10 Best Wrestling Matches In WWE April PPV History

Professional wrestling is a strange, strange world. An industry steeped in performance art, its continually evolving and moving nature means that whilst it builds towards individual events, these events don't signify the end of anything other than individual events within. WrestleMania is the biggest of these, but what happens the night after WrestleMania is every bit as important as the show itself.

The superstars can be forgiven for entering something of a lull during this period, but that is rarely the case. If anything, the shows immediately following WrestleMania tend to be some of the most exciting of the year, with new characters getting a chance to shine and old feuds from Mania shooting to new levels of intensity.

As such, April itself has seen some fantastic pay-per-view matches over the years. For a while the April PPV would be something of a Mania re-run, and the number of re-matches that topped their Mania showdown probably deserves a column of their own. Needless to say, it's a lot.

For almost a decade, Backlash was the first PPV following Mania. Extreme Rules took over this mantle in 2010, with Payback taking precedence this year. 

Whatever the name, here are the 10 best matches from WWE April PPV history. For clarity, the list only includes matches that took place in April and does not include any WrestleMania bouts.

A battle from way-back-when for the Light Heavyweight Title, Dean Malenko and the former Scott Taylor put on something of a clinic that easily sat atop the WWF's attempts at cruiserweight wrestling at the time. It didn't hurt that Malenko was involved, and this would also serve as his last real showcase before being relegated to Heat and silly stories.

Neither Malenko or Scotty were renowned for their high-flying antics, focusing more on ground attacks and athleticism. Therefore the match centred around such things, but the two had a chemistry that far surpassed expectations. Malenko was at his most Malenko here, working over Scotty's leg throughout with the precision that he was famous for.

Scotty more than holds his own, despite some questionable selling of the leg towards the end. The match itself is very good, but it is the finish that bumps this up to extremely good territory. Malenko gets caught on the top rope, and Scotty goes up top hoping for a superplex. Somehow, Malenko reverses this into a DDT in mid-air and the crowd collectively lose their minds. 

A fantastic finish that still holds up to this day, this was arguably the best performance from either man in WWF/E.