10 biggest matches that were given away on free television

#4 Brock Lesnar vs. Hulk Hogan (SmackDown, July 2002)

When Big Show joined WWE as the new big thing, Austin pinned him in the middle of the ring in a match with no build, no hype, and no promotion. When the next big thing, Brock Lesnar, came along a few years later, the roles were reversed when Austin was asked to do the honours in a King Of The Ring qualifying match on RAW.

Unlike with Big Show in '99, Austin had a problem with a major match being given away for free on RAW. Austin wasn't wrong, but now that he was on the losing end, long-term planning and promotion suddenly became important and he infamously quit the company.

While fans never did get Austin vs. Brock, they got another marquee match-up when Brock Lesnar vs. Hulk Hogan took place on the August 8, 2002, edition of SmackDown. Another dream match, especially considering the career Lesnar would go on to have, the Hulkster vs. almost anyone in 2002 was worthy of a Pay-Per-View main event, but Hogan vs. Lesnar could've headlined WrestleMania.

Rather than hold it off till then, or even SummerSlam, WWE quickly shoehorned this bout into a free episode of SmackDown as a way to build toward Brock Lesnar's match against The Rock at SummerSlam 2002.