10 Dream WrestleMania Matches Fans Will Never S
The Matches That WWE Couldn't Deliver
10. The Undertaker vs Hulk Hogan
These two Legends had many epic battles in the early 1990s, but none of them occurred at WrestleMania. With The Undertaker's WrestleMania unbeaten streak now stretching to an incredible 17 wins and no losses, one has to wonder whether Hogan could have been the one man capable of defeating the Deadman on the Grandest Stage Of Them All.
9. The Rock vs Shawn Michaels
As luck would have it, the bulk of The Rock's relatively short career at main event level in the WWE came during Michaels' four-year enforced retirement from in-ring activity. The closest the two ever got to a high-profile match was when Michaels served as Special Guest Referee in the Iron Man Match between The Rock and Triple H at Judgement Day 2000. The Rock's subsequent retirement from wrestling put an end to possibilities of a match between the two at WrestleMania - however, rumoured backstage animosity between the two may have ended that prospect sooner than anyone knew.
8. 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper vs 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin
The two greatest hell-raisers in WWE history had a brief confrontation in Piper's Pit at WrestleMania 21, but it was far from a match. Given the condition of Piper at the peak of his career and Austin's knack for providing epic WrestleMania moments, it's safe to say that if the stars had aligned and these two had found themselves a regular part of the WWE roster at the same time, sparks would definitely have flown - sparks fit for WrestleMania, no doubt.
7. Sting vs The Undertaker
In truth, this could have been Sting vs anyone. Sting is undoubtedly the most popular wrestler never to wrestle for Vince McMahon, and a matchup between the Sting of the late 1990s - the black-coated, baseball-bat-wielding, Hollywood-Hogan-baiting Sting - would surely have gone down a storm in the WWE. A feud with the black-coated, devilish Undertaker would have written itself, and would have provided a WrestleMania match for the ages.
6. Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat
These two have put on some of the greatest wrestling matches of all time, period. Their classic battles throughout the late 1980s were worthy of the grandest of stages, and were almost perfect in technical terms. Steamboat's career-ending back injury put an end to any hopes of the match ever occurring at WrestleMania, despite his denied request for the match to occur at WrestleMania 22. His recent return to the ring has made fans long for the old days - the days when Steamboat vs Flair represented sheer wrestling perfection.
5. Bret 'The Hitman' Hart vs Kurt Angle
Speaking of wrestling perfection, it is only fit to move the discussion on to two more of the greatest technical wrestlers of all time. Hart's career was ending just as Angle's was taking off; however, had an injury not rendered Hart unable to return to the ring even on a part-time basis, and had Hart's hangups about working with WWE again following the Montreal Screwjob not remained ingrained in his psyche for so long, this match would surely have sold WrestleMania Pay-Per-Views in their hundreds of thousands, particularly in Hart's native Canada.
4. Eddie Guerrero vs Chris Benoit
Two names inciting a great deal of mixed emotions among WWE fans. The tragic circumstances of both men's deaths, and the horrible nature of Benoit's, will inevitably overshadow the fact that they were two of the most talented wrestlers of their generation - on the rare occasions when they did square off in the ring, great things happened. After their shared moment of glory at WrestleMania XX, the two deserved a chance to face each other on the Grandest Stage Of Them All - maybe if tragedy had not struck, they would have received it.
3. André The Giant vs The Undertaker
These two men's careers did overlap by a matter of months, but the deteriorating physical condition of André made a match between the two an impossibility. Given André's fifteen-year unbeaten streak lasting through much of the 1970s and 1980s, and The Undertaker's now 17-0 WrestleMania record, it would certainly be a case of the Irresistible Force meeting the Immovable Object - one that would have made an epic, if slow-moving, WrestleMania match.
2. The Rock vs John Cena
Despite John Cena's recent attempts to taunt The Rock into coming out of retirement, it is clear to most realistic wrestling fans that The Great One will never again step foot in a WWE ring. It must be said, though, that a showdown between sports-entertainment's two biggest 'crossover stars', would likely sell upwards of a million Pay-Per-Views even if it were the only match on the card. The fact that The Rock's career ended so soon after Cena's began is a great injustice that can sadly never be righted.
1. 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin vs Hulk Hogan
The match that the WWE Universe has been wishing for throughout the last several 'Roads to WrestleMania'. Every year, rumours persist about Austin returning to the ring - this year more than any other, given WrestleMania's location in Houston and Austin's induction into the WWE Hall of Fame - and ever year, Hogan talks to any media outlet who will listen about his next big match. Sadly, however, there was probably only a one-year window during which this match could have happened - between early 2002 and mid-2003 - and Austin was injured for much of that period. We will never know which of the two was truly seen by WWE officials as the bigger superstar.
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