10 WrestleMania Results That Made Absolutely No Sense
Frustration, disappointment, and bewilderment on wrestling's biggest stage.
WrestleMania is both WWE's season finale and the biggest show on the annual wrestling calendar.
It's the one night WWE spend their entire year building towards, and the place where every ongoing storyline is supposed to reach its end, with protagonists and antagonists concluding their business with one last almighty, spectacular blowout.
These matches matter, basically. Their outcomes are supposed to mean something. 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin's legacy wouldn't be what it is without the 'Mania 13 double-turn, and neither would the Attitude Era's as a whole. Hulk Hogan bodyslamming Andre the Giant changed the game in 1987. Daniel Bryan's "miracle on Bourbon Street" was pure, unbridled catharsis, and strong enough to send even the most jaded of fans into raptures. The list of triumphs goes on.
But for every act of WrestleMania booking brilliance served up by WWE's creative team, there's at least one decision that didn't make a slither of sense. Vince McMahon often drops the ball when it comes to his promotion's biggest event. A shame, but bitter disappointment is as big a part of WrestleMania's heritage as the aforementioned successes, and the matches found within are huge reasons for this...
10. Mark Henry Defeats Ryback (WrestleMania 29)
Mark Henry vs. Ryback should've been a fun battle of two behemoths grunting, roaring, and bashing into each other until one fell down long enough to count the three. Ryback is one of those wrestlers who's been called "overrated" so often he has now become underrated (see: Luger, Lex), and Henry, two years removed from his Hall of Pain peak, was still an effective bruiser. It could have worked.
But Ryback had to go over. Riding the crest of his introductory push, the Goldberg-a-like's only losses had come via Shield interference. He was primed and ready to do something big. This was a no-brainer.
Yet he lost in under nine minutes.
Ryback collapsed under Henry's weight while attempting his Shell Shocked finisher, the referee's hand hit the mat thrice, and that was it. The former Skip Sheffield was felled. Afterwards, he'd beat down 'The World's Strongest Man' to try and get his heat back, and the awkward finish led to talk that they'd botched, but it was a thoroughly bewildering booking decision.
Even more confusing was WWE thrusting Ryback into a World Title programme with John Cena immediately after. He'd lose that feud too, dropping four consecutive singles bouts to 'Big Match John' en route to his permanent demotion.