WWE WrestleMania XX Flops

Sometimes a WrestleMania can live up to and surpass the hype like it did with WrestleMania XIX.  Other times, it can be given every chance to succeed and fall flat on its face like it did with WrestleMania XX. It was supposed to be the crowning night of the Ruthless Aggression Era, but instead, it was just one giant letdown after another.

Before we get to the things they went wrong, let’s take a peek at a few of things that went right, and made this WrestleMania somewhat salvageable.

The theme was new beginnings as the 20^th anniversary was upon us.  This was never more evident as both Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit walked away as world champions.  Benoit closed the show with a dramatic World Championship win over HHH and Shawn Michaels as he made HHH tap.  Earlier in the night, Eddie defeated Kurt Angle in a five-star classic to retain his WWE Heavyweight Championship which was via the lineage dating back to Bruno, Backlund, Hogan and so on.

The show would close with Benoit and Eddie both in the ring celebrating together as confetti fell from the sky.  This was extremely memorable as Eddie was gone from this world and entered into Heaven less than two years later, while Benoit also passed away less than 4 years later.  They were best friends and two of the most talented “undersized” men to ever compete.  WCW had them both in the 90’s and blew what they had by losing them both to WWE.

With the exception of the New Generation Era of Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, this was the first time the company closed the show with guys the size of Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit going over for the gold.  Fans loves these two and it was the ultimate feel-good moment in WrestleMania history.

Sadly, they would take the title off Eddie Guerrero by July and hand it to JBL.  Benoit’s run would last until August at Summerslam.  A game of hot potato would land the strap right back in the hands of HHH which did not go over well with any wrestling fans out there. Neither man would ever touch World Championship Gold again, but for one night, it sure felt great!

On another note, a great example of a young guy getting a well-deserved push was John Cena’s United Championship victory over The Big Show that same night.  Show was dwindling as champion and it was only a matter of time before Cena tasted his first gold with the company.

This was at a point that it was clear, Cena had everything needed to be the top babyface in the company.  While a lot of eyes were also on Batista, there was just something about Cena that made it crystal clear he would be the next big thing in the sport of professional wrestling.

Speaking of The Next Big Thing, that is where things started failing fast and furious. The Brock Lesnar vs Goldberg dream match turned into a gigantic disaster. This match was the “Dream Match” since Lesnar debuted, and Goldberg debuted.  It was a build between the two that started in December and saw them both cost each other their World Championships they held in the Fall of 2003.  Fans craved this match, they needed this match, they demanded this match, and then both men quit!

The week before the match, word leaked that both men had let their WWE contract expire and were planning on leaving the second the match was done at Mania. The WWE audience at Madison Square Garden found out about this and crucified both men with a cascade of boo’s and chants of “you sold out” from the second both men entered the ring.

Nothing either man did could be cheered which really sent the longtime fan favorite Goldberg for a loop.  Goldberg didn’t know what to do and just paused for minutes on end as the fans scorched both men with serious heat.  It is safe to say both men froze and choked under the pressure.  The match is horrific and there was nothing they could do that the fans wouldn’t hate on.  The only cheers came for Stone Cold Steve Austin counting three to end it.

Stone Cold was the special guest referee that night, and thank goodness for that or Lord only knows what could have happened once the bell rang to end the match. Lesnar flicked off the crowd before getting Stone Cold Stunned.  Goldberg had the nerve to share a beer with Austin before getting stunned by The Rattlesnake.  Was it the fans who ruined this match or both men leaving?  We’d find out for sure when they hooked it up again at WrestleMania 33, over a decade later.

As bad as that match was midway through the night, a little bit later on it was Kane and The Undertaker saying, “hold my beer” as they went out and managed to stink up the joint even worse.  This match was far from their classic at WrestleMania 14 years earlier.

It was the buildup that fell flat as Kane had buried his brother back at Survivor Series in a match that Vince McMahon had against The Undertaker.  Kane had run rough shot for nearly a year since losing his mask in May, and was seen as the ultimate evil.  The Undertaker returned and crushed all of this in under 7 minutes in a horrendous match.  Not only that, but it wasn’t the classic Undertaker returning as we all expected, but rather a weird hybrid between Deadman Undertaker and Biker Taker.

The dream match fell badly flat and The Undertakers return went over like a wet fart in church.  But this wasn’t nearly as bad as the two-tag title matches they tried to have with thrown together tag teams retaining the belts.  This booking made little to no sense.  Check out these results and see if you can even come close to reasoning with them.

The thrown together RAW Tag Team champions of Booker T and RVD retained over established teams such as The Dudley Boyz, La Resistance and Jindrak and Kincade.  Over on Smackdown, it was thrown together champions Scotty Too Hotty and Rikishi over established teams such as Benjamin & Haas, The Basham Brothers and The APA.  Once again, everyone knew the champions of each brand wouldn’t last long, and in the meantime, you killed the solid pushes of three standout teams.

Now, that being said, they did allow JBL to split from the APA shortly after and begin and impressive run, however, very little else of the booking in those matches made much sense.

The show did provide a few cheap thrills in the form of T&A as Torrie Wilson and Sable combined to defeat Stacy Keibler and Jackie Gayda in a bra and panties match.  It didn’t matter if Jackie Gayda didn’t know the difference between a wrist watch or a wristlock, the Madison Square Garden fans desperately needed something to cheer at.  This was almost as bad as the match that resulted in Victoria shaving Molly Holly’s head later in the night.

Elsewhere on the card, Trish Stratus turned on Chris Jericho to help Christian win their match.  Ironically, it was a drama filled threesome that featured 3 Canadian wrestlers currently making a residence in Tampa Bay Florida.

Chavo Guerreo won a 9-way Cruiserweight Championship match to retain his championship.  Yes, that is right, he defeated 8 other men including Rey Mysterio.  The WrestleMania jinx for Mysterio continued, as he was a quick 0-2 at the show of shows.  He would begin to turn that around in a big way starting the following year.

It was a one-on-one match in which you had to tag yourself in.  The only move from that match that anyone remembers is The Ultimo Dragon tripping over his own cape on the way to ring and wiping out.

The return of The Undertaker wasn’t the only one that fell flat at the Garden that night.  Mick Foley returned to the ring for the first time in exactly four years only to lose.  Foley tagged with The Rock who was making his first appearance in 11 months but both men looked sluggish and were defeated by Ric Flair, Randy Orton and Bautista of Evolution.

Overall, it wasn’t a horrible show as the lasting memories of Cena’s first title win and best friends Guerrero and Benoit celebrating at the end were special.  It doesn’t erase the disasters of the returns of Foley, The Rock and The Undertaker and nothing can erase the disaster that was Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar.

The silver lining in all of this was the following facts. Brock Lesnar would return 8 years in later in 2012 while Goldberg returned 12 years later in 2016.  Both returns were good and their matches over a decade later far surpassed that awful night. Mick Foley would comeback and wrestle again, as soon as the following month versus Orton.  The Rock would return to in ring competition 8 years later right around the same time Lesnar started back with the company as well.

Perhaps best of all, the best WrestleMania Matches of The Undertaker were yet to come as he began tearing down the house with WrestleMania 23.  In fact, Takers best matches came at 23 vs Batista, 24 vs Edge, 25 & 26 against Shawn Michaels, 27 & 28 against HHH and 29 against CM Punk.  That night, while gigantic at the time, became a small bleep on the radar in the career of The Undertaker.