10 Best WWE SmackDown Cliffhanger Endings Ever

6. Stone Cold & Brock Lesnar Tease A Match (11 March 2004)

stone cold brock lesnar smackdown
WWE.com

In 2002, Steve Austin walked out on WWE rather than working a one-off job to new sensation Brock Lesnar. This, aside from his 'Mania XIX program with The Rock, was pretty much the end of Austin's full-time run in the company. Almost two years later, WWE relied on him again to save a WrestleMania disaster.

Cue bedlam on the SmackDown days before 'Mania XXX.

Although Lesnar was facing Goldberg on the pay-per-view, he brawled with special ref Austin on the go-home edition of SmackDown, and it was glorious stuff. Fans had longed to see the match ever since news spread that it had cancelled a few summers before, and they were teased with a sh*t-kicker of a fight on SmackDown that suggested they'd finally get it.

They didn't, of course, but that didn't stop people dreaming. Watching Austin lay into Brock and give him a receipt for a prior beating on Raw weeks before was an exciting way to end the final TV show before the biggest show of the year. This is a case of what might've been.

Advertisement
Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.