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WWE continues to provide fans with dream matches at WrestleMania every year, with two more – Shinsuke Nakamura vs. AJ Styles and John Cena vs. The Undertaker – set to come our way soon at WrestleMania 34.
However, as always with WWE, plans can change very quickly and you just never know if a high-profile fantasy match will actually happen until it’s officially confirmed by the company.
In this article, we take a look at five matches that WWE originally planned for WrestleMania but, for whatever reason, didn’t go ahead with them.
#5 CM Punk vs. Triple H
CM Punk famously walked out of WWE in January 2014 after being informed that he would be facing Triple H at WrestleMania XXX.
“The Best In The World” had previously been involved in seven matches at WWE’s biggest event of the year but he never achieved his career goal of headlining the show.
Speaking on Colt Cabana’s Art of Wrestling podcast, Punk vented his frustration at WWE’s plans for him in New Orleans and recalled an “insulting” moment on the day that he left the company when Vince McMahon said the planned match with HHH would be a “main event”.
Punk still resented Triple H for “squashing” him during their previous rivalry in 2011, while he knew that their match wouldn’t go on last even if it was described as a “main event”, so he walked out on WWE and the match never happened.
#4 AJ Styles vs. Shawn Michaels
Retired WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels often says that adding another chapter to his legendary wrestling career would be like adding an unnecessary extra layer of paint to a famous painting (in other words, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it).
Well, in January 2017, seven years after HBK retired, WWE attempted to add an extra layer to the painting when they asked Michaels to come out of retirement to face AJ Styles at WrestleMania 33.
“Mr. WrestleMania” said he would have loved to face Styles in his prime but he had no intention of returning to the ring, so “The Phenomenal One” faced Shane McMahon instead and Michaels remained retired.
#3 Shaquille O’Neal vs. The Big Show
Remember when Shaquille O’Neal and The Big Show squared off at WrestleMania 33? Nope, nor do we! The long-awaited singles match between the two men was finally set to happen in Orlando in 2017, only for it to be cancelled just a few weeks before the event.
Show told ESPN that Shaq had to “figure things out in his own camp” for the seven-foot showdown to take place, while the former NBA star claimed on The Big Podcast With Shaq that he made other arrangements around the time of WrestleMania 33 after WWE “kept playing” by twice trying to alter the match.
Shaq vs. Show was also rumoured to take place at WrestleMania XXVIII in 2012, but it was reportedly cancelled when rumours of the match were leaked.
#2 Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan
At WrestleMania VIII, Randy Savage defeated Ric Flair for the WWE Championship and Hulk Hogan defeated Sid Justice in a non-title main event via disqualification.
However, the dream match that fans really wanted to see at that year’s event was Flair vs. Hogan, and it finally looked like the two biggest wrestling icons of their era would collide when a long-awaited meeting between the two men was announced on a WrestleMania VIII Special Report just weeks before the show.
But, for reasons still not fully explained to this day, the match never went ahead, with Flair and Hogan moving into different WrestleMania programs instead.
The most common rumour is that Hogan, who was leaving after ‘Mania, refused to lose to Flair and that’s why Vince McMahon decided to find both men new opponents, while it has also been speculated that WWE scrapped plans for the two men to have a televised feud after they failed to draw big money at live events.
#1 The Rock vs. Brock Lesnar
WrestleMania XXX will forever be known as the event where Brock Lesnar ended The Undertaker’s undefeated streak – but the match almost didn’t even happen.
In a Twitter Q&A in December 2013, it was revealed by The Rock that the original plan for WrestleMania XXX was for him to face Lesnar, which would have meant somebody else (or, perhaps, nobody) would have broken ‘The Streak’ in New Orleans.
Reports at the time suggested that there was a fear of The Rock getting injured in the match, just like the previous year’s main event against John Cena, and an injury could potentially have interfered with his filming schedule.
Instead, “The Great One” appeared in the opening promo segment with Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan, and a renewed rivalry with “The Beast” is yet to happen and probably never will.
