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On March 31, 1985, WWE presented the first-ever WrestleMania event. Little did the fans know at the time that the show would go on to become a full-fledged pro-wrestling festival and the biggest wrestling event of the year. Ever since then, we have witnessed 35 WrestleManias, and the event keeps getting bigger and better with each passing year.
A string of WWE legends and Hall of Famers have graced WrestleMania with their presence. Hulk Hogan, John Cena, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, and many more have headlined the show of shows on various occasions and delivered memorable matches that would go down in history as some of the very best.
On the other hand, there have been a bunch of top Superstars who had Hall of Fame careers, and won the top title on several instances, but never made it to the main event of WrestleMania.
In the following slideshow, we'll take a look at 5 of the biggest WWE Superstars of all time, who have never headlined a WrestleMania.
Before moving on the next part of this listicle, gear up by listening to the latest edition of Dropkick DiSKussions featuring the veteran ring announcer Lilian Garcia!
Also read: Top WWE Superstar recalls Vince McMahon calling him 'a future World Champion'
#5 Kane
After going through a bunch of failed gimmicks, including that of a dentist, Glenn Jacobs finally debuted in WWE as Kane, The Undertaker's storyline brother. He immediately turned into a major star upon his 1997 debut, and went on to win the WWE title at King of the Ring 1998.
Kane has had a decorated WWE career, and is a 2-time World Champion, but he never managed to make the main event of The Show of Shows.
The Big Red Machine came close to bagging the opportunity at the 2001 Royal Rumble, but was eliminated by eventual winner Stone Cold Steve Austin. Kane again came close to winning the Royal Rumble, when he and Big Show teamed up during the 2015 edition and dominated the free-for-all.
The eventual winner, Roman Reigns, eliminated the duo and Kane again fell short of bagging a WrestleMania main event.
#4 Ric Flair
Ric Flair had a brief stint with WWE back in the early 90s. At WrestleMania 8, Flair met Randy Savage with the WWE title on the line. He lost the match, and the show was headlined by Hulk Hogan and Sid Justice. Flair came back to WWE around a decade later, following WCW's demise.
At this point in time, Flair was a seasoned veteran and it didn't make sense for him to hog the spotlight, especially at the biggest show of the year. Flair enjoyed a strong run in WWE, and went on to become one of the founding members of Evolution, which gave us in-ring legends like Randy Orton and Batista.
Also read: Roman Reigns reveals the coolest moment of his WWE career
Flair wrestled his final WrestleMania match against Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 24. The stipulation stated that Flair would have to retire if he lost the match. The emotional final moments of the match saw Michaels hitting the Sweet Chin Music on Flair and ending his career.
#3 Dean Ambrose
By the time 2014 came to an end, all three members of The Shield had turned into legit main event stars. Roman Reigns was being groomed to become the next big megastar in WWE, following The Shield's implosion. Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins were not far behind. Ambrose went on to win his first WWE title at Money In The Bank 2016.
Also read: 5 times a heel won the main event of WrestleMania
Despite all of his accomplishments, Ambrose never managed to bag the main event of WrestleMania. Rollins and Reigns, on the other hand, have headlined The Grandest Stage Of Them All, with Reigns doing it on four consecutive occasions. Ambrose wasn't happy with his positioning in WWE by the time 2019 came around, and decided to leave the company to look for greener pastures.
He proceeded to leave the company and made his AEW debut at the promotion's first event, Double Or Nothing. Ambrose is currently a top star in All Elite Wrestling, and one wonders whether he will ever come back to WWE someday and land the main event of WrestleMania.
#2 Goldberg
At the peak of the Attitude Era, Goldberg was one of the biggest Superstars in the industry. After WCW folded, Goldberg was one of the top stars who decided against making his way to WWE. It all changed two years later when Goldberg was signed to a WWE contract. He faced Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 20, following which both wrestlers left the company.
Also read: WWE Hall of Famer says Natalya is "the greatest female wrestler in history"
Upon Goldberg's 2016 return, he faced Lesnar again at WrestleMania 33 in a losing effort. During Goldberg's first stint in WWE, he won the World title and had a dominant run on the RAW roster. In his second run with the company, he dominated Brock Lesnar as no one had in years, including a squash at Survivor Series 2016.
Yet, Goldberg never got a chance to headline The Show of Shows. A major reason why we never got to see him in this position was the fact that he spent the prime of his career in WCW, and has only competed in 2 WrestleMania events.
#1 CM Punk
When CM Punk delivered his legendary pipe-bomb promo on an episode of Monday Night RAW in 2011, he mentioned how he was incredibly upset with The Rock headlining WrestleMania 28 while he wasn't, despite deserving the same.
The 28th edition of WrestleMania featured The Rock and John Cena in the main event, while the WWE title match between Punk and Chris Jericho was placed second to last.
Also read: What happened between Ricochet and Seth Rollins after WWE RAW went off air [Video]
Punk wrestled The Undertaker at next year's WrestleMania, but again failed to make it to the main event. Cena and The Rock headlined this time as well. By the time WrestleMania 30 rolled around, Punk had grown tired of his booking, and decided to leave the company.
At WrestleMania 30, Punk was scheduled to wrestle Triple H, but Punk's exit led to plans getting changed drastically. Daniel Bryan wrestled Triple H instead, and went on to win the WWE World title in the main event of the show. Punk hasn't wrestled in a WWE ring ever since, and is currently working for WWE Backstage as an analyst.
