10 Times The Wrong Person Won At WWE WrestleMania

WrestleMania can be a spectacular show full of great matches and memorable moments but, if a key result inexplicably goes the 'wrong' way, the focus of that show then shifts to how WWE dropped the ball, how they should have done it 'right' and so on and so forth.

The simplistic notion of 'wins and losses don't matter' definitely does not apply to the Showcase of the Immortals.

A big loss on the big stage, with more eyes watching than at any other point of the year, can seriously hamper a wrestler's career and even taint their legacy.

WWE has been guilty of putting someone over at the expense of someone else that fans want and/or a performer that simply needs or could benefit from getting their hand raised more than the other person.

Sometimes it's glaringly obvious in the moment, other times it looks misjudged only with the benefit of hindsight. Often, the more you think about it the worse it gets.

It's certainly a more modern phenomenon and something which tends to affect the very big matches, like title bouts or main events, more than those that are mired in the mid-card.

Placing these results in context and looking at the before, during and after, these are ten of the more glaring examples of the wrong person winning at the Granddaddy of Them All.

10. Triple H (Vs. Brock Lesnar) - WrestleMania 29

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Considering just how protected Brock Lesnar would be after his first year back, it's simply incredible how willing WWE were to beat him in matches upon his return.

He famously lost to John Cena in his first WWE bout for eight years when he fell to Big Match John in an Extreme Rules match at, erm, Extreme Rules 2012.

Lesnar managed to get past Triple H in the No Disqualification main event of SummerSlam a few months later, but guess who needed his win back?

Yes, The Game got even with The Beast Incarnate at WrestleMania 29 in a No Holds Barred match where Triple H's career was on the line. Ah yes, that part-time, mostly a non-wrestler executive career of his.

Since Trips was very much a 'special occasions' performer and WWE had plans to push Brock to the moon after, I really don't see any sense in the result here. Honestly, Brock should have won and retired the Cerebral Assassin since, you know, this is wrestling (and specifically WWE) and stipulations can and will be reneged upon later if need be.

Or, you know, just don't add the career-ending caveat to the presentation. Either way.

Lesnar beat Triple H inside a cage at the next pay-per-view anyway, winning the feud 2-1, but that happened at Extreme Rules, a secondary pay-per-view and not the biggest show of the year. I reckon more people saw The Next Big Thing staring at the ceiling at 'Mania.

Following that, Triple H messed around with Curtis Axel for a bit before doing the whole Authority/Daniel Bryan thing, whereas Brock began his unstoppable run that saw him beat CM Punk, Big Show, The Undertaker and John Cena (for the WWE Title) at consecutive pay-per-views.

Making things worse, the Brock/HHH WrestleMania match was weak sauce, too.

9. Charlotte Flair (Vs. Asuka) - WrestleMania 34

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As well as being a charismatic and talented performer, Asuka was able to really get over with the WWE Universe because she was booked superbly, from her blistering NXT run to her earlier main roster days.

The Empress of Tomorrow never tasted defeat, and fans were happy to invest in her because they had confidence that she would get the job done, as she had done in the first-ever women's Royal Rumble match, earning herself a Women's Title match at WrestleMania in the process.

Asuka met Charlotte Flair at the Showcase of the Immortals, the two having a great babyface versus babyface bout that was one of the highlights of the show.

The two fought tooth-and-nail and ably demonstrated why they are two of the best to do it, before The Queen put away the challenger with a Figure-Eight.

Ending Asuka's streak on this night was a huge call to make, but I'm not sure it was the right one.

I appreciate that WWE considers Charlotte the top star of the entire women's division and have basically built it around her as the figurehead and consummate champion, but sometimes there's nothing wrong with telling the linear, crowd-pleasing story.

In this case, that would have been Asuka winning the Rumble and beating Charlotte on the Grandest Stage of Them All to continue her amazing winning streak. Flair could have gotten her win back in a rematch later on at, say, SummerSlam.

Instead, what happened happened and Asuka floundered for a while after, unable to beat Carmella and having to wait until TLC at the end of the year to win her first SmackDown Women's Championship.

8. John Cena (Vs. Bray Wyatt) - WrestleMania XXX

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He's polarised in recent years, not helped in the slightest by erratic booking and bizarre character changes and storylines, but Bray Wyatt was something truly special when he burst onto the scene in the summer of 2013.

Bray and his family of backwoods behemoths terrorised the Raw roster and were made to look strong in their battles with Kane, Daniel Bryan and The Shield, rarely tasting a loss and, if they did, being allowed to 'get their heat back' in some form or fashion after the fact.

The Eater of Worlds targeted squeaky-clean John Cena in the run up to WrestleMania, a natural rivalry between contrasting personalities and styles.

Their match was a decent one and told an interesting story, but the outcome left a lot to be desired, as Cena overcame whatever inner turmoil he was battling and disposed of not only Luke Harper and Erick Rowan at ringside, but also dropped Bray with a single AA, giving him his first televised pinfall loss.

Ideally, Cena would have been sacrificed to the cult leader. Cena is Cena and is pretty much bulletproof, but Bray Wyatt was a hot new act and needed all the help he could get in establishing himself on top.

Once again, he won the next one at the B-PPV, beating Cena in a Cage Match at Extreme Rules, which is a lovely silver medal, but it's not WrestleMania gold.

7. Mark Henry (Vs. Ryback) - WrestleMania 29

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Ah yes, that peculiar six-month period where it looked like Ryback, of all people, could become a legitimate main event star and possible WWE Champion.

The Big Guy caught fire in the fall of 2012 and earned himself a title bout with CM Punk at Hell in a Cell, which he lost in controversial fashion, but that didn't slow him down too much.

He found his way in the title match at Survivor Series a month later, looked great against The Shield in six-man matches, finished as the runner-up in the 2013 Royal Rumble and then was booked against Mark Henry at WrestleMania 29.

A decisive victory over The World's Strongest Man, the perfect opportunity to re-heat Ryback, right?

Wrong!

Instead, Henry simply fell on top of Ryback as he attempted the Shell Shock and pinned him clean after a weird, disjointed match. The result would have made sense if Henry was the next challenger to champions Cena or Alberto Del Rio, but he wasn't.

Ryback was, turning heel on the Face That Runs the Place the next night on Raw and kicking off their title feud.

Odder still, Ryback was permitted to get some of his heat back following the loss by successfully hitting Henry with the Shell Shock after the fact.

6. Triple H (Vs. Booker T) - WrestleMania XIX

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Another appearance for serial WrestleMania offender Triple H (and it won't be his last).

This was during The Game's infamous 'Reign of Terror' where, after being handed the World Heavyweight Title by Eric Bischoff in 2002, he steamrolled through Rob Van Dam, Kane, Shawn Michaels, Scott Steiner and, most egregiously of all, Booker T, within a period of about half a year (which he'd then follow up by beating Kevin Nash and Goldberg).

Booker T was on the rise on the road to WrestleMania XIX, getting over big-time in large part thanks to his shockingly entertaining run in a tag team with Goldust.

Now flying solo, the former five-time WCW Champion was thrust into the title picture after winning a battle royal on Raw. To build heat for the match, WWE decided to bring up Booker's troubled past, specifically the nineteen months he served in prison for his part in an armed robbery in the late 1980s.

The Cerebral Assassin, his manager Ric Flair and commentator Jerry Lawler all revelled in telling the master of the Spinarooni that people 'like him' were not meant to be world champions and that those spots were reserved for men like Triple H.

It was all very suspect and certainly doesn't look good when viewed through modern eyes, not that it looked good at the time of course.

Most assumed that the way the feud had played out meant that Booker must be bagging the prize at 'Mania. That included, according to reports at the time, Booker himself, who was allegedly told he would be going over right up until the day of the show, when plans changed.

And what an absolute gutter it was to see Triple H hit a Pedigree, take about four hours to crawl over and get the pin, beating him clean in the middle.

There was no reason that Booker couldn't have won here for the feel-good moment, as he could have easily dropped the belt back to The Game the next month at Backlash if need be. What actually transpired left a sour taste in the mouth and seriously derailed Booker's headliner aspirations.

5. The Miz (Vs. John Cena) - WrestleMania XXVII

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WrestleMania XXVII was not one for the ages.

Outside of The Undertaker and Triple H's bruising battle (and perhaps Cody Rhodes and Rey Mysterio's decent scrap), everything was either disappointing or downright bad.

That included the main event, one of the weakest in WrestleMania history, as unlikely WWE Champion The Miz successfully defended his title against John Cena, thanks to an assist from show host The Rock.

A heel retaining his title in the 'Mania main event is never the preferred ending, especially when it's Miz, who most people never bought in that spot anyway.

And while I appreciate this was bang in the middle of the CenaWinsLOL era and that a section of the fanbase was burned out on Big Match John, he should have regained the title on this night.

While the manner of the loss was done more to help build up to Cena clashing with The Rock at the next year's show, that could have been achieved in any number of different ways.

In a perfect world, Cena would have won, then The People's Champion could have come to ringside to present him with the title personally, only to drop it before doing so and blast Cena with a Rock Bottom instead.

Cena's your champ, WrestleMania has a 'happy' ending and you've set the scene for Rock and Cena's year-long rivalry.

Naturally, Cena won the title at Extreme Rules the following month, in a Triple Threat Cage Match with Miz and John Morrison, where Miz wasn't even protected and was the man pinned anyway.

4. Triple H (Vs. Sting) - WrestleMania 31

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After the sale of World Championship Wrestling to WWE in March of 2001, just about every notable former WCW star made their way to Vince McMahon's organisation in the ensuing years.

The last holdout was Sting, who opted to work for TNA instead, before leaving Dixieland in early 2014 and surprisingly showing up later in the year at the conclusion of Survivor Series to scupper The Authority's nefarious plans.

It was an incredible moment and fans were excited to see the Stinger wrestle in a WWE ring for the first time ever.

Though we didn't get the expected WrestleMania dream match with The Undertaker, a bout with Triple H, a safe pair of hands if there ever was one, was a decent consolation.

The match itself was good and The Vigilante looked really sharp out there. The extra smoke and mirrors of the DX and nWo run-ins added a memorable element and fans were well into the theatrics of it all until Triple H won.

Wait, what?

Triple H won? They had Sting do the job in his first match? Against the heel? At WrestleMania?

Someone ought to tell Vince McMahon and those making decisions in WWE that, in case they forgot, they actually won the war a long, long time ago and that it's just fine to put the ex-WCW guys over once in a while, especially in circumstances like these.

It later came out that the justification for Triple H's win was because they were building to a showdown between him and The Rock the following year, but that those plans were eventually nixed.

3. Santina Marella (Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal) - WrestleMania XXV

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Obviously things are much better now as far as the opportunities that female performers are given and how they are positioned on the card.

Women have main-evented pay-per-views (including WrestleMania), have had their own pay-per-view and now have their own versions of the Royal Rumble match and so on. These are positive steps and have done much to help soften the memory of the fairer sex's previous mistreatment.

An example of this mistreatment is the way the women were used at WrestleMania XXV, where just about every female on the roster as well as some names from the past were stuffed into the Miss WrestleMania battle royal, but really looked like they were there to make goo-goo eyes at Kid Rock.

Nobody really got a chance to shine in the 25-person melee, but what could have been a real 'Mania moment for someone like Beth Phoenix, Melina or Michelle McCool ended up being an unfunny punchline featuring Santino Marella in drag.

The whole Santina saga was lamentable and showed just how behind the times and painfully unfunny WWE could be in the PG era.

There was something very satisfying about seeing the character get booed out of the building when it made an unwelcome return in the 2020 women's Royal Rumble match.

2. Triple H (Vs. The Rock Vs. Mick Foley Vs. Big Show) - WrestleMania 2000

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A rare misfire during one of WWE's hottest ever periods, WrestleMania 2000 suffered from being a bit too bloated and overbooked. Of the nine matches on the card, not a single one was a traditional one-on-one match, as WWE opted to get everyone on the show and, thus, every match was a multi-person affair.

Where this hampered the show the most was in the main event, which saw Triple H defend his WWE Title against The Rock, Mick Foley and Big Show in an elimination four-way.

It ought to have been The Game and The Great One squaring off one-on-one.

While it was nice to throw the lovable Foley a bone by giving him a WrestleMania main event, he had just retired in a classic Hell in a Cell match the pay-per-view prior.

Kudos too for trying to make Big Show look like a big deal, but he could have slotted in nicely in a bunch of other places on the show.

Neither man needed to be there.

If we're being honest, the show was only made a four-way so that they could add pizzazz in the form of the 'McMahon in Every Corner' tagline, as Vince, Shane, Stephanie and Linda all seconded their chosen wrestler and much of the promotion was built around their involvement and expected dysfunction.

Once Foley and Show were eliminated, it was down to Rock and Triple H, the smart money saying that the Brahma Bull would nab the title.

Well, there's no such thing as 'smart money' in wrestling and that was proven here, as Vince predictably turned on his man and Hunter walked out as the first heel to have successfully defended the WWE Title in a WrestleMania main event.

There's a first time for everything, but it shouldn't have been here. Once again, WWE remedied the booking a month later, when The Rock beat Triple H in a far superior singles match at Backlash.

Triple H has since said that the original plan was for him and Dwayne to meet in an Iron Man match at WrestleMania 2000 but that those plans were put on the backburner until May's Judgment Day.

1. Brock Lesnar (Vs. The Undertaker) - WrestleMania XXX

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It is perhaps the most controversial booking decision in professional wrestling history and, while I can see merit in the arguments of both ending and maintaining Undertaker's WrestleMania winning streak I think that, on balance, having Brock Lesnar go over him at WrestleMania XXX was the wrong call in the end.

It was a timeless moment, no doubt, but if anyone didn't need the honour to enhance their credibility, it's Brock.

Lesnar was already well decorated by the time the match happened and fans knew he was the real deal. The 'if not him then who?' validation doesn't wash well, because who says The Streak needed to be broken in the first place?

Going into the bout, nobody believed the Beast Incarnate had a hope of winning and that, coupled with a so-so match not helped by The Phenom suffering an early concussion, resulted in very little heat for the match itself.

The reactions of the fans in the arena were priceless and will be replayed until the end of time, but was it really worth sacrificing something that had been built up over decades for it?

Many who had been with the company long-term have openly questioned the decision, as has 'Taker himself, since he would have rather lost to someone younger and on the rise, like Roman Reigns, instead.

That would have been one way to go about it and, while I'm not entirely sold on that scenario either, it would have done a lot more for the Big Dog than Brock in the long term.