10 Wrestlers Who Didn't Peak In The WrestleMania Main Event

3. Batista

Batista Undertaker Wrestlemania
WWE.com

WrestleMania main event:

Batista wrestled just two, despite his major star status, which may account for the disillusionment he experienced at the end of his full-time run. His World Heavyweight Title win over Triple H was a far better story than a payoff; Triple H bled to play aspirational hard man, when he should have made Batista bleed to inform his comeback. The main event of WrestleMania XXX was a great match - honestly underrated, given how much it healed the fans, much less reheated them, following the death of the Streak - but it was Daniel Bryan's layout, Daniel Bryan's night, Daniel Bryan's triumph.

REALLY peaked as a performer at:

WrestleMania 23, in a scintillating hoss sprint with the Undertaker. Possibly the most pleasant surprise in WWE history - most expected a methodical sprawl - this was a proper banger worked more like a modern G1 Climax match than the seven-act special. There was no comeback, shine, cut-off, nothing: they simply, spectacularly, lobbed bomb upon bomb at one another, with progressive impact, in a race to incapacitate the other. The format got over - tricky in a stadium - and put both men over. There was no f*cking around, only f*cking up the other's sh*t.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!