The coronavirus pandemic has put a stop to our normal routines. This month of March might have seemed like a few decades with all the news, updates, worries, measures, death tolls, data and numbers about the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Several parts of the world are under lockdown, including India, where a complete nationwide lockdown was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
For pro-wrestling fans, the WWE and AEW are holding shows without any audience, which is a hard adjustment to make. Since it’s WrestleMania season, there were a lot of rumours whether the Show of Shows will be held. But the company decided to go ahead with WrestleMania this year, albeit in a show divided into two days, without any audience. Several big names including The Miz, Roman Reigns and Dana Brooke, who were all set to compete, have dropped out from WrestleMania already, which is another bitter pill for WWE fans to swallow.
To keep pro-wrestling fans occupied at home amid the lockdown, here are five of the best WrestleMania matches that you can watch at home during this time. While all these matches are available on WWE Network, and ESPN are also doing a re-run of previous WrestleMania events, you can also watch some of the highlights from these unforgettable matches here:
1) The Rock vs Stone Cold – WrestleMania 17
Two of the biggest names in WWE history collided together for the WWE Championship for the first time, and as expected, it was a match of a lifetime. The ending provided an unexpected twist, Mr McMahon, who had been largely against Stone Cold Steve Austin, came out to help the Texas rattlesnake. With the help from Mr McMahon, Stone Cold won the title. As Stone cold shook hands with Mr McMahon, Jim Ross’ iconic words rang out in the arena – “Stone Cold is shaking hands with the devil himself”.
2) Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker – WrestleMania 25
On the 25th anniversary of WrestleMania, one of the most technical matches ever performed on the biggest stage took place – Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker. The story was simple – Michaels, known as “Mr. WrestleMania” had ended Ric Flair’s career last year on the Grandest Stage of Them All. Now, he feels there is only one challenge left for him – to end The Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak. But despite numerous ups and downs in the match, Michaels failed to achieve his target, which led us to our next pick in this list.
3) Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker (Career vs Streak) – WrestleMania 26
The Heartbreak Kid challenged The Phenom next year again, but this time the stakes were even higher. It was a Streak vs Career match – which meant that if HBK loses, he would have to retire. After an emotional thrilling fight, The Undertaker finally delivered a tombstone piledriver to attain the win and end Michael’s legendary career. Michaels, then, gave an emotional goodbye to the audience.
4) The Dudley Boys vs Edge and Christian vs The Hardy Boyz – Ladder match for Tag-team Championships – Wrestlemania 17
One of the most used footage in every WWE montage is that of Edge giving a spear to Jeff Hardy off the 20-foot ladder, while Hardy is hanging via the two belts. This moment made a star out of Edge & Christian and elevated this triple threat ladder match for the tag titles to the next level. Edge & Christian won their first tag-team titles, via a little bit of help from Rhyno. Dave Meltzer from Radio Observer Newsletter rated this match a whopping 4.75 stars – the best fight of the night.
5) Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon – Ladder match for InterContinental Championship – WrestleMania 10
For the first time ever, a ladder match took place at WrestleMania between the Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels and The Bad Guy Razor Ramon. If there is any doubt on why Michaels is regarded as Mr. WrestleMania, one should watch this match and how he gave a frogsplash to Ramon off the top off a 20-foot ladder. A thrilling encounter for the fans which saw Ramon winning the InterContinental Championship by beating Michaels.
Source: HindustanTimes