The pinnacle of professional wrestling occurs each year when it is time for WrestleMania. Not only is it the biggest weekend for the WWE, but there are dozens of wrestling shows in the area from several different promotions at this time.
WrestleMania is always the time when the longest and best feuds of the WWE come to a close. The WWE Universe is also treated to some amazing moments that will live on in the fans’ memories forever.
This year’s WrestleMania took place at the Citrus Bowl (now known as Camping World Stadium) in Orlando, Florida. Overall, there were 13 matches on the card in what would be a very exciting evening of wrestling.
There were some absolutely magical moments during this WrestleMania, including the shocking return of Matt and Jeff Hardy for the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship match.
It had been rumoured that the Hardys were on their way to the WWE, but not many expected them to show up at WrestleMania just one night after a gruelling ladder match against the Young Bucks at Ring Of Honor’s Supercard Of Honor.
The night was full of crazy moments, and this article takes a look at the ten best from WrestleMania.
Some of the moments come from the aforementioned Raw tag team ladder match, the SmackDown Women’s Title match, the first match on the main card between Shane McMahon and AJ Styles, and others.
Continue on to see the first entry on this list; which is from the ladder match...
#10 The Brogue Kick trust fall by Jeff Hardy
The biggest pop of the night from the WWE Universe in attendance was when the Hardy Boyz’ music hit. They became the fourth entrants in the ladder match for the WWE Raw Tag Team Championships.
A few of the guys in the match were out on the floor when Jeff Hardy was going to go for a springboard moonsault to the outside.
Also read: 5 Surprising moments from WrestleMania 33
Before Jeff could execute the move, Sheamus came in and landed a devastating Brogue Kick that knocked Jeff onto the guys on the outside. The funny part of the moment was that it looked like an extreme trust fall.
Continue on to see a moment in the Cruiserweight Championship match...
#9 Neville dropping Austin Aries right on his head
The first match on the Kickoff Show of WrestleMania 33 pitted the WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville against Austin Aries. This was the WrestleMania debut for Austin Aries who has had a long and storied professional wrestling career mostly outside the WWE, that started in 2000.
The fans were treated to a great match between the two cruiserweights. One benefit of being on the Kickoff Show was that they were given time to provide a great match. Over 15 minutes to be exact.
Towards the end of the match, Neville would bounce Aries off of the ropes into a Snap German Suplex. Unfortunately, Aries landed square on his head. The move looked absolutely brutal, but it thankfully appears that Aries is okay.
Continue on to see a beautiful move in the Raw Women’s match...
#8 Charlotte executes a beautiful & perfect Corkscrew Moonsault
There was a four-woman elimination match for the Raw Women’s Championship involving the champion Bayley, Sasha Banks, Charlotte, and Nia Jax. It was the first time that Jax and Bayley have participated in the big pay per view.
After Jax was eliminated first, the action would spill to the outside where Sasha and Bayley were. Charlotte would then perform the Corkscrew Moonsault to the outside. Though we have seen this move from Charlotte before, it was the execution that was the highlight.
This was the best moonsault that Charlotte has performed. From takeoff to landing, the move was perfect.
Continue on to see the first of a few moments from the AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon match...
#7 Shane McMahon’s Triangle counter of AJ Styles’ Springboard 450
In looking at the WrestleMania 33 card, not many people predicted that the Shane McMahon v. AJ Styles match would be first on the main card. Even lesser people predicted that it would be the best match of the show, but many will argue that it was.
Instead of a match full of high spots and brawling, there was a lot of great wrestling and counter wrestling.
One of the great moments of the match was when Styles went for his patented Springboard 450 Splash. Instead of taking the move, Shane countered by putting Styles in a Triangle Choke.
There will be more from this match later, but continue on for a tremendous athletic move in the SmackDown women’s title match...
#6 Naomi’s double Sunset Flip over the ropes
The women of SmackDown LIVE had the second to last match on the card last weekend. Unfortunately, the show was running late, and the women only had around six minutes to have a match.
Though the match was short, there were still some great moments within it such as Nattie’s Double Sharpshooter, but the best spot of the match came from the new SmackDown Women’s Champion.
Nattie had Becky Lynch set for a German Suplex near the ropes when Naomi came in from the outside. She would flip over both women and deliver a Double Sunset Flip. It was a really unique move worth mentioning on this list.
Up next is a casualty from the non-sanctioned match...
#5 The “Billion Dollar Princess” goes through a table
The feud between Triple H and Seth Rollins began just after SummerSlam when Triple H turned on Rollins to anoint Kevin Owens the new WWE Universal Champion. Ever since then, Rollins has been on a warpath to get his hands on Triple H.
Triple H didn’t want any part of a lawsuit from putting Rollins on the shelf for good at WrestleMania 33, so they agreed to fight in a non-sanctioned war. That war lasted over 25 minutes and ended in an unexpected casualty.
The end of the match saw Triple H nearly hit his wife Stephanie McMahon who was interfering on the apron. He turned around into a Superkick from Rollins that sent Triple H straight into Stephanie who crashed through a table that was set up on the outside.
The moment garnered a large cheer from the audience as it is rare to see Stephanie take such a bump. The distraction cost Triple H as he walked into a Pedigree from Rollins to end the match.
Props to the Commissioner of Monday Night Raw for taking a bump that you’d rarely ever see from her, probably her first table bump ever.
Next up is another moment from the epic AJ Styles and Shane McMahon match...
#4 The Shane McMahon / AJ Styles “Coast to Coast” spots back to back
The second entry from the Commissioner of SmackDown LIVE and the Face That Runs The Place covers one hell of a sequence in the match.
A turning point in the match was when Shane would duck a kick from AJ, but that kick connected with referee Mike Chioda. At this point in the match, all bets were off and the bending of the rules began.
AJ knew that in the history of Shane’s matches, he would utilise the “Coast to Coast” dropkick from one end of the ring to the other with a trash can planted in front of his opponent.
Once the referee was down, AJ introduced the trash can. He would attempt to rub it in by performing Shane’s own move, but it backfired and Shane piefaced AJ with the trash can in mid-air.
Shane would then ascend to the top rope and perform the move he has done well so many times before. It was definitely a cool sequence of action that added so much to this great match.
Continue on to see a 33-year veteran take a vicious spear...
#3 Roman Reigns spearing Undertaker straight to hell
It all started when Roman Reigns eliminated The Undertaker from the Royal Rumble and it progressed into determining who was the biggest dog and whose yard it was. These two would collide at WrestleMania 33 in the final match of the night.
Though the Undertaker is not the man he once was when he retired Shawn Michaels seven years prior, this match had a lot of heart. There was hope from the WWE Universe that The Undertaker was going to withstand the beating from Roman Reigns to come out on top.
The match started to go sideways for The Undertaker when Roman Reigns leapt from one announce table to another to deliver a devastating spear. It was definitely a WrestleMania worthy visual.
Up next is the third and final entry from the Shane McMahon vs. AJ Styles match...
#2 Shane McMahon’s Shooting Star Press attempt
At the end of the epic 20-minute match between Shane McMahon and AJ Styles, Shane decided to take a big risk. While it wasn’t as big of a risk as the one that he took at last year’s WrestleMania where he had missed The Undertaker after dropping an elbow off of the top of Hell In A Cell, it was still a pretty big risk nonetheless.
Shane would climb the turnbuckle once again, but it wasn’t to drop an elbow. The Commissioner of SmackDown LIVE would attempt a SHOOTING STAR PRESS. Unfortunately, Shane would miss the Shooting Star Press attempt and that enabled AJ to hit his Phenomenal Forearm for the win.
It was quite amazing to see someone who is not a full-time wrestler in Shane McMahon attempt such a difficult move at the age of 47.
Continue on to see the final crazy spot of WrestleMania 33 on this list...
#1 The WWE return of the Swanton
What is a WrestleMania ladder match involving Jeff Hardy without him pulling off an insanely crazy manoeuvre? This death defying move would come at the very end of the match when Jeff would ascend a super-sized ladder placed on the outside of the ring.
Jeff’s targets were Cesaro and Sheamus; who laid on ladders that were bridged between the ring and the guardrail on the outside. From the very top of the ladder, Jeff would perform his Swanton Bomb finisher onto the tag team duo.
Nearly a week prior, Sheamus had received a nasty gash from a ladder shot on Monday Night Raw. Thankfully, Cesaro took the brunt of the Swanton from Jeff to avoid further injury to himself.
While it is nothing new from Jeff Hardy, it was definitely a welcome sight to see him take gigantic risks again in a WWE match. And you know what’s even more awesome? Hardy was hurting from his insane ladder match against the Young Bucks from the night before and executed the move despite being in a considerable amount of pain. Legend!
Send us news tips at [email protected]
