10 Shortest WWE PPV Main Events Ever

WWE don’t always deliver when it comes to substantial match lengths. Raw and SmackDown are comprised primarily of short, snappy, sub five-minute affairs that seek to further storylines above all else. Even on PPV, WWE regularly curtail some of their most potentially exciting matches, leaving the wrestlers without enough time to tell a good story, and the fans disappointed.

One thing you can usually guarantee, however, is a lengthy pay-per-view main event. No matter what comes before, WWE’s PPV headliners are usually given more than enough time to produce an epic battle. The main event, after all, is the match around which everything else is built, so of course it’s going to get enough time… right?

Wrong.

WWE have produced a number of shockingly short PPV main events over the years, with Goldberg’s Survivor Series squash of Brock Lesnar being the latest example. There’s an exception to every rule, and the following contests prove that being in the main event spot is no guarantee of lengthiness.

For the purposes of this countdown, “main event” is defined as the match that closes the show, rather than any other matches WWE might apply the term to (see: Hell In A Cell 2016’s “triple main event.”). Money In The Bank cash-ins and similarly short impromptu affairs won’t be considered, otherwise we’d be left with a batch of inconsequential, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it 10-second specials.

With this criteria in mind, here are the 10 shortest PPV main events in WWE history.

Time: 9 minutes, 14 seconds.

Diesel vs. Mabel was a PPV main event that nobody wanted, and it came at the end of a horrendous pay-per-view. Now justifiably remembered as the worst King of the Ring winner in WWE history, Mabel worked his way into the title scene after winning the 1995 tournament, and this was his big opportunity.

It didn’t help that Diesel was almost a year through a turgid championship reign, and that he was never a particularly exciting wrestler in the first place. Mabel, meanwhile, was a sloppy 500lbs botch merchant with an unfortunate reputation for injuring his opponents. These ingredients made for an absolute stinker of a match marred by slow, plodding “action,” and a flat Lex Luger interference.

It lasted little over 9 minutes, but Diesel vs. Mabel feels at least three times that length. It’s the kind of match that’ll take years off your life, and leave you questioning why you watching this sport in the first place. It’s short length was entirely merciful, and the match remains a shining example of how not to book a PPV main event.