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5 matches that should have been the main event of WrestleMania

By Adam Strangis

THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON -- Episode 0365 -- Pictured: The Undertaker on November 11, 2015 -- (Photo by: Douglas Gorenstein/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON -- Episode 0365 -- Pictured: The Undertaker on November 11, 2015 -- (Photo by: Douglas Gorenstein/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) /
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WrestleMania has a rich and storied history but that doesn’t mean WWE has always gotten the main event right. Let’s look at five matches that should have been in the coveted main event slot.

Just saying the words “WrestleMania Main Event” to any wrestling fan conjures up some of the same images. Depending on what era you’re most attached to, some might think of Hulk Hogan body slamming Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III. Others have the image of Stone Cold Steve Austin passed out a bloody mess in Bret Hart’s Sharpshooter from WrestleMania 13. The younger crowd will likely always remember the night that Daniel Bryan overcame months of a stacked deck and proved he was an A+ player by defeating Triple H, Batista and Randy Orton en route to holding two title belts and proclaiming “YES!” to a rabid crowd to close the show.

Whichever era you subscribe to, these matches all share a trait: that they are memorable for years (and some of them even decades). Main events don’t always have to be for the championship or have giant stakes attached to them, but they have to carry the weight of being the last thing the crowd sees at the biggest show in wrestling.

It is quite literally one of the highest honors a wrestler can receive if they are chosen to main event WrestleMania. That doesn’t mean WWE has always gotten it right with the main event; here, we’re going to look at five matches that should have closed the show on the grandest stage of them all. And just a note: If we get a four minute Brock Lesnar squash match as the main even this year instead of The Man Becky Lynch … well, we’re going to complain online, WWE.

5. WrestleMania 34 Dream Main Event: AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE Championship

Actual Main Event — Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship

This match checks in first because to be honest, AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura wasn’t quite as good as the fans had hoped for. When talking about two of the best wrestlers in the game today, it should be pretty easy to put them together in WrestleMania, give them 25 minutes and then let them tear the house down. This match just never seemed to find that extra gear and the most memorable portion came after, when Nakamura gave Styles a low blow and turned heel. Perhaps if it had been treated like the main event it should have been, the match could have been better.

Having nit picked that match, anything would have been better than Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns for the umpteenth time. The crowd wanted nothing to do with this match for multiple reasons. The first was they had seen it so many times and they all knew how it would end. The second was this was still at the height of Reigns not being liked by a large and very vocal segment of the crowd. They were so apathetic towards both men that they threw a beach ball around, chanted for other wrestlers and booed throughout. Reigns had come up short against Lesnar so many times and this match just added to that list. Sometimes, it’s better just to let two of the best workers end the show and give the crowd the best match.