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WWE often highlights when a Superstar has put together an impressive winning streak or not-so-impressive losing streak, but it is fair to say that wins and losses do not usually count for much in Vince McMahon’s promotion.
For example, Drew McIntyre’s first three pay-per-view rivals as WWE Champion – Seth Rollins (Money in the Bank), Bobby Lashley (Backlash) and Dolph Ziggler (Extreme Rules) – lost singles matches at WrestleMania 36, yet they were booked as World Championship challengers just a few weeks later.
Similarly, Curt Hawkins lost 269 matches in a row between November 2016 and April 2019, but he and Zack Ryder still found themselves in a match for the RAW Tag Team titles at WrestleMania 35.
On-screen, these wins, and losses might not mean everything to a character’s development, but that has not stopped some Superstars from wanting a different finish when they are presented with the outcome of their match.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at three times that a Superstar lost a match that they wanted to win, as well as two times that a Superstar won when they wanted to lose.
#5 Roman Reigns (vs. The Undertaker, WWE WrestleMania 33)
Arguably the biggest victory of Roman Reigns’ WWE career so far took place in 2017 when he defeated The Undertaker in the main event of WrestleMania 33.
“The Big Dog” had gone one-on-one with Brock Lesnar and Triple H in the final match of the night at the two previous WrestleManias, but the victory over The Undertaker took the former Shield member’s status as one of WWE’s top guys to a whole new level.
Speaking to ESPN in 2020, Reigns revealed that he was in “awe” when Vince McMahon told him that he was going to face The Undertaker at WrestleMania.
He also said that, out of respect for his legendary opponent, he wanted to suffer a defeat against “The Deadman”, whose only WrestleMania loss until that point had come at WrestleMania 30 against Brock Lesnar.
"I remember the first thing I thought was that I wanted to put him over. I wanted to lose. Immediately, that was my instinct. Out of respect. I knew he was in pain, but I didn't know he was going in [for hip surgery] soon after that or else I would have crafted that story a little differently."
Reigns added that he thought it would have been a better story if he lost the match, but WWE’s higher-ups wanted him to win.
#4 CM Punk (vs. The Rock, WWE Royal Rumble 2013)
CM Punk’s infamous appearance on Colt Cabana’s Art of Wrestling podcast gave a fascinating insight into the former WWE Champion’s thought process with regards to facing part-time Superstars.
One of his most interesting comments during the podcast came when he revealed that he questioned Vince McMahon about his series of defeats against three high-profile WWE names – The Rock, The Undertaker, and Brock Lesnar – in 2013.
Despite needing knee surgery, Punk said he felt like he needed to keep performing for WWE at the start of the year because he was involved in a heated rivalry with The Rock.
Vince McMahon had already settled on The Rock vs. John Cena again at WrestleMania 29, but Punk tried convincing him that it was not the right decision to switch the WWE Championship to The Rock at the Royal Rumble.
“I told Vince that, 'I need this knee fixed. I'll do it after I drop the title to Rock.' But I was still actively trying to convince him that dropping the title to Rock was not the right thing to do or that even if I did that, you know, a three-way with me, John and Rock was the way to go for WrestleMania.” [H/T Cageside Seats]
The Rock ended up winning the WWE Championship at the 2013 Royal Rumble before losing it to Cena at WrestleMania 29, while The Undertaker defeated Punk at the same event.
#3 Kurt Angle (vs. Baron Corbin, WWE WrestleMania 35)
Kurt Angle was originally supposed to call time on his legendary career in 2020, but the WWE Hall of Famer asked Vince McMahon in 2019 if he could bring forward his retirement match by a year.
A possible farewell match against John Cena had been discussed for 2020. However, McMahon was adamant that Angle needed to finish his long-term storyline with Baron Corbin, which is why the former WWE RAW authority figures were booked in a match against each other at WrestleMania 35.
Speaking in a Facebook Q&A, Angle said he understood WWE’s decision to have him lose against Corbin but he would have preferred to win the match.
"My WrestleMania 35 match, I would have liked to go out with a win, but I understand why it didn’t occur... I would have loved to have won, but I don’t think I would have properly played my role if I did. You leave the company better than it was before you came."
Angle has only been retired for 15 months, as of the time of writing, but it looks like he is one of the few wrestlers who is going to stick to his retirement decision.
#2 Becky Lynch (vs. Shayna Baszler, WWE WrestleMania 36)
Becky Lynch defended the WWE RAW Women’s Championship against Superstars including Lacey Evans, Sasha Banks, and Asuka after winning the title from Ronda Rousey in the Triple Threat main event – also involving Charlotte Flair – at WrestleMania 35.
In the weeks leading up to WrestleMania 36, Shayna Baszler became the No.1 contender for Lynch’s title after eliminating all five of her opponents in an Elimination Chamber match.
The storyline looked as though it was going to result in Baszler ending Lynch’s year-long title reign at WrestleMania 36. However, “The Man” retained her title and took a break from in-ring competition before revealing her pregnancy in May 2020.
Speaking on The Bellas Podcast, Lynch said she wanted to lose her title against Baszler but WWE management had other ideas.
"I actually thought I was going to lose the title at WrestleMania, which I also pitched, but that was the end of it. Plans change."
Baszler’s storyline with Lynch came to an abrupt end and “The Queen of Spades” disappeared from WWE television shortly after participating in the Women's Money in the Bank ladder match.
#1 CM Punk (vs. Triple H, WWE Night of Champions 2011)
CM Punk walked out of WWE one day after he was eliminated by a member of The Authority, Kane, at the 2014 WWE Royal Rumble.
Having already worked with The New Age Outlaws in the weeks leading up to the Rumble, it became clear that Punk was being booked in storylines with allies of Triple H to build towards a one-on-one match with “The Game” at WrestleMania 30.
As Punk recalled on Colt Cabana’s podcast, he said in his final meeting with Triple H and Vince McMahon that he did not want to face the man who previously defeated him at WWE Night of Champions 2011.
“I turned to Hunter [Triple H] and I said, ‘All due respect, I do not need to wrestle you, you need to wrestle me. I do not want to wrestle you. I seriously resent you for not putting me over three years ago [Night of Champions 2011] when you should have. That would have been best for business but you had to ****ing come in and squash it.’” [H/T Cageside Seats]
At the time of the Night of Champions match, Punk had established himself as one of the most popular Superstars on the WWE roster following his ‘Pipebomb’ promo earlier in the summer.
Triple H defeated “The Best in the World” in the main event of the pay-per-view, which involved interferences from The Miz, R-Truth, and Kevin Nash.
