Not every moment inWrestleManiahistory is one thatWWEis proud of. Every road to WrestleMania is laced with video packages and reminders of Mania’s past. WWE has a lot to be proud of across 40 years of WrestleMania history that began withMr. T teaming with Hulk Hogan to fend off “Rowdy” Roddy Piperand Paul Ordnoff, in a match that almost ended in disaster.
The company has come a long way since those days, and is quick to remind viewers young and old about that fact. However, there are some moments in WrestleMania’s past that WWE isn’t so quick to boast about. In fact, there are some moments that WWE is hoping younger viewers never learn about and older viewers manage to forget about.
10Papa Shango Missing His Cue
WrestleMania VIII
WrestleMania VIII is something of an overlooked gem of a Mania. Not among the best, but significant for Ric Flair defending his WWE Championship against “Macho Man” Randy Savage,The Undertaker adding to his Streakin his second appearance, and Sid Justice being the first man to ever kick out of Hulk Hogan’s Leg Drop. Except,that last part wasn’t supposed to happen. The plan was for a run-in from Papa Shango to break up the pin, but Shango missed his cue, and to keep the match going until the planned DQ finish, Sycho Sid had no choice but to kick out of Hogan’s heavily protected finisher.
Charles Wright discusses the WrestleMania VIII incident at the 35:59 timestamp in the video above.
Charles Wright, the man behind Papa Shango (and The Godfather) recently discussed the matter in an interview with Chris Van Vliet. Wright said he missed his cue simplybecause no one told him his cue in time. Because no one backstage remembered to tell him to run out in time, Wright never caught flak about it or talked about it with anyone when he returned from the ring.
9Baron Corbin Retires Kurt Angle
WrestleMania 35
Kurt Angle announced in 2019 that he’d be beginning his retirement tour. The tour was highlighted by a solid bucket list of bouts against the likes of Chad Gable, as well as wrestling frequent TNA opponents Samoa Joe and AJ Styles one last time. His final match ever, though, wasbooked for WrestleMania against the Constable of Raw, Baron Corbin, who unceremoniously defeated Angle in a somber outing. The crowd wasn’t angry or anxious to boo the heel, but visibly disappointed to see a lackluster match against a seemingly random final opponent.
Even Kurt Angle was disappointed. On his podcast, he expressed wishing he could’ve wrestled John Cena instead, someone who Angle wrestled his first televised WWE match against 17 years earlier. Alas,Vince McMahon chose Angle’s opponent for him. Angle adds he wouldn’t be so disappointed if the win at least elevated Corbin’s career, but he gained nothing from beating the Hall of Famer, not even a World Championship.
8The Botched Ending to WrestleMania’s First Women’s Main Event
Kurt Angle’s somber loss wasn’t the only blemish on an otherwise good WrestleMania. The event featuredthe first-ever women’s match to main event a Mania show, pitting World Champions Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair against Royal Rumble winner Becky Lynch in a Winner Takes All Triple Threat. The Man came out on top, albeit under questionable circumstances.
Rousey went for her Piper’s Pit maneuver and Lynch reversed into a crucifix pin. Despite Rousey’s shoulders not being completely flat on the mat, the ref counted to three, knowing this was supposed to be the end of the match (as confirmed by Lynch in her book).The botched count overshadowed the most important moment in women’s wrestling history. Instead of focusing on Becky becoming the first woman to win a Mania main event, headlines focused on the botch. In her book, Becky ponders if Rousey intentionally lifted her shoulder off the mat.
7Stone Cold’s Heel Turn
WrestleMania X-Seven
Stone Cold Steve Austin shaking Vince McMahon’s hand remains themost shocking moment of Austin’s career. Everyone loves a good twist, especially one that continues to divide audiences to this day, but this is a twist that caused more problems for WWE than solutions. The very next night, The Rock would be written out to pursue a Hollywood opportunity, while Triple H joined forces with Vince and Austin to form the Two-Man Power Trip. The only believable contenders in line were Kane and Undertaker, who were beaten at the next PPV.
The company’s biggest babyface had just turned heel and there were no believable substitutes to take his place. It opened the door for young mid-carders to get pushed, sure, but in terms of content, no one wanted to see their favorite blue-collar worker finally bow down to his corporate enemy. It led to a lot of fans tuning out.Today, despite it being his idea, Austin openly regrets turning heel.
6The Rock Pins Erick Rowan in the Shortest Mania Match Ever
WrestleMania 32
Erick Rowan is one of WWE’s most recent re-hires, joining the Wyatt Sicks stable as a tribute to his late friend and onscreen tag team partner, Bray Wyatt (Windham Rotunda). The sentiment behind the re-hire is heartwarming, and his performances in feuds against The Final Testament and American Made have remained consistent, even exceeding expectations in a Raw street fight. However,WWE probably will never remind audiences that Rowan lost the shortest match in WrestleMania history.
At WrestleMania 32, The Rock arrived to announce a record-breaking attendance number, only to be interrupted by The Wyatt Family. He pulls off his street clothes to reveal wrestling gear, making it clear The Rock’s ready for a fight. Rowan accepts the impromptu match challenge in Bray’s defense, and almost immediately,Rowan receives a Rock Bottom to lose in six seconds. Not exactly befitting of a red-bearded monster.
5A Man Winning the Women’s Battle Royal
WrestleMania 25
The 25th annual Showcase of the Immortals was largely dedicated to celebrating the best moments and wrestlers that the WWE had to offer. The 25-Divas Battle Royal was meant to celebrate the best women’s wrestlers in WWE history, featuring current stars and legends from the past. It also featured"Santina," the “sister” of Santino Marellamaking her debut. In actuality, it was Santino in drag who managed to outlast every other woman to win a women’s battle royal, being dubbed Miss WrestleMania.
Perhaps looking back at the history of women at WrestleMania (more on that later) and WWE in general, the bar was already low by 2009 standards. However, even by that era’s standards,this was considered a slap in the face to the women’s division, past and present. A celebratory moment was used as a punchline, a running gag for how WWE always booked the women’s division at that point.
4All of the Playboy Matches
Numerous WrestleMania
Speaking of being treated like a joke, there was no bigger indicator of how WWE treated their women’s division than their presence at WrestleMania for years. Starting with the Attitude Era, which itself was filled withangles that couldn’t be duplicated today,women were often portrayed as eye candy on WWE television. With WrestleMania being the finale of a calendar year, showcasing a grand example of what WWE had to offer year-round, WWE usually took opportunities to hyper-sexualize their women even further.
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WWE chose to showcase their women with matches like the Catfight, Playboy Evening Gown Match, and Playboy BunnyMania Lumberjill Match as excuses to strip them bare for the world to see. These were often the only way the women would be represented on the card all night.Women’s competition has evolved leaps and bounds from those days, so don’t expect WWE to feature previous matches in their memorabilia video packages.
3The Undertaker Hangs Big Boss Man
WrestleMania XV
There are a lot of reasons why WWE doesn’t talk about this match from the 15th WrestleMania. For starters, it’s considered one of the worst matches that The Undertaker ever worked at WrestleManiaandone of the worst Hell in a Cell matches of all time. The cherry on top, though, is the ending, where, after defeating Big Boss Man, The Deadman ties a noose around his neck and proceeds to hang him above the Cell.
2Gable Steveson’s Main Roster Debut
WrestleMania 38
WWE did not have higher expectations for an incoming wrestler than they did for Olympic gold medal winner, Gable Steveson. Before the amateur wrestler even laced up a pair of boots for his first match, he was introduced at WrestleMania 38 by Stephanie McMahon herself, hyping him up as their newest signee. In addition, he had an angle where he celebrated with the babyface tag teams after laying out Chad Gable (no relation).
Unfortunately for WWE, many of their fans refused to drink the Steveson Kool-Aid. Before becoming WWE’s second contracted Olympic gold medalist since Kurt Angle,the Minnesotan had a highly publicized sexual assault allegation in 2019. Due to lack of evidence and local laws revolving around intoxication in assault cases, Steveson’s case was thrown out. Still, the case continued to gain attention on social media whenever Steveson was on TV. As a result, he was quietly sent to NXT, where, after a critically panned debut match, the supposed next big thing was released from his contract.
1Benoit and Eddie’s World Title Celebration
WrestleMania XX
What was once praised as the most heartfelt moment in WrestleMania history has now becomeWWE’s biggest elephant in the room 20 years after the fact. Two wrestlers who weren’t always pegged for greatness due to their size would send off WrestleMania XX, respectively, as the WWE Champion and the new World Heavyweight Champion. Two different brands of tragedy overshadow this moment with modern eyes.
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A year and a half after this, Eddie Guerrero suffered a heart attack that would claim his life, making his side of this moment bittersweet to reflect on. Meanwhile, just over three years after this Mania, Chris Benoit murdered his wife Nancy and son Daniel before killing himself in what is considered by many to be the worst tragedy in professional wrestling history. Obviously,WWEreplaying this moment and positioning Benoit in any kind of celebratory way would be outright disgusting and tasteless, so this is without a doubt the biggest WrestleMania moment that the company wishes never existed.
