WrestleMania is just around the corner and everyone wants a “WrestleMania Moment.” On this list, I’ll settle on the best 40 moments of WrestleMania.

40 — Pete Rose Tombstoned

Celebrities are an important aspect of WrestleMania. A couple of moments in this list will touch on these celebs. One of which is banned from Major League Baseball for gambling, Pete Rose. Vengeance came to Rose in the form of KANE at WrestleMania IV, right before “Brother versus Brother” at WrestleMania.

39 — Angle Submits Michaels

The first WrestleMania I watched as it happened was WrestleMania 21 in Hollywood. This was a classic dream match between Kurt Angle and “Mr. WrestleMania” himself Shawn Michaels. This is Shawn’s one of many appearances on this list, but he wasn’t the victor. Shawn sold the Angle Lock like nobody else before inevitably tapping out in a humiliating fashion. You won’t see anyone sell a submission hold like this anymore, and for Kurt to force Shawn to tap, should go in the record books with Match of the Night.

38 — Firefly Funhouse and Boneyard Match

2020 was an odd year. WrestleMania 36 didn’t feel like WrestleMania, and how could it with no crowd? Two matches made lemonade with their lemons, the Firefly Funhouse and the Boneyard Match. Between Bray Wyatt taking John Cena and the WWE Universe through an alternate universe, to Undertaker’s final match with “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles, the efforts in such a difficult time should be praised. It was to entertain us all and I’m thankful.

37 — Bryan/Ryder win Intercontinental Ladder Match back-to-back Manias

I combine these two because they’re equally as important. There was a multi-man ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 31 and 32. After surrendering his WWE Championship due to injury months prior, Daniel Bryan fought back to get to WrestleMania 31 and win the Intercontinental Championship. The following year, Zack Ryder had an unlikely “Mania Moment” by winning the same title in the same match in front of his dad. Two underdogs reached the top of the ladder that night.

36 — Rousey and Rock confront The Authority

WrestleMania 31 might show up more than once. After his match with Sting, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon showed up gloating to be confronted by The Rock… and Ronda Rousey. This was the WWE Universe’s introduction to Rousey and while we never got this dream tag match, Rousey had fear rush through Stephanie’s body in one of the coolest “cool-off” moments in a WrestleMania.

35 — Hogan, Austin and Rock toast to 30

With 40 years of WrestleMania this year, at the 30-year mark we had three icons meet in the ring all at once to toast WrestleMania’s 30 years. These three had plenty of meetings individually and with each other, so this was a cool nostalgic moment fans still talk about today… even if Hogan thought it was in the Pontiac Silverdome the whole time.

34 — The Rock Screws John Cena

The Rock came back in 2011 to host WrestleMania 27 in Atlanta, but his presence wasn’t felt until he screwed John Cena out of the WWE Championship, aiding The Miz in a very unlikely win. Ironically, fans didn’t turn on The Rock for this, and a lot of fans praised Rock because of the anti-Cena crowd at the time. This led to not one, but two “once-in-a-lifetime” matches at the next two WrestleManias.

33 — Vince Goes Bald

You can’t tell the history of WrestleMania without mentioning some blackballed or controversial figures. Donald Trump shaved Vince McMahon’s head. Don’t cancel me, it happened in 2007 at WrestleMania 23. After Bobby Lashley, Trump’s representative, defeated Vince’s representative Umaga, Vince had to get his head shaved in a full Detroit stadium. This led to “ECW Champion” and “Du-Rag” Vince.

32 — Edge Wins First Money in the Bank

Money in the Bank is another interesting concept Chris Jericho takes credit for. It has changed the course of history for the last 20 years. For Edge to win the first Money in the Bank Ladder Match at WrestleMania 21, he would go on to cash in on a weakened John Cena to win his first WWE Championship, laying the path for others to follow suit and other careers to skyrocket to the main event scene.

31 — Rey Wins for Eddie

In November 2005, the wrestling world was struck with the loss of beloved entertainer Eddie Guerrero. Eddie was originally slated to contend for the World Heavyweight Championship and a dream match against Shawn Michaels was penciled in for WrestleMania 22. Fast forward to the Royal Rumble in January 2006, Eddie’s real-life best friend, who had incredible matches against Mysterio in WCW and WWE, won the 30-man over-the-top-rope affair from the #2 spot, lasting an hour, to main event WrestleMania. Mysterio would go on, as a 5’6” underdog, to beat Kurt Angle and Randy Orton to miraculously win the World Heavyweight Championship, for his late friend Eddie Guerrero. These were unfortunate circumstances, and we’d much rather have Eddie still with us, but it was a cool tribute moment.

30 — Cena and Batista win their first World Championships

Mysterio and Guerrero fought each other at WrestleMania 21, the same night these two won their first world title. After a Royal Rumble fiasco at the end, John Cena and Batista both toppled to the floor and the match restarted for Batista to eliminate John Cena. Inevitably, both fought their respective champions. John Cena defeated JBL, the longest reigning world champion in SmackDown history, to win his first of sixteen WWE Championships while Batista stood up to his evil faction leader Triple H to win the World Heavyweight Championship. This was truly a night where two legends were made.

29 — Ultimate Warrior Saves Hogan

At WrestleMania 8, Papa Shango caused a disqualification in Hulk Hogan’s main event match with Sid. While the fans should have got the dream Hogan versus Flair match in their primes, the night instead ended with the Ultimate Warrior making his long-awaited return to save the Hulkster, someone he had a history with. This gave the company momentum for the rest of the year and, funny enough, sparked the rumor there were two Ultimate Warriors.

28 — Razor Wins The Ladder Match

WrestleMania has plenty of ladder matches in its history, but the event credited for the first ladder match in company history was at WrestleMania 10 when Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon both had a claim to be Intercontinental Champion. If you haven’t watched this match, it’s a classic and a must. We have a perfect still-frame of Michaels leaping off the ladder onto Razor Ramon, along with the iconic photo of Razor spreading his arms with both Intercontinental titles on top of the ladder. Without the success of this match, it changes the course of history.

27 — Undertaker Retires Michaels

Their WrestleMania 25 encounter is arguably the greatest WrestleMania match of all time. But the story behind WrestleMania 26 was even better: Undertaker’s undefeated Streak at WrestleMania versus “Mr. WrestleMania’s” career in Shawn Michaels. In one of the best send-off matches of WWE’s history, Michaels went out on his back and capped off an incredible second chapter of his career, coming back in 2002 after finding his faith.

26 — Shane’s Leap of Faith

WrestleMania 32 was the largest Mania crowd ever with over 100,000 packing the home of the Dallas Cowboys. However, 2016 was full of so many injuries. Shane McMahon returned to the company after a long hiatus and was inserted into a match against The Undertaker inside Hell in a Cell. Shane O’Mac was known to dive off anything at his young age, but nobody expected him to leap off that tall cage, crashing and burning through the announce table. Of all the “wrong” that went on leading up to WrestleMania 32, this moment will be etched in the minds of fans forever.

25 — The Deadman Returns

To prevent himself from going stale, The Undertaker morphed his character in the Attitude Era from a deadman to a biker. Having this new edge allowed Undertaker to talk more on the microphone and add layers to his stories in the ring. He was buried alive in a match with his “brother” Kane in the fall of 2003, before he would hint at his comeback for WrestleMania 20 in Madison Square Garden. The druids came out, Kane couldn’t believe his eyes, and “The Deadman” became the Deadman once again. Undertaker continued his undefeated streak and got revenge on Kane in one of the brighter moments of WrestleMania 20 and another chapter in the “brother versus brother” storybook.

24 — Asuka’s Undefeated Streak Ends

Throughout NXT and the main roster, Asuka didn’t lose for 914 days — the longest streak in company history to start a career. This beat Goldberg’s streak in WCW. At WrestleMania 34, the same place The Undertaker’s Streak ended four years prior to Brock Lesnar, Asuka lost her streak and SmackDown Women’s Championship to Charlotte Flair in a real jaw-dropper.

23 — Flaming Table

In 2005, Edge won Money in the Bank and had his WrestleMania moment. Edge would later cash in to win the WWE Championship at New Year’s Revolution 2006 but lost the title to John Cena just a few weeks later. Instead of walking into WrestleMania 22 as WWE Champion, he encountered Mick Foley in a Hardcore Match that can be summed up in the latter moments. Edge speared Mick Foley through a flaming table off the ring apron and pinned the Hardcore Legend himself. This was Foley’s “WrestleMania moment” as much as it was for Edge, and the two were magical.

22 — Orton RKOs Rollins

Hours before Seth Rollins would complete “Heist of the Century,” he was on the other side of a WrestleMania moment. Randy Orton has pulled off many impressive RKOs in his WWE career, especially since pop culture and non-wrestling fans know what an RKO is. For Orton to use Seth’s momentum from a Curb Stomp attempt to launch Seth in the air for a perfect RKO in Levi’s Stadium, it was something fans had to see to believe! What a move! Not only is this moment considered one of the best RKOs ever but it’s also considered one of the best-executed moves in WrestleMania history.

21 — Owens & Zayn Hug It Out

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn grew up in the business together and finally made it to WWE together. They’re real-life best friends and have wrestled with and against each other. None was more special to close Night 1 of WrestleMania 39 last year. Owens and Zayn, feuding with the Bloodline, teamed up to win the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships from The Usos and end the longest tag title reign in WWE history. You can only imagine the emotion that built up for those two, not only over the course of one night or a few months, but over their entire careers.

That magical moment last year at WrestleMania will be remembered in the history books forever! What new moments will be made this year at WrestleMania 40? What are the Top 20 moments in WrestleMania history? Let us know in the comments what you think is #1 and find out in Part 2 of this series.