5 dream matches WWE teased but never delivered

Ever since professional wrestling came into being, fans have been treated with a string of legendary feuds, storylines, and matches by various promotions. The biggest difference between an actual sport and Sports Entertainment is that you would never get to see someone like Mohammad Ali take on Mike Tyson in a battle of the generations.

On the other hand, in WWE, fans actually got to see possibly the greatest Superstar of all time, Hulk Hogan, take on another all-time great, The Rock, at The Grandest Stage Of Them All.

Over the course of the past several decades, wrestling fans have witnessed tons of dream matches, notably Hulk Hogan vs The Rock, The Rock vs Cena, Hogan vs Ric Flair, and many more. This isn't always the case though, and there have been multiple instances where even though WWE teased a dream match that fans couldn't wait to see, they didn't deliver on the tease and the match remained a pipe dream for the fans. Let's look at five of these instances.

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#5. Brock Lesnar vs Batista

Brock Lesnar and Batista

Back in 2014, "The Animal" Batista made his long-awaited return to WWE and ended up winning the Royal Rumble match in front of a rowdy crowd that wasn't thrilled with the win one bit.

WWE messed up big time that night by not inserting the red-hot Daniel Bryan in the free-for-all. The next night on Raw, Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar interrupted Batista and Randy Orton.

Heyman suggested Brad Maddox a dream match between The Beast and The Animal, as Brock and Batista stared at each other with cold, calculating eyes. Unfortunately, nothing came out of the segment. Lesnar broke The Undertaker's streak at WrestleMania 30, while Batista tapped out to Daniel Bryan in the main event of the night.

#4. Asuka vs Ronda Rousey

Rousey's debut

Last year, WWE made history by having the first-ever Women's Royal Rumble match take place at the Royal Rumble PPV. The match headlined the show and was won by The Empress of Tomorrow, Asuka.

Asuka was about to choose her WrestleMania opponent, when Ronda Rousey's music hit! In a shocking turn of events, the former UFC Champion came down to the ring and confronted Asuka, Charlotte Flair, and Alexa Bliss.

Rousey shook Stephanie McMahon's hand and attempted to do the same with the first-ever Women's Royal Rumble winner. Asuka didn't seem too keen on shaking Ronda's hand, and proceeded to shrug her off by gently slapping her hand on Rousey's.

The crowd went wild on seeing this exchange, as can be seen in the above video. It has been more than a year since then. Ronda became one of three women to headline a WrestleMania for the first time ever, while Asuka turned into an afterthought on the main roster.

#3. CM Punk vs 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin

Punk and Austin

Two incredibly similar personalities, both known for their brash and no-nonsense demeanor- Austin vs Punk was a dream match fans had been clamoring for ever since Punk rose up the ranks in WWE. Even though Austin had retired from active competition after his defeat at the hands of arch-rival The Rock at WrestleMania 19, WWE teased a match between the two during the promotion of WWE 2K13.

In a sit-down interview hosted by legendary announcer Jim Ross, tensions soared between Punk and Austin to an uncomfortable level. Austin can be seen ordering Punk to "stop looking at him with those little beady eyes". He also told Punk that the only reason he has the WWE Title is that The Rattlesnake hasn't come after him. The two teased a potential match, with Punk asking whether they were still talking about the video game, to which Austin gave a cryptic response.

The two also had a Twitter exchange back on the road to WrestleMania 28, when Punk hinted that he wants to face Austin at WrestleMania 29. Austin had responded positively, stating that he will be ready for Punk. The match never happened though, and Punk took on The Undertaker at MetLife Stadium.

#2. The Undertaker vs Sting

What if?

This match is one of those unfortunate scenarios where all stars were aligned at the right place and the right time, but WWE decided to not go ahead with it. Sting made his shocking debut in WWE at Survivor Series 2014. The Stinger helped John Cena's team win a Traditional Survivor Series match, much to the dismay of Triple H.

At WrestleMania, Sting faced Triple H in a match that saw DX and nWo come out to the ring and interfere on behalf of both Superstars. Triple H won the match in a head-scratching decision and the two Superstars reconciled after everything was said and done. On the same card, The returning Undertaker faced Bray Wyatt and defeated The Eater of the Worlds. WWE could've easily given the fans this dream encounter, but chose not to.

A year later, WWE finally teased the dream match on its official website. This ended up raising fans' hopes, but it was all for nothing. The Undertaker faced Shane McMahon inside Hell In A Cell at 'Mania, while Sting was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

#1. 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin vs Hulk Hogan

The dream match that never happened

It's not a secret that the Vince McMahon had originally planned Hulk Hogan vs Stone Cold Steve Austin for WrestleMania 18. Austin flat out refused to compete against Hogan. It was reported that Austin wasn't thrilled with how Hogan had treated him back in WCW during the mid-90s. Apparently, Austin was about to get a push, but Hogan refused to feud with him. Austin returned the favor in 2002, and we never got the dream match.

In 2005, on the Homecoming episode of Raw, Hogan teased the match to the fans.

What would all these Hulkamaniacs do, if Hulk Hogan climbed in the ring, with that rattlesnake, 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin?

Months later, Austin teased the match while he was inducting Bret "The Hitman" Hart into the WWE Hall of Fame. The camera panned to Hogan, who was visibly upset. 13 years have passed since then, and it's safe to say now that we'll never witness these two legends take on each other.