10 Most Hated Wrestling Matches Involving Beloved Wrestlers

The inclusion of Stone Cold Steve Austin as a special guest referee was a masterstroke that turned out to be the match’s only saving grace. Even as his in-ring career wound down, Austin retained his megastar presence, and his every appearance was treasured by fans.

Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg was laborious despite clocking in at just shy of 14 minutes. They took an age to lock up and attacked with shoves and shoulder barges, eventually working towards a trade-off of finishing moves. Goldberg won to mass indifference, with only Austin's post-match Stunner breaking the crowd's disillusionment.

The match was dull but Lesnar and Goldberg already lost the audience prior to ‘Mania, as fans had been clued in that both Lesnar and Goldberg planned to leave WWE once their current contracts had expired. Madison Square Garden was brimming with hatred for the two as the crowd bombarded them with boos along with “you sold out”, “this match sucks”, and “goodbye” chants. Austin escaped the ire as merely the match official.

Lesnar and Goldberg eventually redeemed themselves with a couple of relatively brief matches (Survivor Series 2016 and WrestleMania 33), which took into account of each man’s strengths and weaknesses.