10 Times WWE Sacrificed WrestleMania For The Greater Good

2. Not Crowning The Rock (WrestleMania 2000)

The WrestleMania 2000 main event was all about the “McMahon in every corner gimmick,” with Shane, Linda, Vince, and Stephanie each endorsing a wrestler in a four-way elimination bout for the WWE Championship, culminating in the Chairman betraying The Rock after destroying his charge with a steel chair, easing Triple H’s passage to victory.

A night that looked like it would yield Rocky’s coronation ended in a screwjob defeat for ‘The Great One.’ In addition, WWE held off on what could have been an epic ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin return that night, opting against bringing the Texan back for the first time in nine months.

And all to pop a buyrate for a B-tier pay-per-view four weeks later.

The Rock finally took the belt from Triple H at Backlash on 28 April. He was aided by Austin's return, with 'The Game, Pat Patterson, Gerald Brisco, Shane McMahon, and Vince McMahon all eating chairshots, then celebrated with 'The Rattlesnake,' who'd pulled the burned-out husk of the DX Express to the ring. A great visual, but one that would've been even greater had it gone down at WrestleMania instead.