20 WWE WrestleMania Matches We Almost Got (And Why We Didn't)
17. The Undertaker vs. Braun Strowman - WrestleMania 32
The term "Vince McMahon's Pet Project" is something that wrestling fans dread, because a lot of these projects end up with the sort of rabid fan rejection on the levels of Lex Luger, Diesel and pre-chief Roman Reigns. Braun Strowman initially looked like more of the same.
Regardless, while still connected to the Wyatt Family, Braun Strowman was initially pencilled in as the 24th WrestleMania opponent of the Undertaker at WrestleMania 32 in a match more akin to his battles with Giant Gonzales and King Kong Bundy rather than Shawn Michaels. Needless to say, fans were concerned as this was scraggy hair, chubby cheek and wet patch Strowman, and not the Monster Among Men that won everyone over.
Why didn't it happen?
Simply put, Undertaker flat out refused to work the match as Strowman at that point was far too green to work a high profile match that the Deadman's WrestleMania resume demands. Undertaker was then moved to a poorly thought-out feud with Shane McMahon inside Hell in a Cell so it's difficult to tell what would have ended up worse.
However, if they'd have waited one more year for the Strowman bout, it could have lived up to those lofty heights.