Biggest Mania Disappointments

Yes, I was watching WMXX last night and felt the disappointment all over again.

What are the biggest man sausage-ups, let-downs and missed opportunities at the grandest stage of them all?

Some to start us off:

WMXX - Undertaker's return. A sort of halfway house between the Deadman gimmick and the American Bad Ass, it fell flat and was not what the crowd or the audience at home had spent weeks and months waiting for. In hindsight I don't know why everyone expected the full purple gloves and everything but what we got wasn't up to the hype preceding it.

WMXX (Again) - Brock vs Goldberg. If they'd kept a lid on those 2 leaving it could/should have been a WM classic. As it was the NY crowd decided they didn't like wrestling for 20 minutes and sh*t all over it until they got their Austin pop at the end.

WM19 - Brock's Shooting Star Press. The cherry on the cake of a 5 star match to close Wrestlemania. What could go wrong? The least fluid version of that move I've ever seen - it looked like an upside down frog splash. I hate that moment so much.

WM19 - Nathan Jones attacked backstage - they built this guy up to be a lunatic and then sh*t out of giving him his debut at WM by having Albert knock him out before his match.
Talk about an anti-climax. Of course by the time we saw him gingerly attempting a spinkick in the aisle an hour later we could see why the decision was made, but at what point did they think they could pull it off and why was he a prominent part of the promotion of the event?

WM26 - Bret Hart vs Mr McMahon - After the McMahon bloodbaths of Manias gone by intrigue was high but hopes were not as no-one expected Bret to be able to work. They were right, but we also got Vince giving his most restricted performance since he pulled muscles in both legs running into the ring, a stupid Hart Family defection plot at the last minute and then it effectively became a 13 on 1 beatdown of a 65 year old man to the joy of no-one.

WM28 - D-Bry vs Sheamus. Looked forward to that match all day. "Oh its on first, cool"...."Oh, that was sh*t"

What has disappointed you most at Wrestlemania?

Agree with Goldberg v Brock Lesnar but not The Undertakers return. I really enjoyed it.

The crowd reaction to the Taker's return was at fever pitch when he stepped out, high as he approached the ring, and practically nil when he took his jacket off to reveal the same attire he'd been wearing for 4 years.

I was with them all the way.

Agree with mostly the above.

Have to add that the undertakers early matches at wrestlemania weren't great, especially when they had good build up ie wrestlemania IX v giant gonzalez

Brock vs Goldberg for me was the biggest let down. It was a dream match completely ruined.

The introduction of Austin as ref was not needed either.

Brock Lesnar vs Goldberg 100% agree with.

Brett Hart vs MR Mcmahon also agree with.

Wrestle Mania 27 as a whole.

I enjoyed the Taker return at Mania 20. The whole atmosphere, the staging and also the return of Paul Bearer made the return a whole lot better.

I do agree with Brock and Goldberg. So much anticipation going into this match with an excellent build. Unforunately, both didn't give to Poopie about the company after they were leaving right after.

Could add Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler. I know some may not agree but the build up to the match was pretty good.

Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan being relegated to the pre show of Wrstlemania 27.

The result of Wrestlemania 25's money in the bank where CM Punk won the second year running. Was quite degected when Punk won it again, someone new should have won it like Christian or Kane at the time.

Another let down was the end of the HHH/Orton match at WM 25 as I expected something big or memorable to happen. In the HHH got his predictable retribution.

Wrestlemania 27 is by far the worst Wrestlemania since number 11.

The crowd reaction to Lesnar v Goldberg was incredible. It clearly got to Brock too. Am i right in thinking he shouted 'what the fck are you looking at' across the ring at Goldberg at the start when he was getting heat? Then he flipped the finger at the crowd. He clearly looked rattled. Austin being the one to stand tall at the finish sucked imo.

I was massively disappointed with HHH v Orton at WM25. The build up to the match was excellent and probably the best work i've seen Randy Orton produce. But the match stunk. Largely due to HBK v Taker stealing the show and the crowd werent interested in anything which followed.

The whole of WrestleMania 9.

Bar Heenan's entrance.

I found the problem with Triple H vs Orton was that the build up was brutal, Orton made it very personal with attacking the McMahons. They then decided to have a 25 minute technical wrestling match, it was a dumb move (Taker v Shawn didn't help).

The match for me should have refected the build up, but it never.

I'd also throw WM26 in there as a letdown, mainly due to the crowd.

I actually quite enjoyed WM26. Although Edge was nowhere near fit i enjoyed his match with Jericho. Cena v Batista was way better than i thought it would be and HBK v Taker is in my top 3 Mania matches of all time. I didnt feel let down by the PPV. Was decent if not spectacular.

I think 26 died on what folk were expeting of edge vs jericho, it could have been a classic, it was mearly competent

Brock Lesnar v Goldberg at Wrestlemania 20 should have been a classic. Having seen what Goldberg & Scott Steiner did in WCW at Fall Brawl 2000 I was really looking forward to this one but it was a complete washout. The booking of the match didn't help - think there was about 10 minutes of stalling at the start - but it was blatantly obvious that neither one of them wanted to be there. The only highlight of this was the MSG crowd.


Bret Hart v Vince McMahon at Wrestlemania 26. As a huge fan of Bret Hart I was delighted to see him return to WWE, burying the hatchet with Shawn Michaels was a MOMENT. Pity they had to go and ruin it all with this 'match'.


Randy Orton v Triple H at Wrestlemania 25. Great build up that was screaming out for an all over the arena brawl which unfortunately never materialised. Orton should have gone over too.


On a similar vein, Eddie Guerrero v Kurt Angle at Wrestlemania 20. The build up to this match was pointing towards a titanic scrap but instead the whole match was structured around technical wrestling. It didn't really tie in with how the match had been built up.


At the time, it was disappointing that Christian didn't win MITB at Wrestlemania 25. The whole crowd seemed to want it. In hindsight though it sowed the seeds for CM Punk's heel turn so I suppose I mustn't grumble!


Bret Hart v Shawn Michaels Iron Man Match at Wrestlemania 12. For some this might be a controversial inclusion but I feel that this match should have been SO much more than it was. The fact they were only going to have a single fall didn't help matters but when the match is 30 minutes old and they're STILL exchanging headlocks then something is wrong.


Wrestlemania 11 being headlined by Lawrence Taylor. Hey, he did a great job but this was a ridiculous decision. I suppose it was in keeping with the entire theme of Wrestlemania 11 though, which was "Our guys don't really matter, we gots CELEBRITIES!"

Triple H vs Randy Orton has got to be up there, they got literally everything wrong after the build up was so good. Triple H shouldn't have won, the match shouldn't have been brutal, there should have been a turn.

I was massively disappointed with The Rock vs. John Cena, after all the build up the match for me fell totally flat.

Mr H wrote:Wrestlemania 27 is by far the worst Wrestlemania since number 11.

The crowd reaction to Lesnar v Goldberg was incredible. It clearly got to Brock too. Am i right in thinking he shouted 'what the fck are you looking at' across the ring at Goldberg at the start when he was getting heat? Then he flipped the finger at the crowd. He clearly looked rattled. Austin being the one to stand tall at the finish sucked imo.

I was massively disappointed with HHH v Orton at WM25. The build up to the match was excellent and probably the best work i've seen Randy Orton produce. But the match stunk. Largely due to HBK v Taker stealing the show and the crowd werent interested in anything which followed.

I was actually at Wrestlemania 25 and I felt drained by the time the main event started. I can't remember if there was anything in between the HBK/Taker match and the main event, but there should have been. Having both men kick out of each others' finishers real early in the match didn't help (and rarely does) in my opinion.

Crimey wrote:Triple H vs Randy Orton has got to be up there, they got literally everything wrong after the build up was so good. Triple H shouldn't have won, the match shouldn't have been brutal, there should have been a turn.

I was massively disappointed with The Rock vs. John Cena, after all the build up the match for me fell totally flat.

I sort of agree about The Rock v Cena, but my gripe was more about the lack of hostility. I was expecting a WM22 or Extreme Rules reception for Cena, but I felt the crowd was very kind towards him and it effected my enjoyment of the match.

As said above Orton Vs Triple H and pretty much all reasons have been said too

Good shouts all, but along with the Orton one I was also left disappointed by HHH/Booker (19) and HHH/Jericho (18)

HHH's inevitable wins ruined those matches just like the Orton one, (not to mention the 30 second pin delay for Booker and the Y2J match following Rock/Hogan) which is perhaps surprising given his iffy won/lost WM record overall.

I can't help but have that nagging doubt about the Lesnar match this year - HHH handing himself back to back defeats a with a broken arm inbetween. Seems so unlikely that a Brock win would be a huge deal. They should have been booked at 1-1 going in in my opinion.

I was trying to avoid whole Wrestlemania's to look for disappointing moments specifically but WM 9 really does leave us with no choice, I suppose.

Hogan leaving with the belt was devastating to me as a 14 year old.

Triple H v Jericho was one of the worst "main events" I've seen at a WM. Jericho was horribly booked as champion, so it was no suprise going on after Rock & Hogan, it was going to bomb.

I always felt Kurt Angle vs Triple H would have been a much better title match.

I heard Triple H said it would have been disrespectful to the WWE Title to let Rock v Hogan go on last.

He kind of had a point at the time, although in hindsight Im sure he would have swapped it round. Thats why I understand them doing it now. As much as some people moan, do you really thinkg CM Punk v Chris Jericho would have felt as good coming after John Cena v The Rock?

nasisillmatic wrote: I heard Triple H said it would have been disrespectful to the WWE Title to let Rock v Hogan go on last.

But it wasnt disrespectful to the WWE Title when HHH/Lesnar went on last at Summerslam, was it?

Mr H wrote:

nasisillmatic wrote: I heard Triple H said it would have been disrespectful to the WWE Title to let Rock v Hogan go on last.

But it wasnt disrespectful to the WWE Title when HHH/Lesnar went on last at Summerslam, was it?

Brock Lesnar is a main eventer though and it was the suitable choice over a match which involved the big show in a triple threat match.

TopoftheChops wrote:

Mr H wrote:

nasisillmatic wrote: I heard Triple H said it would have been disrespectful to the WWE Title to let Rock v Hogan go on last.

But it wasnt disrespectful to the WWE Title when HHH/Lesnar went on last at Summerslam, was it?

Brock Lesnar is a main eventer though and it was the suitable choice over a match which involved the big show in a triple threat match.

That makes it alright then.

So The Rock v Hulk Hogan wasnt more of a main event than HHH v Jericho?

The WWE Title match should ALWAYS be billed as the main event.

TopoftheChops wrote:

Mr H wrote:

nasisillmatic wrote: I heard Triple H said it would have been disrespectful to the WWE Title to let Rock v Hogan go on last.

But it wasnt disrespectful to the WWE Title when HHH/Lesnar went on last at Summerslam, was it?

Brock Lesnar is a main eventer though and it was the suitable choice over a match which involved the big show in a triple threat match.

That's the point though.

Triple H pushed for his match to be on last because it was for the title, but the main event was always Rock v Hogan and it should have went on last, same as his match against Brock Lesnar at Summerslam.

If Austin would have agreed to a match against Hogan, do people think this would have ended the show?

I think a Hogan-Austin match would have been a much bigger deal. It's easy to forget just how much bigger a star Austin was than The Rock during the attitude era.

Hogan was also an extremely tired act in early 2002. It was actually the crowd reaction at Wrestlemania 18 that made him a huge deal again. I don't think the WWF had brought him in expecting a boom in his popularity. In fact, I believe that the company saw far more name value in the NWO as a trio than as individuals.

So the Hogan-Rock match really wasn't billed or built up like it was a massive clash of legends, at least not in my memory. In fact the buildup mainly revolved around Hogan driving a truck into The Rock's car!

I think that match has taken on far greater significance than the WWF expected it to, and I think they were right to save the title match for the main event slot.

The main reason Triple H vs Jericho bombed was because Jericho was deliberately emasculated and undermined as champion as Triple H saw him as a political rival. So when the match happened it had been built so badly that there was no heat and nobody doubted that Triple H would win.

If you listen to the internet, HHH should've ran for president. Best politician ever.

People comparing the recent Summerslam to Wrestlemania 18 are forgetting that a lot has changed in those 10 years, and one of the main changes is that the WWE title has already been seriously devalued and it's pretty much standard for it not to be the main event of shows.

One thing I noticed on that point this week on Raw was building The Rock vs. Cena match Cole said: "For The Rock, it's about his legacy". "For John Cena, it's about redemption." What about the bloody championship?!

I don't think the WWE title means much anymore

crippledtart wrote:I think a Hogan-Austin match would have been a much bigger deal. It's easy to forget just how much bigger a star Austin was than The Rock during the attitude era.

Hogan was also an extremely tired act in early 2002. It was actually the crowd reaction at Wrestlemania 18 that made him a huge deal again. I don't think the WWF had brought him in expecting a boom in his popularity. In fact, I believe that the company saw far more name value in the NWO as a trio than as individuals.

So the Hogan-Rock match really wasn't billed or built up like it was a massive clash of legends, at least not in my memory. In fact the buildup mainly revolved around Hogan driving a truck into The Rock's car!

I think that match has taken on far greater significance than the WWF expected it to, and I think they were right to save the title match for the main event slot.

The main reason Triple H vs Jericho bombed was because Jericho was deliberately emasculated and undermined as champion as Triple H saw him as a political rival. So when the match happened it had been built so badly that there was no heat and nobody doubted that Triple H would win.

Yeah I think your right with the crowd reaction to Hogan, they really made that match more special.

looking back, it is truly shocking what happended to Jericho. You have him go over your 2 biggest stars on the same night to become undisputed champion, then don't push him to the moon.