Ranking All 14 Matches from the WWE WrestleMania 41 Card

WWE wrapped up its gigantic two-night, 14-match WrestleMania card Sunday night in Las Vegas and in the wake of this year's Showcase of the Immortals, it is that time where fans look back on the card, examine its place in history but more specifically even than that, argue the best match from either night.

In celebration of the completion of this year's Showcase of the Immortals, find out which matches hit, which missed, where they rank with this countdown of the year's biggest matches.

What was a banner moment and major exposure for world champion Joe Hendry for TNA Wrestling was a three-minute squash match for everyone else.

The moment was well-earned for Hendry but in reality, his dance on the WrestleMania stage was short, sweet, and left some wondering what the point was after Orton dropped him with an RKO for the win, then followed up with an encore to really hammer home who the superior competitor was.

Less match, more moment, an increasingly common theme when it comes to The Showcase of the Immortals.

For 25 minutes, fans watched a slow, plodding WrestleMania main event that exposed Cena's shortcomings at this point in his career and was made no better by the questionable appearance from Travis Scott later in the match and a clunky finish that felt all too appropriate given the bowling shoe tendencies of the contest that preceded it.

Not exactly the classic encounter between generational stars that either man likely hoped to deliver, the match will rank near the bottom of modern WrestleMania main events and likely be one of those matches both men long to forget sooner rather than later.

The War Raiders and New Day are both quality tag teams deserving of a spot on the WrestleMania card but their match Saturday night did little to support that notion.

At less than 10 minutes, it felt rushed and more importantly, the lack of creative effort that went into the backstory meant the crowd was largely dead for the title match.

The right team went over in a match that may have better been served as a prominent on on an episode of Raw and everyone moved on rather quickly.

The penultimate match on this year's show was less about tag team wrestling or the titles involved but, rather, about spotlighting Lynch upon her return. Despite solid efforts from all four women, there was a decided lack of drama once The Man arrived on the scene as Valkyria's partner, with most assuming there was no way she was losing in her return match.

They were correct.

The heat spot saw the reigning women's intercontinental champion take the beatdown from Morgan and Rodriguez before Lynch exploded into the match, took out the competition, and pinned the former to avenge her previous loss and win the titles.

A formulaic match that did what it set out to a little more.

The grudge match between Cargill and Naomi exceeded all expectations, thanks to some solid in-ring chemistry between the former friends, the former's awe-inspiring power work, and the latter's ability to bring it all together.

Naomi showed out in what may have been her best WWE performance since her match up with Charlotte Flair years ago and Cargill turned in her best individual showing since arriving on the scene.

The crowd was not as hot for it as one would have hoped, but this is a match WWE could absolutely go back to to if it chose to because the chemistry, both from a character standpoint and an in-ring one, is certainly there.

The Fatal 4-Way for the Intercontinental Championship was a demolition derby of a contest that saw Breakker hurl his opponents around the ring with relative ease, powering through anyone that stood between him and a championship victory.

A championship victory that never came.

That is because ultimate opportunist Mysterio seized an opening, delivering a frog splash to his fellow Judgment Day mate Bálor to score the win and the title.

A fun, chaotic, nonstop match-up with a great cameo performance from Carlito elevated this one and the narrative thread, which ended with Mysterio's win and a genuinely shocking positive reaction from the fans.

There was not a ton of heat for Knight vs. Fatu entering Saturday night but both men plowed ahead, delivering a quality match that the crowd was into throughout.

The in-ring chemistry was strong and Knight showed out, taking risks and adding to his repertoire, including a mid-flight Blunt Force Trauma that nearly earned him the upset victory.

Fatu, though, was the intense force of nature he has been since his arrival to the company last summer and absorbed everything before finally ending The Megastar's title reign on the end of two moonsaults.

Like Cargill vs. Naomi, this is a match WWE can absolutely run back because the chemistry between the combatants was surprisingly strong.

For as great as AJ Styles is, he entered WrestleMania 41 never really having had the classic encounter on the grand stage that defines so many of the industry's top stars.

He did not change that with this year's match against Logan Paul.

Instead, like so many of Styles' other dances on the grand stage, the contest started well before descending into a plodding match up that ran longer than it should have. At least this one ended with an angle meant to further his feud with Karrion Kross, which should help elevate a new star.

Paul was his solid self but Styles, for as all time great as he is, appears to have lost a step or two. This was good when it should have been great, resulting in its spot here in the bottom half of the Top 10.

Whether under a mask as El Grande Americano or competing as he is, Chad Gable will almost always seize the opportunity and show out, regardless of the stage. Competing in a singles match for the first time in his career at WrestleMania, that likelihood increased tenfold.

Gable, as Americano, squared off with Rey Fenix, who was a last-minute substitute for Rey Mysterio after the Hall of Famer suffered a torn groin on SmackDown Friday night.

All the 2012 Olympian and his world renowned luchador opponent did was turn in a fun encounter full of athletic spots that ended with Americano packing his mask with a metal plate and using it on Fenix to secure the win.

Solid chemistry, a crowd that is increasingly into Americano, and an enthused Fenix helped make this one a surprising hit given that it was never originally scheduled in the first place.

There was expected to be increased physicality in the WWE Women's Championship match due to the intensely personal comments made by Stratton toward Flair and the on-screen bullying that preceded them.

What few could have imagined given the other matches on this weekend's two-night card was that the contest would be one of the most physical of the entire weekend.

Flair and Stratton beat the hell out of each other, with the former leaving the latter with a nice ring burn on her forehead long after the bell rang. It was a litmus test for Stratton, an opportunity to prove she could hang with a top star, in a marquee match, on the biggest show of the year.

She passed with flying colors, winning a strong match with the Prettiest Moonsault Ever, and setting herself up for long-term success.

Gunther spent 10 weeks telling Jey Uso he was an inferior wrestler who did not belong on the WrestleMania stage with a man as protective of the mat as him. All Uso did to prove the heel wrong was beat him with his own moves.

Saturday night's action kicked off with Uso absorbing everything the champion threw at him, including some devastating chops, only to keep fighting and advancing. By the end of the match, he was laughing off Gunther's greatest weapon before driving him to the mat with a German Suplex, then a powerbomb. He added three Uso splashes before going back to The Ring General's arsenal and tapping him out to the rear naked choke.

Some have expressed their dislike for the manner in which Uso won but what better way is there to prove that one is better than someone else than by using their very arsenal against them?

Especially when Gunther could not keep Uso down using those moves earlier in the contest?

It was a great bit of storytelling that led to the coronation of Uso as a legitimate main event star, in a quality match that set the tone for the rest of the show.

The lead-in to WrestleMania featuring Priest and McIntyre was intensely physical, with each man getting the upper hand on the other by beating them down and brutalizing them outside the squared circle so the Sin City Street Fight stipulation made sense.

As they did prior to the show, they beat the unholy hell out of each other in Sunday's second match, using weapons and assorted plunder to punish one another. There were big spots, including an awe-inspiring back bump through two tables at ringside by The Archer of Infamy, and a few dramatic close calls, before McIntyre scored the win off a Claymore in to a steel chair wedged in the corner.

A great match between two guys who appeared to be forgotten creatively but in reality, culminated their year-long feud on the very stage it started.

This was the most difficult decision of the entire countdown as there was a very strong argument to be made that Ripley, Sky, and Belair had the best match at WrestleMania and, quite possibly of the entire weekend.

The opener of Sunday's show was a physical, aggressive encounter between three women looking to prove they deserved a shot at headlining the show. Instead, they took to the opener to steal the show out from underneath the Sunday lineup, turning in a fantastic opener full of inventive high spots and thriving on drama.

Three of the best wrestlers on the roster, champion Sky and her two challengers showed out, adding another WrestleMania banger to their resumes. The Genius of the Sky would prove that she is not an afterthought and punish Ripley and Belair for taking their eyes off her late, delivering an Over the Moonsault and scoring the pinfall victory to retain her title.

A legitimate Match of the Year candidate and contender for greatest WrestleMania opener. Given the competition there, that is a loaded statement.

The historic nature of the No. 1 match on this countdown, though, just narrowly pushes it past the Women's World Championship match.

The so-so nature of the creative leading into Punk vs. Rollins vs. Reigns had somewhat tempered expectations for the match on Saturday night. All The Best in the World, The Visionary, and the Tribal Chief did in response was turn in one of the greatest Triple Threat matches of all time.

A non-stop car wreck of a match that thrived on dramatic near-falls and impeccable timing of the Superstars involved, it was the WrestleMania main event we deserved.

Their ability to recognize exactly when and where to put any given spot was a testament to their in-ring intuition and resulted in a match that gradually built and built before hitting its crescendo in the form of Paul Heyman's betrayal of both Punk and Reigns and alliance with Rollins.

The best match on the card, narrowly, and a surefire contender for Match of the Year, the Triple Threat Match was the first perfect first WrestleMania main event for Punk and a match that, unlike others on the card, should have long-reaching effects on the product for the foreseeable future.