Ranking the Last 10 WWE WrestleMania PPVs

A celebrated staple of the pro wrestling industry, WrestleMania has been known as WWE's biggest event of the year since its inception in 1985, and ideally, it should be its best for that very reason.

Of course, that isn't necessarily the case with every installment, especially depending on the build and what the card consists of. WWE has knocked it out of the park with WrestleMania some years and fallen far below expectations with others.

Fans are always debating which WrestleMania events rank where in the greatest-of-all-time conversation. The early installments set the tone for what The Show of Shows is today, and WrestleMania 17 will forever lead the list for many.

Looking at the last decade alone, however, WrestleMania has had its fair share of solid to stellar shows, some of which not often getting the credit they deserve.

Certain events have had a strong undercard with lackluster headliners that left the audience underwhelmed. The opposite has been true as well, whereas only an elite few have contained the complete package.

Ahead of this year's two-night April extravaganza, let's rank every installment from WrestleMania 28 to WrestleMania 37 based on their overall impact and the memorable matches and moments that stood out from each one.

10. WrestleMania 29

We begin our list with what has to be considered one of the most uninspiring installments of WrestleMania ever—and that includes all of those early events from the late '80s and '90s.

The effort WWE put into building up this show was simply nonexistent. All of the marketing going in centered around a rematch no one asked for: John Cena vs. The Rock for the WWE Championship, which was billed as a "Once in a Lifetime" encounter the year prior.

The match was horribly predictable and paled in comparison to their original outing. It didn't help that the rest of the card was a thrown-together mess that gave the live crowd zero reason to get excited about anything.

The No Holds Barred bout between Brock Lesnar and Triple H as well as Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger for the World Heavyweight Championship were both beyond boring. Meanwhile, Chris Jericho vs. Fandango didn't launch the career of the latter, and the first three matches on the card weren't important enough to warrant mentioning.

The Undertaker vs. CM Punk with The Deadman's undefeated streak on the line was the sole saving grace of this show.

Essentially, WrestleMania 29 was a glorified episode of Raw, and not a very good one at that. This is one of those installments that is better off forgotten (if it hasn't been already).

9. WrestleMania 32

Both nights of WrestleMania 38 this year will be held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the same site of WrestleMania 32 exactly six years earlier.

Hopefully WrestleMania 38 will leave a better impression on the arena than WrestleMania 32 did, as the near 100,000 fans in attendance at the latter event left with whopping disappointment.

This marked the beginning of WrestleMania events that ran long, which only added to the exhaustion of the fans by the end of the evening. Triple H vs. Roman Reigns for the WWE Championship was a subpar main event that failed to leave fans looking forward to what was next.

The same could be said for Shane McMahon vs. The Undertaker inside Hell in a Cell. It was heavily hyped ahead of time and had high stakes, with Shane taking control of the company if he won, but the tedious pace and lack of surprises killed the audience's excitement.

The Rock's drawn-out monologue, six-second match and reunion with John Cena were nice moments and all, but they did nothing for the next generation, much like when The New Day got laid out by "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Chris Jericho beat AJ Styles for some strange reason.

The two best parts of the show saw Zack Ryder win the Intercontinental Championship in a chaotic and fun Ladder match and Charlotte Flair become the inaugural WWE Women's champion in a terrific Triple Threat. The rest of the card was quite the waste of time.

8. WrestleMania 36

There will be those who immediately write off WrestleMania 36 because of the circumstances surrounding the first-ever two-night event, but said circumstances were exactly what made this show so special.

Coming out of the white-hot 2020 Royal Rumble pay-per-view, WrestleMania 36 was shaping up to be an event for the ages. Technically, it still was, but not for the reasons anyone expected or hoped for.

Mere weeks out from The Show of Shows, the coronavirus pandemic left the entire world in a state of flux and changed the event's entire complexion. In an unprecedented twist, WrestleMania was to be held without fans at the Performance Center, taped almost two weeks ahead of time to ensure it would even occur.

Morale from fans was at an all-time low going into it, and understandably so, but what WWE pulled off with WrestleMania 36 was the ultimate distraction at a time one was desperately needed.

Not for nothing, but there were some strong matchups between the two nights of 'Mania. The cinematic matches involving The Undertaker, AJ Styles, John Cena and Bray Wyatt were the highlights along with Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley for the NXT Women's Championship and the SmackDown Tag Team Championship Ladder match.

The empty arena atmosphere was unique, albeit a turn-off for many, which is why it ranks toward the bottom. Nonetheless, this WrestleMania will forever have its place in history and was better than it had any right to be.

7. WrestleMania 33

The Hardy Boyz's long-awaited shocking return to WWE at WrestleMania 33 is exactly why having an electric audience at The Show of Shows is paramount. That moment alone made the entire show, along with the wild Fatal 4-Way tag team Ladder match that followed.

WrestleMania 33 was certainly a mixed bag of an event. It started strong with AJ Styles and Shane McMahon putting on a clinic, but it ended with a stinker of a match between The Undertaker and Roman Reigns.

Thankfully, the visual of 'Taker descending into the stage afterward is what fans will remember more from the close of the show, even though he returned less than a year later and rendered that retirement tease irrelevant.

The top two title matches were also interesting, to say the least. Brock Lesnar gave Goldberg one of his best bouts ever for the Universal Championship in what was a perfectly booked five-minute affair, while Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt had one of the worst WWE Championship matches in 'Mania history.

The middle of the card ranged from average to enjoyable. The non-sanctioned match between Seth Rollins and Triple H dragged on a little longer than it should have, but the women's title matches were well wrestled, and Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho for the United States Championship was a diamond in the rough.

6. WrestleMania 34

This was another installment of WrestleMania that was hurt by an excessive length at almost five hours (not including the Kickoff show), but on the whole, it was a fairly solid show.

The first half was hot, starting with a tremendous Triple Threat for the Intercontinental Championship won by Seth Rollins. Charlotte Flair and Asuka also killed it for the SmackDown Women's Championship, but both bouts were trumped by Ronda Rousey's remarkable in-ring debut alongside Kurt Angle against The Authority's Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.

Unfortunately, it was mostly downhill from there, with the matches getting flatter and flatter as the night went on.

Jinder Mahal and The Bludgeon Brothers' title wins were met with tepid reactions, and the once-dream match between The Undertaker and John Cena was essentially a squash. Daniel Bryan's return to the ring was an amazing moment, but the Raw Women's Championship and Raw Tag Team Championship matches were nothing special.

On the bright side, the top two matches were decent, albeit disappointing. AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura wasn't quite the classic fans imagined it would be, and Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar wasn't nearly as exciting as it was three years earlier.

There have been WrestleMania shows with worse main events, but it didn't feel like there was much change at the top of the card coming out of this one. It was more of a transitional show than anything else.

5. WrestleMania 35

WrestleMania 34 and WrestleMania 35 were virtually equal in terms of their length and enjoyment level, but the latter gets the slight edge because it delivered bigger moments when it mattered most.

Following a surprise appearance from Hulk Hogan courtesy of WrestleMania host Alexa Bliss, the evening opened in exhilarating fashion when Seth Rollins bested Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship. AJ Styles and Randy Orton then provided an enjoyable undercard affair, and the SmackDown Tag Team Championship Fatal 4-Way was fun as well.

More importantly, Kofi Kingston finally got his WrestleMania moment by beating Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship, which took the event to a whole other level. Fans were also happy to see Becky Lynch walk out as a dual champion in the main event, but the bout didn't live up to the lofty hype because it happened so late in the night.

Where this show failed, however, was by featuring so many matches that most of them flew under the radar. Both the Intercontinental Championship and United States Championship matches had to be rushed, Kurt Angle's swan song was anticlimactic, and Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre wasn't anything out of the ordinary.

The slog that was Triple H vs. Batista was what this WrestleMania was in a nutshell: glimmers of greatness mixed with nostalgia while overly long and poorly paced. At least WWE (mostly) gave fans what they wanted and had the fan favorites reign supreme. 

4. WrestleMania 37

WrestleMania 36 was the first installment to be broken up over two nights, which marginally made up for the lack of rabid fans in attendance. WWE sticking with the two-night formula the next year came as a genuine surprise to the masses, and it ultimately paid off for the company.

Ideally, they should be able to have a one-night show with only a handful of marquee matches, but with the roster being as big as it is nowadays and the company insisting on featuring as many people as possible, splitting the Show of Shows into two nights made the most sense.

On Night 1 of WrestleMania 37, it had been one year, one month and one day from when WWE last had fans in attendance, so that obviously added to the emotional atmosphere. The card was wisely put together with Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre kicking the festivities off with a bang for the WWE Championship and Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair capping off the evening with an excellent SmackDown Women's Championship clash.

Both of those bouts combined with Bad Bunny's successful in-ring debut, Cesaro beating Seth Rollins, and Braun Strowman vs. Shane McMahon being exactly what it needed to be made Night 1 superior to Night 2, which didn't start off too promisingly.

Randy Orton vs. The Fiend was an abysmal opener, but WWE quickly recovered with Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn, three straight title changes, and an exceptional Universal Championship main event. Before the company could return to the road full time, WrestleMania 36 was a welcome break from the ThunderDome and left fans with hope for the future.

3. WrestleMania 28

As we enter the top three, we go back a full decade for this next installment on the list: WrestleMania 28, arguably one of the biggest WrestleMania events of all-time.

For the first time ever, WWE announced the main event of WrestleMania almost exactly one year prior. John Cena vs. The Rock sold itself, but the build was excellently executed, and it made for one of the most magical atmospheres in the event's history.

The WWE Championship had to play second fiddle as a result, but CM Punk and Chris Jericho still killed it with the gold up for grabs. The "End of an Era" Hell in a Cell match between The Undertaker and Triple H with Shawn Michaels serving as special guest referee was even better and featured spectacular storytelling and suspense.

If WrestleMania 28 had a more well-rounded undercard, it would likely crack the top two. However, as much of a moment as it was, fans weren't pleased with Sheamus defeating Daniel Bryan for the World Heavyweight Championship in 18 seconds, and the five-minute affair for the Intercontinental Championship was rushed.

None of the other matches were remotely exciting, either. Again, though, 'Mania is known for its memorable main events, and this installment just so happened to have three of them. It was a fun night that managed to meet—if not exceed—expectations.

2. WrestleMania 30

The road to WrestleMania 30 got off to an awfully shaky start when CM Punk abruptly exited the company and forced WWE to shake up the entire card for the event, as he was originally supposed to go one-on-one with Triple H.

They then shifted in the direction of doing Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H, which deserved to be the WrestleMania match from the get-go given what happened with them the summer prior. Not only that, but the stipulation was that the winner would be added to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship main event between Batista and Randy Orton.

That single story, along with Bryan ultimately becoming world champion in the excellent main event, tied the show together nicely. That was in addition to Cesaro winning the inaugural Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and The Rock, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan engaging in an epic encounter.

The Shield's squash of Kane and The New Age Outlaws was short and sweet, whereas The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar was a dud of a match for a variety of reasons. Despite that, Lesnar snapping The Streak in stunning fashion will forever be etched in history.

The Divas Championship Invitational was what you'd expect given the vast amount of women involved, but John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt had a well-worked midcard match (polarizing outcome aside). After months of poor programming from WWE, it truly felt like a new era had arrived coming out of WrestleMania 30, and it had 'Mania moments in spades.

1. WrestleMania 31

WrestleMania 31 had its work cut out for it following the supreme spectacle that was WrestleMania 30 one year earlier, but what WWE wound up putting together was a truly special show.

No matches on the card fell below average, and each one of them had something different to offer for the audience. It made the four hours fly by, and the pace they maintained throughout the night was practically perfect.

Daniel Bryan winning his first Intercontinental Championship in a thrilling Ladder match was a fantastic feel-good moment to open the evening with. Randy Orton and Seth Rollins followed that up with a highly enjoyable outing that culminated in arguably the greatest RKO of all-time.

Although Triple H beating Sting was the wrong outcome, the match itself was fun for what it was. AJ Lee and Paige vs. The Bella Twins, despite nothing being on the line, was also one of the better women's matches up to that point in 'Mania history.

Elsewhere on the card, John Cena conquered the undefeated Rusev to kick off his historic United States Championship reign, and The Undertaker returned looking far better than he did when The Streak was broken to beat Bray Wyatt.

As if all of that wasn't exciting enough, Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar capped off the event with an awesome main event and a finish no one saw coming: Seth Rollins cashing in his Money in the Bank contract to become WWE World Heavyweight champion. Top to bottom, WrestleMania 31 was indeed among the best ever and undoubtedly of the last decade.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.