Beginning in 1985, the huge show has been the flagship event in WWE, seeing some of the most iconic moments in wrestling history.
From Hulk Hogan bodyslamming Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III, to Shawn Michaels’ boyhood dream coming true at ‘Mania 12, to Seth Rollins pulling off the heist of the century at WrestleMania 31, the Show of Shows is truly iconic.
Over the years, the WWE Universe have seen hundreds of matches at the showcase of the immortals, with Superstars working carefully behind the scenes to make their matches the best they can be.
But some Superstars, for whatever reason, failed to see eye to eye with their opponents.
Here are five groups of WrestleMania opponents who didn’t like working with each other.
#5 Triple H and Chris Jericho
When Triple H returned from a torn quad injury in early 2002, The Game quickly aimed to regain his spot at the top of WWE.
Winning that year’s Royal Rumble, he Game was destined to lock horns with Chris Jericho, a pairing that had given some incredible matches in the past.
Instead of another classic though, the story was shifted to focus on the Game and Stephanie McMahon, with Y2J writing in his book ‘Undisputed’ about feeling like a third wheel.
Unhappy with the role he had been dealt, despite being Undisputed Champion, Jericho played his part the best he could, losing to the King of Kings in the main event of WrestleMania X8.
The final nail in the coffin was the fact that this match followed the epic Rock-Hogan match, and after that instant classic, fans were too exhausted to care about this.
#4 Brock Lesnar and Dean Ambrose
Brock Lesnar may be used to the main event spot of WrestleMania, but in 2016, the Beast Incarnate was relegated to the mid-card.
Facing off against Dean Ambrose in a No Holds Barred match, fans were excited to see what would happen, as the Lunatic Fringe’s unique offence would collide with the raw power of the current Universal Champion.
Unfortunately, the match was a dud, with Ambrose gaining little offence, something that the former WWE Champion made mention of on the Steve Austin Podcast.
According to Ambrose, he had a ton of ideas for the match, all of which were shot down by Lesnar, who wasn’t fussed on having a big pre-match plan.
Instead, Lesnar wrestled on auto-pilot, defeating Ambrose in little over 13 minutes, to no fanfare.
#3 ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage and Ricky ‘The Dragon’ Steamboat
Hogan vs. Andre The Giant may have sold the show of WrestleMania 3, but the match that stole the show was the Dragon vs. the Macho Man.
Battling for the Intercontinental title, the match is still regarded as one of the best ever, with Steamboat capturing the title from Savage, who would become WWF Champion a year later.
The unfortunate reality is that these two legends struggled to get on, both before and during the match.
Steamboat has said in interviews that his excitement for wrestling comes from the crowd, and would often want to plan out spots on the fly.
Savage, on the other hand, was a meticulous planner, who wanted to know every move in advance, leading to conflict between the two, though still an epic match.
#2 Goldberg and Brock Lesnar
When Brock Lesnar faced Goldberg for the first time, at WrestleMania 20, it’s no secret that the match didn’t live up to expectations.
Both men had been on top of RAW and SmackDown just a few months ago, and had since been relegated to the mid-card, something neither man was pleased about.
The match got even worse when fans got wind that Goldberg would be leaving after the match, and that Lesnar too was choosing to leave to pursue a career in the NFL.
With this perfect storm, it’s no wonder why the two worked poorly with each other, with even the presence of special guest referee ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin being unable to salvage this mess.
Fortunately, their match a mere 13 years later was a lot better, with Lesnar getting his win back, and the Universal championship.
#1 Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart
At WrestleMania 12, Shawn Michaels and Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart engaged in one of the most iconic matches of all time.
Meeting in the first-ever Iron Man match, the two battled for over an hour, before Michaels cemented his legacy as one of the all-time greats, capturing the WWF Championship.
But whilst this match may be a classic, it is known that these two did not see eye-to-eye, both at the time and later in their careers.
In his book, Hart has claimed that the WWE made a special effort to ‘bury’ him in promotional videos, making him seem old and tired, whilst Michaels was portrayed as young and exciting.
The Canadian has even claimed Michaels ordered the referee to remove Bret from ‘his’ ring following the huge title win, though Michaels has denied these claims.
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