9 Highest-Rated WWE WrestleMania Matches According To Dave Meltzer’s Star System

Much like WrestleMania, The Wrestling Observer Newsletter has been a great institution of the professional wrestling business for over three decades.

Dave Meltzer’s publication has long been must-read material for members of the hardcore fandom and more recently has grown its reach largely because of one particular feature.

Meltzer’s star rating system to judge the quality of matches is famous even to those watchers who have never read a copy of the WON. In a sporting world which is increasingly focused on analytics and statistics, it gives new-age fans a respected currency against which they can measure and compare wrestlers from across different companies and generations.

And in an era where there is so much high-quality wrestling across the globe, it also provides fans with some valuable guidance as to where - and on whom - to devote their attention. Since 1983, across tens of thousands of matches, Meltzer has only awarded a 5-star rating (or higher) on 96 occasions. When he shouts excellence, you know he’s shouting truth.

So to which classic matches would Meltzer direct those who are planning to study the WrestleMania archives, before this year’s edition at MetLife Stadium?

It is fitting to open this list with the best opener in WrestleMania history, as the Hart brothers put on a technical masterpiece over 20 minutes at Madison Square Garden.

Not only was this mat wrestling at its finest, the narrative was outstanding as Owen, having recently turned on his more glamorous, more successful older sibling, worked the injured leg of Bret, even going as far as to lock in ‘The Hitman’s’ own sharpshooter finisher on him.

The night would finish with Bret holding aloft the WWF Championship, but started with a coronation of sorts for Owen who would counter a victory roll for what would go down as the biggest win of a career tragically cut short by his death at Over The Edge in 1998.

This was the first WrestleMania match to earn a 4.75-star rating from Meltzer, and Bret and Owen would join the 5-star club with their Steel Cage bout at SummerSlam later that year.

And yet, this was not even Meltzer’s highest-rated match of the night...