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Each year, WWE does its best to create a card full of dream matches, contests which will entice fans to sell out the massive stadiums that host the show.
While the WrestleMania name itself is typically enough to put butts in seats, sometimes dream contests like The Rock vs John Cena or AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura need a prominent billing to push fans to hit the purchase button.
Naturally, though, not every match can be that dream match on paper, and several contests leave fans scratching their heads and wondering who in their right mind thought that would sell tickets and pay-per-view buys.
The beauty of WrestleMania is that, sometimes, those headscratcher matches can blow low expectations away and become decent, if not classic, encounters.
Here are five such matches that far exceeded fans' low expectations, contests proving that every time a superstar steps through the WrestleMania curtain, they have the potential for greatness.
#5 The Undertaker vs Diesel, WrestleMania XII
The Undertaker had been languishing for much of the 1990s in feuds with immobile big men who restricted much of Taker's impressive power offense.
In fighting slow behemoths like Yokozuna, King Mabel, and King Kong Bundy, The Undertaker had to replace the Chokeslam and Tombstone with strikes and clotheslines.
These include the cases of his slow no-contest match against Giant Gonzalez at WrestleMania IX or the even clunkier (and marred by a guest referee who was inept, inexperienced, and insistent on being the star) contest with King Kong Bundy at WrestleMania XI.
The solution, of course, was to pair The Deadman with another big man with limited mobility, limited charisma, and the added benefit of one foot already out of the World Wrestling Federation door, Diesel.
Big Daddy Cool cost Undertaker his WWF Championship match against Bret Hart at the 1996 Royal Rumble, hoping to defeat Hart himself in a title rematch. Then Undertaker interrupted a cage match between Hart and Diesel to drag the trucker straight to hell.
This set up a match at WrestleMania XII that, though it didn't set the world on fire, didn't stink up the joint, either, and became a solid match on a lackluster undercard.
Undertaker had not had an impressive showing at WrestleMania for at least four years at that point. Some might argue that his matches against "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka at WrestleMania VII and Jake "The Snake" Roberts at WrestleMania VIII were less than impressive themselves.
The match against Diesel was the start of an upturn for Mark Callaway, which would turn into a full career renaissance the following night with the debut of Mick Foley.
#4 Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar, WrestleMania 31
From the moment Brock Lesnar rag dolled John Cena into oblivion at 2014's SummerSlam event, and became the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion, fans began to see the writing on the wall that Lesnar's only defeat in a monster run woul0 be by the company's newest solo obsession, Roman Reigns.
A man whose strong showing fans had cheered at the 2014 Royal Rumble suddenly, in the summer of that year, became the most polarizing man on the roster. Fans began to complain about the former Georgia Tech footballer being "shoved down their throats".
At every turn, when Reigns inched closer and closer to securing a main event birth at his first solo WrestleMania, he was met with a chorus of boos, which grew in intensity as he won the 2015 Royal Rumble, then pinned fan favorite Daniel Bryan at Fastlane to secure his spot in the title match in Santa Clara.
At WrestleMania 31 itself, Lesnar entered to a hero's welcome, and the assembled WWE Universe chanted along with Paul Heyman's trademark introduction of the company's top heel.
The bell rang, and a repeat of the SummerSlam flummoxing of Cena commenced, with Reigns in place of the former rapper. Lesnar displayed impressive power in throwing Reigns all over the ring and ringside area, and inspired a new Twitter trend (and merchandise line) with an offhand comment that he was taking Reigns to Suplex City that night.
Before Seth Rollins even began his sprint to the ring, the match had far surpassed fans' expectations for a stinker, and Reigns' rally of Superman Punches and Spears near the end brought much of Levi's Stadium to its feet.
It was a story well told of the virtuous Reigns taking every ounce of punishment, and smiling through it, in order to slay the beast, only to have his glory stolen in the final seconds by his ex-ally.
It was a classic where everyone was expecting a dud.
#3 Hulk Hogan vs The Ultimate Warrior, WrestleMania VI
Speaking of getting a classic where one might expect a dud, the main event of WrestleMania VI at Toronto's SkyDome was a dream match in terms of character and a nightmare match in terms of what fans might expect from the performers' work rate.
Hogan and Warrior were the two biggest babyfaces not just of WWF in the late 1980s but in the entire history of the company. This was the first time two "good guys" had clashed in such a high profile bout (and the first time that both men entered the main event with championship gold around their waists).
At the same time, Hogan and Warrior were not known for their artistry in the ring; Hogan was used to getting tossed around and worn down by larger men for ten minutes or so before Hulking Up and dropping a leg. Warrior was known for matches as quick as his sprint to the ring, consisting of little more than some clotheslines, flying shoulder tackles, press slams, and a big splash.
The fact that this match lasted just a hair under 23 minutes might make fans nervous about what each man could do with such a limited arsenal for so long, but the World Wrestling Federation had a backstage ace who booked more than his fair share of classic matches - Pat Patterson.
The former Intercontinental Champion meticulously scripted the match weeks before WrestleMania and practiced with its performers often to ensure a quality story would be told. While it was still a story relying mostly on punches, kicks, clotheslines, and power holds, it was still a story with an entertaining swell and a dramatic finish.
#2 Brock Lesnar vs Bill Goldberg, WrestleMania 33
Fans had every reason to doubt that this match could deliver in Orlando; beyond the fact that, like Hogan and Warrior, Lesnar and Goldberg were men who used limited move sets in short contests, there was the specter of WrestleMania XX hanging over the match.
At that event in 2004, word had leaked online that neither man would be continuing his WWE employment after the Madison Square Garden spectacular, and the first real instance of a "smart" crowd hijacking a show took place as the New York audience showered boos and derogatory comments on Goldberg and Lesnar.
The men in the ring, for their part, responded by turning in a plodding and poorly built encounter (which is passable with the sound off, but intolerable with the crowd attacking its performers).
WrestleMania 33 was the final encounter, and basically, a foregone conclusion as, like WrestleMania XX, it was clear Goldberg had no plans to continue competing after the WrestleMania broadcast faded to black.
The typical Goldberg squash, then, was off the table, since the retiree couldn't keep the WWE Universal Championship, but if a longer match was needed, fans feared a repeat of that 2004 match.
What resulted is what fans might see if they played WWE 2K17 and gave themselves unlimited finishers, then used those as frequently as possible. What's odd is that this formula worked.
Much of the moves in this match are signature power moves, and an extended suplex sequence deflates the former Seattle Seahawk into position for Lesnar's final F5.
It had the chaos of the men destroying the ringside barricade in an attempt to destroy one another and managed to eschew the extended rest holds and collar-and-elbow tie-ups which doomed their first one-on-one match, to be a pleasant surprise.
#1 Bret Hart vs "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, WrestleMania 13
It seems odd to call one of the two matches perpetually in contention for greatest WrestleMania match ever a surprise in terms of match quality, but one detail about the match gave its combatants major qualms about their ability to deliver a quality product.
Austin has been very vocal on his podcast (and in interviews on others, like a stellar appearance on E&C's Pod of Awesomeness, where he and Hart dig deep into the details of this match) about the fact that he found out that his WrestleMania 13 match would be contested under Submission Match rules. Both he and Hart were livid, but for different reasons.
Austin was frustrated that little to none of his offense lent itself to a submission match. He rarely, if ever, employed holds or worked a body part long enough to set opponents up for a signature hold, and hadn't ended a contest with a submission since his days as Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Champion, The Ringmaster.
Hart, meanwhile, felt that removing pinfalls from a match took away the best bit of drama a false finish could provide, the "One! Two! NO!" of near-falls before the final three-count and its ensuing pop.
Further, The Hitman had, two WrestleManias prior, fought Bob Backlund in a submission match that would have to improve a great deal just to be considered bad.
In essence, Bret and Steve felt their match was snakebit from the start, to borrow a Bruce Prichardism.
The first part of saving this contest came in the finish room, where Austin, Hart, and Vince McMahon planned out Austin's refusal to quit, and Hart's relentless attack on his beer-swilling foe.
The second was a clandestine conversation between the two rivals over the fact that such an epic finish demanded blood, and Bret was willing to take the heat for pulling it from Austin's head.
Over the course of the match, Bret convincingly worked the legs and lower back to soften Steve up for the Sharpshooter, while Steve seemed bent on just causing the Canadian as much pain as possible, seemingly hoping for Hart to submit just to prevent any further beatings.
They were decisions made purely out of what their established characters would do, and they overcame both men's fears in the making of a five-star classic.
