Ever Since its inception in 1984, WWE has projected WrestleMania as the showcase of the immortals. As time passed by, WrestleMania became WWE’s biggest event of the year and a victory is always considered as a ‘career defining moment’. Dominating from the very beginning, some wrestlers have defeated their opponents well within a minute at WrestleMania.
Being defeated in front of a capacity crowd audience must be disheartening. It only adds insult to injury when one loses in a few seconds at the grandest event. Today in this article, we will look back at the 5 shortest WrestleMania matches in WWE history.
If we add the match durations of all featured in this list, it just comes up to 1 minute 10 seconds!
Honorable mention: Hulk Hogan vs Yokozuna for WWE Championship at WrestleMania IX (00:22 seconds)
5. JBL vs Rey Mysterio (00:21 seconds) at WrestleMania 25
Rey Mysterio challenged JBL for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 25. It was the first time since WrestleMania 18 that the Intercontinental championship was contested at the event and it lasted for 21 short seconds.
Before the match even started, JBL attacked Mysterio but as soon as the bell rang, Rey fought back. A 619 out of nowhere was the game changer, after which the masked fan favorite pinned JBL to win the Intercontinental championship.
JBL was so frustated with his loss that he grabbed a microphone and declared, “I Quit!”. As of now, this is still JBL's outing inside a WWE ring.
4. The Hart Foundation vs The Bolsheviks (00:19 seconds) at WrestleMania 6
Almost every match at WrestleMania 6 clocked under the 10-minute mark and it seemed to be the buildup for the clash between Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior. The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) squared off against The Bolsheviks (Boris Zhukov and Nikolai Volkoff) at the event and the bout lasted for a mere 00:19 seconds.
As soon as the match kicked off, Bret and Jim would deliver a Hart Attack on Boris, which resulted in the victory. After their WrestleMania loss, Zhukov and Volkoff would disband their team. Boris remained as a ‘heel’ whereas Nikolai Volkoff became an American flag waver ‘face’.
3. Daniel Bryan vs Sheamus (00:18 seconds) at WrestleMania 28
The opening match of WrestleMania 28 saw Daniel Bryan defend his World Heavyweight Championship against the 2012 Royal Rumble winner, Sheamus. It was quite an astonishing moment, but after just 18 seconds into the match, Sheamus emerged the victor and became the new World Champion!
Bryan was accompanied to the ring by his kayfabe girlfriend AJ Lee. As the bell rang, AJ would give Bryan a ‘good luck’ kiss which ultimately was the game changer.
Sheamus would deliver a Brogue Kick as soon as Bryan turned and pinned him for the win. The following week, Daniel dumped AJ Lee, blaming her for his WrestleMania loss.
2. Kane vs Chavo Guerrero (00:11 seconds) at WrestleMania 24
In the dark match of WrestleMania 24, Kane won a 24 man battle royal and earned the opportunity to face Chavo Guerrero for the ECW Championship at the event. It was the only ECW match on the card and was all done and dusted in 11 seconds.
Before the match, Chavo waited patiently for Kane to make his entrance. To the surprise of the champion, Kane emerged from underneath the ring instead of the usual walk down the ramp. Kane didn’t waste any time and delivered a Chokeslam on the fear stricken Champion as soon as the bell rang, pinning him for the victory.
Within a span of a few months, Kane became the only wrestler who carried one championship across all the three brands (RAW, ECW, and SmackDown).
1. The Rock vs Erick Rowan (00:06 seconds) at WrestleMania 32
It was publically known that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson had signed a ‘no wrestling’ clause for his upcoming movie Baywatch so that he doesn’t get injured or risk his health before shooting begins.
At WrestleMania 32, he came out to address the fans regarding the attendance records that were shattered at WrestleMania 32. While all of this was expected, no one would have called for the Wyatts to interfere the Great One.
In what Shocked everyone even further, The Rock challenged The Wyatt Family for a match and Rowan was chosen to face him.
The most electrifying man in sports entertainment delivered a Rock Bottom on Rowan as soon as the bell rang and pinned him for the win, thereby setting the record of shortest WrestleMania match in history!!
WWE was well aware of his contract, maybe that’s the reason none of the Wyatt Family members put their hands on him throughout the segment.
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
