Over the years we’ve seen countless Superstars not get the title shot or triumphant victory that we as fans feel they deserve, and, more often than not, there’s never really an explanation given as to why it happened.
Despite that, it’s still important to note these kinds of incidents down and reflect on them, because in years to come, fans are still going to be discussing moments in the business that upset or frustrated them. That’s not to say they’re either right or wrong in this instance, but it’s just what we’ve all come to expect from fans of professional wrestling.
A few of the entries on this list are incredibly noteworthy, while others don’t get nearly the amount of coverage that they should, but one way or another they upset quite a few people and it makes us wonder – imagine what would’ve happened if John Cena had defeated Rob Van Dam at One Night Stand 2006.
That, simply put, would be the definition of nuclear heat.
With that being said, here are five times the undeserving superstar won in WWE.
#1 Goldberg – Survivor Series 2016
Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series 2016 was expected to be nothing more than another way for the Beast Incarnate to continue his path of destruction. Fans around the world were simply waiting to see Brock avenge his loss to Goldberg at WrestleMania 20, with many thinking it would be nothing more than a squash match.
In a sense they were right, but it was Goldberg who did the squashing.
In the space of 90 seconds, the former WCW Champion had dismantled Brock Lesnar, marking Brock’s first pinfall loss in three and a half years. Sure it began an interesting six-month feud between the two, but it was a little bit insulting to fans who wanted to see a big pay off to Lesnar breaking the streak.
Big. Match. John.
#2 John Cena – SummerSlam 2010
Back in the summer of 2010, The Nexus were the hottest thing in all of professional wrestling. The former NXT stars ran through the majority of stars on Monday Night Raw, and as such a blockbuster match was booked for the biggest party of the summer: The Nexus vs. Team WWE – made up of seven of the company’s biggest names.
Alas, it was the same old story, as John Cena defied the odds to single-handedly win the match for his team. Reports have gone on to state that Edge and Chris Jericho both told Cena that Nexus needed to win in order to keep their momentum going, but the Doctor of Thuganomics decided against it in favour of having his hand raised once again.
He hears voices..
#3 Randy Orton – WrestleMania 33
Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt was one of the hottest feuds heading into WrestleMania 33, with the Viper revitalising his career courtesy of his presence in The Wyatt Family. The two men fought back and forth for weeks prior to the big showdown in Orlando, where it seemed as if Wyatt was destined to finally get a win on the grandest stage of them all.
But nope – Randy won, and quite convincingly. It made little to no sense at the time and it still does just over a month later, with members of the WWE Universe both young and old feeling extremely deflated in the aftermath of the bout. Whether you love Randy or you don’t, nobody can deny that this was the wrong move.
Oh, Roman.
Roman Reigns – Royal Rumble 2015
For months prior to the 2015 Royal Rumble match, it was obvious that Roman Reigns was being groomed for the top position in the company. It seemed like the next natural step in his career following his meteoric rise as part of The Shield, during which time he seemed like a fairly popular character among the WWE Universe.
But that all changed around the Rumble, when Roman’s overly strong booking led to one of the most negatively received endings for a WWE pay per view in the history of the company. The boos were deafening after they decided to eliminate Daniel Bryan half way through the match, with Roman being awarded a spot that he just wasn’t ready for yet.
It's time to play The Game.
Triple H – WrestleMania 19
There are several examples that we could include when it comes to Triple H, but we’ve decided to go with his WrestleMania 19 clash against Booker T. Why? Because it was a match that was set up perfectly for the former WCW Champion to win, and yet Trips felt it was more beneficial for him to reign supreme once again.
It was a ridiculous decision in 2003 and it still is to this day, with WWE missing out on the opportunity to give Booker his big moment in favour of putting HHH over yet another WCW star. It was a slap in the face to the fans, it was a slap in the face of Booker and it was all done to please the almighty god of pro wrestling, Vince McMahon.
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