Worst WrestleMania from Each Era

[King Kamala 0]

Federation Era: WrestleMania IX, for reasons explained in the thread about it in the WWE 24/7 show. Great atmosphere and absolutely nothing else. This is the only WrestleMania besides the first that doesn't have a match that breaks the *** barrier.

 

Attitude Era: WrestleMania XV. Terrible show, just represents the worst of the Attitude era. Rock/Austin is fun but they'd go onto much better matches with each other and Shane Vs X-Pac is kind of fun but outside of that, you got a lot of Russorific crap.

 

Current Era: Hard to say. The last four or five WrestleManias have all been at least decent. If I had to choose, I'd say 22 is the least good of the. But I don't think I'd even put it near the Bottom 10 of all time.

 

 

FWIW I classify the eras as;

Federation Era: WrestleManias I-XII

Attitude Era: WrestleManias XIII-X8

Current Era: WrestleMania XIX-present

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Federation Era: WrestleMania 2 - much like IX, the 24/7 folder covers the problems with this dull show quite well.

 

Attitude Era: Mania XV takes it in a walk. It may have taken place during the year Raw had it's highest ratings ever and sadly there's probably several people from that era who have seen this show, thought it was cool, and then stopped watching wrestling by 2001 when things cooled down (missing Mania X7 in the process).

 

Current Era: In an odd twist, I'm going to have to say Mania 23. Yes, I loved the show and voted it as my favourite current era Mania due to the bias of being there, but I don't think it's as strong as XIX - XXII, although if I were to go main events vs. main events, it easily beats out 21. I've enjoyed every Mania from 2001 on though (even X8, though if the category was 2001-2007, it would be the weakest) so it's not exactly in bad company.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Federation Era: WrestleMania IX, for reasons already talked about. It has nothing going for it except the atmosphere, and even that wasn't so great.

 

Attitude Era: WrestleMania XV. This was a Wrestlemania that doesn't stand the test of time, much like virtually everything that has the stench of Russo over it. Rock-Austin was the best match of an uninspiring night of action, which included a Hell in a Cell match so putrefying in quality and with a finish so horrid that it's been stricken from the record books.

 

Current Era: I'm going with XX. Aside from an excellent main event and the spectacle of Lesnar-Goldberg, which was a pretty decent match that got ruined by the crowd, this XX didn't do anything for me. Guerrero-Angle was good, but they could have much better matches and would go on to do so later. It wasn't a bad show, but it wasn't that hot, either.

 

[bob_barron 0]

Federation Era: WrestleMania IX, for reasons already talked about. It has nothing going for it except the atmosphere, and even that wasn't so great.

 

Attitude Era: WrestleMania XV. This was a Wrestlemania that doesn't stand the test of time, much like virtually everything that has the stench of Russo over it. Rock-Austin was the best match of an uninspiring night of action, which included a Hell in a Cell match so putrefying in quality and with a finish so horrid that it's been stricken from the record books.

 

Current Era: I'm going with XX. Aside from an excellent main event and the spectacle of Lesnar-Goldberg, which was a pretty decent match that got ruined by the crowd, this XX didn't do anything for me. Guerrero-Angle was good, but they could have much better matches and would go on to do so later. It wasn't a bad show, but it wasn't that hot, either.

 

I think X-8 should qualify as Current Era, since X-7 is the true end of the Attitude Era.

 

When did Angle v. Eddy have better matches besides XX? Their Summerslam match was a boring one-sided squash, and I couldnt get into their other matches. But their match at Mania was fantastic. Don't forget XX also had the underrated Jericho-Chrisitian match, and Rock-n-Sock v. Evolution. And even though the match sucked, Cena's first title win is cool to see.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

As Mania XX is just finishing up for me, I also have to comment that hearing MSG give Cena such a positive reaction is pretty great to see.

[bob_barron 0]

Of course I'm biased for XX, but it's such a great show.

 

Federation Era: IX of course.

 

Attitude Era: Wrestlemania XV. Wrestlemania 13 is terrible, but Bret-Austin redeems every bad match on that show.

 

Current Era: Wrestlemania X-8. Lots of short pointless matches, and aside from Rock-Hogan, there's nothing else to go out of your way to see,

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Federation Era: WrestleMania IX, for reasons already talked about. It has nothing going for it except the atmosphere, and even that wasn't so great.

 

Attitude Era: WrestleMania XV. This was a Wrestlemania that doesn't stand the test of time, much like virtually everything that has the stench of Russo over it. Rock-Austin was the best match of an uninspiring night of action, which included a Hell in a Cell match so putrefying in quality and with a finish so horrid that it's been stricken from the record books.

 

Current Era: I'm going with XX. Aside from an excellent main event and the spectacle of Lesnar-Goldberg, which was a pretty decent match that got ruined by the crowd, this XX didn't do anything for me. Guerrero-Angle was good, but they could have much better matches and would go on to do so later. It wasn't a bad show, but it wasn't that hot, either.

 

I think X-8 should qualify as Current Era, since X-7 is the true end of the Attitude Era.

 

When did Angle v. Eddy have better matches besides XX? Their Summerslam match was a boring one-sided squash, and I couldnt get into their other matches. But their match at Mania was fantastic. Don't forget XX also had the underrated Jericho-Chrisitian match, and Rock-n-Sock v. Evolution. And even though the match sucked, Cena's first title win is cool to see.

 

If X8 counts as Current Era, then it wins easily. Aside from the incredibly atmosphere of Rock-Hogan, it had nothing going for it.

 

I thought Guerrero-Angle had a better match at Summerslam , and their Smackdown match was more enjoyable for me.

 

[King Kamala 0]

I think the change from WWF to WWE really was the death knell for the Attitude era, even though everything from X-7 up till then was basically Attitude Lite.

[bob_barron 0]

All I remember about the Summerslam match was Angle beating the crap out of Eddy the whole time, and the stupid stuff with the boot. The Wrestlemania XX match told a story, and had a clever finish to boot.

 

X-8 really doesn't hold up at all. I think Austin turning heel and aligning with McMahon, coupled with the Invasion is the end of the Attitude Era. Wrestlemania X-7 is symbolically thought of the show the capped it off.

[Jingus 0]

I agree that 18 should technically be considered part of the modern era, I think Invasion was pretty much the end of Attitude. Hell, I'd go one further and split up the Federation era into two parts, with 1-8 called Hulkamania and 9-12 being "the New Generation", as they tried to sell it at the time.

 

Now, before discussing this, I'm gonna disqualify Wrestlemanias 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, and 17 because I think there's easily enough good stuff on all of those shows to keep them away from the dreaded Worst Ever name. So, a discussion on the rest...

 

Hulkamania era

Even though most of the matches weren't terribly good, I don't think the very first Mania should really be under consideration here. It was sort of experimental, and it was a hell of a lot shorter and less boring than the two Starrcades which predated it. A lot of people say that 4 is mind-numbingly long and loaded with crap matches, but I'm a mark for tournaments and loved Savage's fight up the ladder for the title. A lot of people forget about 6, which was almost literally a one-match card; I just watched that one yesterday, and besides the main event, there's not much worthwhile there. But all of these pale in comparison to the overstuffed loaf of shit which was Wrestlemania 2. I don't think there was a match on this whole card which broke the three-star mark, and the main event was the worst of the era too. It was painfully long with way too many utterly pointless, really shitty matches which had no place on a card of this magnitude.

 

New Generation

Not really much of a debate here, is there? While I doubt that many people consider Wrestlemania 11 dear to their hearts, it was merely a perfunctory and forgettable affair compared to the "what the FUCK were they thinking?!" dumbassery that everyone loved to hate, which of course is 9. As was pointed out in the 24/7 thread, there were no matches worth seeing here, and there were about a hundred different ways this bad-even-on-paper card could've been booked differently to make it better. Hogan's offensive title win here was just foreshadowing the ridiculous political shit he'd pull in WCW soon.

 

Attitude

There are a couple of contenders here. 13 was a REALLY bad show with a shitload of REALLY bad matches, and quite possibly the single worst main event match that Wrestlemania has ever seen; however, it still had Bret/Austin, which is enough to knock it out of the bottom spot. 16 was shockingly bad too; with the fun storylines, awesome roster, and unstoppable momentum they had at the time, they sure did manage to turn in one horrible headscratcher of a show here. But these pale in comparison to the Russocity which is 15. That was a show with no great matches, and only a couple which were even good. Rock and Austin went on to have better matches almost every time they faced each other after this, their effort here was imho their worst PPV match ever, just a listless by-the-numbers brawl on the floor with no real psychology and plenty of run-ins. Aside from that, this show had NOTHING, aside from a bunch of crappy matches, utterly nonsensical angles, and the even-worse-in-hindsight spectacle of Big Bossman being hung by a noose from the rafters. Just fucking terrible, complete garbage.

 

EDIT: after writing this post, I popped in 15 just to remind myself of how bad it is, since I've kind of been on a Wrestlemania re-watching streak here recently and I haven't seen this one in years. One thing I forgot which is worth mentioning: an entire Wrestlemania announced by Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler, back when they were at their very worst. Yuck.

 

 

Modern Era

This is where things get difficult for me, because for the past seven years, Wrestlemania has been consistently really good, with at least a couple of blowaway matches on every show. So my choice here would, if happening in any other era, probably not even be on the list. I'm gonna go with 19. I just never liked HBK/Jericho and Brock/Angle as much as everyone else, and with all the other matches it seemed like they cut all the good matchups' time so that the bad ones could go much longer. HHH/Booker was especially fucking annoying, one of the worst examples of pointless burials which Hunter ever dished out, and man think about the ramifications of THAT statement. Another thing which bugged me was the weird lighting; I don't know what the problem was, but the first half of the show just looked wrong. It's not really a bad Mania, but I just didn't think it was as good as all the others from the past few years.

[strummer 0]

Federation Years: I'm going to against the grain and say 6. I could never really hate 4 or 5 because they define my childhood as a wrestling fan and I will never forget them. 9 is bad but it has atmosphere and as a mark I actually dug the suprise ending (even though I hated Hogan)There's a hint of bias here as I had stopped watching wrestling regularly in late 89 so I didn't see a lot of the build for the show. I only saw Royal Rumble 90 on tape months afterwards. It's just a one match show and the first signs of the end of the boom as crowds had become less and less vocal for the the midcard wrestlers and were only really popping for Hogan and Warrior. 1990 was just such a lackluster year for the company overall. When I would tune in on the rare occasion I was not impressed with the main feuds and the pushes of Earthquake, Tugboat, Bravo, etc were irritating. Flair coming in and the Roberts/Savage program hooked me back in in 91 though.

 

Attitude: 15. Nothing really needs to be said. Russo at his worst. The build for this show(other than the Road Dog/Billy Gun switch nonsense) was suprisingly solid(by Russo standards) and I was actually looking forward to the show. A dead crowd and listless wrestling ruined it for me.

 

Current: This is tough but I will say XX. I like the show but it could have a had a more historic/nostalgic feel to it

[King Kamala 0]

The dead crowd from WrestleMania XV shocked the hell out of me. It's in Philly and it's arguably one of the deadest WM crowds outside of the Trump Plaza ones.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Federation Era: I don't remember anything enjoyable about IV, with the exception of Bob Uecker, particularly his expression when Andre's choking him.

 

Attitude Era: WrestleMania XV. As mentioned, Bret-Austin bails out XIII.

 

Current Era: There hasn't been a bad one yet. My answer, I guess, is XXI, just given the predictability of the ME - something that wasn't really present in any of the others with the exception of XVIII. XX was obvious, as well, but were he not a murdering bastard (sorry to beat that horse again), it would have been my top 3 wrestling moments, ever.

[Darth Pipes 0]

Federation Era: Definitely WM9. There was not one standout match there and it was a poor show for the new generation of talent, not helped by Hogan upstaging everything. WMIV was not good but you had Savage's great peformance as he won the title and you also had Demolition winning their first tag team title.

 

Attitude Era: Wrestlemania XV: Definitely not much to speak off outside of Austin/Rock. The Road Dogg/Billy Gunn switch was stupid and the matches just weren't that good. Although it does contain one of my favorite WM moments...Gorilla Monsoon getting a standing ovation as he appears for the final time in the WWF. The Philly fans really came through on that one and gave him the respect he deserves.

 

XVI wasn't a great one either. Every match was either a tag team or triple threat match. But you do have the first TLC and that was pretty damn good. Angle/Jericho/Benoit wasn't bad either but they killed the momentum with their stupid decision to have each title contested seperately and the IC title being put up for grabs first.

 

Current Era: Definitely Wrestlemania X-8. The atmosphere for Rock/Hogan was amazing and they pulled the match off well. It should have closed the show. Instead, we got the HHH/Jericho match-up that nobody gave a damn about. There wasn't much to speak of after that.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Federation: 11 is easily the worst. The only good match on there was HBK / Diesel. Everthing else was a borefest.

 

Attitude: 16 just sucked so bad.

 

Entertainment: 23 goes here, but that's only because I thought 19 - 22 were better.

[Brocklock 0]

Federation Era: Wrestlemania 4. I enjoyed this show as a kid because of the tournament concept, but it really is just a tedious show to sit through. It took me several viewings to finish it when I last watched it.

 

Attitude Era: WrestleMania XV. Really doesn't hold up at all. I didn't like any of the matches here and it's the worst Mania ever. Austin/Rock have had much better matches against each other, and I remember X-Pac/Shane getting good reviews at the time but it isn't that good either. I don't get the hate for 13. It's definately not the greatest show or anything but aside from the Main Event and Rocky/Sultan both being awful and the show lacking a Mania feel, it was okay. Bret/Austin is one of the best matches of the E ever. I enjoy The Tag Titles match despite the crowd being dead and confused. The Street Fight is pretty fun. I'm a blind Dustin Rhodes mark so I thought Goldust/Hunter was good. Opener was perfectly fine.

 

Current Era: Wow, this is pretty difficult. All of these Wrestlemanias have been pretty good shows. I'd say Mania 20, as it has a lot of filler. It does have three good matches (Angle/Eddie, Rock N Sock/Evolution, and Y2J/Christian) and one great match that was tarnished by history (Main Event). I definately don't hate it or anything, but It's just too long, although not mind numbing like 4. But, if we are including 18, that wins it.

[CanadianChris 0]

Federation Era: WrestleMania IX. Close call between this and WrestleMania 2, but IX has virtually no redeeming factors besides being at Caesar's Palace. Special mention to WrestleMania XI for being the least special WM of all time, despite being relatively OK from a match standpoint.

 

Attitude Era: WrestleMania XV. Not even close. This show is barely even watchable today, which is typical of the major shows in the Russo era. WrestleMania XIII had Hart/Austin, obviously, which saves it. WrestleMania XVI had the first TLC match (though not called as such) and the underrated EuroContinental title match.

 

I can't say anything about the current era because I haven't seen them all, but it doesn't sound like there's really a bad one in the bunch.

[Guest]

Federation Era: WM IX. Nothing else comes close. The only matches that looked halfway decent weren't even that, in some ways.

 

Attiude Era: Easily WM XV. Aside from the terrible Hell in a Cell, you have too much "shades of gray" booking. Way too much. Cole and Lawler as announcers makes the show as painful on the ears as it is on the eyes and brain.

 

Current Era: X8 by default. All the other WrestleMania's since X7 have been very good, by my standards. If I had to pick a different one...shit, I couldn't.

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! 0]

Federation Era:

WrestleMania IV. Sorry folks, but this one is just kinda long and boring. WrestleMania is supposed to have at least one great match, right? This one didn't.

 

Attitude Era:

WrestleMania XV by default. I like some things about this event, but man, this just goes to show you that wrestling was so hot at the time that the company didn't always have to try so hard.

 

Modern Era:

I'm going with WrestleMania 21, in spite of the strong undercard. The last two matches left a horrible, horrible taste in my mouth. Oh yeah, it had Big Show vs. Akebono, too.

[Guest tom cody]

Federation: XI

Attitude: XV

Current: Wrestlemania 22