10) Eddie Guerrero vs. Kurt Angle - WrestleMania 20
This most recent watch is the most I've ever liked this match. The back & forth grappling that starts the match off is solid, and I liked Angle establishing control by going after Eddie's mid-section; really good stuff there by him, attacking those ribs pretty viciously, and Eddie's selling was really good for the most part; he's a very good FIP w/ his comebacks & that selling, but I do wish the ribs would've came more into play later on, as it felt like they just dropped it for the sake of kicking things up a notch. It's not offensive in the slightest or anything, but I would've liked to see Angle return to the gameplan & Eddie being more affected by it. I did love Eddie's little "fighting spirit" kind of moment, with him eating those punches by Angle & firing himself up. And of course the finish is pretty iconic - it's really well done & a creative way to end a really good match. ***3/4
9) Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins - WrestleMania 31
This really is one of the best matches there have ever been. Lesnar, bloody face & all, selling the stun & shock perfectly receiving those Superman Punches by Reigns is one of my favorite things EVER - Brock's selling in it is just otherworldly, and the blood added a lot to it. Everything else in the match is amazing too - Brock's beatdown is terrific, one of his best ones, Reigns sells his ass off & I love the smiles & smacktalking he gives to Lesnar throughout, as he is getting the shit smacked out of him. Lesnar's storytelling with his facial expressions is absolutely tremendous - at first he is liking that Reigns isn't going down easily, but as he kicks out of the 2nd F5? That's when Brock goes "alright, I've had enough of this shit" - then the gloves are off (AWESOME moment) & he smacks Reigns some more, and shortly after gives him a third F5. Reigns kicks out, then Brock takes him outside w/ plans on punishing him more, but Reigns shoves him to the post, which leads to that Superman Punch sequence which I mentioned, that is just ahhhh so good. In the past viewings of the match, I've always thought that Rollins' cash-in takes something away from it, and who knows, this could've been even better without it, but it definitely is one of the best gimmick endings to a 1-on-1 match ever. Up there w/ the first HIAC. *****
8) Edge vs. The Undertaker - WrestleMania 24
Never liked this match. It's just so boring - there's nothing in it's
20+ runtime that stands out as good or interesting. They tried doing
something with the story of Taker's back being worked over a bit, but
ultimately it went nowhere & felt complete filler. Edge being so
boring on top definitely doesn't help the thing at all either, and his
over the top facial expressions during submissions were just total
cringe. Not good. *
7) Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio - WrestleMania 21
Definitely not anywhere near their best matches, but it's a yet another
quality bout between 'em. Liked the solid psychology of Eddie targeting
Rey's back with his attacks, as well as his really good character work
w/ his growing frustration of not being able to put away his tag
partner. Furthered their story nicely, and set up what was about to come
in the upcoming months. ***1/4
6) Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks - WrestleMania 32
The whole presentation of the thing w/ the big entrances & the title being branded as the Women's Championship = really cool stuff, and the match rules too. It's just very good, three-way dance spotfest action from bell to bell w/ all 3 getting lots of time to shine. No dull moments, they used every second they got to the maximum. ***1/2
5) Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels - WrestleMania 24
The emotion in this is amazing & creates a really great atmosphere to the thing, and the actual match is very good, too. Michaels worked his ass off, took some brutal bumps & made Flair look great with his big time selling for him. Flair got to play most of his greatest hits, and I absolutely loved his killer instinct moment when he went to town on HBK's leg, to soften him up for the Figure-4, just right after he had barely survived one. A beautiful one last WrestleMania ride for one of the greatest to ever do it. ***3/4
4) Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle - WrestleMania 19
LOVED the beginning grappling - there's a real charming, competitive feel to it, which is to be expected from these two. Loved Angle's mid-section targeting too - he's really vicious with it, with plenty of slams, strikes & amazing holds to damage it. Brock's selling is really good throughout as well + all of his comebacks are explosive & awesome. I do think the match drags at some points though, and overall it feels longer than the official 21-min runtime of it, but it is a damn good one overall. ***3/4
3) Batista vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton - WrestleMania 30
Bryan winning the title is my favorite wrestling moment of all-time, so of course I love this, but the match, even without the moment is really tremendous, too. Bryan is of course amazing with his magical babyface work, but Orton really brings it as well, with a great big match performance. Love the usual viciousness between those two - Batista is clearly the weakest performer, but he doesn't get to do anything boring, because there's always Orton & especially Bryan ruling things. Love the HHH, Steph & that CROOK Armstrong invading, only for them to get their asses kicked by Bryan, and I do love the stretcher job as well. Was really well done, and then there's the finish which is just perfect w/ Batista tapping out. ****1/2
2) Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels - WrestleMania 21
The beginning stuff is awesome w/ HBK starting it off with a SLAP, which then angered Angle, so he did some aggressive grappling to show HBK that this ain't where you wanna play at. I also really enjoyed HBK's headlock control, but shortly after that gets done, the match loses me & doesn't get me again until the finishing stretch, with HBK delivering that great Superkick out of nowhere, as Angle was yelling at him. The Ankle Lock drama, for the most part, is really good too, but it definitely did go a bit too long in my eyes. So to sum it up; I think the beginning is great, I think the ending is really good, but the middle (which goes the longest of all the 3 parts) is very shallow & boring, which is what brings this match down a lot. **1/2
1) Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker - WrestleMania 25
I adore the beginning with Michaels playing up the quickness vs. power
-game perfectly. Shawn, overall, is absolutely tremendous w/ his
character work throughout. From cockiness to desperation. Taker's
character work is also really great w/ him getting visibly frustrated
that this little rascal ain't going down to his big bombs easily. Of
course the whole meat of the match is the incredible drama they create
w/ the all-time great nearfalls, and it's truly amazing. It feels like a
natural epic, because they built it up so well. Not on the level of
Badd Blood '97, but not many matches are, and this sure still is a
classic. ****1/2
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