10 Worst WWE Matches Of 2023

7. Austin Theory vs. John Cena - WrestleMania 39 Night 1

On the whole, WrestleMania 39 was a great old time, with some people ranking it amongst their favourite Manias ever. Unfortunately, nothing is perfect, not even WrestleMania, as this misfire of an opening match proved.

Austin Theory had won some big matches as United States Champion, but hadn’t quite had that killer programme to take him to the next level. Enter John Cena, who had come back from Hollywood just to give Theory the rub. 

And what happened? Cena absolutely buried Theory in the build-up to Mania, chewing him out on television for not being a very good champion. He eviscerated the poor boy, but surely this was all leading to a show-stealing match on the big night, right?

Instead, Cena and Theory wrestled a remarkably dull affair. Theory won, which was all well and good, but the preceding encounter was so thunderingly boring, that what should have been a stepping stone became a giant boulder around his neck.