The coronavirus pandemic has hit the pro wrestling world pretty hard over the past few weeks. WrestleMania weekend has been all but derailed, with every scheduled independent show/convention getting scraped and the titular event getting shunted to an empty WWE Performance Center. WWE has also been forced to cancel every live event over the past several weeks and move episodes of Raw and SmackDown to the PC as well, all of which now have to deal with the unsettling presentation of performing for no live crowd. But, as announced earlier this week, WWE has released a massive chunk of its pay-per-view library to the WWE Network’s free tier, giving wrestling fans the chance to binge watch classic pay-per-views while their stuck in their homes practicing social distancing.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Here’s a list of 10 excellent matches from past WrestleManias that you can watch right now for free to help pass the time.
Randy Savage vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat (WrestleMania III)
Regarded by many as the first great in-ring match in WrestleMania history, “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat put on a 15-minute masterpiece inside the Silverdome at WrestleMania III.
Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston (WrestleMania 35)
Kofi Kingston’s rise to world championship status was easily one of the best storylines of 2019, and his emotional bout with Daniel Bryan (who was reveling in his heel persona at the time) wound up stealing the show at WrestleMania 35.
Half a Dozen Shawn Michaels Matches
There’s a reason they call Shawn Michaels “Mr. WrestleMania.” The two-time WWE Hall of Famer has a boatload of classic matches at WrestleMania, but we’ll narrow down the list to just six — Michaels vs. Razor Ramon in a ladder match (WrestleMania X), Michaels vs. John Cena (WrestleMania 22) Michaels vs. Kurt Angle (WrestleMania 23), Michaels vs. Ric Flair (WrestleMania XXIV) and both matches against The Undertaker (WrestleMania 25 and XXVI). You also might as well watch Undertaker vs. Triple H at WrestleMania XXVIII after those last two, since Michaels plays a massive role as referee.
TLC II (WrestleMania X-Seven)
While their triangle ladder match from a year prior was also excellent, the war between The Hardy Boyz, the Dudley Boyz and Edge & Christian reached its absolute pinnacle at WrestleMania X-Seven in the second Tables, Ladders and Chairs match.
Edge vs. The Undertaker (WrestleMania XXIV)
While he had a couple of solid matches in previous years, The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania didn’t become a focal point of the show until WrestleMania 21 when he faced Randy Orton. Two years later it started becoming the highlight of each show, as “The Deadman” began putting on Match of the Year contenders beginning with his World Heavyweight Championship victory over Batista. But one match that often gets overlooked when discussing the streak is his main event world championship match with Edge at WrestleMania XXIV. The “Rated-R Superstar” pulls out every trick imaginable to try and beat “The Phenom” and it makes for an incredibly entertaining match.
John Cena vs. The Rock (WrestleMania XXVIII)
It’s the “Once In a Lifetime” match that wound up happening twice!
Bret Hart vs. Roddy Piper (WrestleMania 8)
An underrated classic on what’s otherwise a really forgettable WrestleMania.
Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin (WrestleMania 13)
“Stone Cold” vs. “The Hitman” not only pulled off a masterful double-turn between two all-time greats, but it also gave Austin his first classic Mania match en route to becoming The Attitude Era’s biggest star. How this wasn’t the main event remains a mystery to this day.
Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch (WrestleMania 32)
Thanks to the Women’s Evolution, WWE’s Women’s Division has been elevated to where a few contenders for this list have popped up in recent years. Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka at WrestleMania 34 felt like a clash of two titans and the WrestleMania 35 main event has plenty of historical gravitas, but it seems only fair that the reintroduction of the Women’s Championship between Flair, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks gets the nod here. It’s also the only reason anyone should ever watch WrestleMania 32 again.
The Rock vs. Austin Trilogy
It’s hard to pick just one Austin/Rock match. All three are great in their own right, but watching just one feels like you’re viewing just one part of a whole story. So why not binge all three back-to-back-to-back?
