Worst Wrestlemania Matches

[humanoid92]

Backlund-Ramon the Worst WrestleMania matches.

Man, that was a long ass squash and Backlund got some offense. That's almost as bad as Roberts-Rude, it's like once those guys found out they were going to a draw, they decided to be lazy.

 

What? How can you even compare the two? Backlund vs. Ramon was only like 3 or 4 minutes long. I haven't looked this up yet but I guarantee you it was under 4 minutes. Plenty of squashes were longer. I could list at least 5 matches each from WM 5, 6, and 7 that were longer and served less of a purpose.

 

I'm with Kamala on this one... if it's under five minutes and it's just a squash can it really be actively bad? It just is what it is. This is why we need to define the criteria for "worst".

[bob_barron]

Backlund-Ramon the Worst WrestleMania matches.

Man, that was a long ass squash and Backlund got some offense. That's almost as bad as Roberts-Rude, it's like once those guys found out they were going to a draw, they decided to be lazy.

 

The match went 3:45

[PLAGIARISM!]

Jake Robers vs Rick Martel-Blindfold Match.

 

Yeah it was retarded, but the crowd actually received it pretty well. WM will never be a 'pure wrestling' show from start to finish, so I'm not sure this was a complete disaster.

[King Cucaracha]

Not sure if it'd count, but Big Show/Akebono deserves at least a mention.

[LoRisk]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Uncle Elmer vs. Adrian Adonis from WM2.

[Guest BlueStang302]

Elmer-Adonis has more comedy value than just about any match I've ever seen. Adonis sells like crazy, he flies around even more outlandishly than Hennig did in his prime. And who can forget Elmer falling on his ass after throwing a punch? That match is 2 solid minutes of entertainment.

[StrapFinlay]

For sheer "did I really just see that" I think the Huckster v Nacho Man with Billionaire Ted as referee from WM12 deserves a mention...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBpVxIDrb0Q

 

And some of the most disturbing commentary ever:

 

King: "President Regan is watching this, he won't remember it..."

 

King (ref Huckster): "What the pharmacist gave him, Father Time took away."

[Guest]

Backlund-Ramon the Worst WrestleMania matches.

Man, that was a long ass squash and Backlund got some offense. That's almost as bad as Roberts-Rude, it's like once those guys found out they were going to a draw, they decided to be lazy.

 

The match went 3:45

Last time I watched it, it felt like it went about 8 minutes.

[Vern Gagne]

Jake Robers vs Rick Martel-Blindfold Match.

 

Yeah it was retarded, but the crowd actually received it pretty well. WM will never be a 'pure wrestling' show from start to finish, so I'm not sure this was a complete disaster.

 

Very true. I enjoyed it at the time. The cynical smark prevents me from enjoying it anymore.

[haVoc]

Ok, Undertaker vs Giant Gonzales gets my vote for worst match.

 

I also want to throw Hogan/Warrior out there for worst main event at WM. I don't get why this match isn't ripped on more. I haven't watched it a long time, nor do I plan to, but it seem like the match was a 40 minute head lock.

[King Kamala]

Ok, Undertaker vs Giant Gonzales gets my vote for worst match.

 

I also want to throw Hogan/Warrior out there for worst main event at WM. I don't get why this match isn't ripped on more. I haven't watched it a long time, nor do I plan to, but it seem like the match was a 40 minute head lock.

 

 

 

That's a prime example of a crowd carrying a match (Along with Hollywood Hogan-Rock twelve years later at the same venue), the match itself is boring as all hell. Not bad but boring. I think the crowd makes that a ** match. Which would make it better than the main events of WM I through III, VIII and XIII.

 

 

I'd nominate Sid-Undertaker for worst WrestleMania main event, whose idea was it to give those two twenty minutes?

[haVoc]

I don't understand Taker at all. This is a guy who has almost as much power backstage as HHH and HBK and always agrees to work with slugs. Maybe it's because in his mind he thinks he'll look like the better worker?

 

It doesn't make sense to me. Taker has proven he can be "carried" and have really good matches yet when someone like Brock or even Orton comes along he buries them. It seems like he puts more effort into lame duck feuds like Mark Henry and Kahli then with guys who could give him good matches.

[Guest robrabies]

I don't understand Taker at all. This is a guy who has almost as much power backstage as HHH and HBK and always agrees to work with slugs. Maybe it's because in his mind he thinks he'll look like the better worker?

 

It doesn't make sense to me. Taker has proven he can be "carried" and have really good matches yet when someone like Brock or even Orton comes along he buries them. It seems like he puts more effort into lame duck feuds like Mark Henry and Kahli then with guys who could give him good matches.

 

For all hand-wringing about his "streak", the guy has had probably 3 of the worst 10 WM matches ever. Personally, I hate the guy--I think he's HHH w/o the bloodlust for the strap. Has he ever lost a true feud other than to Lesnar?? Which segways to...

 

Brock-Goldberg, the worst WM match ever. Two guys out there who were handed everything and gave back nothing. Complete sacks of shit on multiple levels.

 

FWIW, the Hogan-Warrior match wasn't bad for its time. Do we need a reminder of how big of a stiff Warrior was?? This was the second best match of his career behind his match w/ Savage. It wasn't great, but it was ***, and Rock-Hogan had a 6* atmosphere and told a pretty good story with the right guy going over.

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

You know, we really take it for granted how much the top guys job in this era. Go back to the '60s and '70s and good luck finding some top guys who will do clean jobs at ANY level. Guys on top will job rarely. That's the way of wrestling, and quite honestly in most cases that's the way it should be. Wrestling is a dog-eat-dog business that chews up and spits out its talent.

[Corkscrew_Senton]

You know, we really take it for granted how much the top guys job in this era. Go back to the '60s and '70s and good luck finding some top guys who will do clean jobs at ANY level. Guys on top will job rarely. That's the way of wrestling, and quite honestly in most cases that's the way it should be. Wrestling is a dog-eat-dog business that chews up and spits out its talent.

 

Could you imagine Hunter having a title reign like Sammartino's? Granted though with the advent of weekly television a yearlong title reign seems much longer than say, Superstar Graham's yearlong reign did, I'm sure.

[King Kamala]

You know, we really take it for granted how much the top guys job in this era. Go back to the '60s and '70s and good luck finding some top guys who will do clean jobs at ANY level. Guys on top will job rarely. That's the way of wrestling, and quite honestly in most cases that's the way it should be. Wrestling is a dog-eat-dog business that chews up and spits out its talent.

 

Could you imagine Hunter having a title reign like Sammartino's? Granted though with the advent of weekly television a yearlong title reign seems much longer than say, Superstar Graham's yearlong reign did, I'm sure.

 

 

Yeah, I remember seeing a couple of old timers on the Kayfabe Memories or Wrestling Classics board refer to Graham as a transitional champion between Bruno and Bob Backlund.

 

Now one month is too long of a time to be considered a transitional reign.

 

 

Ah but I digress.

[Bruiser_Brody_]

Savage and Sherri vs Rhodes and Sapphire at Wrestlemania VI comes to mind,

 

Wait What?

[Lil' Bitch]

John Cena Vs. JBL @ WM 21

 

Just pathetic for a world title match at WM. Bradshaw does all the work for the whole match and Cena just beats him with the FU at the end. WTF? The crowd didn't give a shit either until the match had ended, LOL.

[zappafrank]

Although I don't think it's necessarily a horrible match, I've never understood the love for Austin/Vega from WM XII.

[Diamonddust]

I actually thought that match was quite entertaining. The Bart Gunn/Butterbean match did more to expose the business than the one you speak of.

 

Come on... Bart Gunn getting his ass handed to him by Butterbean was HIGHLY entertaining... and I'm not just saying that due to the fact I live an hour or so away from Butterbean's hometown of Jasper, Alabama.

[Rendclaw]

You want to talk about a bad match that exposes the business?

 

Hercules Hernandez vs. Billy Jack Haynes, Wrestlemania III. It was a bad match to begin with but after Hercules hits Billy Jack with the chain, the camera cuts to Billy Jack gigging and throwing out the razor blade.

[Guest WWE247FanaticSeries]

Big Show vs Mankind at WM15. I mean, why that shitty ending?

[Jingus]

Because Russo wrote himself into a corner. They needed Mankind to win that match so he could be the referee in the main event, but they couldn't let the brand new Big Show do a job, and they also needed some sort of doubt as to whether Mick could actually be able to ref the main, so we got a chokeslam through chairs.

 

Cena vs. JBL wasn't a bad match. Not a great one, but not bad, just too short, and that's not the workers' fault, the office tells them how long to go. It was way, way better than true stinkers like Taker vs. Sid, Andre vs. Hogan II, Big Show vs. Akebono, etcetera.

[Epic Reine]

Lesnar/Goldberg is entertaining to watch just because of the crowd and both men getting annoyed by it and not giving a shit about their match.

 

I'd say Taker/Bossman just because such a cool gimmick was wasted on such a heatless fued.

[AlexPuma]

I don't get the hate for Big Show vs Akebono. I remember it being short, harmless, well-worked, and causing a big buzz in Japan. Other than seeing Big Show's ass, what was so bad about it?

[cabbageboy]

I don't get the hate for UT vs. Sid really. While not a great match it's a decent enough main event.

[Jingus]

I don't get the hate for Big Show vs Akebono. I remember it being short, harmless, well-worked, and causing a big buzz in Japan. Other than seeing Big Show's ass, what was so bad about it?

Because (like most pro wrestling fans, probably) I don't give a shit about sumo wrestling and found it to be one big waste of time. It's like the useless diva match they have at Mania every year, except with a different sort of giant breasts.

 

I don't get the hate for UT vs. Sid really. While not a great match it's a decent enough main event.

I thought it was slow, plodding, overstuffed with rest holds and sloppy brawling, and had WAY too many run-ins from Bret which ruined any possible pacing or flow they might've otherwise established. Plus the "Sid shit his pants" rumor.

 

The Bossman-Taker one is even worse in hindsight, when it was revealed like a month later that the Corporation and the Ministry were secretly in cahoots, so basically Undertaker had one of his own henchmen hung from a noose just for the hell of it.

[Guest]

I don't get the hate for UT vs. Sid really. While not a great match it's a decent enough main event.

As someone who has watched it on multiple occasions, you're nuts.

[cabbageboy]

I didn't say UT vs. Sid was a great match or even a good match worth repeat viewings. But it's nowhere near the worst match ever or anything of that sort.

[Black Lushus]

Jingus you're insane...the Bret Hart run-ins were the best part of that math.

 

Bret Hart: "I'm the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will---" *Sid pops him in the mouth then powerbombs him*

 

Shawn Michaels on commentary: "and now you're getting beat up for running your mouth"

 

One thing I found odd with Michael's commentary during that match, he mentions being in the ring with both indivduals at some point. I don't recall him ever facing UT until Ground Zero later in 97. Am I missing something?