Make no mistake about it, great technical wrestling was never the main focus of WWE. Instead, they tried to create as many larger-than-life characters as possible. That was the company's business model especially under Vince McMahon, and the company's biggest stars didn't necessarily need to be great inside the ring.
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With that said, WWE has had some of the greatest technical wrestlers of all time on their roster over the years. Those are the stars who can have a good match against just about anyone. And when they face another awesome technical wrestler, the result is usually a technical masterpiece. These are the definitive best technical wrestling bouts in WWE history.
To learn more about how we rank wrestling matches on TheSportster, please check out our match ranking criteria guide here.
10 John Cena Vs. Daniel Bryan - WWE Championship (SummerSlam 2013)
Overall Rating From TheSportster: 9.5/10
Storytelling | 2.25/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical Ability | 2.5/2.5 |
Character Work/Psychology | 2.25/2.5 |
Crowd Reaction | 2.5/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer's Rating: 4.5 Stars
- Cagematch.net Rating: 9.28
Bryan Danielson is one of the greatest wrestlers in the world today. When he signed with WWE in 2010, as Daniel Bryan, fans never thought he'd reach the top of the mountain there. But the fact is Bryan did it, becoming a five-time World Champion in the process. One of his best title wins happened against John Cena at SummerSlam 2013.
John Cena delivered many great matches throughout his career, although he doesn't get enough credit for it. Cena and Bryan closed out one of the best editions of SummerSlam ever with a classic. After nearly 27 minutes of action, Bryan shocked the world when he delivered the Running Knee and pinned Cena cleanly to become the new WWE Champion.
9 Bret Hart Vs. Mr. Perfect (King Of The Ring 1993)
Overall Rating From TheSportster: 9.5/10
Storytelling | 2.25/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical Ability | 2.5/2.5 |
Character Work/Psychology | 2.5/2.5 |
Crowd Reaction | 2.25/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer's Rating: 4.25 Stars
- Cagematch.net Rating: 8.29
More often than not, King of the Ring tournament matches were nothing special, especially when the gimmick had its own pay-per-view between 1993 and 2002. Since there were several tournament matches in the same night, the bouts were usually rushed and didn't stand out. But that wasn't the case when Mr. Perfect and Bret Hart went at it in the tournament semi-finals in 1993.
The two legendary performers had great chemistry together and put on many excellent matches over the years, most notably at SummerSlam 1991. But their best bout from a technical standpoint alone was the King of the Ring meeting. Aside from the great technical wrestling, they also told a brilliant story despite not even being in a feud at the time. In the end, The Hitman won and would eventually win the tournament.
8 Kurt Angle Vs. The Undertaker - World Heavyweight Championship (No Way Out 2006)
Overall Rating From TheSportster: 9.5/10
Storytelling | 2.25/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical Ability | 2.5/2.5 |
Character Work/Psychology | 2.5/2.5 |
Crowd Reaction | 2.25/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer's Rating: 4 Stars
- Cagematch.net Rating: 9.14
Kurt Angle and The Undertaker had a few matches over the years. While they were great workers, their bouts against each other weren't always awesome. They had a great WWE Title match on SmackDown in late 2003, but they'd also wrestled each other in disappointing bouts at both Fully Loaded 2000 and Survivor Series 2000.
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They finally delivered a classic when they met in the main event of No Way Out 2006. Angle and Undertaker went back-and-forth with both men kicking out of each other's best moves. The Deadman nearly made the champion tap out to Hell's Gate, but Angle used his superior wrestling skills to counter the hold into a smart pinning position for the three count.
7 John Cena Vs. CM Punk (Raw, February 25, 2013)
Overall Rating From TheSportster: 9.5/10
Storytelling | 2.25/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical Ability | 2.5/2.5 |
Character Work/Psychology | 2.25/2.5 |
Crowd Reaction | 2.5/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer's Rating: 4.5 Stars
- Cagematch.net Rating: 9.34
The road to WrestleMania 29 was far from perfect. John Cena won the Royal Rumble match to set up a predictable rematch with The Rock, who took the WWE Championship from CM Punk at the same event. But the road to 'Mania did feature one of the best matches in the entire history of Monday Night Raw.
John Cena and CM Punk had their final one-on-one match with Cena's title shot at WrestleMania 29 up for grabs. This was a terrific bout that nearly ended when Punk hit a shocking piledriver. They kept going until Cena did a hurricanrana from out of nowhere, immediately hitting the AA to score the pinfall victory.
6 Kurt Angle Vs. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania 21)
Overall Rating From TheSportster: 9.5/10
Storytelling | 2/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical Ability | 2.5/2.5 |
Character Work/Psychology | 2.5/2.5 |
Crowd Reaction | 2.5/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer's Rating: 4.75 Stars
- Cagematch.net Rating: 9.49
In 2005, Kurt Angle was the best wrestler SmackDown had to offer while 'The Heartbreak Kid' Shawn Michaels was the best performer on Raw. Fans wanted to see them going at it for years, and they finally got their wish when The Olympic Hero and HBK began feuding heading into WrestleMania 21.
Expectations were high and they didn't disappoint. Both men came close to winning many times, with Michaels getting a very dramatic nearfall after hitting Sweet Chin Music. HBK got caught in the Ankle Lock a few moments later, and he simply couldn't escape it no matter how hard he tried. Kurt Angle made Mr. WrestleMania tap out at WrestleMania 21.
5 Bret Hart Vs. Steve Austin (Survivor Series 1996)
Overall Rating From TheSportster: 9.75/10
Storytelling | 2.5/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical Ability | 2.5/2.5 |
Character Work/Psychology | 2.5/2.5 |
Crowd Reaction | 2.25/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer's Rating: 4.5 Stars
- Cagematch.net Rating: 9.05
During the peak of the nWo's run, WWE arguably had an even better feud between Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Their best match happened at WrestleMania 13, which featured the best double turn in wrestling history. But that bout was all about storytelling and brawling, and they had a better technical match at Survivor Series 1996.
It might've been The Hitman's first televised WWE match since losing the Iron Man Match to Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 12, but he still wrestled a perfect match. Austin proved he belonged in the ring against the best wrestlers the WWE had to offer, as his rivalry with Bret elevated him. That feud (and this particular match at Survivor Series) helped put Stone Cold on the map as a main eventer.
4 The Undertaker Vs. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania 25)
Overall Rating From TheSportster: 9.75/10
Storytelling | 2.25/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical Ability | 2.5/2.5 |
Character Work/Psychology | 2.5/2.5 |
Crowd Reaction | 2.5/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer's Rating: 4.75 Stars
- Cagematch.net Rating: 9.61
The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels had two of the best matches in WrestleMania history. Their feud culminated with a spectacular Streak vs. Career Match at 'Mania 26, where The Deadman ended HBK's legendary wrestling career. But before we got there, the two legends met in a regular singles match at WrestleMania 25.
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While 'Mania 26 was also incredible, it stood out because it was more dramatic due to the high stakes. 'Mania 25 was great because of the in-ring action alone. Michaels did everything he could to end the Streak, and he came close several times. However, Undertaker caught HBK in mid-air as he went for a moonsault and delivered a Tombstone Piledriver for the win.
3 Randy Savage Vs. Ricky Steamboat - WWE Intercontinental Championship (WrestleMania 3)
Overall Rating From TheSportster: 10/10
Storytelling | 2.5/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical Ability | 2.5/2.5 |
Character Work/Psychology | 2.5/2.5 |
Crowd Reaction | 2.5/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer's Rating: 4.5 Stars
- Cagematch.net Rating: 8.96
Every single year, WWE fans look forward to WrestleMania and wonder what will be that year's WrestleMania classic. Arguably the first WrestleMania classic ever took place in 1987, when Randy Savage defended his Intercontinental Championship against Ricky Steamboat at 'Mania 3.
Savage injured Steamboat during the buildup, and he was aggressive during the whole match. Steamboat fought from underneath like the great babyface he was and walked out of the Silverdome with the belt. All these years later, it's still one of the greatest matches in WWE history.
2 Bret Hart Vs. Owen Hart (WrestleMania 10)
Overall Rating From TheSportster: 10/10
Storytelling | 2.5/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical Ability | 2.5/2.5 |
Character Work/Psychology | 2.5/2.5 |
Crowd Reaction | 2.5/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer's Rating: 4.75 Stars
- Cagematch.net Rating: 9.46
The Hart Family is one of the most successful families in wrestling history. Stu Hart did a great job as a promoter with Stampede Wrestling, and his son Bret reached the top of the mountain in WWE in the early 1990s. In early 1994, it was time for Owen Hart to become a big star as well.
At WrestleMania 10, The Rocket and The Hitman went one-on-one in the opening contest. They had a spectacular technical wrestling encounter that ended with Owen scoring a clean win over his brother. Still, Bret closed out the show as the new WWE Champion, and the paranoid Owen felt he was still in Bret's shadow which allowed the story to continue.
1 Kurt Angle Retains The WWE Championship After A Flawless Technical Wrestling Match (Royal Rumble 2003)
Overall Rating From TheSportster: 10/10
Storytelling | 2.5/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical Ability | 2.5/2.5 |
Character Work/Psychology | 2.5/2.5 |
Crowd Reaction | 2.5/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer's Rating: 4.75 Stars
- Cagematch.net Rating: 9.47
SmackDown was on fire in late 2002 and early 2003, with the SmackDown Six (Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio, Edge and Los Guerreros) putting on a show week after week. At Royal Rumble 2003, Angle defended the WWE Championship against his former partner, Benoit. Their match was incredible.
The in-ring action was out of this world, with great reversal sequences and several dramatic false finishes. In the end, Angle and Benoit went back-and-forth on the mat as they tried to apply their respective submission holds. Benoit locked in the Crippler Crossface, only for Angle to reverse it into the Ankle Lock. Benoit tapped out and Angle retained the WWE Championship.
