The 41 Best Matches of WrestleMania 33 Weekend - The Top 10

I am about five months younger than WrestleMania. After 30 years of being a wrestling fan, I made my first trip to WrestleMania out in San Jose/San Francisco for WrestleMania 31. It was pretty damn incredible. I know that makes me a giant nerd, and I am totally cool with that. Wrestling doesn't need to be cool, because it is hilarious and occasionally awesome. Two years later, it came to Orlando, and since that is less than two hours away, I knew that I would be making my second WrestleMania trip. Starting on Thursday, I saw WrestlePro, the WrestleCon Supershow, NXT Takeover, and of course, WrestleMania 33. Although I may be a nerd about wrestling, even I have to tap out after four nights of events, so I chose not to go to Raw or Smackdown. But I still saw a hell of a lot of wrestling, and finally we have made it to the top ten, featuring former best friends, wrestling royalty, and the best tag team action I have ever seen in my life.

10. Wrestlemania - Raw Tag Team Championship Triple Threat Ladder Match - The Hardy Boyz def. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson (c), Cesaro and Sheamus and Enzo Amore and Big Cass
I’m not even a big Hardy Boyz guy, but still, the entrance and how excited the crowd was really added to this match. It was shorter than I expected, but each team got to show off their prowess, and when the Hardys came out, there was no doubt that they were going home with the titles. It was a fun match all around, and there was no way a match with Cesaro wasn’t going to make my top 10.

9. WrestleMania - United States Championship Match: Kevin Owens def. Chris Jericho (c)
I feel like this is the match that most unfairly will not be remembered down the line. It was a really good match but didn’t quite live up to the Rollins/HHH or Styles/McMahon matches, and it also ranks behind another match that was pure spectacle. It was really well done throughout, and it was enjoyable from start to finish. It’s only hope of being remembered is one finger on the rope, but there was so much more to this match that was done really well. It was just really tough to follow up that Styles/McMahon match as the crowd was still recovering during the first half of this match.

8. Wrestlecon Supershow - ACH, Big Mike Elgin and Mascarita Sagrada def Trevor Lee, David Starr and Caleb Konley
This match started off the Supershow, and it started it off on the right foot. ACH brought the charisma, Elgin brought the power, and Mascarita Sagrada brought the mini. Lee, Star, and Konley were ideal heel foils, and together they put on a fast-paced match that had nonstop action.

7. WrestleMania - Universal Championship Match: Brock Lesnar def. Goldberg (c)
Earlier I mentioned how I’m a sucker for a good hoss fight, and that is why this match is way too high in my rankings. This match wasn’t even five minutes, but it was everything I could have hoped for. Just nothing but Spears, Jackhammers, German Suplexes, and F-5s. It was the match that it needed to be.

6. NXT - SAnitY def. Tye Dillinger, Roderick Strong, Kassius Ohno and Ruby Riot
This was probably the most pleasant surprise of the weekend, as this match was fantastic. It was nonstop action, and no disrespect to No Way Jose, but it was greatly helped by Kassius Ohno. Tye Dillinger may have taken the loss, but when he got the hot tag, he looked like a star, and like most of Dillinger’s run as the Perfect 10, the wins and losses don’t matter, the moments do, and I hope he keeps tenning his way through Smackdown.

5. WrestlePro - Cody Rhodes def. Brian Cage
Some guys are destined to be stars, and Cody Rhodes seems like one of those guys. I’m not sure if anyone benefitted more from leaving WWE and going the independent route, as he has been absolutely tearing it up no matter who he gets matched with. He’s really embraced the independent lifestyle as he’s busy signing autographs and taking pictures. But yeah, Cody Rhodes is fantastic in the ring, and he’s able to fully show his capabilities since he doesn’t have the chains of the WWE holding him back. Also, as I mentioned yesterday, Cage is super awesome too.

4. WrestleMania - Seth Rollins def. Triple H
Since he’s been in WWE for so long, primarily as a heel, people forget how good Seth Rollins is at wrestling. Triple H only has 1-2 matches a year, and he knows how to make them count. You’re going to see a lot of kickouts from finishers, although this one one didn’t rely on that trope nearly as much as past matches. It was great. If you didn’t enjoy it, that really stinks for you.

3. WrestleMania - AJ Styles def. Shane McMahon
I came in absolutely positive that I would not like this match. As much as people love to build up Shane McMahon, he is not a good wrestler. But I have to give him this, this was the best wrestling he’s ever done. He actually had some chain wrestling in there that looked pretty smooth. But AJ Styles is incredible. Like, I could go in there and maybe have a 3 star match with AJ. I don’t know how, because I don’t know anything about how to wrestle, but he’d find a way, just like he found a way to have the best match at WrestleMania with Shane McMahon.

2. NXT - Tag Team Championship (Triple Threat Elimination Match): The Authors of Pain (c) def. DIY and The Revival
This might be WWE’s match of the year, and yet it’s not number one on this list? I don’t know, man. I think if I watched these both back on video, this match could definitely be number one, but part of it is the experience of being there, and that is why this match is only number two. But yes, this match was incredible. Like, wow, it was so good. I was giggling like a child at how awesome it was to see guys teaming up to try to take out the Authors of Pain, and somehow AoP overcoming it all to dominate. You really need to see this match.

1. Wrestlecon Supershow - Team Ricochet (Richocet, Jason Cade, Sami Callihan, AR Fox and Desmond Xavier) def Team Ospreay (Ospreay, Lio Rush, Drew Galloway, Ryan Smile, and Marty Scurll)
But there is nothing that was going to beat this 10-man tag match. Was it a better wrestling match? Well, it’s tough to say. You can’t build months of animosity at a one-off show, which is something that the NXT tag match had going for it, but you can’t suspend disbelief and just have fun at a WWE show, which is something that this match took full advantage of, as it broke into a full-on dance-off. There was so much incredible acrobatics during this match that there is no way that I could list it all. Ospreay and Ricochet did their incredibly athletic choreographed number, which I have to say, is even more incredible in person. For those that think that isn’t wrestling, suck an egg. But yeah, the entire crowd was exhausted after this match, so it was good that they had intermission afterwards, but it took about halfway through the battle royal before the crowd regained their strength. It was so damn sweet, and that is why it is in its rightful place at the top of my WrestleMania Match Rankings.

You Need to Go to an Independent Wrestling Show

Guys (and gals), you need to go to an independent wrestling show. That is the only point that I really want to make in this post, because independent wrestling is so totally awesome that anyone can enjoy it. That's right; it's not just for wrestling fans. You can think wrestling is fake or stupid or only for children, and even I'll admit, those arguments do hold varying degrees of legitimacy (the latter two more than the first), but even you, naysayer, will love independent wrestling.

Now, I'll admit, I'm spoiled. I live in Florida, and despite all of its issues with racists, scumbags, and bath salt users, it is also probably the greatest place to live for professional wrestling. Yes, we've got NXT shows galore, but on top of that, there is a really strong independent wrestling presence due to the fact that a lot of professional wrestlers live in the state. The only thing I'm missing is a wrestling buddy, but that may have changed this past weekend when I finally convinced my wife to go to a Full Impact Pro show with me in Tampa.

The show was held at The Orpheum, a small music venue with a stage, and the ring was set up right in the middle of where people would watch a concert, limiting the actual space for seats around ringside. This was luckily not an issue as there were maybe 75-100 people there for the show. We found some stools at the bar which put us in the second row as there were a row of about 8 folding chairs between us and the ring.

It took approximately two minutes before I realized that going to this independent show was not a good idea, it was a great idea. During the welcome by the announcer, two jobbers get thrown into the ring and physically dominated by a couple other dudes. It took them about a minute before they launched one of the jobbers into the crowd. Were the people in the crowd in on it? I mean, almost definitely, but either way, it was great and established what was to come the rest of the night.

After that, in a weird coincidence, there was a five way match from the Black and Brave Wrestling Academy, which is actually the wrestling school that is located in my hometown. I'll admit that I thought it was going to be the shits, just because the school has only been open for a few years, so none of the guys could have that much experience, but it was actually pretty fun. There was a good mix of high impact moves and comedy as one guy used a hoverboard in one of his big spots. It's one of the nice things about independent wrestling, because it doesn't need to take itself seriously.

A couple matches later, things jumped to another level when Caleb Konley took on Jason Cade. They kept flying out of the ring at each other. When they weren't doing that, they were dropping each other on the bar floor or hitting a brainbuster on a steel chair about five feet away from my seat. And even if they didn't do any of that, the in ring action was enough for it to be an awesome match. I don't know what pay scale these independent wrestlers earn, but I have trouble believing it's more than a couple hundred bucks for mid card guys. The effort and bodily harm they put out there for that money is absolutely incredible, and the crowd couldn't help but cheer both guys by the end of the match.

On top of unknown guys killing each other for a relatively small amount of money, they also had some legitimate names. The most well known were three guys from Lucha Underground, AR Fox (Dante Fox), Sami Callihan (Jeremiah Crane on LU and formerly Solomon Crowe in NXT), and Brian Cage, who I was most excited to see. That is another thing about professional wrestling; some of these dudes are big as hell, and Brian Cage is massive in person. And to see a massive guy do flips and throw people around like nothing is super damn entertaining. The great thing about the professional wrestling is it's not just entertaining for pro wrestling fans; it's just entertaining, and these guys know how to put on a show.

And most importantly, they know their audience, and most independent wrestling shows strongly gear towards entertaining adults. They dropped just about every cuss word imaginable, and since it was at a bar, the beer was flowing like...uh, beer. And when the beer turns the crowd into idiots, the wrestlers will address it. Some guys wanted to heckle Sami Callihan so after the match Callihan went nose to nose with the heckler and told him to take a shot. When the guy didn't do anything (outside of maybe pissing himself), Sami kissed him on the cheek and walked away. It was pretty hilarious.

It's insane that people will spend $15 to go to a movie where they sit quietly and watch a screen when, for five dollars more, they could see independent wrestling. You can't go see a quality live performance for anywhere near that money, especially for seats that are only a few feet away. On top of that, they will literally throw a wrestler into your lap. Heck, you might even get a kiss.

Independent wrestling is awesome. You need to see it for yourself.