The biggest Wrestlemania build up that didn't pay off

[Disturbed]

WWE does it all the time. They over hype Wrestlemania like it is going to be the best thing there ever was and the match isn't half as good as what they were hyped up to be. So my question to you is, which Wrestlemania matches were a dissapointment to you because WWE hyped it up so much and you thought it would be better than it was? This is just Wrestlemania matches.

I'll start with a match from Wrestlemania 26. Bret Hart vs Vince McMahon. I didn't expect much of this match so I can't say I was dissapointed but the regular WWE fan might of been. They hyped this match up so much and it was a joke. That's all I'm saying.... It was a complete joke.

I'll also mention Randy Orton vs Triple H at Wrestlemania 25. I was dissapointed by this one. I thought it was going to be an all out brawl and it sucked. I mean the hype was amazing with Orton punting Vince and Shane, ddting stephanie off the ropes then kissing her, then Triple H breaking into Orton's house. The whole program was epic and had me on my feet every week but the match didn't last very long and was just awful for the last match at mania.

 

[Adiaphora]

For me, the worst was Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg at WrestleMania 20. I thought this was going to be two monsters battling it out and it fizzled really quick. It didn't help that it was both wrestlers last match with the company and felt like they were mailing their performances in.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

Two very good calls, I have to add Triple H Vs Randy Orton. Great buildup, some good vigenettes and stellar 'personal' feud. The match, howver, was one of the worst ever for all the hype. Unrealistically one-sided. I mean if 'Biggest Burial' was an award, this would win over and over.

 

[lamo78]

Goldberg vs. Lesnar was number one for me as big hype... bad payoff. Those two should have been able to put on one decent match between them and they couldn't do it. It was so horrible.

The other match that I personally witnessed that I thought was pretty bad was Undertaker vs. Mark Henry. They tried to build up Henry as this monster and did a decent job of it. I was at that WM and the match just seemed dead and there was little doubt that the Streak was ever in jeopardy that night.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

Rey Mysterio vs JBL for the IC belt. No wonder someone posted a thread about it losing lustre.

In fairness to Goldberg vs Lesnar, they had their match scripted from them and the picture of Shane sitting laughing and booing during it says more for WWe than it does for the two guys - the only pops we where due to make was SC stunning both.

 

[owen8472]

id have to say warrior and hogan title for title !!! these guys both can put on a show however togther they keep trying to one up each other and ended up tripping over each other several times during the match. at the end you could tell hogan was butt hurt buy having to raise the warriors hand but the wwe wanted him to pass the torch to him beliving hogan was about over as a number one guy boy where they wrong.

i really wanted to like the warrior but i met him in fresno at the holladay inn i asked for his autograh and i was 12-13 then it was before the royal rumble in fresno my dad was with my told me no fucking time kid. i mean it took longer to say that than sign my fucking card and saying fuck in front of a kid ya warrior yourhttp://forums.wrestlezone.com/images/smilies/banghead.gif priceless!! http://forums.wrestlezone.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

 

[IrishCanadian25]

As much as I hate to say it, Chris Jericho vs Triple H at Wrestlemania X8 was a huge disappointment. And it's a shame, because it was an awesome match.

In the months leading up to Wrestlemania 18, the Invasion had come and gone, and Vince McMahon decided to bring in "The nWo." That's all well and good.

Chris Jericho had somehow, some way defeated BOTH The Rock and Steve Austin in back to back matches to win the Undisputed World Title, and Triple H returned from his quad injury (hurt in a match with Jericho and made worse when Jericho put the Walls on Hunter on an announce table) to win the Royal Rumble.

To compound that, HHH is now a face and he's basically split with Stephanie McMahon, who now decides to join forces with his former arch-rival, Chris Jericho, to defeat HHH at Mania.

That's a hell of a build up.

And then, Hogan vs Rock happened.

The crowd in Toronto decided that Rock / Hogan was going to become one of the single greatest moments in wrestling history by cheering the hell out of both men, welcoming Hogan back with open arms, and creating a massive event. By the time that match was over, it felt like Wrestlemania was too. The crowd had blown its load.

HHH and Jericho went on to put on one of the best Mania matches in a few years (something Jericho did frequently) but two issues existed: 1) everybody expected the returning Hunter to defeat Jericho, and 2) the nWo angle and subsequent Rock / Hogan match had stolen the show and left the building with it.

 

[The Eighties]

Brock vs Goldberg is definitely top of my list, in truth I wasn't interested in the Triple H vs Orton match at all so I wasn't disappointed, however I didn't expect the match to be as bad as it was.

I'd add The Undertaker vs Kane at WMXX even though I'm not a fan of either, Kane had been built up well as a monster again and I thought this would be a big brawl in MSG, instead Taker's entrance seemed longer than the match.

Also to a degree Batista vs Triple H at WM21, the build was awesome but once the bell rang it became very obvious just how green Batista still was, and the match was a very sterilized walk through for a Mania main event.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

One of my choices has already been mentioned by the posters here. Triple H vs Randy Orton was the most hyped match heading into Wrestlemania 25. But the match itself proved to be a dampener to what had been an excellently built up feud. At the end of the day Orton just proved to be a vehicle for Triple H to win yet another title. The build up was awesome but the match was just inconsequental.

Another match that was supposed to steal the show at the same PPV was Matt Hardy vs Jeff Hardy in an extreme rules match. Jeff was at the height of his popularity at this point and had been a world champion not too long ago. Matt is someone who has a cult popularity among the fans and people loved him the last time he was heel. Add to that that it was an extreme rules match and extreme is the Hardys' forte. But once again the match did not live up to the expectations. It seemed that Matt and Jeff just did not trust each other a lot in the ring. Their feud also had a rather tame end and did not do anything for either guy.

 

[Tattooed Jesus]

HHH vs Randy Orton is the most recent to come to mind for me. Awesome feud with intense build up that just ended with a piss poor match out of both guys.

Brock vs Goldberg was garbage and I blame them both as well as Vince. Neither guy was remotely interested in wrestling at the time and the match should have just been scrapped altogether.

Jeff vs Matt was awful because well Matt is just awful. This is the internets fault though because it was supposed to be Christian in this spot but because everyone on the nets knew this Vince changed the plans to Matt at the last minute and ruined what could have been an awesome Hardys vs E&C final TLC match instead.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

WMIX generally stunk but probably the biggest turd on the card was the Undertaker versus the Giant Gonzales (RIP). Hyped up as the phenom having finally met his match, this bout was to awful to be boring and the truly idiotic sight of the 'Dead man' getting knocked out with a chloroformed rag and taken out on a gurney makes you think a bit when his 'undefeated' streak is discussed now (we won the match by DQ).

 

[RD_21]

In my opinion nothing can come close to Brock vs Goldberg. That was SO BAD! They had to get Austin in to get some interest because goldberg wasn't there to promote the match. All the crowd knew both guy were leaving and were chanting you sold out all the match, there were multiple signs in the crowd about it too. The fans had no interest, the wrestler seemed like they had no interest and just wanted the big check before leaving, it was awful.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

Another match that I want to talk about is the main event of Wrestlemania 16: HHH vs Rock vs Mick Foley vs Big Show with a Mcmahon in the corner for every competitor. I just felt that WWF tried to make this more grandiose than it was required. Everything prior to Mania 16 suggested that the main event should have been HHH vs Rock but WWF tried to complicate matters a bit here. The build up was amazing though.

As for the match, it was just like any other fatal fourway match. Big Show just sucked at this point and it was no wonder he was eliminated so early. I love Foley but he just did not seem like he belonged here. Also one could see the ending from the moment Vince aligned himself with The Rock. The match was a bit underwhelming and I have always felt that HHH vs Rock should have been th emain event. Their matches at the subsequent two PPV's ie Backlash and Judgement Day were awesome and showed that they were ready to perform on a big stage

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

Brock vs Goldberg was garbage and I blame them both as well as Vince. Neither guy was remotely interested in wrestling at the time and the match should have just been scrapped altogether.

WWe sets out it's matches move for move, improv is not allowed and only happens when something happens that makes the next step unbelievable. Bill/ Brock had a match laid out for them with nothing but rest holds, designed to turn the crowd against them both with the ultimate slap in the face being that they gat laid out by a retired WWe legend. This was pure and simply Vince's decision. To think that two guys wrestling their last ever matches would want to go out with this match is very naive.

Jeff vs Matt was awful because well Matt is just awful. This is the internets fault though because it was supposed to be Christian in this spot but because everyone on the nets knew this Vince changed the plans to Matt at the last minute and ruined what could have been an awesome Hardys vs E&C final TLC match instead.

What? We were to blame? Vince goes out of his way to show what he thinks of us - we are only a small amount of nerds, without girlfriends, probably out of shape and living in our parents basements. And yet it's OUR fault that the storyline was changed? BULLSHIT! Anyone with more than a passing interest in Wrestling knew that Christian had left TNA. His brother (now best friend for some reason) was World Champ and feuding with E&C's old rivals the Hardy Boyz youngest member. When Jeff started to get assaulted by a mystery assailant you neither needed to be Einstein nor own a computer to work out that Christian was the most likely candidate. Again Vince made this decision, not us - the blame lies with him!

 

[Pole Smoker]

It has to be Randy Orton vs Triple H wrestlemania 25. They should have made the match no dq. How could a normal match live up to previous scenes of fighting like when Triple H invaded Orton's house or backstage etc. The match was a bore and nothing happened. Why on earth did Randy Orton not win? I feel like they missed a chance at something here. I was really excited for the match as well.

 

[chuckhardslab]

Orton vs hhh was actualy a good match but people wre so impressed by shawn vs taker tht it jst made the match terrible for a last match ....if it was b4 the. The taker vs michaels match. I think it would've gotten more respect but I think I agree wit the bret vs mcmahon match they did hype tht up lke no tomorow so I would say hart vs mcmahon at wm26 was the most hyped and was a flunk

 

[Loveless]

HHH Vs Orton at Wrestlemania 25. Awesome build and then it turned into one of the biggest string of fuckups in booking history.

Mistake 1. Putting Undertaker Vs HBK on before
I mean, really? I know it's tradition for the title match to go last but this was the match everyone wanted to see. Crowd was tired after and cranky because...

Mistake 2. The match was dreadful
Punch, kick, kick, punch, pedigree, finished

Mistake 3. HHH should not have won
Orton had massive momentum going into that match, it was the match he supposed to finally solidify his status and get the title but... what's this? Oh no here comes The SHHHovel, it's all over for Orton!

Mistake 4. Orton gets the cheap win soon afterwards.
Making fans once again question why the hell it couldn't have happened at the big event, and why HHH can't lose clean.

-------------------------

I've seen mention of Brock Goldberg. That was entertaining, for all the wrong reasons. It was still cool seeing them in the same ring, they had the decency to keep the match short and it wasn't a main event so I wasn't so disappointed.

 

[nbrew2119]

Im gonna name two that I havent seen yet.

Kane vs. Great Khali--how can you hype this match, when, you know its going to be terrible

Batista vs. Umaga--they hyped the hell out of it as a Raw vs. Smackdown match. They put all the hype into it, it was a shitty match, and to make matters worse, it was on the Wrestlemania where Ric Flair lost, so, that whole night, nobody really cared about anything but Flair's match.

 

[The Eighties]

WWe sets out it's matches move for move, improv is not allowed and only happens when something happens that makes the next step unbelievable. Bill/ Brock had a match laid out for them with nothing but rest holds, designed to turn the crowd against them both with the ultimate slap in the face being that they gat laid out by a retired WWe legend. This was pure and simply Vince's decision. To think that two guys wrestling their last ever matches would want to go out with this match is very naive.

This is definitely partly correct, although top tier experienced guys are allowed a lot more freedom to diversify in their matches, that is why HBK vs Angle went over time and forced Cena vs JBL to be so short at WM21, and why Triple H had barely spoken to Orton and Cena about their match at WM24 as he spent the weekend prepping the very scripted Show vs Mayweather match. However with Brock/Goldberg the notion has always been that both didn't want to risk getting hurt so they put zero effort in, however with Goldberg things always had to be laid out, so clearly there was some sabotage, even if the crowd might have crapped on it anyway as the news had leaked that Lesnar was leaving.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

This is definitely partly correct, although top tier experienced guys are allowed a lot more freedom to diversify in their matches, that is why HBK vs Angle went over time and forced Cena vs JBL to be so short at WM21, and why Triple H had barely spoken to Orton and Cena about their match at WM24 as he spent the weekend prepping the very scripted Show vs Mayweather match. However with Brock/Goldberg the notion has always been that both didn't want to risk getting hurt so they put zero effort in, however with Goldberg things always had to be laid out, so clearly there was some sabotage, even if the crowd might have crapped on it anyway as the news had leaked that Lesnar was leaving.

Well said, but it makes you wonder who 'leaked'... This was originally meant to be a big man epic that ultimately made Brock even more of a monster. Goldberg was priced out of staying as Vince considered his tenure somewhat of a failure (*cough* Paul *cough* Levesque) and was going to put the big man over as his last contribution. Then high and mighty Brock decided he was to big for Pro Wrestling and that he could easily be a football star

 

[The Eighties]

Well said, but it makes you wonder who 'leaked'... This was originally meant to be a big man epic that ultimately made Brock even more of a monster. Goldberg was priced out of staying as Vince considered his tenure somewhat of a failure (*cough* Paul *cough* Levesque) and was going to put the big man over as his last contribution. Then high and mighty Brock decided he was to big for Pro Wrestling and that he could easily be a football star

I don't know if I fully blame old burials for the failure of Goldberg, a lot of the WWE crowds seemed to hold this silly grudge over the fact he was WCW's main guy. The one thing is Goldberg should have took the title at Summerslam, that delay did hurt the momentum. Man when you look at all the screw ups across the Goldberg run it would make a thread of it's own.

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

To be honest... There are loads!! We get 1 every 2 years or soo..

I am going to go with the one nearly everyone is going with and that'S Brock vs Goldberg!! Yes, it was a huge match about to happen and could have been one of the biggest.. and we all knew they were both leaving..so there was no real point in the match.. I am just glad that Austin was the guest referee and had something to do with this match.. or God knows what else would happen....

 

[RicSpade]

Honestly I think one of the biggest letdown match was Undertakers streak vs 2 men in a handicap match. Seriously think about it he was helping out Nathan Jones for well over a few months then there suppose to tag team up in what would've been Undertakers first tag match at wrestlemania, and then they decided Nathan Jones was too green for Mania and they bill it as a handicap match in which jones helps Undertaker in anyways against two big men, to me this was one of the biggest letdown matches and no wonder they don't really talk about that match when it comes to the streak.

Probably next in line would have to be Orton vs Triple H, because usually in a build like that you don't have them compete pretty much the next night after their main event.

But my top prize goes to Bam Bam Bigelow and LT...Really you let them headline to get media attraction, which the hype was good, but Bam Bam can't carry a nobody in wrestling I don't care how much you train, and as decent as the match was I don't think anyone cared for it as a main event. I mean even the little brawl between Million Dollar Mans team and LT's didn't even keep me entertained long enough, and years later after watching an original tape I still sit here thinking "Who the hell thought this was a good idea for a main event" that would be like Floyd Mayweather and Big Show or Big Show and Akebono getting the main event spot. Not a smart idea no matter how big the build up

 

[bigbootydaddyV]

i totally forgot about brock and goldberg and that is up there, however, once i found out that both were leaving I had less expectations for that match, especially with SCSA as the guest ref I kind of knew it would be more gimmicky than a real contest between two of the toughest to ever step in that ring. So by time the match happened my expectations were already lower, granted it still managed to suck even more than i expected I don' think it'll go number one for me since once the news broke they were both leaving there wasn't as much shock in them half assing.

The match that had hype and totally sucked was Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice! That match was awful and whether it was known sid was leaving or not I didn't know since it wasn't like we had the IWC then, so I had no reason to expect that match to suck so bad (aside from the fact that sid justice was always crap). I still expected a better story in that match and definitely not that cluster fuck of an ending.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Everyone has already voiced their opinions about Triple H VS Orton, and I agree with some stuff the posters in here have said. This was truly a epic build up. Randy Orton attacked Triple H's real life wife, and his in-laws. I don't think the match was bad, but it was very underwhelming for a Wrestlemania main event with such a huge build behind it. I don't know why WWE didn't go the NO DQ route with this one. EVERYONE wanted to see these two tear each other apart.

I think another honorable mention would be Hogan VS Sid from Wrestlemania 8. This was the second match of the double main event that night. Hogan and Sid played a part in eliminating each other at the Royal Rumble, and they had a tense moment outside the ring. Having Hulk Hogan in the main event at Wrestlemania is ALWAYS a big deal, but this match is very awkward. I've watched it couple of times, and I always get this same feeling. Sid attacks Hogan during his entrance, while the Hulkster's music is still playing. There's also one point in the match where Sid seems to be cutting a promo with Harvey Wippleman, and all of this is going on while Hogan is still laying in the middle of the ring. And who could forget Papa Shango missing his cue. Sid had to improvise by kicking out of the leg drop, but as soon as Wippleman entered the ring, Hogan grabs him, throws him at Sid(who did make a nice catch by the way) the bell rings, and the match was called?!? Shango eventually made his way to the ring to help attack Hogan, and of course Warrior came down for the save and post match celebration.

This match was just very awkward, and things became more of a clusterfuck towards the end. I've never been a fan of Sid, but Hogan VS Sid at Wrestlemania had blockbuster written all over it. I know Hogan winning at Wrestlemania was a normal trend, but did the ending really have to be so screwy? Sid VS Hogan is very disappointing if you ask me. This match had potential, but I don't want to remember this match when I think of Mania 8.