It is every WWE Superstar’s dream to compete at WWE WrestleMania, but there are a few elusive generational stars who end up defining Mania. The Undertaker’s undefeated streak and string of classic matches were consistent highlights of Mania. Nonetheless, even during his prime, Taker was never called “Mr. WrestleMania,” as that distinction went to one of his greatest rivals: Shawn Michaels.
HBK is widely considered one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, and he brought his A game to Mania. From his iconic “Iron Man” match with Bret Hart to his generational classics with the Undertaker, Mr. WrestleMania always stole the show under the bright lights. Razor Ramon, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Chris Jericho, and Ric Flair all had epic bouts with HBK.
However, all good things must come to an end. HBK’s iconic career came to a fitting end at WrestleMania after one last classic with Taker. His retirement left a massive void on the card. Fortunately, WWE has an immensely talented roster, and many have stepped up to fill the role of “Mr. WrestleMania.”
#3. AJ Styles Had Some Decent Matches at WrestleMania
Shawn Michaels may have been the greatest in-ring performer of his generation, and the same can be said about AJ Styles. The Phenomenal One could have a good match with a broomstick. However, he made his WWE debut at 38 in 2016.
Consequently, we never saw much of Styles in his prime at The Grandest Stage of Them All. The future WWE Hall of Famer had an all-star list of opponents at Mania. In his debut at the Show of Shows, Styles battled Chris Jericho in an underrated match. The Phenomenal One lost, but he had a great bout with Y2J.
The following year, Styles had what is popularly considered his greatest WrestleMania match with Shane McMahon. This was the ultimate trainwreck, and the crowd thoroughly enjoyed the action. In an otherwise underwhelming Mania, this was the match of the night.
At WrestleMania 34, Styles battled Shinsuke Nakamura in an epic dream match. However, expectations were too high, and the two veterans wrestled a decent match that fell short of expectations. It wasn’t an average encounter, but it failed to set the world on fire.
This would become a familiar picture. While Styles never had a bad match at Mania, many of his matches failed to reach the next level. Randy Orton and Edge were other dream opponents he faced, but none of those matches produced magic. Despite criticisms of many of his outings at Mania, the Phenomenal One had a tremendous cinematic Boneyard match with The Undertaker at WrestleMania 36, which served as Taker’s farewell.
For someone of the caliber of AJ Styles, he should have had more generational classics. Unfortunately, Father Time and ridiculously high expectations often had an important say.
