Despite varying degrees of success over five different decades to date, WrestleMania is generally touted to be one of the pinnacles of the pro wrestling business. It’s the biggest show of the year presented by the biggest pro wrestling company in the world, and at its best, features the top talent in the world fighting in high-stakes marquee matches. But that’s all purely hypothetical, as history has shown.
WrestleMania has delivered some bouts of high caliber in matchups, match quality, or (ideally) both, but there are also instances of wrestlers being booked that go against the idea of an event with nicknames like “The Grandest Stage of Them All” or “The Showcase of the Immortals.”
9 Bret Hart (WrestleMania XXVI)
Don’t get it twisted — Bret “The Hitman” Hart is one of the greatest of all time, a five-time WWE Champion who helped carry the company in the post-Hogan, pre-Austin days. But his match at WrestleMania XXVI was unworthy of such a talent. Having retired due to injury a decade earlier, Hart was hardly at his best, and his match with Vince McMahon was entirely centered around 13-year-old drama concerning the Montreal Screwjob. As the Hart Dynasty got involved in the bout, one couldn’t help but wonder why not just give them the ‘Mania spot instead, with Bret in their corner?
8 Santino Marella (WrestleMania 25)
The 25th anniversary of WrestleMania not only brought the classic Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels epic, but also the Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal, the only women’s match on the card. This slap in the face to WWE’s entire roster of female talent — and several legends like Sunny and Molly Holly — lasted longer than most “Divas” matches at seven-and-a-half minutes, but also ended with Santino Marella in drag eliminating Beth Phoenix to win the crown of Miss WrestleMania.
7 The Rock (WrestleMania 32)
At the poorly received WrestleMania 32, The Rock made an appropriately ridiculous entrance that involved the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders and a Flamethrower, which was all fine. What was less fine was an impromptu match he had after getting hassled by the Wyatt Family, where he defeated Erick Rowan in a mere six seconds.
Assuming he declines a dump truck full of money to go wrestle his cousin Roman Reigns, it’ll be crazy to think that The Rock’s last match ever was not his torch-passing loss to John Cena, but a random match against Erick Rowan.
6 Austin Theory (WrestleMania 36)
If nothing else, WrestleMania 36 may go down as one of the weirdest ‘Manias ever thanks to the odd circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, including a couple of cinematic matches, a triple-threat singles match for the SmackDown tag titles, no live crowd, and NXT’s Austin Theory challenging Street Profits for the Raw tag belts. The circumstances of the pandemic meant that WWE had to resort to relying on people that they wouldn’t normally use, so Theory surprisingly became a part of Raw for a period. He’s back on Raw thanks to the 2021 Draft, and should totally big-up himself for already being a guy who’s been booked on WrestleMania.
5 Lawrence Taylor (WrestleMania XI)
As much as modern WWE is obsessed with celebrity, it’s tough to imagine the promotion ever booking a non-wrestler — no matter how famous — to main even its biggest show of the year in a singles match. There are a number of famous celebrity tag matches, including Mr. T at the first ‘Mania and Bad Bunny at WrestleMania 37, but WrestleMania XI was headlined by football star Lawrence Taylor taking on Bam Bam Bigelow in the most random main event possible.
4 Jerry Lawler & Michael Cole (WrestleMania XXVII)
It’s tough to determine which aspect of this was more ill-advised: play-by-play commentator and non-wrestler Michael Cole having a heel run, or putting him in a WrestleMania match against over-the-hill veteran Jerry Lawler.
This goofy WrestleMania XXVII match — Lawler’s only ‘Mania match ever — was rife with shenanigans, but somehow lasted nearly 14 minutes before Lawler got the win, only for the Anonymous Raw General Manager to reverse the decision into a disqualification win for Cole. Come to think of it, the Anonymous Raw GM also should not have been booked at WrestleMania.
3 Butterbean (WrestleMania XV)
When it comes to vindictively burying a wrestler for no reason, it feels like WWE sometimes goes a little overboard. After Bart Gunn unexpectedly won the infamous shoot fighting tournament Brawl for All, WWE didn’t capitalize on Gunn’s win by giving him a half-hearted push, but rather put him in another shoot fight, this time with legitimate knockout artist Eric “Butterbean” Esch. More punishment than star-making opportunity, Gunn went down after about 30 seconds and immediately disappeared from WWE.
2 Nicholas (WrestleMania 34)
In 2018, WrestleMania 34 offered one of the strangest booking decisions in recent memory, with Braun Strowman set to face The Bar for the Raw Tag Team Championship, provided he could find a partner. When it came time for the bout, there was no surprise reveal. Instead, Braun simply chose a 10-year-old child out of the audience — in reality, the kid of a WWE referee — to stand on the apron while he took care of Sheamus and Cesaro on his own. Whether he stepped into the ring is immaterial — there can’t be anything worse than booking a child to win a wrestling match.
1 Baron Corbin (WrestleMania 35)
Correction: there is one thing worse than booking a child to win a pro wrestling match. WWE and Impact star Kurt Angle was slated to wrestle a retirement match at WrestleMania 35, and fans remembering the emotional ‘Mania retirements of Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair imagined just who would get the honor of putting away the Olympic Gold Medalist. The man in question turned out not to be John Cena, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, or even Chad Gable, but rather Baron Corbin, who at the time had more “go away” heat than heel heat from crowds.