Five Classic WWE Matches That Didn't Happen

There has been many classic WWE matches, but unfortunately there are matches that probably would have been classics and they never happened. Maybe they happened in an alternative universe, but not in this universe. Maybe in an alternative universe, Sting joined the WWE and we saw Sting vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 28 instead of Undertaker vs. HHH for the third time. Here are five classic WWE matches that were supposed to happen or could have happened, but didn't happen. 

1. Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair WrestleMania VIII

If this match happened, it would have been one of the most famous WrestleMania matches of all-time. I don't think it would have been a five star classic, but none of Hogan's WrestleMania matches were that good. I don't care how great it would have been. Hogan vs. Flair would have been a classic match-up between two of the greatest wrestlers of all-time and still at an age where they could have had a very good match. The plan was that Hogan vs. Flair would happen at WrestleMania VIII, but the plan changed. Hogan wrestled Sid Justice and Flair wrestled Randy Savage. Why didn't the match happen? Here are two possible explanations I found on the internet:

"Because they were saving it for Wrestlemania IX. Simple as that. They wanted to have a long, drawn-out feud between Flair and Hogan that consumed most of 1992 and early 93, but Flair bailed and went back to WCW. It was a gamble Vince made that definitely bit him in the ass. They were getting ready for it though. Hogan and Flair actually had several matches at house shows and such while in WWE to build their chemistry, but Vince waited too long to pull the trigger. And it really had nothing to do with Hogan's supposed "declining popularity" as WWE likes to put it, because if that was the case, why were they still clinging to Hogan in 93 by putting the title on him again at WMIX for practically no reason at all and nearly squashing Yokozuna and Bret Hart in the process? It was just desperation on Vince's part. Which is also probably why they made WMIX an overly-gimmicky event to compensate for what they originally wanted it to be. That's just pure spiteful speculation though, because I always found that Egyptian Mania to be fucking retarded."

"There are two stories to why the two men didn't fight. The match was announced for Wrestlemania 8 but soon after was cancelled and changed to a double main event of Macho Man vs Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan vs Sid. Some say Sid came to Vince McMahon and demanded to fight Hogan since a clause in his contract said he could at the next Wrestlemania. That story is highly unlikely though and thought to be untrue. The other story which is believed to be the true one is that Hulk Hogan was going to retire at Wrestlemania 8 (he did but he returned a year later) and didn't want to lose to Ric Flair. Hogan wanted to fight Flair but wanted to win by pinfall and retire with the belt. Vince McMahon didn't like the idea so changed the match to a double main event. Wrestling fans never did get to see a pay pier view Hogan vs Flair match until two years later in 1994." 

2. Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels (WWF Championship match) WrestleMania 13

Another great match that never happened was Bret vs. Shawn at WrestleMania 13. This match did happen at WrestleMania 12, but it would have been awesome to see the rematch at the next WrestleMania. The interesting thing about WrestleMania 13 is that it was in Chicago. Shawn Michaels does not have many classic Chicago matches. I think his most famous match in Chicago might have been his WrestleMania 22 match vs. Mr. McMahon. This match would have easily been Shawn's best match in Chicago and it probably would have been another classic Bret vs. Shawn match that would appear on several WWE DVDs. Just like the Hogan vs. Flair match, this match was rumored to happen, but it didn't happen. Why? Here is what NoDQ.com wrote about this match:

"Originally the main event for WrestleMania 13 was to be Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWF Championship. Had the match taken place, Michaels would have dropped the WWF Championship to Hart (as a way to return the favor for Hart dropping the title to Michaels at WrestleMania XII). However, Michaels refused to drop the belt and ended up forfeiting the title on a special broadcast of Thursday RAW Thursday, with Michaels giving his, now infamous, "losing my smile" speech. Contradicting this, Michaels claims in his autobiography that he truly was injured after tweaking his previously injured knee and was told by Dr. James Andrews that he would never wrestle again, forcing him to drop the title and rehab intensively in an attempt to strengthen his knee."

WrestleView.com wrote something similar:

"In Early 1997, Shawn Michaels knew that he would be dropping the belt to Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13.. to return the favor so to speak..., therefore Shawn forfeited his WWF title (due to the unwillingness to job to Bret at WM13)."

The match we did see was Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin and that is arguably the greatest WrestleMania match of all-time, but I think Bret vs. Shawn II would have been a classic match.  

3. Kurt Angle vs. The Undertaker WrestleMania 22 

Weeks ago, I watch Kurt Angle vs. The Undertaker on the History of The Undertaker DVD. After the match, Angle said he wants to wrestle The Undertaker at WrestleMania someday. The DVD was released in 2005. Seven years later, that match hasn't happened and it will probably never happen. If it did happen, it should have happened at WrestleMania 22 in 2006. Undertaker and Angle had a match at No Way Out which was the PPV right before WrestleMania 22 and it got good reviews from wrestling reviewers. Dave Meltzer from the Wrestling Observer gave it four stars. If they had a ****+ match at No Way Out, I think they could have had a classic match at WrestleMania 22. That match was probably difficult to book because Angle was the World Heavyweight Champion and Rey Mysterio won the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 22. Undertaker wrestled Mark Henry that night. I don't think the plans for Rey to win the title were going to change so I think the WWE should have taken the title off Angle before WrestleMania so he could face Undertaker. But then who would be the World Heavyweight Champion? Angle successfully defended his title against Mark Henry at the Royal Rumble that year. Mark Henry going into WrestleMania 22 as the World Heavyweight Champion? That wasn't going to happen. I think Angle was the top Smackdown guy at the time so he needed to be in that World Heavyweight Championship match. I understand why the match never happened, but I think it would have been a very good match and definitely better than Undertaker vs. Mark Henry. By WrestleMania 23, Angle was gone from the WWE.

4. Chris Benoit vs. CM Punk (ECW Championship match) Vengeance 2007

This dream match was actually on the PPV card for Vengeance 2007. When doing research for this column, I found an old 411mania Vengeance preview and one of the matches they previewed on the night before the PPV was "CHRIS BENOIT VS. CM PUNK FOR THE VACANT ECW TITLE". That review was written on June 23, 2007. The next night, Benoit was a no-show at the PPV. On June 25, 2007, Chris Benoit was found dead. The match may have not been a five star match because it was only a mid-card match. Johnny Nitro replaced Benoit and the match was only ten minutes long so I wonder how much time it would have gotten if Benoit was in the match. It would have been an amazing match-up, but a match like that needed to be a 20 minute WrestleMania match and not a mid-card ECW match at a non-major PPV. But it would have been one of those matches that people would appreciate now because CM Punk is the WWE Champion. And CM Punk would get to say that he once wrestled Chris Benoit. CM Punk said during the Chris Benoit tribute show on RAW that he was very disappointed that he didn't get to wrestle Benoit and Benoit was his hero. I think if this match did happen and Chris Benoit was still alive right now, this match would have been on CM Punk's new DVD that comes out this October. I'm not sure that this is the greatest match that never happened, but it is a match I would have loved to see.

5. John Cena vs. Randy Orton (Last Match Standing match) No Mercy 2007

Like the Punk-Benoit match, this match was on the card, but Cena got injured during the go-home RAW. The match that happened instead was Orton vs. HHH in a Last Man Standing match. I would have LOVED to see this match. No Mercy 2007 was in Chicago and it was one year after the hostile Cena vs. HHH match at WrestleMania 22. This match would have been at the same level as that match. I enjoyed the Orton vs. HHH match and the storyline with the WWE Championship being defended three times in one night made the PPV very memorable, but this would have had a classic Chicago Crowd reaction and probably would have been a classic match.

If these matches did happen, there are a few classic matches that wouldn't have happened, but it's unfortunate that these matches didn't happen because I think all of them would have been very fun to watch.