WrestleMania is the biggest event in all of pro wrestling, and numerous wrestlers have had the honour of gracing the Grandest Stage of Them All.

However, it’s often the case that a wrestler has a prominent spot on a WrestleMania card, and by the time the next instalment of WWE’s signature PPV comes around, they have fallen dramatically down the card.

There are several reasons why this can happen, and the main reason is that a lot can happen in a 12-month period in WWE, and a wrestler’s popularity and stature on the roster may have dwindled dramatically.

A wrestler being booked in a less prominent spot on a WrestleMania card always leads to extensive discourse, as it’s usually a sign that WWE have given up hope on the specific wrestler being a top guy in the company.

So, with that being said, let’s look at 10 WWE wrestlers who had the biggest WrestleMania downgrade.

10: Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho has wrestled some iconic names at WrestleMania. However, Jericho’s downgrade from WrestleMania 28 to WrestleMania 29 was truly shocking. At WrestleMania 28, Jericho challenged Punk for the WWE Title in one of the key matches on the show, yet at WrestleMania 29, Jericho would face off against… Fandango.

When Jericho heard about the booking plans for WrestleMania 29, he was furious, and when he found out that Vince McMahon wanted him to lose the match, the anger reached a boiling point. Jericho was so annoyed with his creative direction, that he almost quit the company; however, it was a chat with the legendary Undertaker which led to Jericho changing his mind and doing his job to the best of his ability.

Thankfully for Jericho, the next time he would compete at WrestleMania would be in 2016 at WrestleMania 32, and this time, Jericho was in a much better position, as Jericho would face off against AJ Styles, in AJ’s WrestleMania debut.

9: Sheamus

WrestleMania 26 was a huge night for Sheamus. Sheamus would take on Triple H in one of the top matches on the show, and despite Sheamus coming up short in the match, his performance received positive reviews, and the match is considered rather underrated when it comes to WrestleMania matches.

The following year, Sheamus would initially be booked to face Daniel Bryan for the US Title. It goes without saying that wrestling Bryan wasn’t a step-down, yet in 2011, Bryan had yet to emerge as one of WWE’s top guys, and WWE were still hesitant to push Bryan into the main event scene. Sheamus’ match with Bryan would shockingly be moved to the dark match, and it got even worse, when the match morphed into a battle royal, a battle royal that would be won by The Great Khali.

The following year at WrestleMania 28, WWE would book the match between Sheamus and Bryan once again, this time for the World Title, and the match infamously ended in 18-seconds.

8: Stone Cold Steve Austin

Throughout the Attitude Era, Stone Cold Steve Austin was WWE’s number 1 guy. However, when WWE entered 2002, WWE began to push other talents, and Austin was often butting heads with WWE creative.

At WrestleMania 18, Austin was booked to face Scott Hall, and Austin had zero interest in the match. Although Hall was a great wrestler, Austin was going from wrestling The Rock in the main event of WrestleMania 17, to a match at WrestleMania 18 that fans didn’t have much investment in.

On an episode of Grilling JR, Jim Ross who remains one of Austin’s closest friends, stated that Austin had every right to be annoyed with a thrown together program at WrestleMania 18:

“… it felt so thrown together with short term thinking. Here’s the other thing about that. We had guys on our roster that deserved that opportunity with Steve at WrestleMania, to work with Austin at WrestleMania is gonna help you get over whether you win or you lose. The way you deal with Stone Cold is you deal with him straight up. You give him the story, here’s the headline, here’s what we want to do, and then you back it up with fact or reason or whatever it may be. But whatever you do, you don’t become deceptive with this deal, and that’s what I think Steve felt like, that he was being worked. And whether he was or he wasn’t, I don’t think anybody would work Stone Cold purposefully, intentionally, but that’s how it came off.”

7: Drew McIntyre

When Drew McIntyre returned to WWE in 2017, he was instantly pushed up the card. McIntyre won the NXT Title, and before fans knew it, McIntyre was back on the main roster in a featured role.

McIntyre had notable WrestleMania matches for a number of years, and these included a match with WWE’s number 1 guy, Roman Reigns, and two back-to-back WWE Title matches. However, when WWE arrived at WrestleMania 38, McIntyre’s planned match was to see him face Baron Corbin.

When it was initially reported online that McIntyre vs. Corbin was the planned match for WrestleMania 38, fans thought some kind of swerve was planned, yet this was WWE’s definitive direction.

In a move nobody expected, McIntyre addressed the fan backlash to the match in an interview with Metro UK, and this is what the former WWE Champion had to say:

"I'm very excited about it, personally. I've seen some of the comments when the match was made, the internet can be very harsh place. I appreciate all my fans around the world, their reaction is, 'Drew's not wrestling for the title? He won the title from Brock two years along, he fought for the title last year, this year he's fighting Corbin?!' I understand that and I appreciate that, but the way I see it is, aside from his obvious talent in the ring – anyone who says he's not talented in-ring is lying to themselves."

"We actually have a genuine, hated bad guy that everyone genuinely dislikes. If people online are saying, 'This guy's such a good bad guy, he really entertains me', that's not a good bad guy. A true bad guy is somebody you literally despise and want to see get their butt kicked! That's what we've got right now, and that's what I've got in my story with Corbin."

6: King Kong Bundy

King Kong Bundy is mostly known to WWE fans for being in the main event of WrestleMania 2. Bundy collided with Hulk Hogan inside a steel cage, yet the following year, Bundy’s stock had fallen so much that his WrestleMania 3 role was reduced to one of a comedic nature.

At WrestleMania 3, Bundy was involved in a mixed six-man tag match. Bundy would team up with midget wrestlers Little Tokyo and Lord Littlebrook against Hillbilly Jim, The Haiti Kid and Little Beaver.

The infamous match would mark Bundy’s last WrestleMania appearance until WrestleMania 11, where Bundy would be defeated by The Undertaker in Bundy’s final ever time on the Grandest Stage of them all.

5: Ronda Rousey

Upon returning to WWE in 2022, Ronda Rousey was propelled into a primary spot in the company.

Rousey would win the 2022 Women’s Royal Rumble and would go on to challenge Charlotte Flair for the Women’s Title at WrestleMania 38. Although the build to the match was underwhelming, WWE still presented and marketed the match as one of the biggest matches on the show, yet the match was an indication that Rousey’s second run in the company wasn’t going to live up to expectations.

The match was flat and lifeless, and this would be a trend that would continue throughout Rousey’s second run. Rousey’s feuds with Charlotte, Liv Morgan, and Shotzi were all negatively received, and by the time WrestleMania 39 season came around, there was no desire from fans to see Rousey in a prominent role on the WrestleMania card.

Rousey would be placed in the women's WrestleMania Showcase fatal four-way tag team match, teaming with Shayna Baszler, and although her team won, the match was considered a substantial yet justified step-down compared to the year prior.

4: Lex Luger

WrestleMania 10 was truly Lex Luger’s peak in WWE. Luger would face off against Yokozuna for the WWE Title, and although he lost the match via DQ, a WWE Title match at WrestleMania isn’t something to write off.

Fast-forward to WrestleMania 11, and WWE and Vince McMahon had lost faith in Luger ever being a top guy in the company, and this was made clear by Luger’s match on the show.

At WrestleMania 11, Luger was in the opening contest, as he teamed with The British Bulldog against The Blu Brothers, in a match that easily could have been moved to an episode of RAW.

The tag-team match would mark Luger’s final ever WrestleMania appearance, as he would depart WWE in August of 1995.

3: Bray Wyatt

Bray Wyatt had the honour of walking into WrestleMania 33 as WWE Champion. Wyatt would wrestle Randy Orton on the show, yet the following year, all WWE could deliver with Wyatt was a cameo appearance on the pre-show. Wyatt would interfere in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal, as he would assist Matt Hardy in winning the match.

Whilst it was great to see the legendary Wyatt on the WrestleMania stage, was this truly the best booking move that WWE could have come up with? Going from a WWE Title match to a pre-show cameo appearance wasn’t a great look, and WWE could have easily delivered something more in line with Wyatt’s star-power.  

2: Booker T

WWE Hall of Famer, Booker T has had a bizarre history at WrestleMania. Booker has been in a World Title match, a pre-show match, and even wrestled The Boogeyman. WrestleMania 19 was arguably Booker’s biggest match at WrestleMania, as he faced off against Triple H for the World Title. There is a common consensus amongst the fan-base that this is a match that Booker should have won, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be.

Booker remained popular and relevant following WrestleMania 19, yet at WrestleMania 20, Booker was defending the Tag Titles with Rob Van Dam in a fatal-4-way showdown. Booker and RVD would defend against The Dudley Boyz, Cade and Jindrak, and La Résistance. Whilst not the most lacklustre match in the world, the match was seen as a low point of WrestleMania 20, as the match outcome was seen as predictable by many.

The following year, Booker would fall even further down the card, as he wouldn’t even make the main show. The multi-time World Champion would win a forgettable pre-show battle royal by last eliminating The Masterpiece, Chris Masters.

1: The Miz

The main event of WrestleMania 27 received vast criticism, as fans and WWE talent questioned if The Miz belonged in the main event position. Those who claimed that Miz’s main event run would be a one-time deal were proven right the following year, when Miz would be relegated to wrestling in the monotonous, Team Teddy vs. Team Johnny matchup at WrestleMania 28.

At WrestleMania 29, two years after main eventing WrestleMania alongside John Cena, Miz wasn’t even able to make the main show. Miz’s Intercontinental Title match with Wade Barrett would be moved to the pre-show, and despite his victory in the match, it was a clear sign that Miz was never going to main event the biggest show of the year ever again.

The Miz’s WrestleMania placements would be all over the place for the next few years, as he would go from wrestling in battle royals to wrestling the likes of Shane McMahon and Snoop Dogg.