Top 10 WrestleMania Openers of All Time

It is the most wonderful time of the year. We’re not talking about Christmas, we’re talking about WrestleMania.  The Granddaddy of Them All. The Showcase of Immortals. That springtime wrestling show at The Garden with Hulk Hogan & Roddy Piper that has become a massive premium live event spectacle, that fills a football stadium on back to back days with over 100,000 people taking over the host city every year.   

 

With this year being the 40th year of WrestleMania, we decided to take a look back at the best opening matches at the most important professional wrestling show of the year.  Traditionally, WrestleMania would be considered the "season finale” in television terms; All of the big stories & angles that have been building for the last few weeks and months will finally come to their conclusion (sometimes). There have been 43 matches to kick off WrestleMania proper, and outside of the main event, it is the most important match on the show.  The opening match sets the tone for the evening. It’s the first thing the crowd will see. 

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A Great opening match should feature stars that the crowd has a big interest in seeing, preferably in a story that has been built over time. Another characteristic of a great opening match is a hot start or a flurry of fast paced action or high flying moves that evoke the "oohs" & "ahhs" of the crowd. Again setting the tone & getting everyone ready for the next few hours of WrestleMania.  

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I went back & watched all 43 matches that have opened a Wrestlemania (well most of em anyway) and ranked the top 10 greatest opening matches in WrestleMania history based on how “over” the characters were with the crowd along with the crowd’s overall reaction, combined match quality, with a touch of historical significance, then ranked each from 10 to 1. Lets get into it...  

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Number 10 -

 

Wrestlemania XII - 1996  - Vader, British bulldog & Owen Hart w/ Jim Cornette VS Ahmed Johnson, Jake the Snake Robers & Yokozuna with Mr Fuji.  

 

The crowd was hyped & ready for WrestlemMania XII as they jeered the bad guys with all they had on the way to the ring, and conversely tore the roof off for the heroes during their respective entrances.  Match starts with Vader & Yokozuna exchanging some stiff head-shots in an actual Hoss Battle of 2 wrestlers north of 400 lbs. From there it devolves into a wild brawl outside the ring, in which Ahmed Johnson does a running plancha over the top rope on to a pile of wrestlers to a massive pop.  What this match lacks in historical significance , it clearly makes up for with the crowd heat,  the hot start into complete mayhem, & a highspot of Yokozuna doing a move most commonly known these days as a Rock Bottom to Vader & getting some real height on it. The baddies cheat to win to huge boos from the crowd.  The whole thing is about 6 or 7 minutes and has all the elements of a great opener to a Wrestlemania. Textbook classic opener, hot crowd, over characters, fast action , under to minutes, this one has got it all. 

 

Number 9 -

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Sheamus VS Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 28

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WrestleMania is also about creating moments. Moments that people will remember forever. When Daniel Bryan was World Heavyweight Champion in 2012 & had a match scheduled with WWE Superstar & monster Irishman known as Shamus at Wrestlemania 28, fans were expecting a hard hitting battle in a classic style of brawler versus wrestler. What the fans got was a 10 second Brogue Kick to Bryan’s dome into a pinfall & a new champion crowned in what was barely a wrestling match , more focused on the pre match kiss Bryan demanded from AJ Lee, his valet at the time.  How can this be even ranked as a Greatest Wrestlemania Opener Ever if it was a 10 second storyline squash with zero hot moves & a dud for match quality? Because the historical significance of this match is off the chart, with one of the most over wrestlers of this modern generation. Without this moment, we don’t get the next match on this list. 

 

Number 8 

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Bryan Danielson VS. HHH at WrestleMania 30 

 

New Orleans LA in 2014. By this point, the WWE audience (not quite a Universe) had grown sick & tired of seeing the same talent being presented in the World Title picture (Batista, Randy Orton, HHH & John Cena , on repeat for years) and refused to accept anyone in that position who wasn’t Daniel Bryan.  After winning the Royal Rumble a few months earlier & the “corporate regime” doing all they could to get in his way, set up a match where Bryan had to battle HHH and the winner of that match would be inserted into the main event that night between Randy Orton & Batista for the World Championship.  Daniel Bryan being a wrestling machine, carried HHH through a 25 minute, classic slow, prodding, methodical, sleepy time, go make a sandwich when HHH cinches up on a 10 minute chin lock, match that we’ve all suffered through for too many years on the way to him calling himself the “King of Kings” (as if that’s how it works)  Daniel Bryan was able to finally defeat the cyber terminator and inject some interest into the 100,000th match between two jacked, tatted up , Ohio Valley Wrestling cut / paste robot rashers in the main event of WrestleMania. Daniel Bryan finally finished his story & was crowned World Champion. 

 

Number 7. 

 

Wrestlemania 36 - 2020 - Rhea Ripley vs Charlotte Flair -  NXT Women’s Championship

 

Pandemic Era? One of the Best Openers Ever?!! Yes.  And YES.  This is one of the few matches that happened all weekend that worked in the stale environment of a TV studio with the smallest amount of people possible in attendance due to early restrictions of the covid19 pandemic. These women had a long build going into this match, with Flair as the classic arrogant heel & Ripley the rookie babyface champion with something to prove against the class of the women’s division. The match starts off with a classic feeling out process until, about the 4 minute mark where they just start smashing each other in what kicks off a very physical, modern classic of a match. Most pandemic era wrestling gets looked down upon for lots of reasons, this match shatters all of those by pulling you in with the story & keeping you locked in with the hard hitting action. The title change is a nice touch as well adding more gravity to the situation & another block in the story of their careers together. 

 

Number 6 -

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WrestleMania 8 - 1992 - El Matador Tito Santana vs “The Heart Break Kid” Shawn Michaels with Sensational Sherri

 

This is the official coming out party for Shawn Michaels, showing the world what he can do when given 15 minutes to have a very good professional wrestling match. He couldn’t have asked for a more seasoned professional in El Matador Tito Santana to go out there & have a strong opening match to set the tone for the night.  Michaels & Sherri’s heel tactics carried the crowd heat through the match and into the victory for the current Intercontinental Champion on the rise.  This is the kick-off of Michaels legendary run from 92 through 98 that his fans will always remember. 

 

Number 5 -

 

Wrestlemania XX - 2004 - Madison Square Garden NYC 

 

Kicking off the 20th Wrestlemania is the companies hot new act, sporting a classic Knicks jersey, backwards baseball cap & wielding a microphone, its JOOOOHHHHNNN CEEEENAAAAAAAA out here rapping to welcome everyone to Wrestlemania & let them know he will defeat The Big Show for the United States championship. That was no threat, it was a spoiler and the NYC crowd ate up everything John Cena did.  Big Show comes out as the villain to huge boos & gives Cena 9 minutes of an athletic performance second to none from a 450 lb man, before Cena is able to get Big Show into a fireman’s carry for the “don’t call it the F.U.” attitude adjustment and the rest is history.  A Star is Born. The Future Is Now. John Cena crushes his Mania debut on his way to superstardom, 15 title reigns, & being the voice of Honda motors. 

 

Number 4.  

 

WrestleMania X-8 - 2002  - William Regal vs Rob Van Dam for the InterContinental Title -

 

One of the most important factors in a strong WrestleMania opener is talent that the crowd has a vested interest in seeing. Regal coming out as the heel everyone loves to hate is a huge spot here, starting the show off with a massive chorus of boos. Fueled by an equal amount of cheers is his opponent, Rob Van Dam, who is quite possibly the most beloved talent on this show that also features The Rock & Stone Cold Steve Austin. This is the 2nd year in a row for Regal kicking off the biggest show of the year as he wrestled Chris Jericho the year prior; that match was very good, this one was better.  Another box this match checks is the fast start / high flying action as RVD flies around & Regal is there for every bit of it. 7 minutes and one 5 star frog splash later, a new champion is crowned & the crowd is HYPED for the rest of the show. Mission Accomplished. 

 

Number 3 -

 

WrestleMania XXI - Rey Mysterio vs Eddie Guerrero - 2005 - Battle of Tag Team Champions

 

By 2005 it’s safe to say Eddie & Rey wrestled each other at least 3 dozen times before this match, most of the time on live events without TV cameras present to capture the magic every time these two close friends matched up in the ring.  People will name lots of matches these men had against each other before mentioning this one, it was also marred with Rey constantly adjusting his new style of mask that was obstructing his vision. Despite these “shortcomings” this is still at least a 4 & 1/2 star match that is on a level that many wrestlers will never achieve once.  Rey & Eddie on a bad day, will still go out & have a match that smokes the rest of the show from not just an athletic perspective, but a psychological one as well, a brilliant struggle between two fierce competitors that are the best of friends. 

 

Number 2. 

 

WrestleMania 23 - 2007 - Money in The Bank Ladder Match - 

 

Jeff Hardy vs King Booker w/ Queen Sharmell, vs Finlay, vs CM Punk, vs Mr Kennedy, vs Matt Hardy V1, vs Edge, vs Randy Orton 

 

For the first 10 years of WrestleMania, a singles match kicked off the show 7 times, a tag-team match opened the show twice. Wrestlemania 4 was the infamous battle royal where Bad News Brown turned on Bret Hart to win the match & a trophy that was over 7 feet tall.  From 1995 through 2000, Wrestlemania opened with a multi man match of some kind & looking at those cards, it was the right choice for the time.  Singles matches would return to open the show in 2001 & stick around for the next 5 years.  When it was time for another multi-man match to open the show, the only choice could be the Money in the Bank ladder match where the winner would receive a title shot to be “cashed in” within one calendar year.  This was an 8 -man, car-crash, high-spot fest with all kinds of nonsense that people are going to go ape for no matter where it is on the show, so it might as well open the show.  This particular match is a greatest hits of ladder matches hitting lots of familiar spots from ladder matches of the recent past to cement them in time forever at Wrestlemania.  These matches would become a little formulaic over the years, but in 2007, it was lots fun and in 2024 it’s definitely worth a re-visit. Fast Start, Hot Crowd, Lots of Big Spots, First time a Money in the Bank match opened a Wrestlemania. It checks all the boxes & is the 2nd greatest opening match in Wrestlemania history. 

 

 

Number 1 - 

 

WrestleMania X - Madison Square Garden NYC - Owen Hart vs Bret Hart  - 1994 

 

Bret Hart was already locked in to the main event of the show with a title shot from winner of the match between Lex Luger and Yokozuna later in the show, Management ruled that Bret had to have a second match along with those two competitors & ruled that that match should be against his brother Owen Hart in an angle that had been building for 6 months prior, toward a crescendo at the biggest show of the year.  This was the company’s top story, with the guy who was already in the Main Event later in the show, so we’ve got “over characters”.  The crowd bit on Everything they did / didn’t do from Owen’s classic heel stalls to his pulling the ref aside to say “he pulled my hair” just classic little things that have been lost to time, that are so much fun to see when you go back & see them with eyes from 30 years in the future. This is the best technical wrestling match that has ever opened a Wrestlemania, everything Bret & Owen did made sense in the match AND in their overall story.  Owen getting the surprise pin off a victory roll, as Bret goes on to win the world title later in the night is classic storytelling not seen since the recent Bloodline angle. This match is still talked about today as one of the greatest matches of all time & still would be no matter what show it was on , but it happened to be on the 10th Wrestlemania where it all begins again in Madison Square Garden in New York City, a place that Bret Hart would go on to refer to as “not a church but it’s Holy Ground” later in his career. For a high profile, well-told story between two great wrestlers in a singles match given time & structure to go all out, Owen & Bret delivered a 9 or a 10 in all of those categories and I was unable to find a better match to ever kick off a WrestleMania.