27. WRESTLEMANIA IX
After 8 years of Hulk Hogan in the main event of every WrestleMania that had ever existed, this was it – WrestleMania IX would finally be the year two stars of the New Generation would step into the spotlight to headline the biggest pay-per-view of the… oh wait, never mind, Hogan left with the WWF Championship again.
The legend goes that monster heel Yokozuna was to win the title from Bret, and would continue to be built up as the most dominant force in wrestling. Instead, Hogan returned to the company and was given the belt on the condition that he’d build towards putting over the Hitman at SummerSlam. As we all know the program never happened, Hogan dropped the title back to Yokozuna (not clean, of course), and the rest is history.
If you can put all that aside, the first and last match at WrestleMania IX (excluding Hogan’s 21-second squash) are actually worth watching. The rest of the card is largely forgettable – you basically just want to check out Shawn Michaels and Tatanka going 18-minutes for the Intercontinental title.
26. WRESTLEMANIA XV
This show took place in the heart of the Attitude Era, which unfortunately means a whole lot less than you’d assume. While the talent pool was considerably more athletic here than the so-called “Golden Era” it followed, stars like Billy Gunn, Owen Hart, Mankind and Ken Shamrock just weren’t utilized anywhere near their full potential.
On the plus side, WrestleMania XV featured the first of three matches between The Rock and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, although it may be the weakest of the trio. Let’s just not talk about the Hell in a Cell match between Undertaker and Big Boss Man.
This has to be the most disappointing WrestleMania ever, given how hot the WWF product was at the time. Fortunately fans only had to endure one more mediocre show at WrestleMania 2000 before business picked up.
