold's heel turn in the main event was certainly shocking, but it doesn't change the fact that it never should've happened. But that's really the only knock on this show. The Hardcore Championship Triple Threat was bonkers, Angle and Benoit had an excellent match, Linda McMahon got a massive pop when rising from her wheelchair to help Shane defeat Vince and Undertaker and Triple H had a solid match years before their stellar Mania rivalry. But the biggest bright spot on this show is the TLC match, which is one of the best professional wrestling matches ever.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Ranking Every WrestleMania From Worst To Best.