Top 100 Wrestling PPVs Of All Time: 40-21

With the success of our Top 100 Matches of the Past 50 Years list, we’ve decided to go in another direction this year. We’re going to rank the top 100 wrestling PPVs of all time!

Our ranking differs from the PWI 500 because we use math. Well, at least we try to. Just as we did before, we all submitted our own list of the top matches of all time, and each ranking represents points. For example, #1 = 100 points, #2 = 99 points, etc. At the end, we’d calculate which had the most points and assign ranking from there.

Without further ado, here is the first set of the top 100 wrestling PPVs of all time.

Read 100-81 here.

Read 80-61 here.

Read 60-41 here.

40. Revolution 2020 (208 points)

AEW had built a reputation at this point of putting on great PPVs, but this was the first one that reached awesomeness. At the time, this was the best show that AEW had put on and held that title until All Out 2021. The long-awaited match between MJF and Cody finally happened. Jon Moxley won the AEW Championship over Chris Jericho in the main event. This show also had what many wrestling critics have called the “greatest tag team match in wrestling history,” The Young Bucks challenging for the Tag Titles against champions Kenny Omega and Hangman Page. – Neal Wagner

39. Beach Blast 1992 (223 points)

Bill Watts’ finest three hours in WCW. Although the dream match of Steiners vs. the Miracle Violence Connection didn’t live up to expectations, there are still two classics on this show. Rick Rude and Ricky Steamboat had the best 30-minute Ironman match you’ll find and Cactus Jack took Sting to the extreme in a Falls Count Anywhere…on the Gulf Coast! There’s also a hot opener between Brian Pillman and Scotty Flamingo. – John Corrigan

38. WrestleMania III (235 points)

It’s the most significant event in pro wrestling history, and yes, it still holds up. It’s required viewing for any wrestling fan: Hogan vs. Andre, Savage vs. Steamboat, Piper vs. Adonis, 93,000 fans, Brutus becoming the Barber, Bundy squashing a midget. It’s peak WWF in the 1980s, the golden age for the promotion. – John Corrigan

37. No Way Out 2001 (238 points)

I always kind of liked the No Way Out pay-per-view. I liked it a lot better when the booking wasn’t quite as predictable and meant to set up WrestleMania and when the wrestlers would actually go out and put on a show for the fans. Kurt Angle vs. The Undertaker in ’06 is one of my favorite matches, as is the Three Stages of Hell match Steve Austin had with Triple H at No Way Out 2001. The match was an epic. Not epic. AN epic.

Austin and The Game took the fans on a journey that night for 40 minutes in a match that was the first of its kind and probably goes underutilized in modern times. And even though Triple H went over in the end, it was a rare case of the Royal Rumble winner doing the honors at the in-between pay-per-view between the Rumble and Mania. That said, it worked. This was Steve Austin, after all, and Triple H needed the rub. If Vince and friends already knew Austin was going to get this moment at the end of WrestleMania in Houston where he was going to turn heel, putting Triple H over really wasn’t that big of a deal.

What’s crazy is, this match wasn’t even the main event. The Rock defeated Kurt Angle to cement his place in the WrestleMania main event in an awesome wrestling match that had a little bit of everything. The Thomas & Mack Center on UNLV’s campus played host to some incredible wrestling shows in its day, and No Way Out 2001 was no exception. – Jack Goodwillie

36. Dominion 2018 (249 points)

NJPW’s equivalent to SummerSlam, Dominion shows have always been spectacles. But the 2018 iteration is arguably the most important show of all. From the first match to the main event, every single thing about this show is outstanding. Not to mention, this PPV has the “greatest” wrestling match as the main event: Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, two out of three falls! You’ll probably never watch a PPV where you get your money’s worth more than Dominion 2018. – Steven Jackson

35. Unbreakable 2005 (250 points)

This is really a one-match show. Samoa Joe, AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels combined to have the greatest triple threat match in TNA and possibly wrestling history. The match was a look into the present and future of wrestling with the style that has become the norm, but nobody has been able to match the level of these three. – Chad Gelfand

34. SuperBrawl II (253 points)

Commentary immediately gets shaken up thanks to the arrival of Jesse Ventura. And what a show to debut on: Sting sends Lex Luger packing for the World Bodybuilding Federation, Paul E. Dangerously disguises himself as a ninja, Larry Zbyszko & Steve Austin and Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes put on a tag team masterclass, Cactus Jack and Ron Simmons exchange fisticuffs and Vinnie Vegas shows agility! Don’t forget the opener – Jushin Thunder Liger and Brian Pillman drafting the blueprint for the cruiserweight division. – John Corrigan

33. Starrcade 1996 (256 points)

For being WCW’s version of WrestleMania, Starrcade rarely delivered. This was a great one, though, as Dean Malenko and Ultimo Dragon tore the house down right away, followed by Rey Mysterio vs. Jushin Thunder Liger (who had a brain tumor removed only four months prior), The Outsiders vs. Faces of Fear, an exhilarating finish to DDP vs. Eddie Guerrero and an even hotter finish to Lex Luger vs. The Giant. Finally, Hogan put Piper over in the main event albeit the World Heavyweight Championship wasn’t on the line for some reason. – John Corrigan

32. SummerSlam 2013 (258 points)

With two match-of-the-year candidates and a swerve that set up the company’s main storyline to WrestleMania XXX, this was the greatest SummerSlam of the 2010s. In addition to CM Punk and Lesnar’s epic clash, as well as Daniel Bryan dethroning Cena (briefly), Christian and Alberto Del Rio had another good bout, too. – John Corrigan

31. WrestleMania XX (261 points)

WWE went all out for the Grandaddy of Em All, blending the right amount of nostalgia with the thrilling action of the current generation. From Cena winning his first title to Trish Stratus turning evil to the Rock & Sock reuniting to Undertaker’s return to the dark side to Guerrero and Angle’s clinic to one of the greatest triple threats ever, whew, this was a roller coaster. – John Corrigan

30. King of the Ring 1998 (263 points)

Despite this PPV ending with Kane’s first WWE Championship in a first blood match with Stone Cold, everybody remembers this event for one match, and rightfully so. Undertaker and Mankind had a match that can’t be and shouldn’t be topped due to the extreme risks that Mick Foley took that night. From launched off the top of the Hell in the Cell, chokeslammed through the roof and slammed on thumbtacks, Foley put on one of the most incredible displays of toughness in wrestling, hell, human history. – Chad Gelfand

29. When Worlds Collide (264 points)

My love for this PPV is well documented. What AAA/IWC showed was that near authentic lucha libre can be presented in the traditional PPV form. Fun multi-man tag matches, a heated cage match main event and a semi main event hair vs. mask tag match that needs to be seen to be believed. When Worlds Collide is a show which will never be forgotten. – Steven Jackson

28. Backlash 2000 (267 points)

While WrestleMania 2000 was somewhat of a letdown, the next month’s PPV was anything but, featuring The Rock vs. Triple H match that should have been the main event of that year’s WrestleMania, an electric Stone Cold run and one of the greatest undercard matches of all time in Scotty 2 Hotty vs. Dean Malenko. – Chad Gelfand

27. WrestleMania 31 (269 points)

This show will always be defined by the “Heist of the Century” with Seth Rollins cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase and ending WrestleMania as WWE Champion. However, this show was entertaining from top to bottom with a great IC Title ladder match, the craziest RKO you will ever see, DX vs. NWO in 2015, and to this day the best Roman Reigns/Brock Lesnar match. – Chad Gelfand

26. All Out 2021 (276 points)

This show was built around the return to the ring of CM Punk. After seven years away, Punk donned the tights to put on a great performance with Darby Allin. It was a showcase that Punk was back and that AEW had put its apples into the straight-edge superstar. Also on the card (as if we needed anything else), Minoru Suzuki attacked Jon Moxley, Ruby Soho debuted and won a #1 Contenders Battle Royal, Adam Cole debuted and rejoined The Elite and the show closed with the debuting Bryan Danielson laying out the challenge to Kenny Omega for an eventual soon to come match. – Neal Wagner

25. Survivor Series 1998 (277 points)

When it comes to the Jim Cornette vs. Vince Russo debate, I side with Jim Cornette nine times out of 10. Both were employed by the WWF during this time, but Russo took the lead on this event, and I have to say, this is one of the best booked nights of wrestling ever, as far as the show having one central story that develops over the full three hours.

The matches, in a vacuum, were not great, but this show was never about the wrestling. Every match on the show with the exception of the Women’s Championship and Tag Team Championship matches centered around the Deadly Game Tournament, which sought to crown a new WWF champion after Kane and The Undertaker pinned Steve Austin simultaneously at Breakdown: In Your House.

As lame as that sounds, it set up a 14-man tournament to take place over one night to crown the new champion. If you tune into this show for the wrestling, you’re going to have a bad time. However, if you’re more into the storyline and acting-driven side of wrestling, this show is definitely for you, as every match advances an angle whether it has to do with the tournament or not and the show is also significant for marking the first time The Rock won the WWE Championship. – Jack Goodwillie

24. WrestleMania X-8 (279 points)

If there was a WrestleMania to follow the G.O.A.T., this was it. The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan alone was worth the price of admission. Plus, Undertaker’s 10th Mania win came in a very underrated match against Ric Flair. This was a great way to wrap up the Attitude Era as the brand extension started later in the year. –Juan Bautista

23. Barely Legal (280 points)

The story behind Barely Legal, ECW’s debut on pay-per-view, is perhaps every bit as compelling as the event itself. Back in the day of pay-per-view companies, Paul Heyman struck an agreement with Request TV to broadcast the inaugural ECW PPV, but after Wade Keller of The Torch informed them of the Mass Transit incident, Request TV pulled out of the agreement, ultimately reversing course after conversations with ECW brass and an agreement to cap the amount of violence on the show.

That didn’t mean, however, ECW was going to shy away from pushing the envelope, which is a big part of what made ECW, ECW. Because of all these things, this may have been the most pressure-packed event ECW ever put on, and it shows in the quality. True to ECW’s legacy, the show had a little bit of everything: storytelling, athleticism and egregious violence. I loved the noise surrounding Shane Douglas’ match with the Pitbulls and Rob Van Dam got to show why he’s the Whole F’n Show, on more than one occasion.

Still, the MVP of this show had to be Terry Funk. At 52-years-young, Funk wrestled back-to-back matches and held the ECW Championship high as the show went off the air, defeating Raven after earning his way into the match by beating The Sandman and Stevie Richards. A part of me always wondered what could have been had Stevie won the match and defeated his former master in a passing of the torch type moment, but as far as moments go, Terry Funk’s indoctrination into hardcore heaven would have been pretty tough to top. – Jack Goodwillie

22. SuperBrawl III (282 points)

The Nature Boy comes home to WCW! He didn’t wrestle, but the world felt balanced again. He also didn’t need to wrestle to save this show because there’s so much good shit, pal. The Hollywood Blondes kick things off, Chris Benoit vs. 2 Cold Scorpio follows, Davey Boy Smith gets a huge pop, Cactus Jack and Paul Orndorff of all people go hardcore, The Heavenly Bodies and Rock N Roll Express put on a clinic and Sting and Vader end the show with the best strap match ever. From top to bottom, this is truly the best of World Championship Wrestling. – John Corrigan

21. SummerSlam 1992 (285 points)

An event near and dear to just about every fan’s heart. Bret Hart vs. Davey Boy Smith is flawless. Some might consider it a one-match show, but Randy Savage and Ultimate Warrior also put on a barnburner despite the wacky ending. The ambiance of Wembley Stadium certainly puts this over the top. – Juan Bautista