10 WWE Superstars Who Lost WrestleMania Main Events

9. Mankind Almost Made Rock vs Austin A Triple Threat – WrestleMania XV

If you watch back WrestleMania 15 you’ll see Big Show mercilessly beating up Mankind with chairs shots after wrestling in a forgettable match midway through the card. You’ll also see Mankind triumphantly returning to referee the main event of Stone Cold Steve Austin challenging The Rock (representing The Corporation) for the WWF Championship. Mankind for sure had a decent role on the card, but in actuality it was heartbreaking for Mick Foley as at the start of 1999 Mick was everything but confirmed to headline alongside Rock and Austin.

Lead writer Vince Russo pitched a Triple Threat match for the title to close the show. Vince McMahon at one time even approved Austin vs. Rock. vs. Mankind to main event, feeling it was justified for the work Mick had done over the prior year and the way Mankind was already engrained into a running storyline with The Rock over the title in the lead-up to WrestleMania XV. Russo has claimed in recent years the only reason it didn’t go ahead was Shawn Michaels politicking and convincing Steve Austin to reject the idea at a TV taping.

Mick has spoken about his heartache at the time of losing out on main eventing WrestleMania: “There’s a piece of video, I think it’s been lost now, on the WWE website where I actually was asked about the match after I had lost the title to The Rock in February where it was obvious I was out of the WrestleMania main event picture and I didn’t realize how much it meant to me, what a blow it was and I broke down, I just started crying for real, on the interview. I didn’t realize it until that moment that ‘Man, my one chance is gone.’”