Why WWE WrestleMania No Longer Has The Best Matches Of The Year

Three men ought to be thanked if this high standard of WrestleMania match-quality was maintained, and maybe even heightened, throughout the Ruthless Aggression Era: Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker and Chris Jericho.

As mentioned earlier, Shawn had already established himself as Mr. WrestleMania in his first run with the company, scoring one MOTY contender after another. And yet, after recovering from a supposedly career-ending disc herniation, he got even better in the ring. On the back of the two gems he unearthed at WrestleMania XIX and XX, he maintained this (unofficial) five-star standard any time he stepped in what was, on the occasion, his ring.

From 2005 to 2010, all but one of his WrestleMania matches were awarded PWI's Match of the Year award - in 2007, his stunning WrestleMania 23 main event with John Cena was only bettered by their 50-minute rematch on Raw - and some of those doubtlessly rank amongst WWE's best matches of all time, period.