7 WWE Wrestlers Who Were Slighted The Main Event Of WrestleMania
5. Randy Orton (WrestleMania XXIV)
Randy Orton was probably primed to become WWE champion at some point or another, but WWE sped up the process when John Cena suffered a serious injury that forced him to vacate the prestigious prize immediately. Orton took the title days later at No Mercy 2007 and embarked on what he referred to at the time as the "Age of Orton."
Cena returned ahead of schedule in early 2008 and unexpectedly won the Royal Rumble match, so logically, it made sense for him and Orton to rekindle their rivalry at WrestleMania. There, Cena could win back the belt he technically never lost and put an end to the Age of Orton once and for all.
Despite Orton being on the roll of his career at that point and Cena having won the Rumble, they did not end up competing in the main event of WrestleMania XXIV. That spot was instead given to Edge and The Undertaker, who waged war over the World Heavyweight Championship.
Those two had a long-running story as well, so this wasn't as egregious as other examples on this list, but this was easily Orton's best WrestleMania performance to date. His main event match with Triple H the following year wasn't nearly as strong.