The 25 Worst Matches in WrestleMania History

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We're less than a week away from the 25th Anniversary of the greatest wrestling show known to man...WrestleMania.

The debate has raged on for years as to which are the greatest matches in the storied history of WrestleMania, but always overlooked are those matches which elicit a different reaction; those which cause us to doze off, those which send us to the fridge for another beverage, or even those which would have us turning the channel, if we hadn't shelled out 50 bucks for the show. These matches shall be ignored no longer. Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, I present to you the 25 worst matches in WrestleMania history...at least in my opinion.

25. Gimmick Battle Royal—WrestleMania X-Seven

To be honest, the wrestling fan in me kind of enjoyed seeing some of the best (and worst) gimmicks in the history of wrestling featured in this match, however, the match itself had no business being part of the biggest show of the year.

You had an assortment of men who were well past their prime, such as Iron Sheik, Sgt. Slaughter, Nikolai Volkoff, and non-wrestlers Jim Cornette, Brother Love, and men who would never otherwise had appeared at Mania, such as The Goon. Throw in a few guys who it was fun to see again and the Gobbledygooker, and you had the Gimmick Battle Royal.

Most of this match is still largely forgettable to me (Though I do recall wondering if Sheik was ever going to make it to the ring, his entrance took longer than the actual match). In the end, Sheik won the thing, and was promptly run off by the Sarge.

Good old 80s nostalgia at its best. Not Mania worthy, though.

24. Lawrence Taylor vs. Bam Bam Bigelow—WrestleMania XI

I could easily just lump together all of the matches which have involved non-wrestling personalities in the history of Mania. However, I thought it best to rate each on their own merits, or lack thereof. That brings me to Lawrence Taylor vs. Bam Bam Bigelow from WrestleMania XI. This match is ranked so low on my list due to the fact that of all the Mania matches which include non-wrestlers, this may have been the best.

Taylor actually showed himself to have a lot of athletic ability, no surprise since he is one of the NFL's all-time greats. Ultimately, this match makes my list due to the fact that Taylor beat an experienced Bigelow with a rather simplistic forearm from the second rope. The whole match just had a feel of unbelievability to it. For that, this match ranks 24.

23. Ultimate Warrior vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley—WrestleMania XII

What? A match featuring the Ultimate Warrior makes this list? Who would have thunk it? Seriously, there are so many reasons for this match to make the list.

First of all, Warrior not selling the Pedigree, which was a devastating maneuver, even early in Triple H's WWF career, was completely unbelievable.  So to lose in less than two minutes to a purely one-dimensional beat like the Warrior mades no sense.

In retrospect, the outcome of the match turned out to be a big mistake. Helmsley went on to be a future Hall of Famer, while the Warrior faded back into obscurity a mere months later.

Simply put, any list of Mania's worst matches needs to include at least one Warrior match.

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