10 Biggest Burials In WWE WrestleMania History

When you think of WrestleMania, you might first think of the huge marquee matches that allow the performers in them to shine their brightest on WWE’s grandest stage.

This isn’t always the case, however. Sometimes, a wrestler will turn up to the biggest show of the year only to be embarrassed in front of tens of thousands of people, and millions more watching around the world. 

Some of these stars managed to bounce back from their ‘Mania hidings, whilst for others it was the beginning of the end. These are the 10 Biggest Burials in WWE WrestleMania History.

10. Zack Ryder - WrestleMania XXVIII

Having got over on his own thanks to his hit YouTube show, Z! True Long Island Story, it didn’t take long for WWE to kill any momentum Zack Ryder had. 

Despite winning the United States Title at TLC 2011, Ryder promptly lost the belt after just 29 days to Jack Swagger. Ryder was then further humiliated as he was battered by Kane and John Cena. The benevolent babyface then promptly stole his woman, kissing Torres right in front of Ryder. 

The humiliation only continued at WrestleMania 28, however. Representing Team Teddy for the multi-man match against Team Johnny to determine who would be the General Manager of both Raw and SmackDown, Ryder lost the match for his team after being distracted by Torres, which allowed him to be pinned by The Miz. Eve then stuck the dagger in post-match, kicking Ryder low. 

Fortunately, Ryder would get his WrestleMania moment four years later when he captured the Intercontinental Championship in a great Ladder Match at WrestleMania 32. He then had another moment with Curt Hawkins on the WrestleMania 35 pre-show, defeating The Revival for the Raw Tag Team Titles and snapping Hawkins’ losing streak in the process. 

9. Lex Luger - WrestleMania X

WrestleMania 10 is famous for having two scheduled WWE Championship matches on the same night. The second, which closed the show, saw Bret Hart defeat Yokozuna to reclaim the WWE Championship and end the night on a high. 

The WWE Title match earlier in the show, though, lacked such a happy ending. The bout featured all-American hero Lex Luger against Yokozuna. The Total Package, one of the co-winners of the 1994 Royal Rumble alongside Hart, was always destined to lose this contest. They didn’t have to book him so badly, however. 

Luger failed to unseat Yokozuna not because he was pinned or submitted, but because he got into an argument with special guest referee Mr. Perfect. After a disagreement with Perfect, Luger shoved the official, who then took an age to register the push, before calling for the bell. 

Whilst WWE were undoubtedly trying to keep Luger strong by not pinning him, they’d accidentally made him look like a complete moron in the process. He never got a sniff of the main event ever again before heading back to WCW in 1995. 

8. Shayna Baszler - WrestleMania 36

Shayna Baszler was screwed not once, but twice in 2020. She first made her main roster debut in the Women’s Royal Rumble match and promptly racked up eight eliminations, only to be eliminated by winner Charlotte Flair. 

Baszler looked dominant at Elimination Chamber to earn a Raw Women’s Title match at WrestleMania 36 against Becky Lynch. Baszler failed to win the match, however, with Lynch retaining at Mania following a feud which is primarily remembered for Baszler biting Lynch on the neck and drawing blood like a vampire. 

Original plans called for Baszler to win the belt and Becky Lynch even wanted to drop the title to the former UFC fighter, but that isn’t what Vince McMahon decided upon; instead looking to continue the feud with Lynch through the Summer. Lynch, however, announced she was pregnant a few weeks later and vacated the title, with it being won by Asuka at Money in the Bank.

Baszler has challenged for singles gold in WWE since then but she hasn’t quite been the same bulldozer that she was in NXT since the loss at WrestleMania 36. 

7. Erick Rowan - WrestleMania 32

At the 32nd instalment of The Showcase of the Immortals, Dwayne Johnson made a surprise appearance to set his own name on fire with a flamethrower. He did some other stuff too, but this is the only thing anyone remembers.

After eventually entering the ring, The Rock was interrupted by The Wyatt Family, which prompted Rocky to challenge one of the stable to an impromptu match. The unlucky representative was Rowan, who was defeated by The Rock in six seconds after walking straight into a Rock Bottom. 

Rowan, who had once been a promising star in the original Wyatt trio, ate the fastest pin in WrestleMania history. If that wasn’t enough, a still-injured John Cena then ran out to help Rocky send the Wyatts packing. 

The group ended the night looking like total chumps - a far too common occurrence during this era.

6. Bray Wyatt - WrestleMania XXX

Of all the careers halted by the unstoppable power of John Cena, there’s a case to be made that Bray Wyatt’s was the most promising. He was young, he was talented, he had a great gimmick, he was dynamite on the mic. All he needed was a big win over a big star at a big show and his destiny would be sealed. 

At WrestleMania XXX, The Eater of Worlds challenged Big Match John to a match with Cena’s very morality on the line. Wyatt was looking to tempt his foe to the dark side, but through the power of hustle, loyalty, and respect, Cena won without succumbing to a heel turn. 

Though he would eventually become a multi-time world champion, Wyatt’s aura just wasn’t the same after this run-in with Big Match John.

5. Chavo Guerrero - WrestleMania XXIV

In all the time it was a fixture of WWE programming, the ECW Championship was defended just once at WrestleMania. Instead of showcasing an ECW original, that match was Chavo Guerrero vs. Kane.

WrestleMania XXIV was the setting for their clash. The Big Red Machine had won a pre-show battle royal to earn his shot at Chavito, so surely the champion had an advantage going into this thing? 

No, of course, he didn’t. Instead, Kane snuck up on the unsuspecting champ, planted him with a single Chokeslam, and won the title in an embarrassing 11 seconds. 

Chavo claims that Vince McMahon announced that their match had been cut for time moments before they were due to go out. He thought a quick squash would be more memorable than a two-minute, somewhat competitive match and he was right, but for all the wrong reasons. 

This was the shortest match in ‘Mania history, until The Rock came along and took the record for himself. However, it remains the quickest title change to ever take place on The Grandest Stage of Them All.

4. Triple H - WrestleMania XII

Long before he was gifted with his own golden shovel, Triple H was subject to one of the most brutal put-downs in WrestleMania history. 

The twelfth edition of The Show of Shows marked the return of a legend of the Golden Era - The Ultimate Warrior. To put the icon over strong, Hunter Hearts Helmsley was selected as Warrior’s victim.

Almost as soon as the bell rang, Helmsley planted Warrior with a Pedigree. Instead of the win, though, Warrior just stood right back up, completely no-selling the dreaded move. Warrior then ran wild and won the match in 99 seconds. 

Given how dangerous the Pedigree was presented throughout The Game’s career, watching somebody treat it like a headlock is shocking during a rewatch.

3. Booker T - WrestleMania XIX

Seven years after being squashed by The Ultimate Warrior, Triple H found himself on the other side of the equation. At WrestleMania XIX, HHH defended his World Heavyweight Championship against Booker T in a match where the pieces were all there for a huge feel-good win. 

The Game had been champion for a while, with fans having grown tired of his heel antics. Meanwhile, Booker was a popular babyface who’d never been a world champion in WWE before. This was also the feud where Triple H had been implicitly racist towards his challenger.

None of this led to a title change, however, and after hitting a Pedigree on Booker T and rolling away in exhaustion, the expectation was Booker would kick out when the World Heavyweight Champion eventually made the pin, having been given ample time to recover. 

That didn’t happen, though. It instead took Triple H an agonising 23 seconds to crawl over to Booker, drape an arm over him, and pin him for the win. The challenger had gone from hot prospect to jabroni in less than half-a-minute and there was no other explanation other than the champ wanting to make himself look strong.

2. Yokozuna - WrestleMania IX

In 1993, WWE decided to give its Royal Rumble match some regular stakes going forward. The winner would now receive a world championship match at WrestleMania, with the very first man to earn this opportunity being the gigantic Yokozuna. 

The big man’s match at WrestleMania XIX was against WWE Champion Bret Hart and it was a lethargic nine-minute affair due to Yoko being absolutely knackered and calling for the finish several minutes early. Yokozuna, after Mr. Fuji fumbled around to throw salt in Bret Hart’s eyes, won the match by pinfall. He didn’t leave Las Vegas with the Winged Eagle, however. 

Hulk Hogan, full of patriotic rage, came down to the ring and accepted an impromptu challenge from the evil ‘Japanese’ wrestler. After Fuji accidentally threw salt in his own man’s face, The Hulkster hit the most American leg drop of all time to win the title in just 22 seconds. 

WWE had a chance to build a new star by giving Yoko a big win on a huge stage, but sacrificed all of that to give Hogan one more pointless title win before he walked out the door. 

1. Daniel Bryan - WrestleMania XXVIII

In many ways, this is one of the most important squash matches in wrestling history. 

At WrestleMania 28, Royal Rumble winner Sheamus challenged World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan to a match that should have been a runaway success. Unfortunately, this was the infamous 18-second match as Sheamus hit Bryan with a Brogue Kick into oblivion after Bryan received a good luck kiss from AJ Lee. One pinfall later, and Sheamus was the new champion. 

Fans were furious about the whole thing but the backlash only made the increasingly popular Bryan Danielson even more beloved and his future success - his SummerSlam win over John Cena, his victory at WrestleMania XXX, and all of his post-retirement shenanigans - can be traced back to this moment. 

A moment that would have killed the career of a lesser man, but The American Dragon only walked away stronger in the end. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t crushing at the time, however.