10 WWE Backlash Matches That Should Have Happened At WrestleMania

Get ready for peak Attitude Era shenanigans.

The start of 1999 was all about Vince McMahon trying to stop "Stone Cold" Steve Austin from becoming WWE Champion again. The Chairman won the Royal Rumble match, then lost his ticket to WrestleMania because of a debuting Big Show not knowing his own strength... shenanigans! When 'Mania XV arrived, Austin 3:16 took on The Rock, with a Special Guest Referee to make sure the match was fair.

It was going to be either Big Show or Mankind; the two faced off on the same 'Mania card to decide. This was 1999, so the match was chaotic. In the end, referee Earl Hebner disqualified Show after he Chokeslammed Foley through a pair of steel chairs, even though both of them had cheated in the match. Why didn't anybody tell Paul Wight the rules of wrestling when they signed him? The World's Largest Athlete did get to knock out Vince McMahon though, the first of many, many, many turns.

The whole match felt like something from an episode of Raw, unlike their rematch at Backlash in a Boiler Room Brawl. This was a proper hardcore contest; tables, ladders, and chairs were used. People were electrocuted, hit with glass, and sprayed with steam. It wouldn't have been a spectacle for the live crowd, but this match was so much better than what their bout at 'Mania: a sideshow to the main event.

If they needed the Special Guest Referee stipulation, they could have had it in this match instead. Big Show's face turn still would have worked; he saved Mankind from Big Boss Man and Test after leaving the boiler room at Backlash anyway. Drafting in this much better match definitely would have improved an up and down WrestleMania XV card.