Throughout the history of WWE, the stars at the top of the company have almost always had top-level feuds to keep their momentum constantly hot. At the very least, they would have storylines that resulted in a program spanning multiple months.
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However, with the exception of only a few, almost every top star in WWE’s history has wrestled at least one PPV match completely out of the blue. These storylines only resulted in one PPV contest and were abandoned shortly thereafter.
10 Roman Reigns V. Jinder Mahal (Money in the Bank 2018)
Yeah, sure, Jinder Mahal was fresh off a United States Championship win at WrestleMania 34 a few months earlier, and a WWE Title reign that nearly reached 200 days the year prior, but the Modern Day Maharaja’s momentum had really slowed to a halt by this point. To act like Roman Reigns and he were on the same level at this time would be blasphemous.
This was a heatless match that went 16 minutes for some reason, adding to the argument that 2018 was Reigns’ worst year on the main roster, as the Big Dog competed in a string of horrible PPV matches that somehow drew complete disdain and apathy from crowds. Entry 11 on this list could’ve been Drew McIntyre V. Mahal at SummerSlam three years later.
9 Triple H V. The Great Khali (SummerSlam 2008)
Again, the Great Khali was the World Heavyweight Champion less than a year earlier, so on paper this match may not be completely confusing. However, the circumstances surrounding it quickly change that.
After Khali dropped the Big Gold Belt and finished his program with Batista, he very quickly ascended down the card and wasn’t even featured at WrestleMania 24. So, when he and Triple H competed for the WWE Championship at arguably WWE’s second-biggest PPV, it didn’t quite feel right.
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What makes it even more random is Khali missing the next three PPVs and turning babyface in the months that followed.
8 Chris Jericho V. Evan Bourne (Fatal Four-Way)
Y2J was never ‘the guy’ in WWE, but a serious argument could be made that he should have been. What’s not up for debate is that Jericho was one of the best characters and in-ring performers in the entire company from 2008-2010, rewarded with three World Heavyweight Championship reigns.
In the months leading up to this contest, Jericho was engulfed in a feud with Edge for said title and was consistently on the top of each card. However, after that program he retreated back into the midcard for a couple of months, leading to this match.
This is easily the best match on this list and the only one where the wrestler in his/her prime doesn’t emerge victorious.
7 Shawn Michaels V. Chris Masters (Unforgiven 2005)
When Chris Masters first came to WWE’s main roster, it looked as if he was going to emerge as a major player on Monday Night Raw. His Master Lock Challenge generated solid heat and began to build him up as a semi-formidable heel on the red brand.
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However, Masters was never great on the mic or in-ring, despite his phenomenal look. WWE tried its best, putting him in a PPV contest against perhaps the best worker in the company and one of its top stars for nearly two decades, Shawn Michaels.
HBK got the best he could out of Masters, but this would be one of very few notable PPV matches in the Masterpiece’s entire career, making it an oddity for the Showstopper in hindsight.
6 Seth Rollins V. Omos (Backlash 2023)
The most recent example on the list, and when WWE announced this match completely out of the blue most fans were confused. It’s not because Omos hasn’t been presented as a formidable foe for many of WWE’s top stars, but because this match hadn’t even been hinted at before its announcement.
Sure, Omos has feuded with top stars such as Bobby Lashley and, also randomly, Brock Lesnar, but that doesn’t mean he has ever looked like a main event performer himself. Rollins was coming off a highly entertaining program with Logan Paul and seemed destined to win the new WWE World Heavyweight Championship, so why was he competing against the giant?
It seemed this match only existed to get the Visionary in front of the Puerto Rican crowd and give him an “impressive” win before his reign as world champion.
5 John Cena V. The Miz (The Bash 2009)
In 2023, John Cena and the Miz are seen as career rivals, even main eventing WrestleMania 27 against one another. In 2009, they were nowhere near equal.
The Awesome One had recently split from his tandem with John Morrison and was looking to make an impact, going after the biggest star in the company. Cena was coming off a World Heavyweight Championship program with Edge and the Big Show that spanned the previous five PPVs.
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The result was a glorified squash match, existing only as a stopgap before Cena’s WWE Championship program with Randy Orton took up the majority of the latter half of 2009.
4 Sasha Banks & Rich Swann V. Alicia Fox & Noam Dar (Extreme Rules 2017)
Sigh…No wonder the former Sasha Banks walked out of WWE and became Mercedes Moné.
From the moment Banks made her debut on the main roster in 2015, she was one of the best all-around performers in the entire company, regardless of gender. Banks carried the aura of a star, the mic skills of a top star and the in-ring prowess of a seasoned veteran.
WWE dropped the ball with the Boss time and time again, even if she was a six-time women’s champion and main evented WrestleMania. This random 205 Live-based feud is just another example of such.
3 Becky Lynch V. Doudrop (Royal Rumble 2022)
Just one of two title matches on this list, Becky Lynch’s run as Raw Women’s Champion from SummerSlam 2021 to WrestleMania 38 may have begun under controversial circumstances but it turned out to be so much fun. She tore the house down on PPV against the likes of Bianca Belair, Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair, Liv Morgan and Lita, making this reign one of the best ever.
However, her defense at arguably WWE’s most exciting PPV of each calendar year does not stick out amongst the rest. Now known as Piper Niven, Doudrop is a very skilled in-ring talent that just hasn’t been positioned as a top star at any point in her run with WWE.
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The build to this match was extremely forgettable and short, as was the contest itself.
2 Bret Hart V. Hakushi (In Your House)
Most of WWE’s top stars before the turn of the millennium didn’t run into the problem this list presents. Main eventers such as ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, The Rock and Hulk Hogan really didn’t have random PPV matches against stars presented much lower on the card than them.
While Bret Hart was one half of WWE’s best performers of the 1990s, he often wrestled foes much below his level with little build. The Patriot, Isaac Yankem DDS and Jean Pierre LaFitte ring any bells?
Somehow the Hitman wrestled each of those wrestlers multiple times on PPV, but not so against the best in-ring worker of the bunch, Hakushi. The two had a great match that ultimately meant nothing.
1 The Undertaker V. Luther Reigns (No Way Out 2005)
How is this real? The Deadman is often revered as WWE’s elder statesman and is one of the most important characters in the history of professional wrestling.
His rivalries against the likes of Shawn Michaels, Edge, Triple H and countless other top stars stand the test of time as some of the greatest ever. But, like with Bret Hart before him, the company constantly put the Phenom in PPV matches with stars below his caliber.
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Easily the worst example of such came in the build to the Undertaker’s WrestleMania 21 match against Randy Orton when he tuned himself up against Luther Reigns. Fun fact, he has had peas before!!
