10 Unbelievable WrestleMania Matches That Almost Happened

WrestleMania season is a wrestling fanatic's Christmas period. However, meeting their mammoth expectations is no easy feat and the booking can change substantially over the course of a WWE year.

While a number of the shelved matches have since become ingrained in wrestling folklore (such as Hogan vs. Flair and Bret/Shawn 2), there are countless other pencilled-in bouts that became victims of the almighty eraser.

As such, the list of considered matches is a wide-ranging catalogue of curious oddities and missed opportunities. In some cases, it's a relief these matches were scrapped, while in others, it's an agonising glimpse of what could have been.

From jaw-dropping championship showdowns to drool-worthy dream bouts, Vince McMahon's WrestleMania notepad has seen plenty of interesting doodles over the years. In the ever changing world of WWE, most of these notes wound up in the trash. Nevertheless, journeying through the alternate universe of WrestleMania is always an interesting ride.

With a myriad of rumoured matches, we've picked out a handful of the most unusual. If we've left off your favourite, feel free to add it to the comment section below.

Terry Funk and Mick Foley ad a bloody rivalry that was itself unrivalled. From flaming chairs and branding irons in ECW to the barbed wire ropes and exploding C4 deathmatches of Japan, the crazed grapplers knew no limit to their sadism when they met in the ring.

So when Funk resurfaced in the WWF in early 1998, Foley naturally wanted to present this sick symphony on 'The Grandest Stage of Them All'. Sadly, with the presence of Mike Tyson attracting widespread media attention, McMahon didn't want to present his product as a bloodthirsty, violent cockfight and put the bout on hold.

Nevertheless, Mick Foley and Terry Funk did get their WrestleMania moment. However, it was fighting with each other instead of against; the wildmen defeated The New Age Outlaws for the Tag Team Titles. Coincidentally, the impetus for that feud with The Outlaws came at the close of a Foley vs. Funk bout on Raw.

After dropping the belts post-'Mania, Foley and Funk would eventually have their one-on-one war on Raw on 4 May in a predictably brutal encounter . Despite their advancing ages, the hardcore twosome would rekindle their bloody feud once again eight years later at One Night Stand 2006, with a predictably similar level of physicality.