Great main events can make or break a PPV card when looking back at their importance. WWE and any other relevant promotion will have the goal of closing the show with a money-drawing match. A great undercard can carry a show, but a terrible main event has a better chance at ruining it. Many of the best shows of all time have a tremendous main event most associated with the event.
Unfortunately, the same scenario can play out in a negative manner looking at the legacy of a show. Great matches set the tone for a noteworthy event, but the main event stinking it up will cause fans to leave unhappy. Find out which instances created this terrible predicament in wrestling history. The following weak main events ruined otherwise good PPV cards.
10 Triple H vs Randy Orton (WrestleMania 25)
WrestleMania 25 is remembered for The Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels classic as arguably the best match in WWE history. However, the entire show could have been remembered more fondly if not for the horrible Triple H vs Randy Orton main event.
A fun Money in the Bank ladder match, Ricky Steamboat turning back the clock against Chris Jericho, and the Hardy brothers facing off provided a strong undercard. Michaels and Undertaker tore the roof off the place, but Triple H and Orton just couldn’t follow them to end it strong. Even an adequate match would have been enough to put this show over the top.
9 Diamond Dallas Page & Jay Leno vs Hulk Hogan & Eric Bischoff (Road Wild 1998)
The Road Wild concept of free shows in front of bikers at Sturgis was a weird sell, but WCW almost had a great show in 1998. A strong undercard featured Rey Mysterio vs Psychosis and Chris Jericho vs Juventud Guerrera as great matches.
Goldberg defending the WCW Championship in a fun battle royal against both Wolfpac and Hollywood members of the New World Order ended with him slamming The Giant. The main event of Diamond Dallas Page and Jay Leno vs Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff going too long hurt the show when watching back today.
8 Kurt Angle vs Mark Henry (Royal Rumble 2006)
The Royal Rumble 2006 event was one of the most underrated in the show’s history. John Cena and Edge having the first major match in their rivalry added a lot to the event. The cruiserweights opened the show with an outstanding bout to start the night off hot.
Kurt Angle facing Mark Henry in the main event was a terrible choice even though it was done to set up The Undertaker’s return. WWE would have been better off closing the show with Rey Mysterio’s heroic Rumble match win as the second entrant.
7 Karrion Kross vs Keith Lee (NXT TakeOver XXX)
NXT TakeOver events are usually known for having stellar cards that end the night with tremendous main events. The recent TakeOver XXX featured a rare instance of the main event completely flopping following a strong card.
Finn Balor vs Timothy Thatcher, Io Shirai vs Dakota Kai, and a ladder match for the North American Championship all were impressive. Adam Cole and Pat McAfee had the match of the night in shocking fashion. The main event of Karrion Kross beating Keith Lee for the NXT Championship was bad enough to remove TakeOver XXX from the all-time best NXT show conversation.
6 Lex Luger & The Giant vs Hulk Hogan & Dennis Rodman (Bash at the Beach 1997)
WCW experimenting with celebrities often led to disappointing PPV main events. Bash at the Beach 1997 was an extremely underrated show with every match on the card delivering in some capacity before the main event.
Chris Jericho vs Ultimo Dragon, The Steiner Brothers vs Masahiro Chono and The Great Muta, and Chris Benoit vs Kevin Sullivan were the best matches on the show. The main event of Hulk Hogan and Dennis Rodman vs The Giant and Lex Luger went 22 minutes full of slow action that ruined the show’s legacy.
5 Brock Lesnar vs Randy Orton (SummerSlam 2016)
SummerSlam 2016 was the first WWE show following the brand split and could have been special. The tag match of Enzo and Cass vs Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens along with the title match of Charlotte Flair vs Sasha Banks opened the night in hot fashion.
AJ Styles vs John Cena and Finn Balor vs Seth Rollins were the biggest hits of the night that should have been in main event contention. The choice of Brock Lesnar vs Randy Orton ended the night poorly with Lesnar winning via referee stoppage as the crowd heckled with chants of Goldberg.
4 Diesel vs Mabel (SummerSlam 1995)
Another SummerSlam event ruined by the main event came in 1995 when Diesel vs Mabel missed the mark. WWE wanted to make Mabel a top star after winning the King of the Ring tournament, but Kevin Nash was the wrong wrestler to face him as they had a stinker.
Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon in their second ladder match was the standout performance on the show. The opening match of the 1-2-3 Kid vs Hakushi was one of the better openers in SummerSlam history. WWE had a special show until the main event ruined the night.
3 Hulk Hogan vs Roddy Piper (Starrcade 1996)
WCW was on fire in 1996 when the New World Order took over the wrestling world. The roster depth was strong for WCW to have fun shows at the time. Starrcade 1996 featured the superb matches of Dean Malenko vs Ultimo Dragon and Rey Mysterio vs Jushin Liger.
Even the secondary mid-card matches like Chris Benoit vs Jeff Jarrett and Eddie Guerrero vs Diamond Dallas Page added to the momentum. Unfortunately, the older ages of Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper showed in the brutal main event. Fans paid to see Hogan vs Piper, but the match quality disappointed in the biggest spot possible.
2 Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker (WrestleMania 33)
New Day hosting WrestleMania 33 saw Xavier Woods tweeting that they might be having the best WrestleMania event halfway through the show. Unfortunately, things started to fall apart shortly after his post.
AJ Styles vs Shane McMahon and Kevin Owens vs Chris Jericho started the show off with big matches. The Hardy Boyz returning to a huge ovation and Brock Lesnar vs Goldberg shocking the world added more great memories. WrestleMania 33 fell off with the main event of Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker dropping the ball. Undertaker has admitted that match is among his biggest failures since then.
1 John Cena vs John Laurinaitis (Over the Limit 2012)
WWE prevented Over the Limit 2012 from being a great show with the match order and general booking. The opening match of a fun battle royal won by Christian to receive an Intercontinental Championship match later that night set the tone.
Fun matches of Christian vs Cody, Sheamus vs Alberto Del Rio vs Chris Jericho vs Randy Orton, and an exciting tag title match added more fun. The WWE Championship match of Daniel Bryan vs CM Punk was a classic that should have main evented the show. WWE going with John Cena vs John Laurinaitis in an all-time terrible main event ruined the night of an otherwise stellar PPV.