If, however, there is another slot on the card that is almost as valuable as the main event match slot, it is the opening slot. The match that is the first of the show plays a very critical role in setting the tone of the show. Hence, over the past couple of years, WWE has made it a routine of starting WrestleMania with a marquee match to get the crowd riled up from the get-go. In the 33 year history of WrestleMania, there have been some opening contests that have been so good that they are now regarded as marvelous in their own right. As WrestleMania gets a week closer, we take a look at such great opening contests.
Honorable Mentions:-
Rey Mysterio vs Eddie Guerrero (WrestleMania 21)
Money in the Bank Ladder Match (Wrestlemania XXV)
Kevin Owens(c) vs Sami Zayn vs The Miz vs Sin Cara vs Stardust vs Dolph Ziggler vs Zack Ryder in a Ladder Match for Intercontinental Title (Wrestlemania 32)
#5 AJ Styles vs Shane McMahon (Wrestlemania 33)
AJ Styles was easily the hottest act in WWE in 2016. Walking into Royal Rumble 2017 as the WWE Champion, Styles wrestled a fantabulous match against John Cena, albeit in a losing cause. With WrestleMania season fast approaching and AJ losing his #1 contendership to Randy Orton, AJ was without a match at the Grand Spectacle. Blaming Shane McMahon for his situation, Styles attacked McMahon backstage, driving his skull through the window of a car and igniting a feud with ‘The Boy Wonder’. With no stipulation added to their match at WrestleMania, no one expected the match to be a success but both the participants surprised everyone with a clinical masterpiece. Opening the 33rd edition of Wrestlemania in Orlando, Styles vs McMahon was a splendid contest full of drama.
With a vocal crowd cheering on, the match started off as a grappling contest, with both the competitors trying to keep the other down on the mat. The pace picked up with Styles gaining the upper hand and Shane later getting some offense with his surprising smooth ring work. A memorable sequence saw Shane reverse a Calf Crusher first into a rear naked choke and then an armbar. Styles’ 450 splash was reversed into a triangle choke but he countered it with a Styles Clash for a close call.
With the referee knocked down, Styles brought a trash can and tried a Coast to Coast on Shane, who knocked Styles out with the can before hitting one of his own for a close call. A failed ‘Leap of Faith’ saw Shane crashing through the announce table. Styles attempt for a phenomenal forearm was countered with a DDT. With the crowd on its feet, McMahon hit a Shooting Star Press on Styles in the moment of the match but crashed on the floor. Styles capitalized and hit McMahon with a Phenomenal Forearm to win this “phenomenal match”. The match drained the crowd so badly that it ended up affecting the subsequent clashes.
#4 Money in the Bank Ladder Match (Wrestlemania 23)
There have been 20 Money in the Bank Ladder Matches in WWE ever since its inception in 2005, but none of these 20 matches was more star-studded than the one that took place at WrestleMania 23. In front of a record crowd in Detroit, 8 men- Booker T, CM Punk, Edge, Finley, Jeff Hardy, Mr. Kennedy, Matt Hardy and Randy Orton- were expected to put all they have on the line in order to earn a World Title opportunity. Given the chance to open the biggest show of the year, they treated the fans with a brutal, yet exceptional, bout that set the tone for the rest of the pay per view.
Ladders were introduced into the mix from the word go, with each participant trying to get hold of the briefcase that ended with Finlay hitting a dive on the group of Superstars. A shot to the head with a small ladder busted CM Punk open. Kennedy missed a Kenton Bomb and landed on the ladder. With Matt and Jeff fighting on the top of a ladder, Finlay pushed the ladder to knock them down. Edge hit everyone, but CM Punk, with a spear, who took control with a ladder strikes on everyone but a spear from Edge knocked down Punk and two others. In the moment of the match, Jeff hit a seated senton from the top of the ladder on Edge who was placed on another ladder outside the ring. This ended their stint in the match.
Orton’s RKO marathon was stopped by Punk. Randy recovered to hit an RKO from the top of the ladder but was hit by a Book End by Booker T. With Sharmell in the Twist of Fate position, Booker gave up the briefcase but ended up eating a Twist of Fate himself. A bloodied Finlay hit a Celtic Cross on Hardy who was on a ladder. In a fun moment, Hornswoggle entered the ring and started climbing the ladder but Kennedy hit him with the Green Bay Plunge from the top of the ladder. In the closing moments, Punk knocked Kennedy from the top of the ladder but before he could unhook the briefcase, Kennedy knocked him out with a Ladder. With only him left standing, Kennedy unhooked the briefcase to win the match and register the biggest win of his WWE career.
Unfortunately for Kennedy, an injury saw him drop the MITB briefcase to Edge a little over a month later. He lost his push and was fired the following year after reportedly being too aggressive in the ring.
#3 Bad News Barrett(c) vs Daniel Bryan vs Dean Ambrose vs Dolph Ziggler vs Luke Harper vs R-Truth vs Stardust in a Ladder Match for Intercontinental Title (Wrestlemania 31)
In early 2015, Bad New Barrett was having a successful run as the Intercontinental Champion, but his title was stolen by Dean Ambrose following a disqualification loss at Fastlane. Over the next few weeks, several other superstars gained illegal possession of the title, which led to Stephanie booking a multi-person ladder match for the Title at WrestleMania 31. After losing the #1 contender match at Fastlane, Daniel Bryan also announced his entry in this match, which raised the excitement of the match to a new level.
With the match opening WrestleMania 31, the crowd was pumped for the favorites Ambrose and Bryan from the start of the match. The early goings had various superstars jumping outside the ring on a group of Superstars, which ended with Ambrose leaping from the top of the ladder on the other participants. Barrett took control of the match inside the ring but he was knocked down by Bryan with a dropkick. Bryan tried to take advantage but he was hit with a ladder by Harper. With 3 superstars climbing the ladder, Stardust knocked everyone down with a dropkick. Stardust brought his own ladder in to mix, but Barrett ended up breaking the ladder and hitting Stardust with the broken part.
Harper gained control in the ring by knocking everyone down with a ladder, but R-Truth knocked him out with a Scissors kick on the ladder. With Stardust on the top of the ladder, Barrett suplexed him down to a huge cheer from the crowd. In the most memorable moment of the match, Harper powerbombed Ambrose onto a ladder outside the ring, taking him out of the match. Ziggler locked up a sleeper on Harper on the top of the ladder before hitting a zig-zag from the top rope. Barrett went on a Bull-Hammer spree, but Bryan stopped him with a Running Knee. Bryan climbed the ladder where he was met with Ziggler. A stunning sequence followed, with both hitting each other with headbutts on the top of the ladder until Bryan knocked Ziggler down and unhooked the title to win the title and the match with 70000 people chanting YES!.
#2 Triple H vs Daniel Bryan (Wrestlemania XXX)
In 2014, no rivalry in WWE was more heated and personal than Daniel Bryan and Triple H’s. Ever since Bryan’s WWE Title victory at SummerSlam 2013, the villainous Authority, consisting of HHH, Stephanie, and Randy Orton, was a thorn in Bryan’s success, constantly screwing Bryan during his World Title matches. After fans rejected the Rumble winner Batista, Daniel Bryan hijacked Raw to not only get a match with HHH at WrestleMania but with a condition that if he wins he is added to the main event as well. When the situation between Orton and Batista got out of hands, HHH changed the WrestleMania main event to a Triple Threat with the winner of Bryan vs HHH as the third participant, automatically raising the stakes of this already hot match.
The crowd was red hot for Daniel Bryan, who had his ribs all taped up. Triple H tried to make peace in the beginning, but Bryan refused and attacked him. Bryan controlled the early going of the match, hitting HHH with kicks and jabs before hitting a rolling senton outside the ring. HHH retaliated by targeting Bryan’s arm, including smashing his arm on the announce table. For a better part of the next 10 minutes, Bryan’s arm was the prime target as HHH backdropped Bryan on the edge of the ring apron before locking him in a crossface chicken wing and a crippler crossface.
With the crowd cheering him on, Bryan fought back with a running forearm smash. Two german suplexes resulted in two close calls but HHH reversed it into his own version of a suplex. Bryan gained some momentum with a sunset flip powerbomb, but a power lariat knocked him down. Bryan reversed a crossface into one of his own, but HHH managed to break the hold. Bryan’s suicide dive, dropkick and Yes! kicks were countered with a pedigree, but he managed to kick out. HHH tried to hit another pedigree, but Bryan reversed it to hit the running knee before pinning HHH to win a classic match. With the crowd in New Orleans chanting YES!, Bryan booked a ticket to the main event of the night.
#1 Bret Hart vs Owen Hart (Wrestlemania X)
Family Feuds have always been a welcome sight for a wrestling fan. Be it storyline brothers like Kane and The Undertaker or real life brothers like Matt and Jeff, WWE has had a history of two brothers feuding with each other over growing jealousy issue. However, no feud can match the level of hatred and aggression that the feud between Owen Hart and Bret Hart had. While Survivor Series 1993 laid the foundation stone of the feud between the two brother, Owen’s eventual heel turn at Royal Rumble confirmed a match up between the two at Wrestlemania X. A feud born out of hatred and jealousy, the match up had classic written all over it as soon as it was confirmed.
With Bret wrestling another match later in the evening, the brother clashed in the opening contest in front of a thunderous at the legendary Madison Square Garden. With two in-ring technicians involved, the match started off with a lot of grappling and amateur wrestling. Bret clotheslined Owen out of the ring after a monkey flip. Owen tried to escape but Bret brought him back and kept the attack restricted on his arm. Owen fought back with a heel kick, before driving Bret’s back into the ring post. Owen controlled the next portion of the match, locking Bret into submission and hitting him with suplexes. Owen missed a diving headbutt, allowing Bret to make a comeback in the match.
A backbreaker/elbow drop by Bret was followed by an enzuigiri by Owen. An over the top rope plancha injured Bret’s knee, and Owen took advantage of the situation by targeting that injured knee. Owen locked in a figure four leg lock, but Bret reversed it into a sharpshooter before breaking the hold. An enzuigiri brought Bret back into the match as he followed it with a running bulldog and a piledriver for close calls. Bret hit a top rope superplex for a two count. Bret tried a sleeper hold, but Owen hit a low blow and applied the sharpshooter on Bret. Countering the sharpshooter with one of his own, Bret tried a top rope roll up, but Owen reversed it into a roll-up of his own for a memorable win over his brother. Regarded as one of the best matches of all time, the match is still the best opener in Wrestlemania history even after 24 years. Even though Bret lost this match, he ended the night as the WWF Champion after his victory in the main event.
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