10 Wrestlers Who Deserved At Least One WrestleMania Main Event

There’s an argument that each WrestleMania show contains multiple main events. Especially in this day and age, with big name part-timers coming back into the fold to compete with the top titles for premier billing on the biggest show of the year.

For the purposes of this article, though, we’re going to roll with the traditionalist view that there’s only one main event match at WrestleMania, and that’s the match that closes out the show. And we’re also going to take a look at the unfortunate few who were fully deserving of at least one WrestleMania moment in that show-closing spotlight, but were never afforded the opportunity.

Time and again, we’ve seen certain guys being overlooked off the back of questionable booking decisions, plain old bad timing, or simply the fact that there was so much talent on the ‘Mania card that someone had to be the one to take the hit and slip ever so slightly down the card.

Today, we look back at ten such cases of top-tier talent not necessarily being treated accordingly, as well as the where, the when, and the why of the matter.

Despite winning just about every title going, including six world championships, Booker T was never rewarded with a show-closing WrestleMania main event.

Having feuded with Stone Cold Steve Austin upon arriving in the company, Booker came in as a hot commodity. But by the time the following WrestleMania rolled around, much of that momentum had been lost and he was relegated to the mid-card for a 6-minute affair versus Edge.

One year later, WrestleMania XIX proved to be the closest he came to that elusive main event spot. There, he faced Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship, and while the match seemed destined for a rags-to-riches, feel-good finish, Booker was instead handily beaten in a match that once again featured somewhere in the middle of the show.

Though he returned to the top of the card a few years later and won the world title in July 2006, the reign was at the wrong time of year for WrestleMania. Plus, he was never quite as hot as he was during those early years in the company, meaning his career would end without that kind of ‘Mania moment that he was well worthy of.