10 Most Soul-Destroying WrestleMania Moments

4. Michael Cole Vs. Jerry Lawler Goes Long (WrestleMania XXVII)

Jerry Lawler Michael Cole Steve Austin
WWE.com

On the undercard of WrestleMania XXVII, The Big Show, Kane, Kofi Kingston and Santino Marella defeated The Corre in just over 90 seconds. Later, Michael Cole toppled Jerry 'The King' Lawler in a little under 14 minutes. 

There's something wrong with that situation, because Michael Cole is (I'm sure you don't need me to tell you) not a professional wrestler.

Admittedly, his heel persona was something the announcer put a lot of effort into, but the fact he was still a commentator with no wrestling experience cannot be ignored. On the flip side, Lawler was once a fantastic in-ring performer, but he couldn't be expected to drag a non-wrestler to a decent match in 2011, certainly not with that amount of time.

Once again, WWE relied on Steve Austin to act as Special Guest Referee. If the bout had only lasted a few minutes, it could and probably would have been viewed in a more favourable light. But giving them close to 20 minutes (including entrances) of pay-per-view time just felt like too much. 

Even Cole himself later said during interviews that he was stunned by the length of time given to the pair.

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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.