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Professional wrestling promotions have always known how to hype up their biggest matches.For as long as men and women have gotten together in canvas wrestling rings, the propaganda leading up to big matches has had as big a role in the event as the competition itself.The promos by the wrestlers, the build-up by the announcers, the video vignettes dedicated to the story and even matches in previous shows all work together to create the atmosphere leading into the match.Unfortunately, sometimes all of that backfires, and the match itself can’t live up to all that hype. Here are five matches that didn’t capitalize on their build.
#5 Rollins vs. Cena
Seth Rollins and John Cena met at SummerSlam 2015 in a title vs. title match, with the winner set to take home both the World Heavyweight Championship and the United States Championship.
With Cena serving as the face of the company for the past decade and Rollins at least helping carry that mantle for the future, the match felt like a huge one.
Both men turned in great performances, but the ending left it feeling like a cheap marketing ploy instead of a marquee competition. Television host Jon Stewart came out for a heel turn, hitting Cena with a chair to set up Rollins for another dirty win, his title reign didn’t need.
#4 Sting vs. Hogan
The lone WCW entry on this list is representative of the sometimes sloppy action that helped lead to the promotion’s downfall.
The match between Sting and Hulk Hogan at Starrcade in 1997 should have been an enormous one between one of the most hated figures in wrestling history and the company’s poster boy.
Instead, referee Nick Patrick botched a pinfall count, which led to the wrong end result and Bret Hart had to get involved to help make sense of it all. What could have been a big moment for the company went south in a jiffy.
#3 Royal Rumble 2014
One would think that it would be difficult to mess up a 30-man battle royale that can include the sport’s top superstars, both from the past and present, but WWE has managed to do just that on more than one occasion.
The 2014 edition of the match was one such occurrence.
A variety of factors played into the disappointing match, not the least of which was WWE officials ignoring fan sentiment. Favorite Daniel Bryan was left out of the match while Batista won the event and an automatic Wrestlemania title shot just six days after returning WWE programming.
Fans reacted loudly and negatively.
#2 Goldberg vs. Lesnar
Brock Lesnar and Bill Goldberg seemed like the ideal performers to put on a high-profile slugfest full of big impact slams and intense action. Unfortunately, the two didn’t meet until Wrestlemania XX, with both men set to leave the WWE not long after the match.
That created a highly lackluster performance that even special guest referee Stone Cold Steve Austin had trouble fixing. The two men just stared at each other for several minutes to start the match, and the fans weren’t happy until both took a Stone Cold Stunner.
#1 Sting vs. Triple H
Sting made his WWE in-ring debut at Survivor Series in November of 2014, helping Team Cena defeat Team Authority to knock Triple H and Stephanie McMahon out of power.
That led to a feud between the two legends of the Monday Night War that culminated with a match at Wrestlemania 31; Sting’s first in the WWE.
The match was one that many wrestling fans would’ve dreamed about during their childhood, but it turned into something different. As D-Generation X members and NWO members came down to interfere and even the numbers, it became clear this match was booked to be less about Sting vs. Triple H and more as a reminder that WWE had won the war.
