10 Best Wrestling Matches Of 2024

5. Roman Reigns Vs. Cody Rhodes - WWE WrestleMania 40

Stinger Stinger is da Stinger Sting Guy
WWE

While not quite as incredible as their WrestleMania 39 match, which could have gone two hours, the sequel delivered the all-important happy ending. Cody finishing the story underscored and put in bold the idea that WWE was yours at last. 

The matches are best analysed as companion pieces to one another. That way, you are able to bask in the full spectrum of pro wrestling emotion; the belief, the not-again gut punch of despair, the anxiety of yet another heavy heat finish, the exhilaration of the best good guy finally vanquishing the best bad guy. WWE considers itself cinema these days, and with the Avengers-inspired third act, the promotion actively invited the comparison. The actual wrestling, though, was beautiful. It wasn’t ambitious. It was almost familiar. 

The action happened in about the order you’d expect, and they played with the finisher theft trope that is obligatory in a WrestleMania main event, but the pacing was wonderful. It was remarkably self-assured. Their sense of craft and radiant star-power ensured that this was the rarest of things - smartphone-proof to an almost hypnotic extent. 

In the end, a very contrived but stupidly over series of interferences happened to equalise the Bloodline’s numbers advantage. The feeling was in such a vein of punch-the-air triumph that it almost made several years of awful, repetitive finishes worth it. 

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!