10 WWE Matches That Completely Fell Short Of Expectations
Six months of build and we got a creepy-crawly lights show at WrestleMania?
Sometimes, despite the big names, the promotional efforts and all the will in the world, the way a match pans out in real-life isn’t quite the same as the way it sounds in theory.
We don’t have to look too far back to find proof of that point. Just a few weeks ago at Survivor Series, we saw one of the most star-studded main events in history end in lacklustre fashion following a screwjob finish – and a rather convoluted one, at that – which put the old-guard in the spotlight while guys like Finn Bálor, Samoa Joe, and Shinsuke Nakamura sat firmly in the back seat.
Over the years, there have been a fair number of similar instances of matches falling short of expectations, whether that’s due to overpromising with the pre-match build or under-delivering with the end-product.
And interestingly, ther’ve been some repeat offenders along the way, including some of the bigger names the company has to offer. Sometimes there have been contributing factors outside of their control. Other times, that excuse doesn’t quite sit, as we'll soon see in counting down ten WWE matches that completely fell short of expectations.
10. Dean Ambrose Vs. Brock Lesnar (WrestleMania 32)
Following a build that had seen Mick Foley proffer Dean Ambrose his signature barbed wire bat, as well as Terry Funk gifting him an actual chainsaw, the street fight between Ambrose and Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 32 was presumably going to be a belter.
Presumably being the operative word.
The match proved to be a thoroughly one-sided affair and a fairly tame one given the stipulation. Lesnar had beaten Ambrose silly in the lead up to the show and it was the same old story come the pay-per-view, while those weapons that Ambrose had been accumulating weren’t even put to good use.
Granted, he did retrieve them from underneath the ring, but that was as far as it went. Not that anyone’s saying he should’ve used a chainsaw on Lesnar, although it does make you wonder why they teased a weapon spot that was too dangerous to even go through with…
In the end, this was little more than a flurry of suplexes, kendo stick strikes and chair shots – so pretty much your average, run-of-the-mill street fight, and a bit of a let-down given its potential.