Three WWE matches you need to watch

In January last year, the company that owns the rights to WWE professional wrestling (TKO) announced a surprise mega-deal with Netflix: WWE’s flagship weekly show, Raw along with other weekly and yearly events would move from broadcast to streaming, along with all archive material. The five billion deal is valid for 10 years and includes fan-favourite shows such as NXT and Smackdown, as well as pay-per-view events such as Royal Rumble.

TKO hopes to bring in the coveted 18-49 demographic to the crown jewel of sports entertainment, a demographic that has left broadcast media for the convenience of streaming. The company recently went through a major shakeup, as owner Vince MacMahon failed to bring in more business and had to resign over an avalanche of scandals. His daughter Stephanie MacMahon and her husband Paul Levesque (a wrestler formerly known as Triple H) took the reins and brought wrestling back into the spotlight securing the Netflix deal.

But what does Netflix get out of this? Global domination. While big productions bring in more subscribers, regional films and series rarely break big (the Korean Squid Game and Spanish Casa De Papel are two notable exceptions) as they have to wrestle (ha!) with a language barrier and subtle cultural nuances.

Not everyone speaks Spanish. Everyone though can understand a 100kg man in spandex flying backwards from a three-metre high pole and landing on another man lying spread-eagled in the ring. With all that content hitting Netflix though, plus two weekly live shows, what’s the best way to start? Here are some legendary matches that will get you in the mood for some piledrives!

WrestleMania 1 (1985)

The one that started it all, the bedrock of professional wrestling. Back in the days when WWE (then WWF) started taking its first steps to a national level, the company needed a spectacular event, one that would launch sports entertainment into the media stratosphere. WrestleMania 1 took place in 1985 in Madison Square Garden and it was a resounding success. WrestleMania is now an annual event, a kind of championship final for wrestling. The main event of that historic night saw the legendary Hulk Hogan teaming up with Mr T to take down ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper and ‘Mr Wonderful’ Paul Orndorff. Side note here: the match referee was none other than legendary boxer Muhammad Ali!

King of the Ring 1998 – Undertaker Vs Mankind

This one is probably the most brutal, high risk and subsequently talked about match in wrestling history: wrestler Mick Foley, fighting under the persona of the deranged Mankind, challenged the then established as a borderline demonic presence called the Undertaker, in a cage match that promised to be brutal. The match starts with a bang, literally. Both wrestlers climb up the five metre high cage and the Undertaker throws Mankind from the top, right at the announcement table. An obviously injured Mankind is carried out on a stretcher but drawing strength from God knows where, he climbs back to the top of the cage where the Undertaker proceeds with chokeslamming him through the cell and slamming onto the ring, once more. Cherry on top, a steel chair that was on top of the cage fell and hit Foley in the face, knocking him out. I won’t spoil the end of the match but just so you know, Foley suffered a dislocated shoulder, multiple teeth knocked out, a concussion, and bruised ribs from the match.

Cody Rhodes attempts to finish the story – Wrestlemania 40

Cody Rhodes, the American Nightmare, is on track to become a modern-day legend in professional wrestling, as his persona is struggling to do what his father never did: win the WrestleMania title. Cody tried to make it in wrestling for years but the decline in viewership led him and others to exit and form another company. Cody returned triumphantly to WWE in 2022 and led a story where he tried to win the title but kept clashing with then-champion Roman Reigns. In WrestleMania 40 Cody returns for one last try. Will he fail? Will he finish the story? Will he be the champion or is the path to glory cut off for yet another year?

WrestleMania 40 is the mark of the new era in professional wrestling and believe me, it shows!