5 WWE Superstars whose positions on WrestleMania cards drastically declined in a year

WrestleMania is hands down the biggest wrestling show of the year. Making it to WrestleMania is a big feat in itself. Winning a major match at the mega event is even bigger.

A long list of WWE Superstars have been featured on the WrestleMania card over the the past 36 years. Very few of them have managed to compete in big matches at the event on a continuous basis. Many superstars tasted the main event glory at WrestleMania before falling to the bottom of the card a year later.

In the following list, we will take a look at the five biggest ever WrestleMania drop-offs.

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#5 The Undertaker (WrestleMania 18 to WrestleMania 19)

The Undertaker was wrestling under his biker persona during the early 2000s. WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair made his return to WWE several months before WrestleMania 18 and kicked off a feud with The Deadman on the road to the event. The Undertaker was 9-0 at WrestleMania at the time.

The two WWE legends squared off in a bloody brawl that lasted almost 20 minutes. Flair gave everything he had to try and beat The Phenom. In the end, it was The Undertaker who managed to come out on top once again. With this win, the streak reached an impressive 10-0.

WWE didn't have much for The Undertaker to do as WrestleMania 19 approached. He was feuding with Big Show at the time. A-Train got involved soon after and The Undertaker found an ally in Nathan Jones. The Undertaker was set to compete in a tag team match at WrestleMania but plans were changed at the last moment. This was due to WWE fearing Jones wasn't good enough for the spot.

The Undertaker competed in a Handicap match against the two behemoths and extended his streak to 11-0. It was one of the most underwhelming matches of the night.

#4 Randy Orton (WrestleMania 25 to WrestleMania 26)

Randy Orton was at the top of his game as WrestleMania 25 approached in early 2009. He had become a vicious and ruthless character, ready to go to great lengths to get what he wanted. Orton won the 2009 Royal Rumble match that year and kicked off a heated feud with the McMahon family. It culminated in a WWE title battle with Triple H in the main event of The Show of Shows.

Triple H destroyed Orton at WrestleMania to retain his belt. The match wasn't anything impressive but at least gave Orton a huge spot on the card. Things weren't the same a year later.

Orton started to embrace his good side as WrestleMania 26 approached closer in 2010. Legacy (Orton, Cody and Ted Dibiase) disbanded and the trio was involved in a Triple Threat match at WrestleMania. The match didn't even last 10 minutes before Orton picked up the victory. The match was placed at the 3rd spot on the card.

#3 Eddie Guerrero (WrestleMania 20 to WrestleMania 21)

WWE finally gave Eddie Guerrero his deserved main event spot on the road to WrestleMania 20 in 2004. Eddie won an opportunity at Brock Lesnar's WWE title and faced The Beast at No Way Out with the belt on the line. Courtesy of Goldberg's interference, Eddie managed to pick up the biggest win of his career and win the WWE title for the first time.

Eddie's dream run had just started as he went on to face Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 20. The hard-fought battle ended with Eddie scoring a pin over Angle and retaining his WWE title. A year later, Eddie was still one of the most popular acts on WWE SmackDown. He was holding the WWE SmackDown Tag Team titles with Rey Mysterio at the time.

The match opened the show that night and the best friends had an amazing 12-minute outing. Rey picked up the win when all was said and done. Eddie went from competing in a WWE title match at WrestleMania to opening the show a year later.

#2 The Miz (WrestleMania 27 to WrestleMania 28)

The Miz's WrestleMania fall was one that can't be replicated by many. He successfully cashed in his Money In The Bank contract on Randy Orton in late 2010 to win his very first WWE title. The A-lister went on to kick off a feud with John Cena as WrestleMania 27 came closer.

WWE legend The Rock also got involved in the mix and played a major role in the finish of the match. The Miz got a big WrestleMania entrance and ended up successfully defending the coveted belt against Cena with some help from The Rock. The Miz lost the belt to Cena soon after and wouldn't get it back for a decade.

At WrestleMania 28, The Miz was involved in a 12-Man tag team match in which he represented Team Johnny that eventually defeated Team Teddy. The match was contested to determine who would become the general manager of both RAW and SmackDown. It was quite a big fall for The Miz, from being in the final match of the show to appearing in a forgotten multi-man outing.

#1 Stone Cold Steve Austin (WrestleMania 17 to WrestleMania 18)

Stone Cold Steve Austin secured a WrestleMania main event by winning the Royal Rumble match in 2001. This was his third Royal Rumble win. Austin met The Rock in the main event of WrestleMania 17 with the WWE title on the line.

The match is considered by many to be one of the greatest in the show's history. Both men beat the tar out of each other for almost 30 minutes. Austin turned heel in the end by siding with Vince McMahon and defeating The Rock to win the WWE title.

A year later, the nWo made its debut in WWE. At WrestleMania 18, Hulk Hogan met The Rock in what many fans regard as one of the biggest matches in wrestling history. The Rock was the victor in the end and the match is still talked about to this day.

Austin, on the other hand, competed in a forgotten singles match at the event. The Rattlesnake took on Scott Hall in a 10-minute battle and picked up the win with the help of a thunderous Stunner.