WWE WrestleMania: Top 5 unexpected show-stealers in WrestleMania history

Whenever we approach WrestleMania, we tend to look at the card and decide which matches would be the best ones and garner the most excitement. This year, fans are looking at Becky Lynch vs Charlotte Flair vs Ronda Rousey and a couple of others, with another few certain to slip off the radar. A match like AJ Styles vs Randy Orton could surprise us.

This happens almost every year, when a match that we expect a lot from fails to deliver while a match that we do not expect much from ends up stealing the show. It is a great feeling when your expectations are exceeded, as that has happened so many times over the years. It is usually difficult to stand out during a 13-match show, but that makes it more impressive when any two, or four, performers end up doing so.

Here are five WrestleMania matches that stole their respective shows when we expected something else to.

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#5 The Undertaker vs Batista (WrestleMania 23)

This should have main evented

When the Undertaker won the 2007 Royal Rumble match, he was announced to be in the main event of WrestleMania. However, like many times before and after this, the Rumble winner did not close the Show of Shows.

The Deadman challenged Batista for his World Heavyweight Championship in a match that happened hardly an hour and a half into the four-hour show. John Cena vs Shawn Michaels for the WWE Championship was favoured over them, to be the main event of the evening. Undertaker and Batista set out to steal the show, and they did.

Their match was extremely physical and hard-hitting, bringing out the best of both competitors. This was one of the Animal's best matches in his entire career, while the Undertaker stood tall at WrestleMania yet again. Cena defeated Michaels in a very good main event, but the show had been stolen earlier by Smackdown's top two superstars at the time.

This also kick-started the Undertaker's fantastic streak of WrestleMania classics over the next six years. Classics against Edge, Michaels, Triple H and CM Punk would follow, as the WWE finally knew, never underestimate the Deadman on the Grandest Stage.

#4 Becky Lynch vs Sasha Banks vs Charlotte Flair (WrestleMania 32)

What a match this was

From far, WrestleMania 32 looked like being the greatest 'Mania ever. With 100,000 seats to fill at the AT&T Stadium, WWE wanted to put the best possible card for the fans. However, a massive barrage of injuries ruined most of WWE's plans. The likes of John Cena, Seth Rollins and Sting were ruled out of the Show of Shows.

The company taped up what was left of the main event scene and put together a fairly exciting WrestleMania. Dean Ambrose vs Brock Lesnar and Shane McMahon vs Undertaker had lots of potential to deliver an epic and unforgettable night of action and moments.

However, the match that stole the show in front of a record-breaking WrestleMania crowd was the Women's Championship triple threat match. The Divas Championship was being retired on this night, as Charlotte Flair defeated Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch in a groundbreaking match to grab hold of the title.

It was the best moment of an overall disappointing WrestleMania. Both, Lesnar vs Ambrose and 'Taker vs Shane disappointed on the night, as did the main event between Triple H and Roman Reigns. That was a real slog to get through.

#3 Triple H and Stephanie McMahon vs Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey (WrestleMania 34)

Possibly the greatest debut match in WWE history

Last year's WrestleMania seemed like one of the most stacked shows in WWE history. With a total of fourteen potential matches, there were bound to be some excellent matches.

Most eyes were on the WWE Championship match between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura. The pair ripped it up two years ago at Wrestle Kingdom just before they both signed for the WWE. Anticipation was extremely high and this match was expected to blow the rest of the card out of the water.

On the other hand, Ronda Rousey was making her in-ring debut and nobody was sure how she would perform.

When the night came, Rousey stole the show, as she teamed with Kurt Angle to defeat the evil couple of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. The match was fantastic and was not topped for the rest of the show, not even by Styles vs Nakamura.

Heading into the Show of Shows, many people were skeptical about Ronda Rousey. However, she turned all her doubters into believers at 'Mania, something she has been doing a lot since then. The Rowdy One will look to have another world-class performance this year, as she will likely main event WrestleMania against Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair.

#2 Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar [vs Seth Rollins] (WrestleMania 31)

Rollins made this legendary

WrestleMania 31 was an excellent show, but it had a pretty lacklustre build to it. Nothing on the entire card seemed extremely exciting, other than maybe Sting's WWE debut match against Triple H.

One of the biggest reasons why this 'Mania did not seem interesting at all was because of the main event. Nobody wanted to see Roman Reigns face Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, let alone beat him for it.

But on the night, this was the match that everybody was talking about. An evening of solid action was capped off with this fantastic main event. The news that Lesnar was staying with the WWE boosted the anticipation for this match and it delivered perfectly.

We got fifteen minutes of both men beating the hell out of each other as the sun was setting in the Bay Area. There was a lot of blood as both Lesnar and Reigns had periods of dominance throughout the match.

In the end, Seth Rollins shockingly cashed in his Money in the Bank contract mid-match and picked up the WWE title. This was the last truly great WrestleMania main event, coupled with one of the greatest closing sequences in 'Mania history. And the best thing is that nobody could have guessed this would be as good as it was.

#1 Shane McMahon vs AJ Styles (WrestleMania 33)

This exceeded expectations

AJ Styles had a stellar debut year in WWE, with his progress being rounded off by him winning the WWE Championship in September 2016. Styles held it until the Royal Rumble, where he dropped it to John Cena in an excellent match.

After that, rumours were floating around that his opponent for WrestleMania was going to be Shane McMahon. This filled fans' hearts with fear, as they took a match against the boss's son at 'Mania as a demotion for the Phenomenal One. This match had potential, but there were other bigger things on the card, matches with better build-ups.

However, AJ Styles vs Shane McMahon ended up opening the main show. This was an opportunity for these two to lay it all out there and steal the show from the likes of Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt and others.

Despite being a normal one-on-one match, it was very enjoyable. Some of the counters and transitions were slick as ever. So slick, that you couldn't tell that Shane O'Mac was a non-wrestler.

Styles rightfully won the match, and the night. Nothing would top this from a purely in-ring standpoint for the rest of the show. That's why they say if you're not on last, you'd rather be on first.