10 Best Gimmick WrestleMania Matches

WrestleMania 36 will be the first WWE event of its kind not to be filmed in front of a live audience so it understandably has to take something of a different approach to keep viewers invested. And with that, it will be incorporating a number of gimmick matches - including the always reliable Last Man Standing concept, a Firefly Funhouse Match and that mysterious Boneyard Match between The Undertaker and AJ Styles.

Gimmick matches have been a long-standing crutch for WWE that the company tends to whip out when they want to add another layer of excitement to a highly-anticipated affair - or, y'know, drum up a bit of excitement for a not-so-anticipated affair. And the list of gimmick matches is endless - as they range from singles matches with very different rules to the most hokey sh*t you'll probably ever see in your life.

WrestleMania 36 may indeed require matches of this nature to support it, but the truth is that it isn't the first 'Mania to utilise them. Over the years, the Grandest Stage of Them All has housed many gimmicky affairs as WWE pulled out all the stops to make each of their Showcase of The Immortals memorable.

Not all of them were memorable for the right reasons, but some transcended their gimmick to greatness...

WrestleMania X-Seven is widely considered to be the greatest Showcase of Immortals of all time. Now, while that has a lot to do with the epic Rock and Austin main event and the surprisingly entertaining clash between The Undertaker and Triple H, it also has something to do with the crazy midcard matches that were every bit as enjoyable as they were ridiculous.

We'll get to another one of the event's all-time greats later, but for now, let's talk about this sensationally wacky Triple Threat Hardcore match that went down between Kane, Raven and the Big Show for the Hardcore Championship.

It was pretty clear that these three men were never going to put on a technical masterpiece (not that a Hardcore match should ever be one of those), so they just went absolutely mental instead, and it somehow worked.

The match started with Kane picking up Raven and throwing him onto the Big Show as he made his entrance, and that really set the tone for the brawl that ensued as these three barbarians fought all over the arena, mindlessly battering each other with everything that wasn't pinned down. They forced each other through walls, threw themselves through windows and even chased each other in bloody golf carts in an absolutely genius balls-to-the-walls epic, rich of that reckless abandon that 2001 WWF was renowned for.

In the end, it was Kane who emerged victorious in what is perhaps the most gloriously underappreciated moment of the 'Big Red Machine's career.

Man, those were the days...