Why WWE WrestleMania X-Seven Is FINALLY Set To Be Topped

MJF Bryan Danielson
AEW

Variety is important, but then, so is an undercard, and there's no scenario in which you only have to watch one wrestling show for the rest of your life. WrestleMania X-Seven was a fantastic show, but the discourse surrounding it is a desert island thought exercise as much as an honest appraisal. A lot of people wear nostalgia goggles when looking back at it, too. Many wrestling fans who make up the demo and talk about this stuff online are older millennials staring, horrified, into the greying, fattening abyss of middle age. WrestleMania X-Seven was a more innocent time, that is if you can describe the public degradation of Trish Stratus as "innocent". People fondly recall an upcoming life of freedom and possibility when looking back at their first viewing of it, which is a nicer memory than Tazz & the APA Vs. Right To Censor.

Chyna Vs. Ivory was somehow atrocious and too short to care about at the same time. Eddie Guerrero Vs. Test was astonishingly forgettable for a match with Eddie Guerrero in it. Chris Jericho Vs. William Regal was a flat, lukewarm opener, and while the angle in the main event was executed phenomenally, it sort of nuked the entire North American wrestling industry as a mainstream concern. WrestleMania X-Seven killed the territory! It was a great, great show, but that's a rather gaping flaw.

NJPW and AEW might have bettered WrestleMania X-Seven, not that you're allowed to mention that.

NJPW Dominion 2018 played host to the greatest wrestling match of all-time, and everything else on the card ranged from very, very good to superb. Several nights of peak G1 Climax tournaments generated an absurd hit rate. AEW All Out 2021 peaked higher in the ring than 'Mania X-Seven, and, between the in-ring return of CM Punk and the shock debuts of Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole, the show manifested impossible pipe dreams against the loudest, most delirious backdrop of the modern era. Revolution 2023 was a masterpiece of a show, the range of which was unreal. Christian Cage Vs. Jack Perry was as great a sports entertainment gimmick match as MJF Vs. Bryan Danielson was an all-time achievement in crowd psychology. Between the intoxicating Elite Vs. House of Black Trios title match and the frightening violence of the Jon Moxley Vs. Hangman Page Texas Death match, the self-styled "buffet" of AEW was a feast. Wrestle Kingdom...countless editions of it. Revolution 2020 was magical, amongst the best vibes experienced at the time.

If Tony Khan is to be believed, AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2023 will outclass all of them - and WrestleMania X-Seven.

CONT'D...(2 of 5)

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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 surefire Undisputed WWE Universal 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!