18: Edge vs The Undertaker – WrestleMania 24
The unique story here is that other than the Undertaker’s incredible winning streak at WrestleMania, the man with the next best record at WrestleMania was Edge. And so the story here was easy to tell – could Edge continue his record of success at WrestleMania, but take down the Undertaker’s at the same time?
This was a solid WrestleMania main event and Edge and the Undertaker each brought their unique styles to the match for a classic main event which had fans on the edge of their seats (no pun intended). With lots of near falls and twists the ending came in a great twist when the Undertaker was able to absorb Edge’s finishing spear and turn it into his hell’s gate submission. It was only a few seconds later before Edge was forced to tap and the Undertaker was able to walk out as World Heavyweight Champion.
17: Hulk Hogan vs Sgt Slaughter – WrestleMania 7
After Hulk Hogan dropped the belt to the Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania 6, the Warrior went on to have a successful run as champion, but it was clear that the Ultimate Warrior wasn’t a one for one swap with Hogan.
Add this to the fact that the world was watching on as the first Gulf War was all over the news and Vince McMahon saw the opportunity to capitalise on America’s sense of patriotism at this time. Hogan was brought back into the world title picture as the representation of a real American to take on Sgt Slaughter…who was also presented as a real American and a soldier at that. Written like this you would wonder why Slaughter himself wasn’t seen as the obvious choice for representation of the American soldier and war hero, but instead he was turned heel as sympathising with America’s enemies and things became so heated that Slaughter had to have protection in place for himself and his family in their home life.
It’s amazing really that the WWE were able to convince fans that Slaughter was so evil and would betray his country. The match was driven by the emotion of the fans, and is up there with Hogan’s biggest WrestleMania moments.
