WrestleMania 33 will almost definitely be headlined by Goldberg and Brock Lesnar as the two face off for the Universal Title. If their encounters at Survivor Series and in the Royal Rumble match are anything to go by then, this will be one of the shortest main events ever to grace WrestleMania.
But, what about prior to this year’s Show of Shows? How long have main events lasted on The Grandest Stage of Them All? Well, that’s what we’re here to find out today. With most people sceptical on whether Goldberg vs. Lesnar is going to go over 5 minutes, does it have the potential to be the shortest main event in Mania history?
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Well, let’s dive right in then. So, without any further ado, here are the five shortest WrestleMania main events of all time:
#5) Lawrence Taylor vs. Bam Bam Bigelow – 11 minutes 42 seconds (WrestleMania XI)
If you’re a little unfamiliar with the name Lawrence Taylor, then don’t feel too bad. He is a legendary American Football player who was brought in to headline WrestleMania XI due to his star power in mainstream American sports.
The former Linebacker was accompanied by Ken Norton Jr, Chris Spielman, Carl Banks, Rickey Jackson, Reggie White, and Steve McMichael as he took on one of the top WWE wrestlers at the time – Bam Bam Bigelow who was accompanied by Tatanka, King Kong Bundy, Ted DiBiase, Irwin R Schyster, Nikolai Volkoff, and Kama.
It was one of the better celebrity matches in WWE as Bigelow carried Taylor to a decent match. Eventually putting over the football player. As expected with a match involving a non-wrestler, it proved to be the fifth shortest WrestleMania main event of all-time as Taylor beat Bigelow in 11 minutes and 42 seconds.
Rumour has it that LT was so physically overwhelmed at the end of the match that he couldn’t even move. As for Bam Bam, if you’re wondering why he was willing to take such a humiliating loss, it was because Vince McMahon paid him a helluva lot of money to do it.
#4) Hulk Hogan vs. King Kong Bundy – 10 minutes 15 seconds (WrestleMania 2)
Coming in at number four on this list is a man who was notorious for wrestling short matches through most of his career – Hulk Hogan. The Hulkster was someone who got by on his charisma rather than wrestling skill; and more often than not, this lack of skill was kept hidden behind shorter matches.
A pretty famous example of this is the main event of WrestleMania 2 which saw Hogan defeat King Kong Bundy in a Steel Cage match which lasted just over 10 minutes. Well, I say main event, but this was one of three main events as WrestleMania 2 was held simultaneously in three different locations – New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
The match between Hogan and Bundy – happening in Los Angeles – was the real main event, though, as the two battled for Hogan’s WWF Championship which he retained by escaping the steel cage.
#3) Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna – 10 minutes 38 seconds (WrestleMania X)
The next entry on our list is a match that took place on the same WrestleMania card as the legendary Ladder Match between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon. It was a WWF Championship match between Bret The Hitman Hart and Yokozuna with Rowdy Roddy Piper as the Special Guest Referee.
Also read: 5 Matches that we really wanted to see at WrestleMania 33
Yokozuna attacked Hart before the bell, but the Hitman eventually recovered to pin the big man in just 10 minutes and 38 seconds. A factor for the short match could be the fact that Bret had engaged in a superb technical encounter in the first match of the night against his brother, Owen Hart, which ran for over 20 minutes.
According to the elder Hart brother, though, he had bigger plans for the match which Yokozuna either couldn’t or wouldn’t go through with. At the end of the day, though, this saw Bret win a well-deserved WWF Championship, regardless of how long the match went on for.
#2) Randy Savage vs. Ted DiBiase – 9 minutes 27 seconds (WrestleMania IV)
WrestleMania IV was famous for the fact that it had an entire WWF Title tournament to crown a new WWF Champion over the course of just one night. With this in mind, it’s no surprise that the actual main event didn’t go on for a very long time.
Fighting through the first round, the quarter-finals, and the semi-finals, Randy Savage and Ted DiBiase earned the right to face off for the vacant WWF Championship in the final encounter of the night.
Savage would ultimately prevail in a battle that lasted just 9 minutes and 27 seconds. He would hit his patented Savage Elbow after Hulk Hogan came in to help him out against DiBiase and Andre the Giant who was in The Million Dollar Man’s corner.
#1) Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna – 8 minutes 55 seconds and Hulk Hogan vs. Yokozuna – 22 seconds (WrestleMania IX)
Right, this was a strange one and showed exactly how much Hulk Hogan valued his place at the top of the WWE. Bret Hart, who was the champion going into WrestleMania IX, was scheduled to face off against Yokozuna in the main event.
The “Japanese” superstar (who was a Samoan) would pick up the win in just 8 minutes and 55 seconds thanks to the efforts of his manager, Mr Fuji, who sprayed salt in Hart’s eyes when The Hitman had his Sharpshooter locked in.
Immediately following the match, Hogan came down to the ring announcing his intentions to face Yokozuna. When Mr Fuji challenged The Hulkster to an impromptu match, Hogan agreed, and the match was sanctioned.
The new main event lasted just 22 seconds as Mr Fuji would accidentally throw salt in Yokozuna’s face, allowing Hogan to hit his Leg Drop and pick up the win in record time. Luckily, for Bret Hart, he would gain his rightful win over Yokozuna and WrestleMania X as we discussed earlier in this article.
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