WWE: Wrestlemania Matches That Should Have Happened, Part 2

The Rock-Cena match is not on this list so yes, it is another misleading picture.

If for some reason you’re reading this article and haven’t read the first installment of this series then just click on my name and check out the first edition. It’s obviously not required but I assume if you like this article then you’ll like the previous one too (as well as my many other articles).

Anyways, back to this article.

Once again I should clarify that these are not supposed to be dream matches but rather matches that actually had a realistic chance of happening. So without further ado, let’s look at some more Wrestlemania matches that should have taken place. 

Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage II: Wrestlemania IV

These two men stole the show and had one of the greatest Wrestlemania matches ever at the previous Wrestlemania.

The WWF title tournament was the focus of the fourth Wrestlemania and many fans salivated at the idea of a possible Savage-Steamboat re-match. Savage had already advanced to the next round and was set to face the winner of the Steamboat-Greg Valentine match.

It was a pretty safe bet that Steamboat would emerge victorious which would then set up the re-match. For whatever reason it did not happen as Valentine emerged victorious and we received a Savage-Valentine match instead. 

Jeff Hardy vs. Christian: Wrestlemania 25

Some weird things were happening to Jeff Hardy in late 2008. He was attacked at a hotel room, and his pyro nearly set him on fire, among other things. Despite all of the weird things happening, Hardy won his first WWE Title at the 2008 Armageddon.

Around the same time, word had also got out that Christian was headed back to the WWE. Many were excited as it would surely be revealed that Christian was the man behind everything, culminating with a big match-up between the two at the 25^th Wrestlemania.

Instead of going with the logical conclusion, the WWE went a different direction and instead had Matt Hardy cost his brother the title which in turn led to a match between the two at Wrestlemania.

Christian’s return did not immediately have the impact most originally thought it would as he was inserted into the Money in the Bank Match instead of taking part in the higher profile match.

Stone Cold vs. Chris Jericho: Wrestlemania 20

In the fall of 2003, Austin was still the General Manager of Raw. Jericho had no definitive direction but instead would constantly mock and confront Stone Cold.

Austin had taken place in his final match a few months before. At the time, no one (except for Austin and maybe Ross) knew that it would be Stone Cold’s final match.

This match is a bit of a stretch since by all intents and purposes, Austin didn’t have any intention of wrestling again.

With Jericho having faced Triple H at the 18^th Wrestlemania and HBK at the 19^th edition, it would have made a lot of sense for him to face Austin at the 20^th edition. It would have gave Jericho a sense of purpose and perhaps reignite the fire that was slowly dying at the time.None of it happened. 

Austin still took part of Wrestlemania 20, refereeing the Goldberg-Brock match while Jericho had an underrated match with fellow Canadian Christian. 

John Cena vs. Edge: Wrestlemania 25

This one is pretty simple. Edge won the World Title at the 2009 No Way Out/Elimination Chamber, taking the title from John Cena.

The match was seemingly set for Wrestlemania. Cena and Edge had faced numerous times, had numerous feuds but had never wrestled at the biggest show of all. It was almost a lock that a one-on-one match would take place at the 25^th Anniversary of Wrestlemania.

Vickie Guerrero and WWE then did something really bizarre. They inserted The Big Show into the match, making it a triple-threat. The one-on-one was taken away and the WWE universe was left shaking their heads. 

Kurt Angle vs. the Undertaker: Wrestlemania 22

The top two matches that took place at the 2006 No Way Out should have taken place a month later at the 22^nd Wrestlemania.The first match was Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton and the second match was Kurt Angle vs. The Undertaker.

The Undertaker-Angle match at No Way Out remains one of the most underrated/forgotten matches of all-time and would have been much better suited for Wrestlemania.

Angle was the champion and won the match so perhaps creative backed themselves into a corner and did not want Undertaker to be the champ following Wrestlemania 22. I’m pretty sure they did not want Angle going over at Wrestlemania, for obvious reasons.

There are numerous ways the match could have been positioned so that it would work and Undertaker could continue his winning ways. It’s a shame since instead we got The Undertaker facing one of the weakest threats to his streak ever in Mark Henry.

John Cena vs. Mr. Kennedy: Wrestlemania 24

Kennedy won the money in the bank contract at the 23^rd Wrestlemania. He immediately announced his intentions: Kennedy would face the WWE Champion at the following year’s Wrestlemania.

Many things changed between Wrestlemania 23 and 24. Most notably, both Kennedy and Cena suffered major injuries.

Kennedy suffered an injury immediately after he won the briefcase which then led to Kennedy losing the title shot to Edge. Cena, who at the time had a 13-month title reign, suffered his injury in October.

Ironically, the man responsible for injuring Cena was Mr. Kennedy. Cena would recover sooner than expected and would still be involved in the WWE Title match at Wrestlemania 24. Kennedy would once again take place in the money in the bank match at the 24^th Wrestlemania and would never regain the momentum he had after Wrestlemania 23.

Stone Cold vs. Triple H: Wrestlemania 18

This one would have actually made a lot of sense.

Austin and Triple H formed a team, the Two-Man Power Trip (or something like that), following Wrestlemania 17. Triple H was forced to take a back seat to Austin. Austin was WWE Champion while Triple H was relegated to the I-C Title.

The union came to an end during a tag team match against Jericho and Benoit in San Jose when Triple H suffered his first major quad injury.

Triple H returned in early 2002 and won the Royal Rumble, set for the main-event of Wrestlemania 18. Austin had numerous chances to walk into the event as champion.

Austin fell to Jericho at the 2001 Vengeance when the former Y2J unified the titles. Austin failed to defeat Jericho again at the 2002 No Way Out.

Austin and Triple H also had a major confrontation at the Royal Rumble that was surely teasing the encounter. The match never happened and instead Austin was wasted in the middle of the card at Wrestlemania 18, taking on NWO member Scott Hall. 

Bret Hart vs. Randy Savage: Wrestlemania IX

I’m sure at the time such a face-face match-up was not too much of a possibility.

However, there was a realistic chance for it to happen. Bret Hart was the WWF Champion in the months leading up to Wrestlemania 9 and was set to take on the winner of the 1993 Royal Rumble.

The last two men in the Rumble were Randy Savage and Yokozuna. The fans in attendance were firmly behind Savage but after a couple of minutes of Savage dominating the behemoth, Savage was eliminated and Yoko was headed to the main-event of Wrestlemania to face Bret Hart.

Savage had lost at several smaller events to the then-WWF champion so would surely have no problem putting over the Hitman at Wrestlemania. Savage still had a lot left in the tank but was not given the opportunity to prove it against Bret.

The first Mr. Wrestlemania was not given the chance to once again steal the show and put on a sure-fire classic against Bret Hart. The Macho Man would not wrestle at the 9^th edition of Wrestlemania and was instead relegated to announcing duties. 

Epilogue

That does it for the second edition of this series.

Agree with the matches? If not, say why in the comments. What matches do you feel should have happened at Wrestlemania? Remember, no dream matches but rather matches that could have happened.

Stay tuned for the third and final edition of Wrestlemania matches that should have happened...coming soon.