Top 10 Hidden-Gem WWE WrestleMania Matches of the Last Decade

WrestleMania is an event known for its awe-inspiring in-ring feats as much as it is for the showmanship and spectacle that has come to define it.

Sure, there are pyrotechnic displays unlike in any other form of entertainment, massive arena layouts, state-of-the-art stages and all of The Weeknd that you could ask for, but at the heart of it all are the in-ring performances that have fans buzzing for weeks, months and years to come.

Some of those performances are overshadowed by surprises or high-profile bouts that become defining moments of their respective cards, resulting in bountiful hidden gems. The last decade, in particular, has produced more than its fair share.

From championship encounters to grudge matches, they are the contests that have helped strengthen the bill at The Show of Shows but remain underrated moments in 'Mania history.

In preparation for a WrestleMania 38 that is sure to have its own hidden gems, relive these 10 matches that deserve another look.

Alexa Bliss, Nikki Cross, Asuka and Kairi Sane had the unenviable task of being the first WrestleMania main-card match to take place in an empty WWE Performance Center.

With no crowd to feed off due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they took to the squared circle with the task of setting the tone for Night 1 of the pay-per-view.

What they produced was a good tag team match that saw Bliss and Cross overcome the more experienced and devious tandem to capture the gold.

With great in-ring chemistry on the part of The Kabuki Warriors and unbridled energy from the challengers, the contest exceeded expectations and proved the effort would not be lacking at the 2020 edition of The Showcase of the Immortals despite the lack of fans. 

Seth Rollins makes the first of three appearances on this list for his WrestleMania 31 match with Randy Orton.

While The Architect would be remembered for a much more significant moment later in the show, it was his match with The Viper that got his night kicked off on the right foot.

The culmination of a feud that started with The Authority kicking Orton to the curb, it was the definition of a smart, well-wrestled bout that highlighted the strengths of the performers involved en route to an exclamation point of a finish.

Late, Rollins tried for his Stomp finisher, only for his opponent to pop him up in the air and catch him coming down with arguably the best RKO in WrestleMania history.

Orton would earn the win, but Rollins would have the last laugh by leaving WrestleMania as the new WWE World Heavyweight champion. Not too bad for a guy whose first dance on the big stage as a singles competitor resulted in a loss. 

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn are longtime friends who have dabbled in being enemies with magnificent results.

Their Payback 2016 match is one of the best in modern WWE history, and they squared off on Night 2 of WrestleMania 37, with the presence of Logan Paul threatening to overshadow them. But it didn't.

Owens and Zayn had another really strong match, with their chemistry and fluidity between the ropes apparent to anyone watching. It was as if they had wrestled the match a million times and knew exactly what to do next for maximum effect.

KO would silence the conspiracy-minded heel with a Stone Cold Stunner to pop the crowd. It was his same maneuver on Paul, though, that served as the real fan-pleasing moment and put an exclamation point on a momentous 'Mania for the former universal champion.

The opening match of WrestleMania 32 was a modern take on the old "boyhood dream come true" storyline.

Zack Ryder, a kid from Long Island who dreamed of wrestling in the same ring as his childhood heroes, was one of seven participants vying for the Intercontinental Championship in a ladder match.

The Long Island Broski, Dolph Ziggler, Stardust, Sami Zayn, The Miz, Sin Cara and Kevin Owens tore the house down in the night's opener, popping the crowd with each spot and setting the bar high for the rest of the card.

It was not one particular high spot that made the match so memorable but rather the culmination of an underdog career. Ryder, once the hottest star in wrestling only to find himself shunted down the card despite an obvious passion for his craft, was finally rewarded for his hard work with a WrestleMania moment.

Outlasting the hated Miz to win the title, he celebrated with his father post-match, putting a nice bow on what was a wild and chaotic match filled with awe-inspiring moments and some expected brutality from Zayn and Owens.

Over the years, Triple H has received criticism for favoring the drawn-out epic. Some of his matches run too long, overstaying their welcome and hurting the overall quality of the bout, particularly in his later years.

It was the negative perception of his reliance on those contests that hurt the response to his WrestleMania 33 match with Seth Rollins.

A fantastic bout with great psychology and a strong story to boot, it was the culmination of an arc that began the night after Payback 2014 with Rollins betraying his Shield brethren. After being Triple H's hand-picked successor, only to be betrayed in the summer of 2016, The Architect sought revenge and got it.

Fending off an injured knee, he super-kicked Triple H into Stephanie McMahon and through a table. From there, he delivered the ultimate insult as he drove The Game into the mat with a Pedigree for the win.

An epic that actually felt like one, featured a storyline worthy of it and had the right guy go over, this is one of those overlooked gems that is right at home on this list.

It is one thing to throw your body around the squared circle in a death-defying ladder match when there's an actual crowd to wow, but it's another thing entirely to do it without an audience to feed off of.

Kofi Kingston, John Morrison and Jimmy Uso clashed at WrestleMania 36 inside an empty Performance Center with the SmackDown Tag Team Championships up for grabs.

All three competitors took considerable risks, throwing their bodies around the squared circle and surrounding areas as if there were 50,000 fans in attendance. Uso took the bump that would injure his knee and put him out of action for months, while Kingston and Morrison used raw athleticism and creativity to come up with unique spots.

In the end, Morrison retrieved the titles in a rare signature victory in a comeback that did not have many of them.

Take away the infuriating finish and the SmackDown Women's Championship match from WrestleMania 34 is one of the best female bouts in the history of The Showcase of the Immortals, yet it somehow remains underrated and undervalued.

Charlotte Flair and Asuka turned in an extraordinary contest; a physical battle that saw The Empress of Tomorrow ride a 914-day unbeaten streak into a showdown with the measuring stick for women's wrestling in WWE. The crowd was hot and the action was phenomenal.

Great transitions, reversals and counters leading to the shocking finale that saw The Queen tap out her rival, helped make for one of the best matches of the 2018 event and a banner one in the careers of both women.

If only WWE had done the wise thing and booked Asuka to go over, this might be considered an all-timer. Instead, the outcome and negative reception leave it ranked among the hidden gems.

AJ Styles forever earned recognition as one of the best wrestlers of his generation in the opening match of WrestleMania 33 when he managed to get a fantastic match out of Shane McMahon. 

Make no mistake about it: McMahon was a phenomenal performer with a laundry list of show-stealing efforts, but by 2017, he was not the same guy who had captivated audiences during the Attitude and Ruthless Aggression eras.

Styles worked around McMahon's limitations, putting him in a position to excel while not compromising any of the things he did well himself. The Phenomenal One bumped when necessary and ramped up the intensity at other times. 

The result? A match befitting WrestleMania and the all-important tone-setting opening spot.

Styles would go on to win, while McMahon looked like the kid who first exploded onto the scene two decades earlier. 

Charlotte Flair has a penchant for seizing the spotlight and turning in some of her best performances at The Show of Shows so, fans or no fans, it really should not have surprised anyone when she did just that at WrestleMania 36.

Yet, two years later, it feels very much like her clash with Rhea Ripley for the NXT Women's Championship remains undervalued.

The Queen and The Nightmare stole the show from the opening match on Night 2 of the PPV, delivering a surprisingly physical, hard-hitting and psychology-based match that established Ripley's place as the most promising young star in the women's division while securing Flair's spot as one of the most gifted performers of her generation.

Like the Asuka match from two years earlier, many have dismissed the match for its finish, suggesting Ripley should have gone over to enhance the hold she had on the NXT division and brighten her star.

They are probably right, but the guts and resiliency she showed while fighting through a damaged knee won fans over and made her look like a double-tough badass, even in defeat.

She was believable in the role of challenger a year later when she defeated Asuka to win the Raw Women's Championship. Who knows if that main roster jump would have happened as seamlessly as it did without the extraordinary effort put forth in Ripley's match with Flair in 2020. 

The Miz defended the Intercontinental Championship against Finn Balor and Seth Rollins in the opening match of the 2018 show and the greatest hidden gem of the last decade.

The match abandoned WWE's Triple Threat formula, with all three competitors involved throughout. It featured expert storytelling, some great selling by Balor and a creative finish that saw Rollins notch another statement victory on The Grandest Stage of Them All.

The contest came from out of nowhere, a midcard feud over a secondary title, to steal the show from other higher-profile matches. Had it not been for Ronda Rousey's extraordinary in-ring debut, it would be more remembered than it is.

Two of the most celebrated in-ring performers of their generation and a heel underrated due to misconceptions about his abilities as a worker wowed the fans inside the SuperDome in New Orleans with a fantastic match that deserves another watch if you haven't seen it since it initially aired.

Keep an eye on the throwbacks throughout, including Rollins teasing a Balor powerbomb into the guardrail, the same move that injured the Irishman in 2016 and cost him the Universal Championship.