Every wrestler dreams of getting to the WrestleMania main event picture as the top match on the most important show of the year. Names like Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, and The Undertaker had quite a few WM main events. Some surprising talents also found their way into multiple main events like Sycho Sid and Yokozuna.
However, the names to only main event one WrestleMania in their careers can also provide a surprise. Fans naturally assume the biggest names make their way into multiple main event slots due to the star power associated with their brand. It's just not always the case as situations led to them only headlining a single time.
10 Chris Jericho
The legendary career of Chris Jericho has seen him accomplish just about everything possible in WWE and beyond. WWE almost placed Jericho in the WrestleMania 2000 main event less than a year into his debut, but they went with Mick Foley.
The sole WrestleMania main event of Jericho’s career came all the way back at WrestleMania 18 when dropping the Undisputed Championship to Triple H. Jericho came close with matches against Edge, CM Punk, and Kevin Owens in upper card programs, but none were considered for the main event spot.
9 Big Show
Big Show received the top dream spot in WWE a little over a year into his debut during the Attitude Era. Vince McMahon wanted to push Big Show as the new monster attraction with the comparisons to Andre the Giant.
WrestleMania 2000 saw Big Show added to the main event against Triple H, The Rock, and Mick Foley, each with a McMahon in their corner. Shane represented Big Show in defeat as the big man never reached the WrestleMania main event spot again.
8 Ted DiBiase
WWE loved the character work of Ted DiBiase as arguably the best heel of the Golden Era. The first decade of WrestleMania saw DiBiase having an important role as one of the top villains on the roster.
DiBiase only had one main event in the show’s history, coming at WrestleMania 4. Randy Savage defeated DiBiase in the finals of a one-night tournament for the vacated WWE Championship. The biggest surprise of DiBiase never having another main event is that he never faced off with Hulk Hogan on the event.
7 Daniel Bryan
The rise of Daniel Bryan made him an extremely important part of WWE’s roster throughout the years. WrestleMania 30 remains an all-time great night for WWE when Bryan defeated Randy Orton and Batista in the main event to win the WWE Championship. WWE didn’t originally plan for Bryan to have that role, but the fans demanded the underdog receive his push.
Bryan suffered injuries to remove him from the next few WrestleMania events. The best chance of another main event could have been WrestleMania 35 against Kofi Kingston, but WWE opted to have the women’s triple threat close the show in a historic moment.
6 Ultimate Warrior
The Ultimate Warrior was one of the faces of WWE in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. WWE wanted Warrior to become a fixture with Hulk Hogan at the absolute peak of star power. WrestleMania 6 saw Warrior cleanly beating Hogan in the main event for a planned star-making moment.
Warrior did poorly with the WWE Championship and started to lose his momentum. WWE took the belt off Warrior before WrestleMania 7 to ensure he didn’t have another main event. Warrior never returned to the top of the mountain in WWE after this chapter of his career.
5 Mick Foley
The outstanding career of Mick Foley saw him playing drastically different characters in WWE. However, it was not Mankind nor Dude Love nor Cactus Jack utilized in his one WrestleMania main event in 2000 against Triple H, The Rock, and Big Show.
WWE retired Foley weeks earlier in a loss to Triple H, but the fan response to his end changed plans. Foley returned under his own name for one more match and plans to vacate the belt if winning. There were another few WrestleMania matches for Foley coming out of retirement, but WrestleMania 2000 was his lone main event.
4 Roddy Piper
WWE used the great rivalry between Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper as the main story for the first WrestleMania main event. Piper reportedly always refused to lose to Hogan in WWE which inspired the tag match.
Hogan and Mr. T defeated Piper and Paul Orndorff with the legendary Muhammad Ali as a guest referee. The first WrestleMania set the tone for what Vince McMahon wanted from the event. Piper never received another main event despite having great bouts with the likes of Bret Hart and Goldust.
3 Kurt Angle
Few wrestlers delivered as many great matches per year as Kurt Angle did when emerging as a top star for WWE. Angle was seemingly always involved in important WrestleMania matches, but his only main event came in a losing fashion against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 19.
Other noteworthy matches against the likes of Eddie Guerrero, Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, and Rey Mysterio were top attractions. Unfortunately for Angle, none of them were selected to main event their respective shows despite always delivering.
2 Andre the Giant
Andre the Giant was still an attraction for WWE throughout the first few years of WrestleMania becoming an annual event. The one main event came at the historic WrestleMania 3 show where he lost to Hulk Hogan in a highly successful attraction.
WWE never trusted Andre in another WrestleMania main event since his body was starting to break down. WrestleMania 4 did see him having a rematch against Hogan in the first round of the WWE Championship Tournament. The no-contest finish protected the limitations of Andre since he was inching towards retirement.
1 Edge
The incredible 11 total world title reigns for Edge in WWE makes it more surprising that he didn’t end up in more WrestleMania main events. Edge’s sole show-closing match on the biggest stage saw him losing the World Heavyweight Championship to The Undertaker at WrestleMania 24.
Other noteworthy matches on the grandest stage against Mick Foley, John Cena, and Randy Orton could have been credible main events. WWE instead opted to go with other options leaving Edge with just one WrestleMania main event as of 2020. Time will tell if the return from retirement will land Edge another opportunity in the biggest spot possible for WWE.