Eyes On WWE: 5 Of The Worst Opening Matches At Wrestlemania

By @TrueGodImmortal

Wrestlemania has seen a lot of great opening matches and we just discussed those the other day. However, more often than not, we see some matches that open the show that seem to miss the mark. Today, I wanted to take a look back at some of those opening contests that misses the mark. We won't include some of the matches that were extremely short, so that cancels out Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan from WM28 for obvious reasons. Still, let's take a look back at some of the worst Mania matches to open the show.

*ShowMiz vs R-Truth and John Morrison
Wrestlemania 26

-I'll be honest, I didn't remember this match until I went to do my own research. I watched it back and I couldn't understand why they allowed this match to open the show over the MITB match. This match wasn't BAD in normal terms, but for a match that opens the biggest show of the year, it fell really flat. Truth wasn't that great as a wrestler, Miz hadn't improved enough yet, and Big Show is Big Show. Morrison tried to do his thing, but the match just didn't connect and as a result, we watched ShowMiz retain in a rather boring opening contest.

*The Allied Powers vs The Blu Brothers
Wrestlemania 11

-The worst Mania of all time would of course have one of the worst opening matches ever. Lex Luger was never the best wrestler and the same could be said for his opponents, so it was really on the British Bulldog to carry the match and there was really no chance of that happening. This really felt like a short introduction match that allowed Luger and Bulldog to get over more and move on to better things. Still, I wish we could have at least got some decent action in the 7 minutes. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

*Kane and Big Show vs Carlito and Chris Masters
Wrestlemania 22

-Chicago is a great wrestling town. It really is. With that being said, it deserves a lot better than this match as the opener for Mania. With a hot crowd on deck, the WWE messed up their momentum by kicking off the show with two teams that were had to really be invested in. It was a foregone conclusion on who would win this, as Big Show and Kane were the RAW Tag Team Champions and served to only fill the card on this event. The match was quick and decisive, doing Carlito and the expert of the Masterlock no favors. Kane and Big Show retain and the show kicks off with a pretty bad contest.

*Al Snow vs Hardcore Holly vs Billy Gunn
Wrestlemania 15

-A triple threat match for the Hardcore title with three of the more interesting competitors at the time. I really don't understand why Billy Gunn and Road Dogg were split up for this event, but in any event, this match was pretty boring. Hardcore action in the Attitude Era is only remembered positively due to nostalgia and I found it hard to sit through this 7 minute match honestly. Hardcore Holly ends up walking away with the victory, dethroning Billy Gunn as the champion, but I would have rather seen a battle royal for the belt than this.

*The Godfather and D-Lo Brown vs Bull Buchanan and Big Bossman
Wrestlemania 2000

-I remember seeing Ice T being a part of this entrance for Godfather and D-Lo, which was exciting at the time, but the match itself was atrocious. It wasn't a long match, as expected in a way, but it wasn't the right choice to open the show. Perhaps, the Hardcore Battle Royal or the Triple Threat match would have been a better choice, but whatever the case, we see the Bossman and Buchanan walk away with the victory, putting an end to the happy vibe for Godfather and D-Lo and kicking off WM 2000 the wrong way.

-True