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In 2020 , the cosmos shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic , force everyone to shelter in billet , find out how to employ TikTok , and line up their lives so as to stay secure . WWEwas no exception , and after they canceled all in - individual events in March 2020 , they transitioned to crowd - less broadcasts fromtheir Performance Center , and then transition to an innovational stadium setup called " The Thunderdome " , which featured visualise screens with fans across the public from their home .
WWE ’s Thunderdome Era broadcast were , frankly , an unexpended time in professional hand-to-hand struggle , as the gang is effectively the fourth individual in the match , andwatching worm without this component was jarring and unusual . While WWE took some serious originative swing during this time , they made the good of a bad situation , and these ten mates are worthy of watching again in 2025 .
Although they did take place during the Thunderdome Era , this list excludes " The Boneyard Match , " " The Firefly Funhouse Match , " and any other cinematic friction match , as these should be view severally of in - ring matches during this epoch . Our retrospective on the " Firefly Funhouse Match"can be register at this connectedness .
10Finn Balor vs. Karrion Kross
NXT, May 25, 2021
Karrion Kross was one of the fastest - maturate stars in NXT in 2020 , and although injury forced him to release the NXT Champion after his first win , he retrovert cursorily and regain his championship from one of the best NXT Champions of all time , Finn Balor , at the 2021TakeOver : Stand and Deliver . Their replay on the May 25 , 2021 installment ofNXTwasfull of high - flying action , brutal physicality , and finish with a submission finishthat allowed Kross to continue .
After drop his title to Samoa Joe in August , Kross was moved to the main roll , and after a controversial gimmick change and back to back losses , he was released , ending the momentum and the potential of his character , at least for the moment . However , this match against Balorpresented Kross as prevailing , forceful , and bet , something we ’re encounter through his current main roster run now .
9Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley
WrestleMania 36, Night 2
One of the more unsettling role ofWrestleMania 36was the over silence during the match , outside the performing artist and referee , and the very first face off between the present and the future of the women ’s division competing for the NXT Women ’s Championship was present in front of no one . A bruising affair , Charlotte Flair worked the genu of Rhea Ripley through the mate , and although Ripley put on an impressive defending team , Flair became a two - time NXT Women ’s Championafter make Ripley tap out in her physical body - Eight Leglock .
Flair and Ripley put on an amazing technological performance that show why Flair is one of the good in the partitioning while demonstrate Ripley as the next self-aggrandising thing from NXT . The match would also bethe first in a cosmic string of unbelievable lucifer between the two , with another addition we almost saw take place again atWrestleMania 41after Flair gain the Royal Rumble .
8Bobby Lashley vs. The Miz
Monday Night Raw, March 1, 2021
2021 was the year of coronation for Bobby Lashley , and after a dominant run with The Hurt Business through the initial parts of the Performance Center Era , he was ready to take his next whole tone to become WWE Champion . After a secret agreement was made between The Miz and MVP to cost Drew McIntyre his WWE Championship by way of life of cash in in his Money in the Bank declaration , The All Mighty made little work of the A - Lister and entirely annihilated himto make headway his first WWE Championship .
Lashley would hold the form of address twice before departing WWE in 2024 , allow for the capstone to a decorated vocation with the company . While this match with The Miz was shortsighted and vehement , it established Lashley as the monster champion and a worthy foe to McIntyre , who failed to recover the championship in his first title compeer in front of a alive crowdand began McIntyre ’s filiation into the sarcastic , entitled reference he is today .
7AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Sami Zayn
Clash of Champions 2020
It unfeignedly does n’t get much better than AJ Styles , Jeff Hardy , and Sami Zayn in one ring together , as the three performer battle for the Intercontinental Championship , with the true deed of conveyance belong to Hardy and the " real " championship belong to Zayn hoisted above the tintinnabulation for a " unification " match . An unhinged ladder match that pushed all three performers to the brink , Zayn became booster once again by manacle both Styles and Hardy to ladders and regain both titles .
Jeff Hardy ’s vocation is synonymous with ladder matches in WWE , and it ’s such a fun metre watching him perform in his natural element against two formidable opposite , both still at the top of their game . A violent and raucous watch , it ’s also one of the unspoilt innovative Jeff Hardy matches .
6Sasha Banks vs. Bayley
Hell in a Cell 2020
One of three Hell in a cellular telephone matches on the premium live event placard , the feud between Sasha Banks and Bayley fare to a head inside the cellphone after Bayley turned on Banks after losing the Women ’s Tag Team Championship . A match set for ECW , they biff each other through the match with kendo sticks and ladder for a grueling 26 minutes , ending when Banks draw Bayley to submit after putting her head in a steel chair and applying the " Bank Statement . "
Bayley and Banks were magic in the ring together , and their interpersonal chemistry shined here , bring in this charwoman ’s Hell in a jail cell match one of the best ever , in front of Banks ' unbelievable public presentation with Becky Lynch the yr prior . Banks conduct the championship through to WrestleMania 37 , where she and Bianca Belair were the first African - American woman to main event WrestleMania ( more on that below ) .
5Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens
Royal Rumble 2021
The Thunderdome was never as well utilize as it was when Kevin Owens was compete , and his " Last Man Standing " equal with Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship furnish all the accessory needed to make this a sprawling and brutal match . Reigns drop Owens onto the announce tables from the LED screens andran him over with a golf game cart , all before Owens did a Senton Bomb off a forklift to essay and beat the Head of the Table , only for Reigns to acquire the match with a guillotine choke hold to retain .
Kevin Owens is really a lunatic in these kind of match , andhe push the limit of what he and Reigns could engross , all while continuing to prove that he ’s a certified main eventer . This lucifer has been referenced oftentimes in Owens ' current feud with both Cody Rhodes and Sami Zayn , and is part of his never - ending pursuit to beat both reign and the Bloodline for their malign deeds .
4Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks
WrestleMania 37, Night 1
It wasthe very first time two African - American wrestlers main evented WrestleManiaand prior to the start of the peer , both Bianca Belair and Sasha Bankstook a moment to absorb the sobriety of the moment before an incredible mates in front of a limited electrical capacity gang . After bank judge to dive onto Belair on the exterior of the ring , Belair power pressed money box above her head as she walk back into the ring , and after a tatty braid whiplash to Banks ' midsection , Belair shoot her with a " Kiss of destruction " to acquire her first main roster gold .
The historic moment was no less important or impactful due to the limited crowd size , hamper by COVID-19 protocol at the time , andboth performer put on a clinic to help elevate Belair ’s position to the top of the air division . Belair remains at the top of the women ’s naval division in WWE , while bank , now known as Mercedes Mone , carries the women ’s division in AEW .
3Roman Reigns vs. Edge vs. Daniel Bryan
WrestleMania 37, Night 2
WrestleMania 37was the first event back in front of sports fan after a year of being lock away in the Thunderdome , andthere was not one brighter star in the company than Roman Reigns , after his shocking return at Payback to recover the Universal Championship . Edge , who chose Reigns as his adversary after his Royal Rumble win , found himself in a three-fold threat after Daniel Bryan found his way into the match after weeks of back and forth between the three .
A heavily stumble and dynamic match highlight two legendary performers , Edge and Bryan ’s performances were the swan call of their several careers in WWE.More importantly , the match solidify Roman Reigns ' shoes at the top of the WWE spate , a place he ’d preserve untilWrestleMania XL , end a 1,316 - day championship reign , the longest Universal Champion in WWE history .
2Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan
Friday Night SmackDown, April 30, 2021
After a breathtaking independent event compeer atWrestleMania 37 , Daniel Bryan want one more chance to achieve championship atomic number 79 in WWE by beating Roman Reigns , and a judicial admission was issued : succeed the title or be banned fromSmackDownforever . Bryan put up an impressive fight against Reigns , deliver one of the best technical lucifer of Reigns ' vocation , butBryan again come up abruptly and was drive to pass on to Reigns ' guillotine choke hold , and into exile he lead .
Bryan ’s career had an astonishing revitalisation , perform on borrowed time after he was told he could n’t anymore , and his finalWrestleManiamain event was a brilliant send - off . His last WWE compeer before head to AEW later that year was another reminder of just how good Daniel Bryan is at his wiliness , andwhy he ’s one of the dandy performers of his generation , quite possibly of all sentence .
1Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso
The commencement of the brilliant Bloodline saga , the Hell in a cadre " I Quit " match saw Jey Uso compete against his full cousin , Roman Reigns , not only for the Universal Championship , but also the respect and acknowledgment of Reigns as the Tribal Chief . An emotional and destructive match that postulate Jimmy Uso , Jey and Roman electrify this family dramawith Roman lend oneself the guillotine choke hold to Jimmy and Jey stating " I quit ! " in desperation to redeem his brother .
This mates set the course for papist Reigns as the Tribal Chief and would bear him through his historical rivulet with the patronage , solidifying his spot in WWE history . However , the bigger legacy is that of Jey Uso ’s governance as a main event player , and as a performer capable of carrying singles gold as he prepares to independent eventWrestleMania 41against Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship .
WWE
WWE
