5 WrestleMania matches that surpassed low expectations

This match was a failure in 2004, and fans had every reason to doubt that adding 13 years to each man's age would do much to make it any better. — This match was a failure in 2004

#2 Brock Lesnar vs Bill Goldberg, WrestleMania 33

Brock Lesnar finally got his win over Goldberg in a match many had expected to be a snooze. — Brock Lesnar finally got his win over Goldberg in a match many had expected to be a snooze

Fans had every reason to doubt that this match could deliver in Orlando; beyond the fact that, like Hogan and Warrior, Lesnar and Goldberg were men who used limited move sets in short contests, there was the specter of WrestleMania XX hanging over the match.

At that event in 2004, word had leaked online that neither man would be continuing his WWE employment after the Madison Square Garden spectacular, and the first real instance of a "smart" crowd hijacking a show took place as the New York audience showered boos and derogatory comments on Goldberg and Lesnar.

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The men in the ring, for their part, responded by turning in a plodding and poorly built encounter (which is passable with the sound off, but intolerable with the crowd attacking its performers).

WrestleMania 33 was the final encounter, and basically, a foregone conclusion as, like WrestleMania XX, it was clear Goldberg had no plans to continue competing after the WrestleMania broadcast faded to black.

The typical Goldberg squash, then, was off the table, since the retiree couldn't keep the WWE Universal Championship, but if a longer match was needed, fans feared a repeat of that 2004 match.

There is more intensity in this one move than in the pair's entire 2004 match. — There is more intensity in this one move than in the pair's entire 2004 match

What resulted is what fans might see if they played WWE 2K17 and gave themselves unlimited finishers, then used those as frequently as possible. What's odd is that this formula worked.

Much of the moves in this match are signature power moves, and an extended suplex sequence deflates the former Seattle Seahawk into position for Lesnar's final F5.

It had the chaos of the men destroying the ringside barricade in an attempt to destroy one another and managed to eschew the extended rest holds and collar-and-elbow tie-ups which doomed their first one-on-one match, to be a pleasant surprise.

Edited by Raunak J