9. WrestleMania XIV
Sixteen years later, the Mike Tyson-Degeneration X-Steve Austin triad that took the wrestling world by storm in March 1998 remains as historically relevant a happening as any in the WrestleMania Era. The night that launched Stone Cold's status as the #1 star in the industry gave Mania XIV an intangible that is nearly untouchable in comparison to its peers. It was a financial boon to the WWE at the time, rescuing it from near bankruptcy with stiff competition from World Championship Wrestling. Tyson's presence helped draw a ton of mainstream (and other) interest that allowed Raw to make up nearly a full ratings point difference in the Monday Night War. By two weeks after Austin won the WWE title from Shawn Michaels, Raw took the lead and shifted all the momentum back in WWE's direction. Fiscally, the strong PPV buyrate remains noteworthy, but the fact that the event took place in the Boston Celtics' arena brings the total economic ranking to a paltry 18th. Nevertheless, a strong intangible quality remains due to the historical importance of the show (plus HBK's top 5 gutsiest all-time outing with a herniated disc in his low back). In regards to performance, Mania XIV was a poor man's version of Mania XXVI. It was solid across the board, but the difference between XIV and XXVI was XIV's lack of an epic encounter. Kane vs. Undertaker was a thrilling big man match, in terms of the pre-match hype and the story told nobody had ever manhandled The Deadman quite like his "brother." Yet, the match has always been met with mixed critical reviews. HBK vs. Austin was strongly hindered by Shawn's injury, which is to state that Michaels vs. Stone Cold should have been one of the greatest main-events in Mania history, but wound up just being really good instead. Several mid-card matches met or exceeded expectations and not a match on the show has generally been regarded as a clunker.