For the second consecutive year (2022), writers for Voices of Wrestling cast their ballots for their favorite matches from WrestleMania weekend.
To be eligible, a match must have taken place at a show in or near the city where WrestleMania is held from Wednesday through Monday. Matches from SmackDown or RAW are eligible, but matches from AEW Dynamite, AEW Rampage, or Impact’s weekly television show are not.
We had 15 voters this year, up from last year’s eight. No matches appeared on all the ballots cast; two appeared on 14 of the 15, two more appeared on 13, and another three appeared on 11.
Ring of Honor lead the way with four matches in the top ten, while WWE had three. These two companies produced the top seven matches. The other three were from DDT and WrestleCon. For comparison’s sake, only three of the top ten matches from 2022 were from WWE and ROH.
Thirteen different shows are represented in the complete standings of this year’s voting, counting the two days of WrestleMania as separate events. The exact number of shows were represented last year.
The race for the top spot was noticeably closer than last year’s. The Briscoes vs. FTR ran away with last year’s competition, beating Bandido vs. Mike Bailey from the WrestleCon Mark Hitchcock Memorial Super Show by 29 points. This year’s top three matches are separated by only 15 points, despite the increase in points possible.
Honorable Mentions
- Mike Bailey vs. Shigehiro Irie, WrestleCon Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow, 1 point
- Brian Kendrick vs. Jake Crist, Circle 6 Jake Crist’s Firestarters, 1 point
- Street Profits vs. Braun Strowman & Ricochet vs. Alpha Academy vs. The Viking Raiders, WrestleMania Goes Hollywood Saturday, 2 points
- Harry Smith vs. JR Kratos, GCW Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport 9, 2 points
- Daisy Monkey vs. Free WiFi, TJPW Live in Los Angeles, 3 points
- Bang Bros. vs. BestBros vs. CPF vs. Wasted Youth, Jimmy Lloyd’s D-Generation F 2023, 3 points
- Kevin Blackwood vs. Shigehiro Irie, Prestige Nervous Breakdown, 3 points
- The East West Express vs. Moonlight Express, GCW vs. DDT, 4 points
- Grayson Waller vs. Johnny Gargano, WWE NXT Stand & Deliver, 4 points
- Magical Sugar Rabbits vs. 121000000 ©, Princess Tag Team Championship, TJPW Live in Los Angeles, 5 points
- Alex Coughlin vs. Jon Moxley, GCW Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport 9, 6 points
- Aramis, Komander, & Rey Horus vs. Arez, Black Taurus, & Latigo, GCW Gringo Loco’s The WRLD on Lucha 2023, 8 points
- Aramis, Galeno Del Mal, & Rey Horus vs. Arez, Laredo Kid, & Latigo, WrestleCon Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow, 8 points
- Kota Ibushi vs. Mike Bailey, GCW Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport 9, 8 points
- El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Mike Bailey, GCW Joey Janela’s Spring Break 7, 9 points
- Time Machine vs. United Empire, WrestleCon Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow, 9 points
- Dulce Tormenta vs. Sexy Star (not that Sexy Star), Gringo Loco’s The WRLD on Lucha, 10 points
- KUSHIDA vs. Lio Rush, Impact+NJPW Multiverse United, 12 points
- 1 Called Manders, Mance Warner & Matthew Justice vs. Chris Brookes, Mizuki Watase & Shunma Katsumata, GCW vs. DDT, 12 points
- Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Mike Bailey, Impact+NJPW Multiverse United, 14 points
- TJPW ten-woman tag, WrestleCon Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow, 14 points
- Logan Paul vs. Seth Rollins, WrestleMania Goes Hollywood Saturday, 14 points
- The East West Express vs. Motor City Machine Guns ©, GCW Tag Team Championship, GCW Joey Janela’s Spring Break, 17 points
- Katsuyori Shibata vs Wheeler Yuta ©, ROH Pure Championship, Ring of Honor Supercard of Honor, 19 points
- Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns ©, WWE Championship & WWE Universal Championship, WWE WrestleMania Goes Hollywood Sunday, 20 points
10th place
Black Taurus vs. Komander vs. El Hijo del Vikingo ©, AAA Mega Championship
WrestleCon Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow
23 points
Highest vote: 3rd place
Appeared on 5 of 15 ballots
Cagematch: 8.66 from 57 votes
Take two of the most exciting luchadors in the world and add in arguably the best base in the business today, and you end up with an exciting base that allows everyone to work to their strengths. This is an excellent showcase of three of the best of Mexico. – Fred Morlan
9th place
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Yuki Ueno
DDT Goes Hollywood!
32 points
1 first-place vote
Appeared on 7 of 15 ballots
Cagematch: 8.12 from 85 votes
An opportunity for two standouts of DDT to show off, Takeshita & Ueno delivered an excellent match. You should already be familiar with Takeshita by this point; take this chance to learn about Ueno if you don’t know him yet. – Fred Morlan
Two of the DDT’s very best, and if you wanted to show your friend who thinks DDT is all comedy promotion that no, actually, they have “proper” good matches, then this is the one. This featured all the BIG MOVES that Takeshita has become known for in his AEW appearances and was a perfect introduction of Yuki Ueno’s nimble spirit to American audiences. The big downside here was that everyone and their dog knew Takeshita was winning, so it kinda took some of the tension out. Nevertheless, this was an excellent main event. ****1/4 – Ewan Cameron
8th place
MAO & Shunma Katsumata vs. Chris Brookes & Yoshihiko ©, DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship
DDT Goes Hollywood!
39 points
1 first-place vote
Appeared on 5 of 15 ballots
Cagematch: 7.86 from 49 votes
WrestleMania weekend wasn’t just for the serious matches – it was also for the serious matches involving international superstar Yoshihiko. Everyone’s favorite inanimate object competed against three of the top in-ring talents of DDT’s roster to put on a barnburner. Pay no attention to the man in all black standing that just happens to be around at the same time.
Professionally Crazy is a fitting way to describe DDT as a whole and this match encapsulated the ethos. Yes, it’s a match with a blow up doll, but it takes immense amounts of skill to make it look this good. – Ewan Cameron
7th place
Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso ©, WWE Raw Tag Team & WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championships
WrestleMania Goes Hollywood Saturday
58 points
Highest vote: 3rd place
Appeared on 11 of 15 ballots
Cagematch: 9.18 from 692 votes
I think there’s a lot of reason to criticize how we arrived at this match, but the two teams delivered with a well-paced tag match in the traditional style. It may not have been the satisfying finish everyone hoped for a month ago, but by the end, everyone in the building was happy – a nice change of pace from the following day. – Fred Morlan
By the time we were finally exposed to some WWE-style hamfisted melodrama, Sami eyeing down Jey in the corner before the Helluva Kick, the match had more than earned it. – Jon Hernandez
6th place
Mark Briscoe vs. Samoa Joe ©, ROH World Television Championship
Ring of Honor Supercard of Honor
63 points
1 first-place vote
Appeared on 11 of 15 ballots
Cagematch: 8.04 from 260 votes
Mark Briscoe is an amazing babyface at this point and time, and Samoa Joe has generally been very good as a heel champion. This was a hard-hitting match. The finish was reasonable enough, leaving you with feeling like Mark is destined for bigger things in Ring of Honor. – Fred Morlan
Since arriving in AEW, Samoa Joe’s been fantastic, but most of his big stuff has had some kinda caveat to it — the size mismatch with Darby, working around Wardlow’s limitations, etc. Here, Joe and Mark Briscoe had a match that didn’t look too different from one they would have had 15 years ago. – Jon Hernandez
5th place
Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair ©, WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship
WWE WrestleMania Goes Hollywood Saturday
76 points
2 first-place votes
Appeared on 11 of 15 ballots
Cagematch: 9.03 from 655 votes
Charlotte Flair’s great matches are relatively rare these days, but when they happen, it’s because she and her opponent just lay into each other. Ripley and Flair threw each other around in what’s easily one of the best women’s matches in WrestleMania history. – Fred Morlan
When people are critical of Charlotte Flair’s work, they often talk about how reckless she seems, how it looks like she’s gonna kill somebody. Well, when everything stays on the rails, I absolutely love that about her matches. This match had an aggression to it, a physicality to it, that I wish this company knew how to access with any regularity at all. – Jon Hernandez
4th place
Reach for the Sky Ladder Match for the Ring of Honor World Tag Team Championship
Ring of Honor Supercard of Honor
84 points
1 first-place vote
Appeared on 13 of 15 ballots
Cagematch: 8.26 from 264 votes
An absolutely insane ladder match filled with guys taking ridiculous risks. Best wishes to Dante Martin coming out of this. – Fred Morlan
3rd place
Komander vs. El Hijo del Vikingo ©, AAA Mega Championship
Ring of Honor Supercard of Honor
110 points
4 first-place votes
Appeared on 13 of 15 ballots
Cagematch rating: 8.68 from 351 votes
The two hottest lucha stars in the United States faced off in a match filled with spectacular maneuvers. Almost every move was worthy of being passed around as a legendary gif. – Fred Morlan
2nd place
Eddie Kingston vs. Claudio Castagnoli ©, ROH World Championship
Ring of Honor Supercard of Honor
118 points
2 first-place votes
Appeared on 14 out of 15 ballots
Cagematch rating: 8.81 from 293 votes
The emotionally charged storytelling of the Supercard of Honor main event fell just short of the top spot, much like the challenger Eddie Kingston. The selling in this match helped set it apart from the rest, as both men made you feel as if they barely survived it. – Fred Morlan
1st place
Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus vs. Gunther ©, WWE Intercontinental Championship
WrestleMania Goes Hollywood Sunday
133 points
4 first-place votes
Appeared on 14 out of 15 ballots
Cagematch rating: 9.40 from 648 votes
Big E’s rant about big meaty men slapping meat was referenced many times after this match. The one flaw in it is it suggests that five-star matches don’t center on meat slapping. This match proved that wrong. This terrific triangle match only went 16 minutes and featured three Europeans attempting to cave in each other’s chests. Its current Cagematch rating puts it as one of the best matches in company history. – Fred Morlan
BIG MEATY MEN SLAPPIN MEAT – Tyler Forness
