A household name in pop culture — arguably even more than the name of the promotion that stages it — WrestleMania is presented as the biggest wrestling show of the year regardless of company. It’s considered by many to be the show where major storylines reach their inevitable climax, dream matches become a reality, and living legends compete with the highest stakes possible.
In reality, not every match on a ‘Mania card is deemed important to the point where some bouts are held with no intention of putting them on television. These dark matches happened in front of live crowds, but fans who weren’t there are likely unaware that they happened. Let’s look at 10 of these WrestleMania dark matches, some of which had surprisingly high stakes.
10 John Morrison & The Miz vs. Carlito & Primo (WrestleMania 25, 4/5/2009)
Given that title unifications are the big storyline happening in WWE in 2022 with WrestleMania 38 and beyond, it’s a legitimate shock to find out that the company had a title unification happen in a dark match.
It was at 2009’s WrestleMania 25 that Carlito and Primo (SmackDown’s WWE Tag Team Champions) took on The Miz and John Morrison (Raw/ECW’s World Tag Team Champions) in said unification match, which had an additional Lumberjack Match stipulation. In the end, Carlito and Primo would emerge as the unified champions.
9 Interpromotional Battle Royal (WrestleMania 21,4/3/2005)
Before the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal became an annual staple for WrestleMania Week, WWE would periodically put on a battle royal featuring everyone from Raw, SmackDown, and later ECW just to get some extra guys on the card. This was usually a dark match, and it certainly was in 2005, as 30 men fought in the ring before the show went on the air.
Boasting a variety of Raw and SmackDown stars including Paul London, William Regal, Luther Reigns, and Rhyno, the battle royal would be won by Booker T, who’d eliminate Chris Masters to stand victorious.
8 Brooklyn Brawler vs. Paul Roma (WrestleMania 6, 4/1/1990)
Among mainstays like S.D. Jones and Barry Horowitz, one of WWE’s most well-known jobbers was the Brooklyn Brawler, a New York City street tough who was no stranger to losing to literally every wrestler in sight. However, fans might not know that the Brawler actually appeared on two WrestleMania cards!
At 1990’s WrestleMania 6, Brooklyn Brawler would take on Paul Roma in a dark match, expectedly losing to the future Four Horsemen member. The second would be against Koko B. Ware the following year.
7 Interpromotional Battle Royal (WrestleMania 22, 4/2/2006)
One year after the previous interpromotional battle royal at WrestleMania 21, WWE would return for a double-dip at WrestleMania 22, with an 18-man lineup including Eugene, Trevor Murdoch, Tyson Tomko, Psicosis, and The Road Warrior (a.k.a. Road Warrior Animal).
This low-stakes, nine-minute battle royal appeared like it was supposed to end with The Road Warrior getting the win in front of a hometown Chicago crowd, but a slip-up in the finish resulted in an elimination for the would-be winner, so Snitsky and Viscera were forced to improvise a new finish where Viscera came out on top instead.
6 Carlito & Ric Flair vs. Chavo Guerrero & Gregory Helms (WrestleMania 23, 4/1/2007)
In early 2007, Ric Flair and Carlito got into an onscreen tiff when Flair berated the younger star backstage for being lazy and unmotivated. After some in-ring clashes, Flair became Carlito’s mentor as the duo formed a tag team, which would lead to them competing in at WrestleMania 23, defeating Chavo Guerrero and Gregory Helms in a dark lumberjack match.
It’s wild to think that legendary multi-time world champion and pro wrestling icon Ric Flair was not considered suitable to wrestle on a ‘Mania card, especially since he’d wrestle a classic retirement match the following year.
5 26-Man Battle Royal (WrestleMania 26, 3/28/2010)
After a couple of years off, WWE returned to the “get everyone on the show via battle royal” method for WrestleMania 26, appropriately featuring 26 men competing. With a lineup of WWE’s greatest nobodies including Caylen Croft, JTG, and Fung Fu Naki, it would be Yoshi Tatsu, of all people, who would come out on top in this bout, eliminating Zack Ryder to win the battle royal.
The win wouldn’t translate to much, as he’d continue to be a staple of Superstars who’d make occasional appearances as a jobber on Raw.
4 The Heavenly Bodies vs. The Bushwhackers (WrestleMania 10, 3/20/1994)
For the four years it lasted, Jim Cornette’s Tennessee-based Smokey Mountain Wrestling forged a working relationship with WWE, which resulted in not only WWE stars appearing in SMW, but also SMW stars competing on WWE shows. While there’d be some huge matches like the SMW Tag Titles being defended at Survivor Series 1993, one of SMW’s tag teams actually fought at ‘Mania.
WrestleMania 10 is, of course, famous for the game-changing Razor Ramon/Shawn Michaels ladder match. But before the show went on the air, fans in Madison Square Garden were treated to The Heavenly Bodies — Jimmy del Ray and Tom Prichard — taking on The Bushwhackers in a winning effort.
3 ECW Championship #1 Contendership Battle Royal (WrestleMania 24, 3/30/2008)
As established, many dark battles royal seem made just in order to get everybody on the card and presumably a nice WrestleMania payday. However, at 2008’s WrestleMania 24, WWE put on a battle royal with actual implications, as wrestlers competed to become #1 Contender to the ECW Championship.
The 24-man affair included ECW stars like Kofi Kingston, Elijah Burke, and Tommy Dreamer, but Kane would get the win by eliminating Mark Henry. From there, Kane would dethrone Chavo Guerrero for the ECW Championship on the main card in a match lasting all of 10 seconds.
2 The Bushwhackers vs. The Beverly Brothers (WrestleMania 8, 4/5/1992)
Former Kiwi hardcore brawlers turned WWE joke tag team, The Bushwhackers may have lost their 1994 WrestleMania dark match, but they did come out victorious in their dark match effort at 1992’s WrestleMania 8. In that untelevised affair, the duo took on The Beverly Brothers — Beau and Blake — defeating the former AWA World Tag Team Champions in a 10-minute affair.
In their career, Butch and Luke would only have one bout together on the main ‘Mania card, defeating The Fabulous Rougeaus at WrestleMania 5 in 1989.
1 Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan (WrestleMania 27, 4/3/2011)
The underdog narrative that runs through Daniel Bryan’s WWE career is so strangely perfect that it couldn’t possibly have been planned. A year before the indignity of his infamous 18-second loss to Sheamus, he suffered an indignity by not even being on the main show.
Instead, Bryan challenged Sheamus for the United States Championship in a dark lumberjack match that ended in a No Contest because the lumberjacks wouldn’t stop fighting. In response, SmackDown boss Teddy Long came out to do his most ambitious “Hold on a minute, player” moment ever — he turned the whole fracas into a battle royal, which was won by The Great Khali.