Ranking EVERY WWE WrestleMania Main Event From Worst To Best
Last But Not Least
The changing shape of WrestleMania has significantly impacted its headline clashes. Though not quite carrying the curse that the Royal Rumble's only recently shaken off, WrestleMania main events have become tricky to maintain interest in in recent years.
It's as much due to the mammoth length of the broadcast as anything creative. It's hard enough to keep fans pumped in the middle of a six hour supercard, let alone towards the back end. More is always more in WWE though, with the advent of the Network in particular smashing run-times to smithereens in a thankless quest to make the biggest show of the year somehow even larger than anybody actually wants it to be.
Most performers presumably want to go on last on the 'Grandest Stage'; to feature front and centre on the poster or compete for their brand's top title, but just as many seem happy enough just to get on the card. This year alone, Dolph Ziggler's abandoned a title just to get a singles match (in the twisted WWE way such logic makes sense), The Usos have had to hold on to theirs just to get a slot after nearly a decade of trying, and John Cena of all people built his 2018 around failing to make it to New Orleans.
Proof it were needed that the WrestleMania main event will forever be the top spot in North American professional wrestling. Even if those commanding the incomparable spotlight don't all make the best of it...
33. Yokozuna Vs Hulk Hogan (WrestleMania 9)
Deservedly derided for each and every one of the 22 torrid seconds it took up at the end of WrestleMania 9, Hulk Hogan's hijacking of Yokozuna's maiden WWE Title victory (and Bret Hart's maiden WWE main event push) gets more charmless by the year.
Augmented by an unsavoury promo (referring to 'Zuna as 'The Jap' before his unannounced interruption), The Power of 'Hulkamania' was strong enough to vanquish the sumo star and manipulate Vince McMahon into giving him one more desperation run.
Recent footage recently emerged of McMahon sharing the ring with Hulk and commentator Randy Savage after the show left the air - presumably keen to dress the moment up as a return to the good old days. Hogan's ugly black eye wasn't as big as the one he'd leave on the belt, disgracing it in Japan before returning home to return it to Yoko.