WrestleMania 41 ultimate guide: The best match — and one hidden gem — from all 32 wrestlers on the card

To get ready for WrestleMania 41, Uncrowned has put together an extensive match guide. For all 32 wrestlers on this weekend’s card, we’ve combed through the archives to pick a match which represents a career highlight, either their best match or the most important match of their professional run — or both. We’ve also gone digging through the crates to find a lesser known, lesser seen curiosity from their career. It could be a banger from their pre-WWE run in the indies, Japan or Mexico, a lost gem from early in their career or a house show nugget taped from the seats with someone’s phone — sometimes cool, minor works are as edifying and interesting as the matches wrestlers are best known for.

There’s plenty of homework to catch up on before WrestleMania 41 — or plenty of time to deep dive into someone who caught your eye after the show — so without further ado, let’s dive in.

Career Highlight: CM Punk vs. John Cena, Money in the Bank (7/17/11)

An incredible mix of story, atmosphere and wrestling. Punk had just dropped the pipe bomb, crossing his legs in the middle of the ring and taking shots at Cena, Vince McMahon and the entire company, announcing his contract ended on this date and that he would walk out of the WWE holding the belt. The match was in Chicago, where Punk holds a homefield advantage unlike any in modern wrestling, and the match itself lived up to that billing.

Away game Cena is always awesome. The crowd hated everything he did, and he luxuriated in that hate. The crowd investment allowed them to work a slowly building world title match, which built to an absolutely huge climax. WWE unsurprisingly flubbed the aftermath of this match, but on this night it all landed perfectly.

Digging In the Crates: CM Punk vs. Raven, ROH Death Before Dishonor (7/19/03)

Punk had a long and storied indy career, so it was hard to pick just one crates match for him, but this is the match and the feud where CM Punk became something special. Punk was 25 years old, finding himself as a wrestler and a character. Raven was 39, freshly out of rehab and eager to prove himself as someone who still had a place in 21st century wrestling.

Punk cut his first classic promos about how Raven was a drunk just like Punk’s father. They were bound together with a dog collar and tore into each other viciously. This was ROH showing that it wasn’t just about technical wrestling, but this other thing too. We had a wild ECW overbooked finish, with Punk pouring beer down Raven’s throat to send him back to rehab, and Tommy Dreamer making the save and forcing beer down the famously straight-edged Punk. All of it helped highlight the star Punk would become.

Career Highlight: Seth Rollins vs. Cody Rhodes, Hell in a Cell (6/6/22)

This was the first Hell in a Cell in years to approach the legendary brutality of the early classics. Rhodes came in with a grotesque purple bruise on his chest from a torn pec. Like he said, “You won’t let me bleed from my head, can’t stop me from bleeding inside my body.”

Rhodes looked like he was rotting from the inside. Rollins was a focused, violent freak, battering the injury. There was even some classic pro-wrestling BS with Dusty’s bullrope — and in the end, you get a memorable piece of violence.

Digging In the Crates: Tyler Black vs. Marek Brave, AAW (11/25/06)

Black (aka Rollins) and Brave were tag partners and opponents throughout the early part of their careers (and now own a wrestling school together). This was a no-rope barbed wire match, and feels like a couple of nutty kids going out and testing themselves.

Brave goes flying a million miles an hour through the barbed wire to the floor at one point, and Black gets tossed through a barbed wire board. This really captured the DIY spirit of 2000s indy wrestling. I don’t think either of these guys saw themselves as future WrestleMania headliners at the time. They just went out and wrecked themselves for the love of the game.

Career Highlight: Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar, WrestleMania 31 (3/29/15)

One of the great larger than life battles in wrestling history, two giant freak athletes throwing live rounds in a huge stadium.

Lesnar is at his reckless best, coming at Reigns so hard in the first moments that his eye gets cut. He manhandles Roman, tossing him from pillar to post, until Lesnar gets posted, cut open and we have an all-time babyface comeback from Reigns. That is, until Seth Rollins comes in to steal the spotlight at the very end.

This is pretty much the match that showed Roman could perform at the very highest level.

Digging In the Crates: Wyatt Family vs. The Shield, WWE Main Event (4/8/14)

The first two matches of this feud, at the Elimination Chamber and the next night on “WWE Raw,” are certified classics. But the third match happened on WWE Main Event and was similarly tremendous.

Back-and-forth tag wrestling here, building to the traditional fireworks finish which defined the Shield era. We had Rollins flying all over the ring, Ambrose throwing fists and Reigns dropping huge bombs — all with the unhinged aggression of the Wyatt family to play off.

Jey Uso and Gunther face off during Night One of WrestleMania 41.

(WWE via Getty Images)

Career Highlight: Sheamus vs. Gunther, WWE Clash at the Castle (9/3/22)

One of the great slugfest matches of the 21st century. Sheamus’s fish-belly white body is the perfect canvas for Gunther’s chops, and Sheamus returns every shot with equal force.

It’s the wrestling equivalent of a 1970s heavyweight boxing slugfest, only with chops and forearms.

Digging In the Crates: WALTER vs. Darby Allin, EVOLVE 106 (6/23/18)

The greatest piñata in current wrestling against the greatest baseball bat.

This was plus-size Gunther, before the crossfit and plant-based diet. He put every ounce of that weight behind each shot, sending Darby careening all over the ring. Meanwhile, Darby is an incredible in-ring problem-solver who finds ways to have moments, especially in his dissection of WALTER’s hand.

I can imagine how amazing a big arena spectacle version of this match would be today, but the small venue version was pretty special too.

Career Highlight: Usos vs. Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn, WrestleMania 39 (4/1/23)

This was the first tag match to main event WrestleMania since ‘Mania 1. It was also the apex of what The Usos have been doing for over a decade.

Owens and Zayn are a pair of forever partners and opponents going back to shows in French Canadian bars, and they get their huge moment, ending The Usos’ title reign in a big match full of drama and near-falls. The story was Owens and Sami, but The Usos built up such such a recognizable formula that they were the perfect mountain to climb.

Digging In the Crates: Jules Uso/Jimmy Uso vs. Bo Rotundo/Duke Rotundo, FCW (1/14/10)

This is one of the earliest matches of Jey’s career (Cagematch has it fifth, although that isn’t always 100% accurate), working a compact television tag against the future Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas.

Simple tag formula here, with the Rotundos cutting off Jimmy until he can make a tag and finish Duke off with a double Samoan spike. Nothing revelatory, but you can see the seeds of something.

Career Highlight: Tiffany Stratton vs. Bayley, WWE SmackDown (1/17/25)

In her first world title defense, Stratton was put in a tough position for someone so early in her career: A long title defense in the main event of “WWE SmackDown.”

There was limb work early in the match, escalating to some nasty bumps on the floor, including Stratton trapping Bayley in the ring skirt and smashing her kidneys into the side of the ring (a move she might have been taught by WWE Performance Center trainer Fit Finlay). There’s a cool finishing run too, with lots of move reversals in a way that felt organic rather than mechanical.

Digging In the Crates: Jade Cargill/Bianca Belair/Bayly vs. Tiffany Stratton/Liv Morgan/Shayna Bayzler, WWE Supershow (7/14/24)

Here we had a crowd-pleasing house show six-man tag match, in front of a super hot crowd in Monterrey, Mexico. Tiffany was probably the most over person on her team, and she clearly connected with the crowd.

It’s cool to see how many of the old tricks still work: A babyface punching a heel in the corner as the crowd counts along, cutting off the ring while the babyface is on the apron, stomping to get the crowd into it. Parts of this one felt like it could have happened in 1985.

Career Highlight: Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey, WrestleMania 35 (4/7/19)

This was the first ever women’s match to main event WrestleMania and was a winner-take-all match for both women’s titles. Becky was the crowd favorite, and Ronda the crossover phenom, but Charlotte was the glue who held the match together. She had years of chemistry with Becky, and a kind of prickly relationship with Ronda where it always felt moments away from one of them shooting on the other.

While the moment was Becky’s, Charlotte was right there on the biggest stage possible.

Digging In the Crates: Charlotte Flair vs. Ember Moon (8/23/19)

Charlotte is always best when she has an opponent willing to throw with her. In many ways, she is less like her father Ric Flair and more like one of his legendary opponents, Ronnie Garvin — every match is a test of manhood/womenhood.

Ember Moon (aka Athena) is willing to step into the pocket with anyone, and here, you could see the force in every shot, even from the cheap seats with a handheld camera. This isn’t a matchup which happened much — just a couple of “SmackDown” matches and some house shows — but it really sung.

New Day’s Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston challenge for the WWE tag titles on Night One of WrestleMania 41.

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Career Highlight: Viking Raiders vs. New Day, WWE SmackDown (9/2/22)

Here we have a Viking Rules match, essentially a Falls Count Anywhere match with shields tied to the ropes and the giant front of a Viking ship next to the ring. A really preposterous gimmick match, in other words, which somehow really worked.

All four guys took nutty bumps off of the boat and onto the wood deck, and the Raiders crushed the New Day with their bulk. It’s the kind of match you start out scoffing at, but by the end you want to see 10 more Viking Rules matches.

Digging In the Crates: War Machine vs. Da Hit Squad, Beyond Wrestling (10/2/16)

Da Hit Squad was a pair of bruisers from an earlier era — a duo of big, strong and nasty Puerto Rican dudes who ruled Jersey All-Pro Wrestling in the early days of Ring of Honor. War Machine were basically a next generation Hit Squad in the indies at this time, and this was four big, stout guys pounding on each other.

It’s monster heavyweight wrestling that tests the ring supports on every slam and suplex, with four heavy-handed guys who are totally unwilling to take a step back.

For those who know, this is an on-paper dream match — and one that totally delivered.

Career Highlight: New Day vs. The Usos, WWE Smackdown (11/11/22)

This was another chapter in the endless feud between The New Day and The Usos, the signature tag feud of the 21st century.

The story behind this particular encounter is the Usos were about to break the New Day’s record for longest WWE tag reign, and the New Day were trying to keep that record by taking the titles. This felt like a huge sports moment — one great team trying to keep their names etched in the record books, while the other team tried to write them out. Those stakes added meaning to every big near-fall and save — and added an exciting twist to a well-worn formula.

Digging In the Crates: Big E/Xavier Woods vs. The Revival and Kofi Kingston vs. Daniel Bryan (9/21/19)

A double-header of fan-cam matches from Shanghai, China, with a tag match against one of the best tag teams of the 21st century, and a Kofi singles match against the best singles wrestler of the 21st century.

Both matches really showcase the charisma that have the made the New Day so successful. Revival cut off the ring, leading to a super-hot tag by Big E and a fun finishing run.

Bryan really tried to ground Kofi, setting him up for a big comeback of his own.

Altogether, it’s very cool that this exists.

Career Highlight: LA Knight vs. Logan Paul, WWE SummerSlam (8/3/24)

It doesn’t get much bigger than capturing a title in a big, splashy match at a football stadium.

LA Knight has always been a maximalist wrestler, playing to the back of the crowd. This was the peak of that form for him. It had a lot of the points you’d expect from a big Logan Paul match, like crazy highspots (a top rope quebrada by Paul, and a leaping top rope brainbuster by Knight), plus lots of brand integration brawling spots with a big flashy finish.

Digging In the Crates: Shaun Ricker vs. Brian Cage, NWA Hollywood (10/14/12)

Ricker and Cage were a tag team managed by Percy Pringle III (aka Paul Bearer), so when they broke up, they worked a casket match in honor of their late mentor.

Fun television studio brawl here, with some impressive power spots by both guys and a clever near-fall where Cage couldn’t close the casket because he’d already thrown a stooge in there, which meant Ricker wouldn’t fit.

Career Highlight: Jacob Fatu vs. Braun Strowman, WWE Smackdown (4/4/25)

A Last Man Standing match to see who goes to WrestleMania — and it was basically a pair of Stegosauruses smashing into each other.

Fatu is really great at these kind of Kaiju battles. He is a huge dude who carries himself like he is even bigger. Lots of full speed running through each other here, in addition to barriers and tables — just one head-on car crash after another.

Digging In the Crates: Jacob Fatu vs. LA Park, MLW (11/2/19)

The ageless LA Park matched Fatu blow-for-blow in this wild No Holds Barred Street Fight.

Both guys smashed each other in the skull with hard things and sprayed blood from open wounds. There was a fire ball, Park spearing a valet through a table, plus huge dives from huge guys.

Park is one of the great unhinged brawlers in wrestling history. He’s been spilling blood since the late ’80s, and he unleashed every bit of insanity on Fatu.

The legend Rey Mysterio makes his latest WrestleMania appearance on Night One.

(WWE via Getty Images)

Career Highlight: Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero, WWE SmackDown (6/23/05)

Rey has one of those transcendent careers where you could pick maybe 100 different matches in this category and make a plausible argument for it. His rivalry with Eddie Guerrero is his greatest though, and this was their masterpiece.

Eddie had been driven insane by his inability to beat Rey, and he comes into this match with a dead-eyed stare like he hadn’t slept in weeks. This doesn’t start as a heated brawl, though. Eddie instead is determined to out-wrestle Rey, and when Rey gets the better of him, he totally snaps and tries to destroy his body. Rey refuses to go down and somehow pulls out yet another win.

The actual work in this match is pitch perfect. In addition, we get a triumphant heroic journey from Rey and the tragic dissolution of Eddie.

Digging In the Crates: Rey Mysterio/El Hijo Del Santo/Octagon vs. Fuerza Guerrera/Psicosis/Blue Panther, AAA (3/17/95)

Rey has the deepest well of hidden gems to pick from, but I wanted to highlight something from 21-year-old Rey, when he was arguably the most athletically impressive wrestler ever. Rey was hummingbird quick in 1995, and he is matched up with three Hall of Fame rudos in Fuerza, Panther and (Rey’s greatest dance partner) Psicosis.

This match has everything you want from classic lucha trios: Fast, early mat wrestling exchanges, rudo chicanery, and a wild finish with a series of mind-blowing dives. There is no reason to think a guy dancing on a razor blade like young Rey Jr. could have a career spanning three more decades — and what a testament to his greatness that is.

Career Highlight: Chad Gable vs. Gunther, WWE Raw (9/24/23)

This was a match with tremendous stakes for a TV match. Gunther was trying to break the Honkey Tonk Man’s intercontinental title record; Gable was desperate to prove himself as a serious contender, with his kids in the audience. Gunther had been built up as such a dominant champion that Gable was going to need to have a career night to win.

Gable dancing through raindrops was the story of the match, always a step ahead, finding ways to counter Gunther, trick Gunther, out-wrestle the wrestling machine, do everything right — until the moment he didn’t.

Digging In the Crates: American Alpha vs. Revival, WWE Axxess (4/3/16)

The NXT feud between these two was some of the best tag wrestling the promotion had seen — a 21st century Steiners vs. Midnight Express.

This was a hand-held from a pre-WrestleMania WWE Axxess show, and they played the hits; big throws by Gable and Jason Jordan (who is a total “What if?” wrestler — he would’ve been a big star if he didn’t get hurt), old-school cheap shots and heel tricks by the Revival, plus a unique finish which threw a wrench in the traditional hot-tag formula.

Altogether a very cool match, and it’s cool to see the different twists they put into this.

Career Highlight: Jade Cargill vs. Kris Statlander, AEW Rampage (9/15/23)

Cargill’s career highlights are in front of her almost assuredly, but this match — which was her swan song in AEW — is the closest she’s come to putting it all together in her early career.

Statlander is also a power wrestler, and this was a fun heavyweight conflict; Cargill really elevated her by working basically equal, after overpowering most of her previous opponents, and they had a fun exchange of counters near the end, climaxing in Statlander’s big win.

Digging In the Crates: Jade Cargill/Bianca Belair vs. Iyo Sky/Dakota Kai (7/27/24)

Really fun tag match here from Tokyo, kind of a distaff Road Warriors vs Midnight Express match.

Cargill and Bianca are both monsters in this match, bumping around Sky and Kai and looking undeniable. Damage CNTRL found their moments though; to get in a shot here, a shot there, they cut off Cargill and made her work, and somehow they stole the match at the end.

It feels like one of those NBA Tuesday night upsets, where you look at the scoreboard and think: “How the hell did the Celtics lose to the Wizards?”

Career Highlight: Naomi vs. Charlotte Flair, WWE SmackDown (2/11/22)

The match felt like Charlotte putting on a classic Ric Flair title defense, back when he used to come into town, face the top star of that territory, and have everyone in the arena believing the local hero would pull it out.

It was the performance of Naomi’s career, as she threw everything at the champ, only to fall just a bit short.

Digging In the Crates: Naomi/Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair/Sonya Deville, WWE MSG (3/6/22)

A surprisingly sick tag match, with Naomi taking quite a beating to open things as a neon Ricky Morton. This led to a Ronda hot tag and a pretty cool finish run between Ronda and Flair.

Sonya Deville was a limited wrestler, but would throw heat. Naomi is great at selling that beating and building to a big tag.

John Cena and Cody Rhodes headline Night Two of WrestleMania 41.

(WWE via Getty Images)

Career Highlight: Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns, WrestleMania 40 (4/7/24)

Nothing says career highlight more than winning the world title after a nearly two-year quest at the main event of WrestleMania.

This match was the climax of the Bloodline story, with all of the bells and whistles that one had come to expect in a Roman Reigns main event. That meant cameos, run-ins, dramatic near falls, acting, whizzes, bangs — all of it. At the end, it was Rhodes fulfilling his father’s dream and standing tall.

Digging In the Crates: Cody Rhodes vs. Kurt Angle, NEW (3/3/17)

This was a steel cage match and the third match in Rhodes’ mini-series with Kurt Angle. Angle still had the athletic explosion which defined his career, and he chucked Rhodes with the kind of German suplexes only he could throw.

This was really a gritty, violent cage match. It was mainly there for Rhodes to try Angles’ top of the cage moonsault, although the way they used the escape for the finish was clever.

Career Highlight: John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar, Extreme Rules (4/29/12)

This was Lesnar’s first WWE match since 2004, following a stint as UFC heavyweight champion, and he had a presentation which was really different than anyone else in wrestling at the time. Cena was basically stuck in a wrestling ring with a Kodiak bear.

Lesnar brutalized the champion, splitting him open with sharp downed elbows and pulverizing his ribs. It really felt like coming off an MMA career, Lesnar had forgotten how to pull his punches, and it seemed reckless for the WWE to let the franchise player take this kind of beating.

Cena is one of the great rolling-back-the-stone wrestlers ever. After absorbing that beating, dropping Lesnar with the chain-assisted KO punch was an incredible moment of catharsis.

Digging In the Crates: John Cena vs. AJ Styles, (3/20/17)

This was a Worcester street fight, and a pretty standard WWE brawl with chairs, tables and steel steps. But that kind of thing can really be elevated when you have wrestlers with such great timing and execution.

It’s a really fun heel performance from Styles, who is great as a cheap-shot artist in a match with no rules. Cena is one of the great “I just got kicked in my junk” sellers in wrestling history, and this is a perfect example.

Career Highlight: Iyo Sky vs. Zelina Vega vs. Trish Stratus vs. Bayley vs. Zoe Stark vs. Becky Lynch, WWE Money in the Bank (7/1/23)

A wild Money in the Bank match here full of crazy bumps, as per usual, especially a psychotic Code Red by Zelina Vega off of a ladder onto another ladder, sending Zoe Stark head-first onto metal.

You also have to give a lot of credit to 47-year-old Trish Stratus for taking a uranage on a ladder; feels like there are easier ways to make money.

Sky got some big showcase moments of her own: She hit a moonsault from the top of a ladder, and then, after first being double crossed by Bayley earlier in the match, gets her revenge by handcuffing Bayley to Becky Lynch and climbing over them to get the briefcase. It was the biggest WWE victory of her career so far, and a good showcase in equal parts of her insanity, charm and comic timing.

Digging In the Crates: Io Shirai vs. Meiko Satomura, STARDOM Year End Climax (12/23/15)

Meiko had invaded STARDOM, ripped through its roster and taken its belt — and Shirai, the ace of the promotion, was STARDOM’s final hope.

She laid out the way you would expect a champ to lay out, taking the kind of beating only Meiko Satomura could deliver. Shirai took several insane Sabuish bumps to the floor, before finally felling Meiko with the moves of her fellow Threedom wrestlers Kari Hojo and Miyu Iwatani in a cool bit of symbolism.

Career Highlight: Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks, WrestleMania 37 (4/10/21)

Belair and Banks became the first Black women to main event WrestleMania. It was the wily veteran Banks, who was comfortable swimming in deep waters, against the less experienced, hyper-athletic challenger trying to prove she belongs.

Belair had some truly monumental moments of strength, including catching a Banks plancha, rolling through into a press slam and walking her up the stairs. There was a great bit of symmetry, where Banks found multiple ways to sneakily use Belair’s braid to keep her off balance the entire match, only for Belair to end the match by lacing her with a braid shot to set up the finish.

You could tell at the beginning of the match that they were both struck with emotion at what it meant to be there. They didn’t let the moment overwhelm them though, as these two delivered a classic match worthy of the spot.

Digging In the Crates: Bianca Belair vs. Bayley (12/10/22)

This was a house show title match, and a total blast to watch.

There is a difference in the way wrestlers work when they are playing to a camera and when they are playing to a live audience, and both women were working a broader style. There’s lots of amusing stooging here by Bayley, who had long sections around trying to pull Belair’s ponytail; also lots of amusing flailing in terror every time Belair got her hands on her.

This is the kind of match every kid in the audience will remember forever, and it’s neat we got to see it.

Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan both return on Night Two of WrestleMania 41.

(WWE via Getty Images)

Career Highlight: Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair, WrestleMania 39 (4/1/23)

There was a lot of discussion that this match should have headlined Night 1 of this year’s WrestleMania — and Ripley and Flair went out to show why.

Arguably the most physical women’s match in ‘Mania history, they practically took pieces off each other. The strikes weren’t dramatic, but they landed with really awkward force, and there was a raggedness to the moves which made everything look really violent. Flair somehow took a top rope German suplex on her throat, and another on her nose.

By the time Ripley got the win, it felt like both women had gargled glass and walked through fire.

Digging In the Crates: Demi Bennett/Meiko Tanaka vs. Alex Lee/Makoto, REINA Mexico Fiesta (4/26/15)

Here’s a 19-year-old Rhea Ripley on her first (and only) Japanese tour, working a Joshi tag match opposite Alex Lee, who would also have a cup of coffee in FCW before having a career in lower-level Joshi promotions.

This is an undercard tag, so a lot of basic rope-running and dropkicks, but it is cool to see Ripley look credible in a Joshi match, which can often be deep waters for someone so young.

Career Highlight: Liv Morgan vs. Ronda Rousey, WWE Extreme Rules (10/8/22)

Morgan comes in defending her Women’s World Championship against Rousey, who she’d escaped from twice prior. Morgan tries to use a bat, a chair and tables to keep Ronda from getting her hands on her and breaking an arm or choking her out. It felt like a final victim in a slasher flick tossing everything in her apartment at the shambolic killer.

The match is kind of jagged, which is a criticism levied against it, but the jaggedness worked — Liv was fighting for her life, and a fight for your life shouldn’t be smooth.

Digging In the Crates: Liv Morgan vs. Kari Sane (7/27/24)

This is from Tokyo and has Morgan defending the belt against a hometown hero.

Great example of Morgan’s work as a heel here, as she is great at cutting off Sane’s big offense, denying the crowd catharsis. Then, when it’s time, she puts her over huge. When Sane makes her run, Morgan totally sells the crowd on an upset only to steal a win right when it seems like the hero will prevail.

It almost felt like a touring Ric Flair title match — not a comparison you’d think to use about Liv Morgan.

Career Highlight: Raquel Gonalez vs. Rhea Ripley, NXT New Year’s Evil (1/6/21)

This was a Last Woman Standing match — and extremely physical one, even by the standards of that gimmick. Some really impressive bumps here, including Ripley getting pump-kicked off of a stage, and Raquel getting speared through a glass door, plus a fun finish with Raquel choke-slamming Rhea through the stage.

This one felt like a match where they came up with some fun ideas and then delivered on them.

Digging In the Crates: Raquel Rodriguez vs. Nia Jax (11/18/23)

Rodriguez is a unit, and is always fun against fellow larger-than-life wrestlers.

Here we have a house show match where she tries to take down Jax again and again, only to be stonewalled by someone even bigger and stronger than her.

Career Highlight: Bayley vs. Sasha Banks, NXT Takeover Brooklyn (8/22/15)

One of the most important women’s wrestling matches in history.

Both women showed out and established they had the capacity to main event big shows, accelerating the women’s division in America into close to equal status with the men. This is a tremendous match with Bayley, the ultimate underdog babyface, furious at the betrayal of someone she considered a friend, and determined to win the title.

Bayley came in with a hand injury and Sasha was vicious attacking it, setting up another obstacle for Bayley to overcome. Just a classic pro-wrestling story told wonderfully.

Digging In the Crates: Bayley vs. Meiko Satomura (7/24/24)

The legendary Satomura, one of the greatest women’s wrestlers of all time, gets a shot at the WWE women’s title in Tokyo.

Satomura has some of the nastiest offense around and she just lit up Bayley with kicks and her trademark cartwheel double knee to the head. The match got derailed a bit with some Money in the Bank stuff, but it got back on track and had an exciting finish run, where the crowd really bought that Meiko might pull the upset.

Career Highlight: Lyra Valkyria vs. Roxanne Perez, NXT Stand and Deliver (4/6/24)

Valkrira came into this match with a broken wing and Perez did her level best to tear it to pieces like the world’s spunkiest Ole Anderson.

A busted up body part is a classic pro-wrestling match structure, but it can be tricky to pull it off. There are tons of examples of that limp magically going away when it is time to do a flip, but Valkyria did yeoman’s work adjusting her game to deal with the injury. As a result, we ended up with a really compelling battle.

Digging In the Crates: Valkyrie vs. Viper, OTT (10/14/18)

This is Lyra working a Harry Potter fan gimmick and trying to climb the mountain which is Viper, aka Piper Niven.

Viper is basically a distaff Scottish Vader in this match, tossing Valkyrie all around the ring while swiping down her attacks like King Kong felling biplanes. There are some huge near falls by the underdog, and Valkyrie showed the babyface fire which would serve her well on a bigger stage.

Bron Breakker defends his WWE title on Night Two of WrestleMania 41.

(WWE via Getty Images)

Career Highlight: Bron Breakker vs. Ilja Dragunov, WWE RAW (7/22/24)

Dragunov is one of the great pace-pushers in pro-wrestling history. He forces his opponents to match his level of violence and pressure, and nothing is scarier than Bron Breakker when he is pressed.

Dragunov was constantly in Breakker’s face, hitting him hard. Breakker was firing back, and there were a couple of moments where Breakker’s punches clunked off Dragunov’s skull and he looked like he was passing out receipts.

We also got a truly gross finish where Breakker speared a diving Dragunov, driving the back of his head into the ring apron and leaving him gasping on the floor like a fish on concrete.

Just a level of violence and force the WWE rarely reaches.

Digging In the Crates: Bron Breakker vs. Sheamus (3/23/25)

This is a fun Intercontinental title defense from the most recent European tour.

Sheamus is always willing to thump, even if cameras aren’t there. You can really appreciate Breakker’s fast-twitch athleticism without any camera cuts. Bron’s willingness to throw himself head-first into Sheamus knees is also a highlight.

Career Highlight: Pentagon Jr. vs. Villano IV, AAA Triplemania XXX (10/15/22)

This was the climax of a big tournament, with the final two placing their masks on the line. Nothing is more meaningful in professional wrestling then a huge mask match in Mexico. Villano IV is a legend, and not only did Penta take his iconic mask, but also ended his career.

The match itself was full of drama and soaked in blood. Villano IV ended up with welts all over his forehead as he was unmasked. Penta was similarly saturated with gore. The match was full of dramatic callbacks to previous moments in Villano’s career, and the finish was truly iconic, with the Mendoza family in the ring to comfort the loser.

Digging In the Crates: Pentagon Jr. vs. Sami Callihan, AAW (10/17/16)

This match is probably too over the top for most wrestling fans. It’s a Mexican death match, full of skewers, barbed wire baseball bats, chair shots and even bumps on legos.

Callihan comes in with his face painted white to taunt Penta, but the white turns pink fast.

Callihan was one of Penta’s big rivals through the indies and TNA, and this is probably their most deranged match. It’s not for everyone, but the ones it is for, it is really for.

Career Highlight: Finn Balor vs. Roman Reigns, WWE Raw (7/25/16)

This was Balor’s first night on the main roster and the WWE strapped a rocket to him the way they rarely do. He won a four-way earlier in the night and then got a shockingly clean pinfall win over Roman Reigns, who had been super protected up to that point.

They matched up really well, with Reigns using power and Balor using speed. Speed won out when Balor dodged a spear, hit a sling blade, followed by a John Woo dropkick and a double stomp to take the win.

Balor ultimately won the first Universal title, only to vacate it due to injury. He was never really able to get back to this level again, but for one night he had the world on a string.

Digging In the Crates: Fergal Devitt vs. Bryan Danielson, NWA Empire (7/21/07)

This is the only time these two met, despite having careers which seemed to exist in parallel.

This is part of an NWA Title tournament, and they wrestle a New Japan Juniors style match, building from some pretty great mat work into bigger moves, including dives and suplexes. Danielson is the master at adding nuances to traditional match formulas, and Devitt brought in some of his own tweaks as well, including some unique tying up of Danielson’s limbs.

Career Highlight: Dominik Mysterio vs. Dragon Lee, WWE Raw (9/25/23)

Many second-generation wrestlers are tweaked versions of their parents. Greg Valentine was the ’70s and ’80s version of Johnny Valentine. El Hijo Del Santo took much of the moves and look from El Santo.

But Dominik Mysterio? He went a different route, patterning his career not on his legendary father, but rather on some of his father’s great antagonists. He is a classic rudo, in the spirit of Negro Casas, Juventud Guerrera and especially Eddie Guerrero (who is his canonical biological father, if you go back 20 years).

Dragon Lee was the Rey surrogate in this match, while Dom was Psicosis — still as athletically impressive but focused on making his opponent the star. Dragon Lee looked incredible here, Dom looked like a sleazy dirtbag, and all of it was tremendously pro wrestling.

Digging In the Crates: Dominik Mysterio vs. CM Punk (12/26/23)

You can’t ask for a bigger endorsement for a wrestler then CM Punk choosing to wrestle Dirty Dom in Punk’s first match back in the WWE.

Mysterio has developed into a solid work horse who has such a high floor with his ability to heat seek and bump. This was a way to reintroduce Punk to the WWE fan base — and Mysterio is a hell of a co-star for that kind of showcase.

Drew McIntyre faces Damian Priest on Night Two of WrestleMania 41.

(WWE via Getty Images)

Career Highlight: Drew McIntyre vs. CM Punk, Bad Blood (10/5/24)

This was a Hell in the Cell match that brought back the gory violence which made the earlier incarnations of this gimmick so memorable.

McIntyre started the bloodletting by driving Punk’s head into the cage and then driving a wrench into the wound. Punk then upped the ante in a truly gruesome way, smashing McIntyre with a tool box and opening up his scalp.

The match went on with many of the dramatic big bump stunts you might expect from a big 21st century cage match, but the patina of red enveloping the wrestlers added so much to every moment.

Digging In the Crates: Drew Galloway vs. Chris Hero, EVOLVE 31 (8/8/14)

This was McIntyre’s first match after being released by the WWE — and it’s clear that he had something to prove.

Hero was the EVOLVE champion, a longtime indy wrestling stalwart, and aimed to push Galloway more than he’d ever been pushed before. Hero started the match tying him up, but when they started going toe-to-toe with strikes, Galloway began evening the score.

Big-time, hard-hitting indy wrestling title match — and the start of McIntyre’s road back.

Career Highlight: Damien Priest vs. Bad Bunny, WWE Backlash (5/6/23)

This is just an incredible achievement for Priest.

It’s one thing for Bad Bunny to work a tag match where he puts a couple of high spots together, but this was a long singles match where Priest is twice Bunny’s size and somehow has to make a singer look like a credible threat, while also not losing his own aura. Yet Priest totally pulls it off.

The match was obviously helped by a nuclear Puerto Rican crowd and a ton of bells and whistles, run-ins, saves by Savio Vega and Carlito, plus lots of weapons bumps — but in the end it was a real triumph, and a real merit badge for a total pro.

Digging In the Crates: Punisher Martinez vs. Abyss, MFPW (4/16/16)

We have a fun heavyweight battle here as the Monster Factory brought in TNA stalwart Abyss to wrestle their top student.

Some big spots by both guys, including a dive over the ringpost onto a bunch of heel goons. There is a ref bump and lots of run-ins; eventually a baby Matt Riddle comes out and cleans house, allowing Martinez to get the title win for a big, crowd-pleasing moment.

Career Highlight: AJ Styles vs. John Cena, WWE Royal Rumble (1/29/17)

Styles came into this match as the WWE Champion, while Cena was trying to tie Ric Flair’s world title record. This was the height of Cena trying bury the “You Can’t Wrestle” chants forever, and show he could compete in the kind of face-paced, big-move, 21st century style, which Styles had mastered.

Just two big stars trading kill shots, escalating and escalating, until one finally put the other down.

Digging In the Crates: AJ Styles vs. Low-Ki, JAPW (6/9/07)

Low-Ki was one of Styles’ early career rivals, in both TNA and ROH, but this is Styles heading to New Jersey, in Low-Ki’s home promotion JAPW, and fighting for its title.

Low-Ki and Styles were two of the most explosive athletes of their era, and there are moments where it looks like the camera glitches because the kicks are thrown so fast. Low-Ki was one of the hardest hitters around and it’s fun to watch Styles unload with his own stiff kicks and chops.

For fans of this kind of impressive, big-move wrestling, this is an unseen banger.

Career Highlight: Logan Paul vs. Roman Reigns, WWE Crown Jewel (11/5/22)

This was Paul’s third ever pro-wrestling match. He was working as a babyface, which is counter to his natural strengths, and in a main event world title match.

Somehow it completely worked.

It made for one of Reigns’ greatest performances, as he totally made Paul credible. The match was built around Paul having the chance to hit a lucky punch. When he landed it, Roman made the crowd believe. This one is a true big-stage spectacle, in the way only the WWE can pull off.

Digging In the Crates: Logan Paul vs. LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar, WWE Smackdown (6/28/24)

Hard to find a true Digging in the Crates match (for the self-imposed limits of this exercise) for a guy who has had 18 matches in his career, all of them high-profile television or PLE shows.

But this was an interesting example of a lower-key performance, where Paul is a cog in a machine. He’s actually pretty great as just a cheap-shotting, heat-seeking, stooging heel. No giant pyrotechnics, just doing Buddy Landel stuff. Of course Paul’s main talent is as a troll, and I enjoyed the old-school local sports team heat move of bringing out Tyrese Haliburton to Madison Square Garden.

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