Since its inception in 1985, WrestleMania has been the staple of sports entertainment and a marquee event where some of the all-time greatest matches and moments have taken place.
Countdown to WWE WrestleMania 31: 3 Best Moments From WrestleMania XXV (25)
With just four days until WrestleMania 31 this Sunday at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., Sports World News begins to wind down its month-long countdown of looking at the three best moments from each edition of the cornerstone event.
In 2011, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson returned to WrestleMania for the first time in seven years as the guest host and the WWE looked for a new main event player pitting WWE Champion The Miz against John Cena.
Countdown to WWE WrestleMania 31: 3 Best Moments From WrestleMania XXVI (26)
WrestleMania XXVII emanated from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta as 71,618 fans packed the arena for what was dubbed as "The Biggest WrestleMania Ever" on April 3, 2011.
Here are our three best moments from WWE WrestleMania XXVII:
3) Finally The Rock Has Come Back To WrestleMania: The Rock last appeared at the WWE's linchpin event in 2004 at WrestleMania XX when he teamed with Mick Foley to take on Evolution, which consisted of Ric Flair, Batista and Randy Orton.
After seven years away from the WWE, "The People's Champion/Movie Star" returned as the guest host of WrestleMania XXVII in Atlanta.
The Rock opened up the show with a lengthy promo, talking about returning to the WWE and what the fans could expect that night while promising the greatest edition of WrestleMania of all time.
The Rock would appear at various points throughout the night and he made his presence known in the main event between The Miz and John Cena for the WWE Championship.
After The Miz and Cena were both counted out of the ring, "The Brahma Bull" came out and said that there was no way WrestleMania could end like that, and he ignored an edict from the anonymous RAW general manager, opting to restart the match with no DQ, no count outs and no time limit.
The Rock then hit Cena with a Rock Bottom, enabling Miz to get a pinfall victory on the "Cenation" leader in order to retain his title.
After the match, The Rock attacked The Miz and stood tall to close WrestleMania as "The Great One" left his stamp on the WWE in his return.
2) 'The Game' vs. The Streak: After his friend Shawn Michaels was unsuccessful in his attempts to end The Streak of The Undertaker at the previous two WrestleManias, Triple H set out to do it himself after watching 'Taker end "The Heart Break Kid's" career at WrestleMania XXVI.
Triple H and Undertaker clashed at WrestleMania XXVII, on the 10-year anniversary of their first encounter at the WWE's marquee event at WrestleMania X-7 in 2001.
Both men gave it all they had and kept coming back, with Triple H kicking out of the Chokeslam, Last Ride and Tombstone and The Undertaker powering out of three different Pedigrees. "The Game" even drove the "Deadman" through the Spanish announce table at one point during the contest.
Selling his frustration and desire to end The Streak, Triple H then grabbed a chair and walloped The Undertaker with it over and over again, yelling at him to stay down and let The Streak die.
'Taker kept coming back, however, and even kicked out when "The Game" nailed a Tombstone on him.
The ending saw Triple H, finally give in to his frustration by grabbing his trusty sledgehammer and preparing to dismantle the Demon from Death Valley with it, but The Undertaker reversed it into the Hell's Gate.
"The Game" put up a dramatic fight, but in the end he tapped out to end a match that lasted nearly a half hour.
The Undertaker improved to 19-0, but couldn't walk out of the match on his own power.
1) A 'Rated R' Farewell: For the first time in WrestleMania history, a World Championship match kicked off the show as Edge defended his World Heavyweight Championship against 2011 Royal Rumble Match winner Alberto Del Rio in the opening bout at WrestleMania 31.
Edge was seconded by lifelong friend and former tag team partner Christian while Brodus Clay and Ricardo Rodriguez flanked Del Rio.
The two engaged in a back-and-forth affair that saw both men fend off each other's signature moves while Del Rio focused on Edge's injured arm.
After Del Rio put Edge in the Cross Armbreaker, the "Rated 'R' Superstar" was able to escape and hit a spear out of nowhere to pin Del Rio and retain his championship.
Following the match, Edge and Christian destroyed Del Rio's car and reveled in doing so.
It proved to be the final match of Edge's career, as he ended up retiring from wrestling due to a legitimate neck injury and announced his departure on Monday Night RAW a week later.
It was a fitting farewell for the future Hall of Famer as he retained a prestigious title on the grandest stage of them all in a solid match with Del Rio.
Looking Ahead: The Rock's comeback would end up being more than a one-off appearance when WrestleMania XXVIII rolled around while Triple H looked for one more crack at The Undertaker in a match that signaled the end of an era. We'll look into that event more on Thursday.
Rank-O-Mania: As we go through each year, we will rank each WrestleMania as it comes along. WrestleMania XXVII has some good moments, with what proved to be Edge's farewell, a solid Undertaker-Triple H encounter and a good Randy Orton-CM Punk bout. However, there was a lot of bad stuff, including Michael Cole vs. Jerry Lawler, Snooki wrestling a match and a disappointing, over-booked main event. Overall, it's a pretty bad WrestleMania and finds its place between WrestleManias IV and 13 in the 22nd position.
1) WrestleMania X-7
2) WrestleMania XIX
3) WrestleMania X
4) WrestleMania VI
5) WrestleMania III
6) WrestleMania 21
7) WrestleMania XIV
8) WrestleMania VIII
9) WrestleMania XXIV
10) WrestleMania XX
11) WrestleMania 22
12) WrestleMania XXVI
13) WrestleMania VII
14) WrestleMania X-8
15) WrestleMania XXV
16) WrestleMania 23
17) WrestleMania V
18) WrestleMania XV
19) WrestleMania 2000
20) WrestleMania XII
21) WrestleMania IV
22) WrestleMania XXVII
23) WrestleMania 13
24) WrestleMania I
25) WrestleMania XI
26) WrestleMania IX
27) WrestleMania 2
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