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

Crack open a beer, pop the champagne - or do whatever you do when you are celebrating - because we have finally escaped from 4.75 purgatory, and arrived in 5-star heaven.

Ladder matches have become a staple of the WrestleMania card in recent years, from the TLC tag team turmoil, through the Money In The Bank era and now into the multi-man mid-card title picture. But Shawn and Razor did it first; Shawn and Razor did it the best.

The idea was simple but brilliant. Both men laid claim to the Intercontinental Championship, which Michaels was forced to vacate and Ramon won in a Battle Royal. Hang both belts 15 foot above the ring, throw in a single ladder, and let the magic happen.

Looking back now, this cannot claim to match the excitement of TLC II, or several other ladder matches of recent memory, but the offence was so innovative at the time, and actually more plausible than some of the over-staged spot fests we have become used to.

The art of the singles ladder match has been lost over time - only five of WWE’s last 13 have been one-on-one contests - and you have to go back to Dolph Ziggler vs. Luke Harper from 2014 to find one of real distinction. Razor and Michaels, appearing for an astonishing fifth time on this list, worked beautifully in tandem. Every swing of the ladder, every high spot from Michaels, hit the mark perfectly right up until the finish, a thing of beauty in itself as Razor climbed the ladder to grab the gold as HBK raced to get his foot free from the ropes.

It was the match that made both men and the first at 'Mania to get five stars from Meltzer.