10 Most Shocking WWE WrestleMania Role Reversals
Top, Middle or Bottom?
The year-on-year trajectory of a WWE performer shouldn't be judged solely on how they're used on 'The Grandest Stage', but it has on occasion highlighted remarkable rises and/or fatal falls up and down the card.
The hope for most Superstars will be largely similar to the same story WWE always likes to spin - everybody starts at the bottom and gradually works their way to the top. WrestleMania serves as a checkpoint until it becomes the climax. The 'Showcase Of The Immortals' moniker serves as a reminder that just being on the card at very least secures your place in pro wrestling lore, but the industry hasn't ever been built on celebrating mediocrity.
It's a business that celebrates the champions and laments the losers - all glorious ascents rather than deep declines, unless such a switch can be seen through the prism of just 365 days. Wrestlers have often flippantly commented that, to Vince McMahon, you're only as good as your last match. When it comes to the 'Show of Shows', they may as well perform as if its your last moment on earth - there's no finer stage upon which to shine, and for some it's proven a rather unexpected peak...
10. The Miz - WrestleMania XXVII & XXVIII
The Miz had to contend with being the third man in his own main event when he made it to 2011's 'Show Of Shows' as WWE Champion, but it wouldn't have taken someone as obnoxiously optimistic as he to predict a better that than his lowly placing at the next year's event.
'The A-Lister' was on top of the wrestling world after cashing in his Money In The Bank opportunity in November 2010, but was sidelined in his subsequent WrestleMania programme thanks to the surprising return of The Rock as the show's host. 'The Most Electrifying Man In Sports Entertainment' was there to kick off a three-year arc with John Cena. Poor Miz was a talking prop despite the topline spot.
He was made to face the truth in 2012 after his false position at WrestleMania XXVII. WrestleMania XXVIII's multi-man war wasn't a bruising ladder brawl or a broadly enjoyable battle royal, but a disparate and depressing Team Johnny vs. Team Teddy 12-man tag match for absolute control of Raw and SmackDown. Miz took the last spot as a Laurinaitis lumbering lunk.
On big occasions in football, teams beg for the 12th man - on pro wrestling's 'Grandest Stage', Miz' spot was effectively the lowest on the show.