The Worst WrestleMania Main Events Ever 

*When Yokozuna got hit with that salt, he officially became a seasoned veteran!*

“Bret was telling him to piss off and was pointing to the back.” My sides hurt 😂😂😂😂

Yokozuna in wwe needs a Wrestling with wregret episode

As someone who attended Wrestlemania 34 I can say Roman/Brock is a pretty fair choice for worst ever. The crowd didn’t want it, the guys laid an egg in the ring, and the story they told made no sense whatsoever and undid years of booking for a meaningless swerve. People at that point didn’t care about Brock anymore and they hated Roman. To this day I’ve never experienced a live reaction like that.

Fun fact about Brock v Roman at WM 34: It was the first time a heel won the WM main event CLEAN. HHH won in 2000 because of McMahon's interference, Austin turned heel and worked with McMahon to win at X-Seven, Miz won at XXVII because of Rock's interference, and Seth Rollins cheaply cashed in to steal the title at 31. Brock can lay claim to beating Roman fair and square with no cheating or interference to help him out.

The "McMahon in Every Corner" match is an honorable mention, since the Backlash match with Trips and Rock with Austin returning would have been the perfect Wrestlemania main event.

"Drastic go down" - perhaps the most awesome phrase ever. Scott Steiner was great!!

Brian, I gotta say that I love that look you gave when the crowd was chanting "This Is Awful."

Whenever I see Shawn Michaels doing the zip line entrance at Wrestlemania 12 I now think of Kane doing same entrance in video game

Legit laughed out loud at how casually you threw out “HHH responded with a home invasion”.

Yokozuna was supposed to win the title and close the show on top but when Hogan learned of this he wouldn't allow it, his rational is that the audience would go home unhappy if a heel closed Wrestlemania on top, instead of suggesting Bret simply retains the title, Hogan instead suggested that he should challenge Yokozuna in a impromptu match and win the title, it's the finest example of Hulk Hogan abusing backstage politics to maintain his spot on the card.

No joke, I turned WrestleMania 34 off before the main event.... I don't blame Brock for pissed off.

I predict a fair share of Roman Reigns in this list. Edit: Scratch that, a fair share of Roman AND Hogan combined.

I watched the Ironman match live on ppv. I was in 7th grade at the time. I don't recall ever getting bored during it. I was a huge HBK fan and was on edge waiting for him to get a win the whole time.

An extra note about that WM34 stinker - I love how they deliberately booked it so that absolutely nobody kicked out of the F-5 for like an entire year, including guys like Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman and AJ Styles (IIRC), all to set up Roman kicking out of it *multiple* times in that match, when a) people had kicked out of that move before, b) everyone could see that spot coming a mile away and it just made people shit on the match even more, and c) Roman still lost so it meant absolutely sweet FA in the end. Also, my favourite part of that match is Maffew on OSW Review comparing Roman's bleeding to a plane in a nosedive dumping fuel before it crashes and explodes. Perfect analogy.

Roman reigns: I'm the head... of this list and in multiple matches

Surprised WrestleMania 2000's Fatal Four Way wasn't an honorable mention. Same with XI's BamBam vs. Lawrence Taylor (not a badly worked match but really didn't feel like a main event).

Taker’s victory pose is the only thing from it they ever invoke

For the Orton/HHH one, I remember reading an interview at the time where H Cubed said he knew going in that Undertaker/Michaels was the real main event.

Seeing that Anaheim Mighty Ducks logo behind Triple H and Stephanie takes me back

Miz vs Cena in WrestleMania 27 is a big one for me. Especially since it only served the purpose of setting up the next main event at the next year's WrestleMania!

I'm surprised Wrestlemania 2000 didn't at least get an honorable mention

Roman and Brock at Mania 34 was just so baffling because Vince was completely adamant about making Roman a babyface, we all went into that match going "of, course Roman is going to win, let's just get it over with already" and he still lost and they dragged it out for months after that. Absolutely worthy of the number one spot.

I remember being really underwhelmed by the fatal four way at Wrestlemania 2000

7:56 Correction The person that was giving Papa Shango his Que is the one that missed it 💯

You know there's been so many bad main events when the Bam Bam vs LT match doesn't even make it to the dishonorable mentions!

For as short as it was I feel the Bret/Yoko part of the match was good. I think the build of the match was intriguing. How can the much smaller champion apply his technical skills to this behemoth challenger?

Bret/Shawn is definitely a polarising match, I love it personally but to each their own

No way to ever know, but I've often wondered if the "unfavorable results" of the hogan-flair house shows was that Flair was getting over and fans would rather not see Hogan win the title from him. As I say, no way to know.

This is what makes my Wednesday Afternoons fun. Watching Brian Zane give his reviews on Wrestling. Yeah! ❤

Your chance drastic go down….Love about of Steiner Math references 😂

Kind of Surprised McMahon in every corner wasn't even mentioned.

Yokozuna basically had two matches in two consecutive wrestlemanias where he won the first match and lost the title in the second

I quite literally fell asleep during Roman VS HHH.

I have a confession to make. I saw Wrestlemanias 9 and 13 on tape and I'm so glad that both made the list. 🤣

Your Scott Steiner reference was amazingly placed lol. Couldn't agree with this list more! The miz being WM main event more than ric flair should be a war crime.

Bless you for not picking LT vs Bam Bam from Mania 11. It’s not main event worthy but it’s a decent match and far from the worst main event in Mania history. LT holds his own better than anyone expected

WWE be like…..”we need to get a new entry onto this list this year.”

The iron man match can not be judged from hind sight. it was a match that was flawlessly executed because it told its own story line. Shawn Michaels the high flying wrestler was seen as technically deficient to Brett and therefore not to be taken seriously as a top guy. Yet Michael’s spent the Match pulling off technical moves that only Brett himself could have done. Conversely, Brett was viewed as old news that was losing influence to clique and the high flying wrestling style of Michael’s and Brett spent the match taking more high risk chances. The pay off being that Michael’s could be taken seriously as the champ and planting the seeds of Brett’s insecurity in the company as being unappreciated.

Roman Reigns saying “This Is My Yard” on Raw after Wrestlemania 33 was awesome

Hey there mate! I just wanted to say thank you for your videos, you have helped me through a really difficult time in my life. Having your videos to put on & listen to at night has really really helped me. Thank you!

I watched Bret and Yoko live as a kid. When Bret got salted I was devastated. When Hulk came out, I popped. When Yoko took the salt, little me marked out hard. Totally understand the criticism of the match given what was happening in the real world, but at the time, it worked for me.

I said it before, and I will say it again: Hart vs Austin should have been the main event with the title on the line. They could have kept the match as is with Ken Shamrock as guest referee. Also, as iconic of an image of Austin bleeding is, imagine seeing it as it ends the ppv.

you know what would’ve been a good idea for hhh vs orton? a hell in a cell match.

Totally agree with #1 and #2 - although I will say its a shame about Roman-Brock, unlike the Hogan disaster it at least featured the cool imagery of blood-soaked, defiant Roman. In another universe where the match got a popular build, that could have been an iconic image.

I would pick WM9 just as an example of Hogan's backstage politics. I had this magazine WWF released before Mania X7 which told the history of all Wrestlemanias up to that point. I had only been watching wrestling 3 or 4 years by that point so didn't know much about backstage stuff but the finish on Mania 9 struck me as BS even as a kid back then.

...it's disturbing how many dubious storylines involve an unconscious Stephanie McMahon.

First of all, Mr.Zane, I love your videos; not only are you one of my favorite wrestling RU-vidrs, but one of my favorite RU-vidrs in general. Second, would you ever consider doing a video about the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series of video games and their appreciation of wrestling, particularly in 6 and Kiwami 2 which featured actual NJPW wrestlers like Tanahashi, Okada, and even The Great Muta as villains in one of their side stories?

The fact Lawrence Taylor is not on this list shows how many WM main events have been lacklustre. Another great list Brian!

Semi-Unrelated: Isn't it crazy how truly amazing Hogan's WWF theme is? Like. Loud, bombastic, and insanely easy to just lose your mind and go wild. XD

Great commentary here! You've got a great channel!

It’s always a good day when Brian uploads

WM 2 shouldn't count cause most fans look at it as one big card in 3 places. Hogan vs. Bundy is the true main event. and I know this is nitpicking but Joan Rivers was NOT a two bit celebrity

I know someone is at least going to say Lynch/Flair/Rousey is a bad main event. It’s not a bad match, it’s just getting to it and it being at the end of an 8 hour show is what hurts it the most. Plus the ending being a roll up. And in retrospect, that build was way worse than the match itself.

Hey Brian, have loved your content for ages now, and have FINALLY become a patron! Thanks for always bringing superb wrestling related content. ❤️👍

Really enjoy your videos. Thank you for the work.

Ok, I'm officially taking Zane's head canon as fact for the Mania 9 main event! I legit LOL'd at that one... Classic!

Triple H's main event Wrestlemania matches for the most part are bad due to placement. Triple H v Jericho shouldnt have been the main event over Hogan v Rock and Triple H v Orton having to follow HBK v Taker was also a big mistake. Hell Undertaker v Triple H should have been the main event of WM27. Triple H in his bigger matches seem to be in the wrong places with the only title match in the right place is arguably his match with Cena at WM22

Another terrific video! I was in the audience for 27, and from my memory we were really excited that Cena lost the match because the hate for Cena was stronger than anything. Also: please let the full intro song play again! its one of my favorite parts of your vids.

I just saw the BH/SM counter in the submission Match and thought those letters didn't look good in the box. I then thought "what would be a good symbol for each wrestler?" A heart was what I thought of for both.. it was then I realized that after 30 years of watching, I never once considered that Michaels and Bret were also closely connected in name. Heartbreak and (Bret) Hart. 'Hart'break indeed

Surprised hogan vs slaughter isn’t on the list

I'm surprised Hogan vs Slaughter isn't on this

That old school WrestleMania theme ("The Grand Spectacle") that plays beginning at the 0:07 mark is still a butt kicker some 33 years later. It debuted at WrestleMania VI ("The Ultimate Challenge") at the Toronto SkyDome on April 1, 1990. I to this day, consider it to be the definitive WrestleMania theme tune.

Thanks for the steady stream of content lately, z-meister. Have a good day!

Wait, what?!?! I was totally expecting a joke about forgetting Bam Bam vs LT at the end.

Roman Vs Cody needs to be retconned on to this list, such an awful ending

great vid! i've also been thinking: if there was a top 8 mania matches, most prob wouldn't be main events. it's ironic how much significance we assign to it considering how rarely they steal the show

The ironic thing regarding the piper vs Mr T. Boxing match was piper was a former golden gloves champion and quite skilled in boxing, were Mr T had no boxing experience but had a wrestling background and was pretty skilled in wrestling.

Sucks this video is going to need to be remade in a few months to include Rock vs Roman.

Bryan....thank you. Thank you for two things: 1) I knew I wasn't the only one who had NO interest in those boring, reign of terror matches from Triple Lame. 2) Thank you for calling out the idiocy of the "25th anniversary" at Mania 25. The 25th edition of something and the 25th anniversary of something are NOT the same thing. They're doing the same thing again this year: it's Mania 40, but they're calling it the 40th anniversary....which is NEXT year! Great video as always!!

In a vacuum, the Wrestlemania IX main event was amazing. I'm sad it gets shit on all the time

How did you feel about Hogan vs. Slaughter at WM VII? Was it supposed to be Hogan/Warrior II? Also, it was supposed to break the attendance record at the L.A. Coliseum but due to reasons, it was in a smaller venue.

I agree with everything but the boxing match. I was a young, 10 year old fan during that time and when you said Mr. T, I actually said What?!? Lol I understand what you are saying but that match was a main event, for only 10 to 15 thousand people. And now that I think about it, even those fans, got to watch the rest of the show, on the big screens! I'll make an estimate and say, the main event, for all the fans watching at home, everyone who rented it on VHS and all the fans who watched it from the other 2 locations, equals around 98% of the fans, probably more. In all fairness, I do remember the advertising, saying, "3 Main Events" but at school the next day, nobody was talking about the other 2 "Main events". It was all about Hogan Vs Bundy!! Ive been watching you since the early days. So I love you and your content but for one of the few times I can remember, I passionately disagree. This Boxing match, where one of the fighters is an actor turned boxer and the other, is a wrestler, (who became an actor. Lol) should have a huge asterisk next to it, if it has a place on this list! Cheers from Canada P.S. Please don't mistake my passion, for anger. I find this subject, (although a small one) to be really interesting! Mostly because I've never come across it before :)

Recent subscriber who doesn't know much about pro wrestling, I found out about the channel from a crossover you did with Phelous. I'm a subscriber to this guy, and this video as well as the worst of RAW one helped me understand why he seems to loathe HHH, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar and others from the 2000s. I gotta say based on what I saw and learned about wrestling history the 1990s seem more interesting than 2000s/2010s wrestling.

People turned on Roman before his push even began. Nothing WWE or Roman could’ve done would’ve changed those smarks’ minds.

Personally, I enjoyed the Iron Man between Bret and Shawn.

Good call on #1. Roman losing that match was the most baffling, infuriating part of it. People were ready for Lesnar to drop the title, and WWE had a perfect opportunity to put Roman over strong. Roman's loss made a bad match that much worse, and it also led to the worst SummerSlam main event of all time a few months later. A complete debacle.

WRONG WRONG WRONG, Hogan DID NOT challenge Yokozuna for the title at Wrestlemania 9. Mr. Fuji challenged Hogan on Yoko's behalf and put the title on the line. YES, this is important, BEING ACCURATE WITH HISTORY IS IMPORTANT.

How did Hogan and Slaughter not make the cut?

Pretty surprised that the McMahon in every corner match wasn't even an honorable mention

11:20 the numbers don’t lie. They spelled out disaster for that match

Triple H and Randy Orton at WM, it had the misfortune of following up Taker vs HBK,the match was slow and boring, and the wrong guy won

Hopefully we get a best of Wrestlemania Main Events.

Hi, Can we add WM39 Night 2 to this list?

I would have given Hogan vs Slaughter at WM VII a dis-honerable mention or a spot in the top 10 for not only the match's sluggish style and boring pace, but how the storyline became the start of a long, long list of problems the WWE would have in the Early to Mid 1990s. Besides, Macho King vs Warrior Career Ending Match was the show stealer and should have been Main Event with the title on the line.

I will ALWAYS say that I was SO GLAD they went with Macho Man/Flair at Mania 8. As a kid in the 80s, Hogan/Flair was a dream match. By '92, Hogan was STALE. Macho/Flair had an AWESOME build (one of the best WWF/E had ever done in my opinion) and their in-ring chemistry was just fantastic. Far superior than a formulaic Hogan victory over Flair (like we got at Bash at the Beach '94 in WCW) Oh and Mr T was NOT "overexposed" by '86 either. And NONE of us fans knew the backstage drama between Mr T/Piper (to say nothing about the gloves stuff with Piper)

I’ve never bought into the Hogan/Flair house show test run thing. Even in 1991, fans were already conditioned enough to know that house shows didn’t mean anything since they weren’t on tv. The first Royal Rumble was a house show failure too, and look at it now

What a comment with Bret Hart pointing to the ring instead of the back because of the salt in his eyes. So funny.

Just know that I'm always here for your wrestling content brother

Wrestling With Wregret- What was the crowd chanting around 18:29-18:35?...

The problem with Roman and Brock Wrestlemania 34 main event is that Roman constantly telling people about how Brock Lesnar is a lazy part timer and it’s only in it for the money,the problem is fans already knew Brock Lesnar is a part time champion and wrestles on a part time basis. Like how we supposed to root for Roman

Here in 2024 and The Rock just Hoganed Cody Rhodes so I wonder where Rock vs Reigns would land

19:00 There's no "apparantly" Brian, there's video footage of him throwing the belt at Vince lol

I was at number 1 (travelled from New Zealand to see it)...part of the problem wasn't the match itself and the story line, it was the fact that the whole thing was about 31 hours long in a stadium designed to hold crowds for 2-3 hours max. There were huge lines for food, which was crap and vastly overpriced, the stadium was a nightmare to get into and everyone had just had enough fireworks, bright-lights and super loud music long before the main event started. I also remember that there were really long periods between matches because they insisted on doing TV spots between matches that the crowd didn't see.

The Brock Roman match at Wrestlemaina 34 was so bad it make NXT takeover look good to comparison No wonder Triple H take over wwe right now

It’s worth remembering Vince has always been “take this and you’ll like it, this isn’t a restaurant!” That vaunted Iron Man match literally had people up and leaving due to boredom but Vince famously said “I’d rather have a half full arena cheering for who I tell them to than a full arena cheering for whoever they want.”

What really stood out about Roman/Brock II at Mania, is that Vince ram Roman down our throats after he beat Taker the previous Mania, and just when we thought that Vince will finally give his stamp of approval by Vince to FINALLY get it over with, only for Vince to swerve us, and have Brock win instead after a FULL YEAR! I'm glad Brock threw the title at Vince when it was over.

Happy Wednesday Brian 💯

Mania 11: Bam Bam vs LT definitely among the Worst! That didn't make this video?

The numbers don't lie