With the countdown to WrestleMania just weeks away, today we take a look at past Mania’s, and today it’s the 10 worst WrestleMania main events in the 26 years of the springtime WWE event.
1. WrestleMania XIII: Undertaker defeats Sycho Sid in a No disqualification match for the WWF Championship – With Shawn Michaels out due to injury, this was a hurried put together main event with Sid, who was a throw away champ against Taker, who while a Maina legend, wasn’t nearly the icon he is today. Bad plodding match where you knew from the start Taker was going to win the strap.
2. WrestleMania X: Bret Hart defeats Yokozuna for the WWF Championship – The second match for both, as it was built as a night where many felt it would be Hart vs Lex Luger for the strap. Instead, a disputed finish between Luger and Yoko earlier in the night led to this match. Hart wins, but only after Yoko falls off the rope doing his vintage finish. Just lacked what their WM 9 match had.
3. WrestleMania X8: Triple H defeats Chris Jericho for the Undisputed Championship – The crowd was totally dead after the emotion and crazy match between the Rock and Hulk Hogan, which should have been the true main event. Jericho had Steph McMahon in their corner, and H was a face, which simply didn’t work. Again, dead crowd at the SkyDome didn’t help matters.
4. WrestleMania XXV: Triple H defeats Randy Orton to retain the WWE Championship – Orton was so due to win this match, but knowing the backstage politics, it was no shock they let H get over on his rival. What made this match even more of a dud was the fact that Orton won the strap a month later.
5. WrestleMania IV: Randy Savage beats Ted DiBiase in a tournament final for the vacant WWF Championship – The whole card was off due to the long four plus hour event that had 14 guys fighting for the WWF title. Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant was not nearly as good as WM 3, and you saw the writing on the wall after both Hogan and the Giant were DQ’ed. Savage’s reign lasted exactly one year.
6. WrestleMania VIII: Hulk Hogan vs. Sid Justice – In what should have been Hogan vs Ric Flair, they instead didn’t like the program in house show matches, so they instead went with a lame double main of Flair and Randy Savage and Hogan and Justice. Maybe the worst Hogan Mania match of them all, Justice dominated and then was DQ’ed in a lame finish that saw the short lived return of the Ultimate Warrior.
7. WrestleMania XXIV: Undertaker defeats Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship – In wanting to send the crowd home happy, they saved the Deadman’s World title win for last, pushing what should have been the main, the three-way between Randy Orton, John Cena and Triple H on earlier. A way too long match with a quick ending giving Taker the strap.
8. WrestleMania: Hulk Hogan and Mr. T beat Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff – In watching this match from some 27 years ago, it was so built up that there was no way they could match the build. it was a mess, but hey, anything that had Mr.T in it wasn’t going to be a classic. Piper made the match, but in the end it wasn’t enough to save it.
9. WrestleMania XI: Lawrence Taylor vs. Bam Bam Bigelow – Give props to Bam Bam, who made the match and made Taylor look way better than he should have. To me Taylor was a better in-ring performer than T, and it showed, but at the end of the day, it was still not worthy of Mania main event status.
10. WrestleMania 2000: Triple H Beats The Rock, Big Show and Mick Foley to retain the WWF Championship – On paper a very good match, but add in four McMahon’s who didn’t need to be there, and throw in an overweight, out of shape Foley who had retired a month earlier, and you have a fatal-four-way that could have clearly just been H vs Rock, which we saw a month later with the Rock finally getting the belt back.
Labels: wrestlemania
