It’s difficult to comprehend, but the pop culture phenomenon that is WrestleMania now approaches its 41st year. During the “Super Bowl of Wrestling’s” rich history, everyone from reality television stars, sporting legends, and even future presidents have stepped between those hallowed ropes for one reason or another. But without the gifted full-time grapplers that have built WrestleMania to the mega two-day event that it has now become, this iconic event could never have stood the test of time.
With WrestleMania 41 just days away, M&F took a deep dive into the dropkicks and DDT’s and calculated some bone-crunching data to try and figure out which WWE superstars have contributed the most to the “Show of Shows.”
First and foremost, there are infinite ways to determine who has contributed the most to the enduring success of WrestleMania, so we tried to take a balanced approach that considers a wrestler’s entertainment value along with some serious stats that separate the superstars from the one-show wonders. We appreciate that limiting such a list to only seven pro wrestlers will mean that many worthy contenders are left out, but for our money, the biggest show on the wrestling calendar owes the most to the following G.O.A.T.S — and in no particular order!
Top 7 WWE Wrestlemania Wrestlers of All Time
Hulk Hogan
GOATED For: Launching WrestleMania and bodyslamming Andre the Giant
If Vince McMahon could be compared to Colonel Tom Parker then Hulk Hogan served as Elvis Presley as the duo brought the very first WrestleMania to the masses in 1985. In the historic main event at Madison Square Garden, “Hulkamania” took off as “The Hulkster” and Mr. T faced off against Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff. Muhammad Ali was also present as a special enforcer and raised Hogan and Mr. T’s hand in victory, helping to seal the show’s immense success. Hulk Hogan would be called upon as the figurehead for the first three WrestleMania pay-per-views and provided an immortal moment when he bodyslammed Andre The Giant in the main event of WrestleMania 3. By WrestleMania 5 he was back in the main event dethroning Randy “Macho Man” Savage.
Hulk Hogan appeared in eight main events across a total of 12 WrestleMania matches, including multiple bouts on the same event. And, when most fans thought that his best days were behind him, The Hulkster crushed his critics with a classic confrontation against The Rock at WrestleMania 18.
The Undertaker
GOATED For: Most Matches and ‘The Streak’
Mark Calaway, otherwise known as The Undertaker, built a streak of 21 wins between WrestleManias 7 and 21. Along his destructive path he dispatched the souls of the who’s-who of professional wrestling . He bested the likes of Jimmy Snuka, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, Triple H, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, and CM Punk to name a few. In fact, ‘Taker’s matches with Shawn Michaels (WrestleManias 25 and 26) are widely considered to be two of the greatest matches of all-time. In all, The Undertaker wrestled 27 times at WrestleMania between 1991 and 2020. No one has wrestled more.
The Undertaker’s tally of consecutive victories on the grandest stage of them all is unlikely to ever become close to being beat, and following that devastating loss to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 30, the “Dead Man” would rise up and go on to capture three more WM victories, taking his grand total of wins to 25.
Bret Hart
GOATED For: Longest Match (with Shawn Michaels) and Hall of Fame worthy match (with Steve Austin)
The signs that Bret “Hitman” Hart could go on to become a significant part of future WrestleMania’s could be seen way back during WrestleMania 2 in 1986, when Hart almost won a 20-man Batlte Royal involving WWE and NFL athletes. (Former Chicago Bear William “The Refrigerator” Perry famously participated!) Andre the Giant would win the match, throwing Hart to the sidelines, but this would just be the start of Hart’s impending legacy. His match against Roddy Piper, winning the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 8, became an instant classic and in the years that followed, the flag bearer of WWE’s “New Generation” tangled with Yokozuna, losing the World Championship to him at WrestleMania 9 but regaining it at back WrestleMania 10.
Bret Hart was something of a star maker during his time at WrestleMania. At Mania 12, he became one half of the event’s longest ever match (an Iron Man match lasting 61 minutes and 56 seconds) while passing the torch, and his title, to an up-and-coming Shawn Michaels. Then, in another pivotal performance, the more experienced “Hitman” led “Stone Cold” Steve Austin to what is widely regarded as the most thrilling match in WWE history at WrestleMania 13 in 1997 — helping to kick off the incredibly successful “Attitude Era” in the process.
Bret Hart’s career was cut short due to an injury sustained in the ring and he later suffered a stroke, but incredibly “The Hitman” returned for one last match against Vince McMahon at WrestleMania 26 in 2010. While fans never got to see dream matches at WrestleMania like Bret Hart vs. Kurt Angle, or Bret Hart vs. John Cena, he remains one of the event’s biggest contributors both in terms of match quality and how he elevated others so that they could run with the ball and keep WrestleMania going strong.
Shawn Michaels
GOATED For: Longest Match, First WrestleMania Ladder Match, and his exceptional contribution to the “Show of Shows”
By the time Shawn Michaels beat Bret Hart to become the WWE Champion in that record-breaking Iron Man match at WrestleMania 12, the “Heartbreak Kid’s” stock was already on the rise. He helped to steal the show at WrestleMania 10 as part of the exhilarating first-ever ladder match against Razor Ramon. Michaels lost, but few remember this fact due to his incredible performance. Then, following year, Michaels took Kevin “Diesel” Nash to the limit in the main event of WrestleMania 11.
Similar to Bret Hart, although perhaps with a little less grace, Michaels also helped to launch Steve Austin’s red-hot career by losing the WWE title to him at WrestleMania 14. And, despite a serious back injury, HBK returned to tear the house down many more times at Mania with emotional rollercoasters against Triple H and two-consecutive critic’s choice clashes with The Undertaker. By taking his performances, including a dream match with Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 21 into account, Shawn Michaels has surely earned the moniker that he bestowed upon himself as “Mr. WrestleMania.”
Stone Cold Steve Austin
GOATED For: Kicking off the Attitude Era and his Hall of Fame worthy match (with Bret Hart)
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin first appeared at WrestleMania 12, but you would be forgiven for forgetting that he defeated Savio Vega on his big show debut. His next outing at WrestleMania 13, however, is truly unforgettable. With the master mentor Bret “Hitman” Hart walking him through his paces, Austin rose to the challenge and did his part in creating what this writer truly believes to be the greatest match in WWE history.
While some people point to Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 25 as being better, I say they are wrong, and here’s why: The Hart/Austin battle was a submission match, and this meant that they could not rely on crowd grabbers like near falls or kicking out of each other’s trademark finishing moves to pop the audience. Instead, Austin and Hart brawled outside of the ring, and even into the stands, using everything at their disposal to breathe some life into a type of match that is generally known for being quite plodding and slow.
The storyline was electric here too as a bitter Bret, previously a fan favorite, decided to dismiss the rules while “Stone Cold,” who’d gone into the match as a villain, suddenly earned the fan’s respect by failing to tap out to “The Hitman’s” sharpshooter submission hold — despite lying in a pool of his own blood. It’s totally deserved, then, that this match will be the first bout to be inducted into a new “Immortal Moments” category at the 2025 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony.
Following WrestleMania 13, Steve Austin did for WWE in the ‘90s, what Hulk Hogan had done for the company in the ‘80s, driving record pay-per-view and ticket sales, not to mention those Austin 3:16 t-shirts flying off the shelves. His later WrestleMania matches with The Rock (at 15, 17, and 19) were also something to behold. Steve Austin last wrestled at WrestleMania 38, 20-years after his previous match, stunning Kevin Owens and toasting his fans with a trademark can of “Whoop A**” that showed that there is still life in “The Rattlesnake Yet.”
John Cena
GOATED For: Most consecutive WrestleMania main event appearances
Like Hulk Hogan, John Cena became known to the WWE Universe as a consistent player between the ropes at WrestleMania. He holds some phenomenal records too, like having seven consecutive WWE Championship matches between WrestleMania’s 22 to 28. John Cena was able to keep WWE afloat during it’s “Ruthless Aggression Era,” and this was no mean feat with the likes of Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, and The Rock spending time away from the ring.
While Cena was often cheered and booed in equal measure, there’s an old adage in professional wrestling that states it really doesn’t matter whether the audience loves you or hates you, just so long as they are engaged and enthralled. And like, many of WrestleMania’s best contributors (think Hogan losing to The Ultimate Warrior, or Bret Hart losing to Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin), Cena has never been afraid to stare at the lights if it helps to give a rising star the rub.
Fortunately, on his “Farewell Tour,” before hanging up the jorts in 2025, Cena will get another opportunity at greatness when he attempts to beat Cody Rhodes for a record breaking 17th world heavyweight title. Whether or not the “You Can’t See Me” star is successful remains to be seen, but the man who never missed a WrestleMania between 2003 and 2016, and very few since then, remains one of the extravaganza’s biggest G.O.A.T.S.
Roman Reigns
GOATED For: Most main events at WrestleMania
Roman Reigns is not just the “Tribal Chief,” but perhaps also the chief of WrestleMania. He’s amassed nine WrestleMania main events already and is scheduled to appear in a tenth at WrestleMania 41, in a triple threat match against Seth Rollins and CM Punk. Reigns is also credited with elevating the WWE Championship (and Universal Championship) belts back to previous prominence, holding the Universal title for 1,316 days (The fourth longest heavyweight WWE title run in history).
His victory against a white-hot Cody Rhodes stunned fans at WrestleMania 39 with Reign’s reinvented what it means to be a modern day “heel.”
On top of this, Roman Reigns has taken victory at WrestleMania against the likes of Brock Lesnar, Triple H, The Undertaker, Goldberg, Edge and Daniel Bryan. And unlike others on this GOATED list, Roman Reigns has not retired and does not have any plans to slow down. Reigns has not only made an indelible impact on WrestleMania, but will continue to do so for some time to come.
Here’s to these G.O.A.T.S. of WrestleMania and don’t forget, WrestleMania 41 streams live on Peacock in the United States and on Netflix everywhere else on Saturday April 19 and Sunday April 20, 2025.
