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With 2019 coming to an end, we say goodbye to the second decade of the 21st century. It has been a thoroughly eventful decade for WWE to say the least. From WWE forever changing the viewer's experience by introducing the WWE Network to the creation of NXT, these last 10 years have seen it all.
With huge milestones being achieved almost every year, WWE has produced some iconic and legendary moments this decade. CM Punk began the decade by becoming the most unlikely face of the company, a feat that Daniel Bryan repeated three years later. John Cena and The Rock shattered records with their back to back WrestleMania main events.
We saw the rise of Roman Reigns as the new face of the company and followed him on his journey that saw him beat Leukemia and make an incredible comeback. We also witnessed the Women's Revolution as Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey became the first women to main event WrestleMania.
Here we will be taking a look at the best PPVs WWE had to offer in these 10 years. WWE has produced 133 PPVs in this decade with the 2019 Tables Ladders and Chairs PPV yet to happen.
There have been several 'Network Specials' like The Beast in the East and Starrcade which have been ignored as they don't technically qualify as PPVs. Also, NXT TakeOver events haven't been considered since they are Network Specials as well and, to be honest, they would have taken up half the spots anyway.
Honorable Mentions
Before we kick off the main list, let's check out some PPV events which almost made it to No.10 on the list but didn't quite make the cut.
Payback 2013
Payback 2013 was an unexpectedly awesome show. A couple of months after WrestleMania, the event had a few solid matches. Ryback and John Cena tore each other apart in a '3-stages of hell match' in the main event. On the undercard, CM Punk defeated Chris Jericho in his first appearance since WrestleMania match in front of his Chicago home crowd, The Shield (Rollins and Reigns) defended their Tag titles against Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan and finally, Dolph Ziggler and Alberto Del Rio pulled off an amazing double turn in the World Heavyweight Title match.
Great Balls of Fire
When WWE announced the Great Balls of Fire PPV, no one assumed that it would be one of the best shows of the year. Placed after Money in the Bank and two months before SummerSlam, it was quickly given a B-show status. But then WWE stacked the match card including a Brock Lesnar Title defense against Samoa Joe. The resulting PPV was a thoroughly entertaining one with Lesnr vs Joe and Roman Reigns vs Braun Strowman being the main highlights of the evening.
Money in the Bank 2016
Money in the Bank is usually one of the most exciting shows of the year. The 2016 version proved it again by putting up an amazing show. AJ Styles and John Cena had their first-ever match in a WWE ring which was received well despite the dodgy finish. Dean Ambrose then won the MITB Ladder match with just one hour left on the show.
Finally, a returning Seth Rollins shocked everyone by beating Roman Reigns clean for the WWE Championship. But the night didn't end there as Dean Ambrose who had won the briefcase barely an hour ago cashed in his contract to end the night as WWE Champion.
10. WrestleMania XXVI
We will start the list with the very first WrestleMania of the decade, WrestleMania XXVI. The show was a good one, most of the matches were solid and the storylines were really good. But the event will always be remembered for just one single match- The Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels' rematch from WrestleMania 25. Both men delivered a great match as they defined how storyline driven matches should be wrestled.
On the undercard, John Cena won the WWE Championship from Batista and Chris Jericho defended his World Heavyweight Championship against Royal Rumble winner Edge. The Miz and Big Show defended their Tag Team Championships against John Morrison and R-Truth. Jack Swagger won the Money in the Bank Ladder match which ended in a botched spot but was it was good, nonetheless.
Triple H defeated Sheamus in a brutal grudge match, Randy Orton defeated Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr in a triple threat match to wrap a long term storyline and finally, Rey Mysterio defeated CM Punk in a short but sweet victory after Punk had tormented Mysterio for months.
Meanwhile, the women were lazily thrown into a 3-minute long 10 Diva tag team match and Bret Hart defeated Vince McMahon in an 11-minute No holds barred match which received almost no reaction from the live crowd.
However, this PPV will always be remembered for Shawn Michaels' defiant last stand against The Undertaker. After kicking out of a second Tombstone Piledriver, HBK barely crawled up Taker's body and slapped the Deadman. Angered, Taker hit a final jumping Tombstone to finish Shawn Michael's career. Whatever happened in Saudi Arabia later, I choose to simply ignore.
9. Royal Rumble 2018
The Royal Rumble is one of the most decorated events of the WWE calendar. The 2018 version proved to be one of the best ones ever. The event will forever be etched in history for the inaugural Women's Royal Rumble match and Ronda Rousey's shocking debut which rocked both the pro-wrestling world and the mainstream media.
From the SmackDown side of things, The Usos defended their SmackDown Tag Team Championships against Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin in a great 2 out of 3 falls match and AJ Styles defended his WWE Title against Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens in a 2-on-1 handicap match which was a bit too overbooked.
From the Raw side of things, Cesaro and Sheamus won the Raw Tag Team Championships from Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan, and Brock Lesnar defended his Universal Title against Kane and Braun Strowman. Both matches were quite boring and slowed down the action and suffered from their placement in between the two amazing Rumble matches.
Speaking of the Rumble matches, Shinsuke Nakamura won the men's Rumble match after eliminating Roman Reigns last. The match had several awesome moments and was booked to perfection. His choosing of AJ Styles in his post-win interview was just the cherry on top.
The women's Rumble match main evented the show. With numerous legends, returning Superstars and surprise debutants the match was extremely exciting and Asuka's victory at the end was well-received by all involved.
This PPV will be remembered for Ronda Rousey's shocking debut after Asuka stood between Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair waiting to make a decision on which Champion she wants to go after. Rousey's debut was the perfect cliffhanger to end an amazing PPV event.
8. Extreme Rules 2012
Pay-per-views that aren't part of WWE's 'Big Four' were hard to fit on this list, but there was no way that Extreme Rules 2012 would not make it. Held in Chicago, this was the follow up to WrestleMania 28, which we will get to soon. All eyes were on this PPV as this marked the long-awaited return of Brock Lesnar to WWE. Lesnar left WWE in 2004 and this was his first appearance in 8 years. He returned the night after Mania and attacked John Cena sending shockwaves throughout the world of pro-wrestling.
On the undercard CM Punk defeated Chris Jericho in a Chicago Street Fight which topped their WrestleMania match, Sheamus defeated Daniel Bryan in a great 2 out of 3 falls count match which made up for their 18-second fiasco at 'Mania and Randy Orton defeated Kane in an entertaining Falls count anywhere match.
On the less exciting side of things, Layla defeated Nikki Bella to win the Divas Championship in under three minutes and Cody Rhodes defeated Big Show to win the Intercontinental Title in under five. There were also two squash matches with Ryback defeating two jobbers and Brodus Clay defeating Dolph Ziggler.
The one thing that makes this PPV stand out others is the sheer spectacle of witnessing Brock Lesnar in a WWE ring after his run as the UFC Heavyweight Champion. Lesnar was a legit fighter and he was facing John Cena, the face of WWE. People were actually worried about Cena's safety in the match.
The match was a mixture of MMA and wrestling blended together and worked wonderfully. Both men were was busted open during the match and bled profusely. Cena barely picked up the victory in a brutal and amazing match that got everyone talking.
7. SummerSlam 2013
SummerSlam is WWE's second-biggest show of the year after WrestleMania. The 2013 version might just be the best SummerSlam of all time. It was a tough time for WWE as John Cena was getting overwhelmingly negative reactions as WWE Champion and the company was without a top babyface.
Fans turned towards one single man- Daniel Bryan. Bryan became one of the most over wrestlers of all time during this run and SummerSlam cemented him as the main event player that he was destined to become.
On the undercard, Brock Lesnar defeated CM Punk in one of the best matches of the year with both men bringing their A-game. Alberto Del Rio retained his World Heavyweight Title against Christian in a decent bout, Dolph Ziggler and AJ Lee defeated Kaitlyn and Big E in a mixed tag match, Natalya defeated Brie Bella and finally, Bray Wyatt defeated Kane in a Ring of Fire match, making his WWE in-ring debut.
Overall, SummerSlam 2013 was a two-match show. But the two matches in question were two of the best matches of the year, CM Punk vs Brock Lesnar and Daniel Bryan vs John Cena. The main event saw Cena defending the WWE Championship against his handpicked opponent Daniel Bryan with Triple H as the special guest referee. After an incredible match between the two men, Daniel Bryan won the title after hitting his new finisher, the Running Knee. The crowd erupted in celebration as Bryan celebrated his victory.
But then, the unthinkable happened. Triple H attacked Bryan as Randy Orton made his way down to the ring. Orton cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and Triple H counted the pinfall on an unconscious Bryan. This moment began the Yes! Movement which eventually led to Bryan main eventing the following WrestleMania.
6. WrestleMania XXVIII
WrestleMania 28 was perhaps the single greatest event in pro-wrestling history. The build-up to this event began one whole year earlier when John Cena confronted The Rock after The Rock cost Cena his WWE Championship in the main event of WrestleMania 27. The match between the two was booked one whole year in advance and was easily the most anticipated wrestling match of all time. Although it aged poorly, the match's tagline "Once in a Lifetime" sold the entire show perfectly.
The event card had a triple main event. The event didn't begin in the best way as Randy Orton defeated Kane in a slow match and Sheamus beat Daniel Bryan in 18 seconds for the World Heavyweight Title. Big Show then defeated Cody Rhodes to win the Intercontinental Title in a half-decent match and Kelly Kelly and Maria Menounos defeated Beth Phoenix and Eve Torress. Also on the card was a 12-man tag team match to decide the new General Manager of both Raw and Smackdown which got almost no reaction from the crowd.
The show picked up steam as Triple H and The Undertaker took to the ring for their second 'Mania match in a row. The Hell in a Cell match advertised as an "End of an Era" had Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee. The crowd blew the roof off the Sun Life Arena during this match.
This match is one of the greatest matches WWE has ever produced owing to the iincrediblestorytelling, brutal hard-hitting moves, and perfect wrestling. CM Punk then defended his WWE Championship against Chris Jericho in a fine match where he defeated Jericho by submission.
The main event was one of the most surreal moments in pro-wrestling history. John Cena and The Rock had a 3-minute staredown before the match during which the crowd screamed their heads off. The match wasn't a technical classic like Punk vs Jericho but the sheer star power of both men and the simple fact that this match existed made this match and this night Legendary.
Check out part two of this article, coming soon, to see which 5 Pay-Per-Views topped this list.
