5 best WWE pay per view cards of all-time

In professional wrestling, it doesn't get much better than big pay per views. Sure, their importance in the WWE may have dimmed a little due to the sheer number of PPV events held, but they are still home to some of the biggest wrestling matches on the planet.

Over the years, there have been some terrible PPV cards, there have been a lot of mediocre PPV cards, and there have been some which were truly exceptional. Today, we're here to celebrate those impressive pay per views, so join us on this trip down memory lane.

So, without any further ado, here is our list of the 5 best WWE pay per view cards of all-time:

#5) Wrestlemania 21

This is where it all began for Super Cena

Despite being the host of much-derided Sumo match between The Big Show and Akebono, Wrestlemania 21 was actually one of the best pay per views of all-time.

We had some stellar encounters including The Undertaker vs Randy Orton, Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels, and the first-ever Money in the Bank Ladder match which was won by Edge.

The two main events saw the crowning of two young stars as World Champions as John Cena defeated JBL for the WWE Championship and Batista beat Triple H to become the new World Heavyweight Champion.

#4) ECW One Night Stand

When WWE announced that ECW would be coming back for a repeat of 2005 in the form of ECW One Night Stand in 2006, there was a palpable sense of excitement. After all, the main event had Rob Van Dam going up against John Cena for the WWE Championship in front of one hell of an anti-Cena crowd.

Before all that, though, there were a number of singles matches and Extreme Rules matches that really exceeded expectations with Kurt Angle besting Randy Orton as well as Rey Mysterio defending his World Heavyweight Championship against Sabu.

The highlight of the night was undoubtedly RVD besting The Face That Runs the Place in yet another Extreme Rules match to blow the roof off the Hammerstein Ballroom.

#3) Wrestlemania 19

Wrestlemania 19 was one of the finest all-around shows in the history of the WWE as the company put on a show for the ages in Seattle. It was a packed card that included a Feud of the Year match between Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho and a classic grudge match between two of the greatest of all-time - The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Triple H defeated Booker T to retain his World Heavyweight Championship and we even had Hulk Hogan beat Mr McMahon on the card. But, the best part of the night was the extraordinary main event between Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship.

#2) WWE Money in the Bank 2011

Everyone remembers WWE Money in the Bank 2011 for the superb main event between CM Punk and John Cena and rightly so. After all, it was the WWE's last 5-star match and it saw Punk win the WWE Championship in front of a partisan Chicago crowd to leave the company with the belt.

But, even before that, it was such a good pay per view. There were two stellar WWE Money in the Bank Ladder matches won by Daniel Bryan for Smackdown and Alberto del Rio for Raw as well as an underrated World Heavyweight Championship encounter between Christian and Randy Orton.

#1) Wrestlemania 17

I think this one was pretty obvious. Wrestlemania 17 is widely regarded as the best WWE pay per view of all-time and it's really quite obvious why. It was an absolutely stacked card with every championship being defended.

There was the Street Fight between Shane and Vince McMahon as well as the epic TLC match between the Dudleyz, the Hardyz, and Edge and Christian topped off with a generous helping of Triple H vs The Undertaker.

But, the highlight of the night was undoubtedly the WWE Championship No Disqualification match that saw Stone Cold Steve Austin turn heel and align with Mr McMahon in order to become the new WWE Champion.