10 Over-Hyped Wrestling Main Events NOBODY Even Remembers Now
That match you were sold for months and weeks as the biggest thing ever. Did it even happen?
All Elite Wrestling president Tony Khan recently took grief from a certain corner of the fanbase for effectively delivered a gift to the other three.
In what had to be the textbook example of not being able to please everyone, Kenny Omega Vs El Hijo de Vikingo was billed as a “dream match” because in the eyes of plenty, it was. Literally so - the Dynamite main event drew one of the strongest numbers for the show in recent memory, with a closing quarter hour spike atypical for Wednesdays. That was perhaps just as informed by a show-long angle and hook dropped in the opening segment, but that itself was a smart way to get people to watch and understand exactly why the contest was a dream scenario for some without a video package in sight.
Omega/Vikingo's electrifying effort will be discussed at the end of the year as one of 2023's best, and will stand as a monument to the unique skills of both for the rest of their respective careers. People will remember it for years to come. For a weekend graphic drop with lofty expectations, it didn't just live up to the hype, it massively, massively surpassed it.
Unlike...
10. John Cena Vs The Rock (WWE WrestleMania 29)
Nicknamed "Twice In A Lifetime" as a riff on WWE's own shameless marketing of the original bout one year earlier, John Cena and The Rock's WrestleMania 29 WWE Championship match was always part of a several-year plan in conjunction with 'The Most Electrifying Man In Sports Entertainment'. But as far as plans went, it just wasn't a 'Great One'.
John Cena getting "made" by The Rock was a fine idea in theory, but WWE were years late to the execution of it. The feud was hotter when it was an actual rivalry rather than a battle for the belt or the intended mutual respect to follow. 'The Champ' was irrefutably the company's biggest star and well on his way to iconic status without requiring Rock or anybody else to raise his hand. The payoff simply wasn't the grand finale the organisation expected it to be.
A weaker match subjectively, it also couldn't live up to the box office expectations set by the pair's monster effort the year prior. Over 150,000 people were less inclined to buy the spectacle the second time around, and - like the show itself - it's rarely revisited around WrestleMania season.