10 WrestleMania Main Events The Royal Rumble Almost Promised Us

We’ve already touched upon some of the great feuds that were never afforded a WrestleMania meeting - Bret Hart vs. the British Bulldog, John Cena vs. CM Punk - and in Triple H vs. the Rock, we’ve got another pairing to add to that list.

While the two crossed paths at WrestleMania 2000, that was in a cumbersome Fatal 4-way Elimination bout, and so, to this day, we’re yet to see one of the classic rivalries of the Attitude Era take place in singles action at ‘Mania.

That almost changed at WrestleMania X8 though - and again, it was largely due to events at the Royal Rumble. With Triple H making a grandiose return from seven months on the shelf, he was naturally a big favourite to win the Rumble. Rock, meanwhile, was scheduled to challenge Jericho for the Undisputed Championship. A collision course had been set.

Unfortunately, that collision course hadn’t accounted for a combination of Jericho’s cronies, Nick Patrick and an exposed turnbuckle. Those three factors helped Jericho screw the Rock out of the title and put himself in pole position to head to WrestleMania X8.

There, he faced Triple H in a match that, in hindsight, might have suffered from its predictability and card placement. Still, the Rock provided us with a perfectly acceptable alternative in the form of his Icon vs. Icon clash with Hulk Hogan.