Fansided

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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WWE Champion CM Punk shows his championship belt during the WrestleMania 28 press conference Wednesday, March 28, 2012, in Miami Beach, Florida. (C.W. Griffin/Miami Herald/MCT via Getty Images)
WWE Champion CM Punk shows his championship belt during the WrestleMania 28 press conference Wednesday, March 28, 2012, in Miami Beach, Florida. (C.W. Griffin/Miami Herald/MCT via Getty Images) /

2. WrestleMania 29 Dream Main Event: CM Punk vs Undertaker

Actual Main Event — The Rock vs John Cena for the WWE Championship 

WWE once again showed their colors by having The Rock enter WrestleMania 29 as the champion. Sure, it received mainstream attention since The Rock was (and remains) one of the most globally recognized people in the world. The Rock ended Punk’s reign as champion at the Royal Rumble earlier in the year and some didn’t care for that in the first place. Punk was one of the longest-reigning champs in history and The Rock was barely involved in WWE at that juncture. It helped set the stage for a lot of other issues with Punk, but that’s a whole other article and one that’s been written many times before.

Since The Rock was champ and Cena was challenging, they had the task of following up their match from the previous year’s WrestleMania for bigger stakes. While these two are some of the most decorated pro wrestlers in history, they not only didn’t exceed the previous year but the match downright wasn’t any good. The match basically consisted of a big trade-off of finisher after finisher and it ended with The Rock holding up Cena’s hand, as if anyone needed validation for Cena at that point in his career. On top of that, The Rock was a questionable choice as champion past the headlines it generated at the time.

Meanwhile, Punk’s encounter with The Undertaker was the clearly superior match on this card. It’s not exactly a hot take either, as  many folks around the industry agree that it was the best match of the night. We had Punk in top form with his ring psychology, manager Paul Heyman twisting the knife as only he can and the added story of ‘Taker’s longtime manager Paul Bearer passing away shortly before WrestleMania. Wrestling is typically at its finest when the lines between the acting and reality blur. That’s what happened in the lead-up and this match felt personal throughout. Punk was one of the rare wrestlers to show no fear of The Deadman at WrestleMania and the match was elevated because of that factor. It was also one of the last times we saw Undertaker close to his best, and he should have occupied the main event.