The 10 best wrestlers of Wrestlemania 1-10

This is my ranking of the top 10 wrestlers based on performances at the first 10 Wrestlemania events. The only criteria for this list was in-ring work.


1. Randy Savage- Debut against Steele is bad, despite Savage’s best efforts, but then things pick up. The match with Steamboat is a classic, followed by four solid performances at Wrestlemania 4, in which Savage tells an ongoing story of fighting against the odds to realize his dream of becoming world champion. Another great match at 5 with Hogan, in which Savage is the star of the show with his heel mannerisms and intensity. 6 is a similar story to 2, in which he makes the best of a bad situation, but he comes back at 7 with another classic, the miracle match against the Ultimate Warrior. 8 is another great match with Flair, he sits in the booth for 9, and makes his Wrestlemania swansong with a short but sweet match against Crush. From 8 of the first 10 Wrestlemanias, Savage has 3 match of the nights, with another 2 close runners-up. He had classic Wrestlemania matches both as a heel and a babyface, he wrestled good matches over long periods, and also performed well in short, intense matches. He showed the ability to carry inferior workers. He worked hard, and his matches combined great wrestling, brawling, intensity and great character work. An easy number 1.

2. Bret Hart- It takes a while for Bret to warm up on the big stage. 2 of his first 5 Wrestlemanias see him involved in battle royals and, although he’s the last to be eliminated in each, it isn’t much opportunity to stand out. The 6-man tag at Wrestlemania 3 is fine, whereas the Wrestlemania 5 match against Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine is forgettable. Bret does manage to stand out in a 20 second squash match against the Bolsheviks at 6, and then delivers his first strong performance at 7 against the Nasty Boys in a good match (all tag matches see him partnered by Jim Neidhart, of course). Breaking out on his own is when Bret really steps up. He stars in a great, dramatic brawl with Roddy Piper at 8, has a very enjoyable big man/small man match with Yokozuna at 9 (which he would repeat the following year), and then has his best Wrestlemania match to date against Owen Hart to open Wrestlemania 10. That’s 2 match of the nights in the last 3 years, with a runner-up and third place also in that time frame. His great performances saw him playing an incredibly sympathetic babyface, with a mixture of strong wrestling and physical brawling, with an emphasis on strong storytelling.

3. Tito Santana- Something of a surprise number 3, for a man who was rarely in the spotlight. Opened the first Wrestlemania with a solid match with The Executioner, and then featured in the match of the night at Wrestlemania 2, teaming with Junkyard Dog against the Funks. At 3 he stole the 6-man tag from the crazy bumping of Danny Davis, with his fiery babyface work, and he teamed with Rick Martel in the best match of the night at 4 against Demolition. At 5 he worked practically a handicap match, and bumped big to put over the Brainbusters, while at 6 came a good speed vs. power battle against the Barbarian. A nothing match against the Mountie was followed by a decent effort against Shawn Michaels. Santana had his best matches in tag team action, but never failed to deliver whatever the circumstances. A classic babyface, he had fire, was sympathetic, and his flying forearm always looked explosive and impactful.

4. Hulk Hogan- The face of Wrestlemania, and someone who usually delivered the goods, despite his reputation. The smartly worked tag team main event was the best match of the first Wrestlemania, and Hogan was the star of the show. In a cage with Bundy at 2 was hard hitting and violent, while the famous match against Andre the Giant was very well-worked, regardless of what the critics think. This was largely due to the performance of Hogan. The rematch at 4 was decent, but not as good as the previous effort, and he played his part in a great main event with Savage at 5. The Wrestlemania 6 match against Ultimate Warrior is better than it had any right to be, and the same can be said for the match with Sgt Slaughter, though that is mostly down to an incredible display from Slaughter. Matches with Sid at 8, and Money Inc and Yokozuna at 9 are terrible. Hogan usually showed what a smart worker he really is at Wrestlemania, and often made matches involving lesser workers exciting. Up until Wrestlemania 5 at least he was surprisingly agile for a big man, and hard working. The matches might have been one-dimensional, but he did it well, having a couple of match of the nights along the way.

5. Shawn Michaels- The man who called himself Mr Wrestlemania debuted, with Marty Jannetty, in a good match against the Twin Towers at Wrestlemania 5, had a very disappointing match against the Orient Express at 6, and was then involved in one of the best tag team matches in Wrestlemania history at 7 against Haku and the Barbarian. Striking out alone, his matches against Tito Santana and Tatanka at 8 and 9 were steady, though unspectacular, but then he had a breakout moment at Wrestlemania 10 in the famous ladder match against Razor Ramon, which is an incredible bumping and risk-taking performance from Michaels. Shawn proved in his 5 appearances that he could get it done in tag team and singles action, as a heel and a babyface, and brought speed, agility, and great bumping to his matches. Not quite at Mr Wrestlemania level, but a strong showing nonetheless.

6. Ted DiBiase- All three of DiBiase’s matches at Wrestlemania 4 are solid, with two of the opponents being limited (Jim Duggan and Don Muraco). He’s unlucky to be saddled with Brutus Beefcake at 5, but this is Beefcake’s best Wrestlemania match. 6 is a great heated match with Jake Roberts, also Roberts’ best Wrestlemania match. 7 sees DiBiase do a semi-carry job with Virgil, and he performs well enough in a tag match at Wrestlemania 8 against the Natural Disasters. Rewarded with another match against Beefcake (and Hulk Hogan) at Wrestlemania 9, which is largely terrible. Consistency is really the word when looking at DiBiase’s Wrestlemania history. Few fireworks, but very few duds either. The match with Jake is a match of the night, and even against bad opponents, Ted’s excellent bumping and heel mannerisms are enough to make his matches worthwhile.

7. Ricky Steamboat- Steamboat has two of the better matches on the first 2 Wrestlemanias, against Matt Borne and Hercules, and then steps it up with his classic against Randy Savage at 3, a comfortable match of the night. The match with Greg Valentine at Wrestlemania 4 is another solid effort. Steamboat didn’t make many appearances at Wrestlemania, but when he did he was alwaysin one of the best matches of the night, and wrestled good matches against differing types of opponents.

8. Demolition, Ax and Smash- They debut at 4, and turn in a match of the night against Strike Force. At 5 comes a hard-hitting match against the Powers of Pain and Mr Fuji, and that is followed by a similar affair against the Colossal Connection. The latter two matches were as babyfaces, while the former was as heels, but they were equally effective in both roles, good at getting the fans to react to them, and working an exciting brawling style.

9. Roddy Piper- Another maligned worker, who used his smarts to make an impression in the ring. His heel tactics were a big part of making the tag team main event at Wrestlemania 1 effective. His boxing match with Mr T at 2 started off well, but soon passed its use by date. The match at 3 against Adrian Adonis was short, had some strange booking choices, and wasn’t pretty, but the intensity of the match, and the charisma of both men made it work (just). A 2 year hiatus was followed by a passable short brawl with Bad News Brown, and then after another year out he had by far his best Wrestlemania match, the classic against Bret Hart at 8, in which both men had their working boots on to tell a great story. 2 match of the nights isn’t a bad return from 5 Wrestlemanias, and for a man who was considered a weak worker. It was generally his charisma and character that carried him along in the ring, but when called upon, he could hold up his end of the bargain.

10. Rick Martel- Martel started his Wrestlemania career with tag team action. At 3 he teamed with Tom Zenk in a fun opener against Bob Orton and Don Muraco, and then at 4 and 5 he teamed with Tito Santana in a great match against Demolition, and a match against The Brainbusters respectively (although he walked out on his partner in the latter, and thus was hardly involved). He struggled as a singles wrestler, and as a heel, against Koko B Ware at 6, but was involved in a masterclass at Wrestlemania 7, the blindfold match with Jake Roberts, which found interesting ways to involve the fans (a big part of which were Martel’s comedy stylings). His match the following year with Tatanka was forgettable. Surprisingly, Martel’s best performances came in tag matches, in which he proved to have excellent timing, exciting offence and enough fire to be a great hot tag. Less successful when branching out alone.