Looking Back at 5 Shock WrestleMania Results

Wrestling is at its best when you don’t know who is going to win. And while we are talking about scripted entertainment, which allows fans to consider who should logically win, the ability to keep the fans guessing right up to the end is part of the art of the business. But shocks aren’t always a good thing. Sometimes they leave the audience dissatisfied, not generating the heat that was intended.

Below we are going to look back on five shock results from WrestleManias of the past. The stress here is on the result. To be clear, we are going to swerve some of the more obvious shocks, including the ending of The Streak at WrestleMania 30. In addition, we are discounting some, like Sheamus beating Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania, as it was the means and not the result that was shocking. Anyhow, for us, these five results stand out as examples of WWE/WWF really pulling the rug from underneath the fans at the time:

Fandango Beats Chris Jericho – WrestleMania 29

If you have some spare time, have a look on YouTube for Chris Jericho’s musings on the lead up to and the booking of this match – funny stuff. Y2J has lost nine matches down the years at WrestleMania, so it’s not as if this was completely unprecedented. But to lose to Fandango was certainly a shock. It seems short-sighted, given what happened to Fandango’s career, but it was effective for a cheap laugh at Jericho’s expense at the time.

Brock Lesnar Beats Roman Reigns – WrestleMania 34

It’s common for bookmakers to release odds for WWE events these days, particularly the Big 4 PPVs. And it seemed that the most solid bet for WrestleMania 34 was that Reigns would finally topple Lesnar. This was logical given the consensus was that The Beast Incarnate was set to return to UFC. The crowd looked disinterested – apart from booing Reigns and chanting “CM Punk” – but came alive when Lesnar earned the 3-count. Nobody wanted the match, but few expected the result.

Owen Hart Beats Bret Hart – WrestleMania X

The first two matches on this list are hardly classics, but the battle of the brothers in March 1994 has claims on being one of the best of all time. You know the story by now, with Bret pulling double duty by facing Yokozuna for the WWF title later on. But the crowd was stunned to see Owen get the win by rolling up Bret in the first (non-dark) match of the night. That added fuel to one of the best wrestling rivalries of the mid-90s, with the brothers feuding all throughout 1994.

Rick Rude Beats The Ultimate Warrior – WrestleMania V

It’s not as if heel victories were uncommon in the early days of WrestleMania, but there was always an assumption that the likes of Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior would prevail on the Grandest Stage of Them All. This, in fact, was the Warrior’s first televised defeat since joining the WWF. The crowd was probably more angry (Bobby Heenan’s interference led to Rude’s victory) than shocked, but they were left happy when Heenan got his comeuppance after the match.

IMG Credit: WWE

Triple H Beats Sting WrestleMania 31

Triple H gets a lot of flak for being the guy who goes over at the wrong time. But in truth, he’s been beaten more than any other wrestler on the Grandest Stage of Them All – 13 times, in fact. But everyone and their uncle thought that Sting would get the win here, providing a good-feel moment for fans of the WCW legend. But Triple H got the win with some help from a sledgehammer and Degeneration X. You could see what they wanted to do here – suggest that the WCW vs WWE ‘feud’ was over with the latter victorious. But Stinger should have got the win.

PDFPrint