Why WWE WrestleMania No Longer Has The Best Matches Of The Year
11. WrestleMania 21 To WrestleMania XXVI: HBK, 'Taker & Jericho (II)
The only person who came close to match
HBK's acclaim during that time was one of his life-long rivals. After years of adjustments, The Undertaker's craft reached its pinnacle in the
second part of the 2000s. Apart from his snoozer against Mark Henry at the 22nd
edition of 'Mania (he gave away his MOTY effort at No Way Out one month earlier), all of
his showings (Randy Orton, Batista, Edge) were outstanding and
feature amongst the best of their respective years.
And then of course, there's the Shawn Michaels matches. Pitting WrestleMania's two shiniest stars against one another was a no-brainer, and their encounters easily flew miles above anything else the wrestling world offered in 2009 and 2010.
A third man deserves praise, but not as a wrestler. Chris Jericho was the genius behind one of WWE's most recent creative jackpots: the Money in The Bank Ladder Match.
Six times WrestleMania has hosted the match concept, six times it was one of the best matches of the night, and of the year. As the likes of Jeff Hardy, Shelton Benjamin, Edge, CM Punk, Kofi Kingston, Chris Benoit or John Morrison went hell-for-leather in daredevilish and innovative high-spots, the golden age was prolonged. From an in-ring perspective, 2000s WrestleManias is where it's at.