Steve Austin once said that those not aspiring to either headline Madison Square Garden, be the world champion, or headline WrestleMania, should get out of the way and let others who aspire to those echelons get there. It has to be every wrestler’s dream to walk out into a mass of humanity in the main event of the show of the shows, even if you’re the main event and somehow aren’t going on last.
These matches not only stole the show, they really should have closed it, especially considering it’s these matches more than the main events that helped make WrestleMania feel special.
10 The Rock Vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan - WrestleMania X8
It had been nine years since Hulk Hogan was in a WWE ring. In that time, The Rock had become one of the biggest names in wrestling, just as Hogan had back then. The stage was set for Hogan and The Rock to meet up at WrestleMania X8. But with no title on the line, the match was part of the undercard.
Even the WWE Undisputed Champion, Chris Jericho, and challenger Triple H knew full well what the main event should have been - especially when the Toronto crowd couldn’t care less that they were supposed to hate Hollywood Hogan and the nWo. Instead, they cheered him on as the conquering hero returning to the promotion that made him a star.
9 Shawn Michaels Vs. The Undertaker - WrestleMania XXV
By this time in their careers, it seemed like a no brainer to have The Heartbreak Kid and The Phenom close out the 25th Showcase Of The Immortals. The two living legends squaring off in their home state after facing off in the last two Royal Rumbles as the last two and the first two, respectively - the story wrote itself.
Once again, the WWE Title superseded everything. Which it should nine times out of ten and this match was the tenth. The match became an instant classic and required viewing for anyone who ever enjoyed anything about wrestling.
8 Randy Savage Vs. Ric Flair - WrestleMania VIII
Despite losing his career one year later, The Macho Man was eventually reinstated and after vanquishing Jake Roberts, he would set his sights on Ric Flair and the WWE Title. In the first-ever billed “Double Main Event” in WrestleMania history, the title, along with two of the greatest ever, played second fiddle to Hulk Hogan’s “retirement match” against Sid Justice.
Not to anyone’s surprise, the WWE Championship match was amazing and certainly the best title match in Mania history up to that point.
7 Diesel Vs. Shawn Michaels - WrestleMania XI
With the company and the industry in a financial downturn in 1995, WWE took a different approach to marketing WrestleMania XI. At the top of the card, former NY Giant great Lawrence Taylor would take on Bam Bam Bigelow in the main event of the show.
With all the pomp and circumstance surrounding LT, that meant WWE Champion Diesel and Shawn Michaels played second fiddle to the big football hero coming to the show.
6 Eddie Guerrero Vs. Kurt Angle - WrestleMania XX
Two of the greatest wrestlers ever to grace the squared circle would finally meet up at WrestleMania XX. A month prior, Eddie Guerrero did the impossible when he was able to defeat Brock Lesnar and become the WWE Champion. His next mountain to climb would be the Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle at WrestleMania. Both technically gifted superstars tried to one-up each other throughout.
But in the end, Eddie’s smarts came into play as he spent the match loosening his boot in order to quickly and easily slip out of the Ankle Lock and surprise Kurt Angle for the quick roll-up. The ending of the match didn’t warrant “a WrestleMania-sized ending,” but that could’ve been altered to Eddie landing The Frog Splash.
5 Charlotte Flair Vs. Sasha Banks Vs. Becky Lynch - WrestleMania 32
No matter what WWE did in 2016, it was clear that the fans wanted no part of Roman Reigns as the top guy. No matter how hard Stephanie and Triple H worked to be big heels, the work they had done backstage for NXT and the women’s division didn’t help get them any boos either.
With fan backlash on Roman at a fever pitch and three of the four Horsewomen - Charlotte, Becky Lynch, and Sasha were putting on the match of the night just about every night. Their huge coming-out party at WrestleMania 32, complete with huge entrances, should have been the match to close the night, instead of 100,000 fans booing what supposedly was supposed to be the big babyface champion.
4 The Rock Vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin - WrestleMania XIX
While the main event of Kurt Angle Vs. Brock Lesnar did deserve to close the show, the two stalwarts of The Attitude Era who were both winding down their careers might have deserved it just a little bit more.
No matter what condition The Great One and The Texas Rattlesnake were heading into any match, the electricity (no pun intended) was always palpable. Perhaps if it was known that Austin was indeed working his last match at this show, it would have been the closer.
3 The Undertaker Vs. Batista - WrestleMania 23
Two young lions walked into WrestleMania 23 defending their titles against two legends, but only one legend came out on top. However, it wasn’t The Undertaker and Batista that got to close the show. But that didn’t mean that The Animal and The Deadman didn’t set out to say “follow that!” to Shawn Michaels and John Cena.
The two behemoths brutalized one another in a match that became an instant standard-bearer for big man vs. big man bouts for years to come.
2 Charlotte Flair Vs. Asuka - WrestleMania 34
The Queen Vs. The Empress Of Tomorrow was hands down the best match WrestleMania 34 had to offer, why not have it close the show?! Especially with the kind of entrance Charlotte had - mining her father’s epic Starrcade entrance before having one of her very own.
After winning the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble and tearing through NXT, Asuka was the talk of the town. Charlotte, seemingly as always, was the belle of the ball. The stage was set for one of the classic matches in WrestleMania history, gender be damned. With plenty of fans growing weary of Brock and Roman, this should have been another year where the ladies could have shut down the Show Of Shows.
1 Bret Hart Vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin - WrestleMania 13
With Shawn Michaels losing his smile, any hopes of a WrestleMania rematch between him and the Hitman fell by the wayside. Instead, the WWE Title was defended by Sid against the one guy Vince was able to trust - The Undertaker. But the hottest feud in the company since the prior year’s Survivor Series was Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Despite not having any titles at stake, their blood feud was the biggest feud of nearly a year for the company. Their Submission Match at WrestleMania 13 was the match that changed everything for the company and jumpstarted The Attitude Era.