Griffin Kaye
One of the pieces of breaking news coming out of WrestleMania 33 was the return to the WWE of the ultra-popular Hardy Boys. Yet behind the reporting of the comeback and tag title win was a shocking statistic: the win was Jeff Hardy’s first WrestleMania triumph. Indeed, despite five previous main card appearances, the younger Hardy brother had never attained a victory at “The Showcase of the Immortals”. Yet, as we shall find out, Hardy was not the only man who suffered ‘Mania losses for years, although these 10 other stars never got the same streak-ending victory.
Please note: this list will only include wrestlers with at least three WrestleMania matches and we will not be including pre-show performances.
Goldust (0-7)
Goldust has the most WrestleMania matches without a win, having competed in seven and remaining winless. If we count pre-show matches, this figure goes into the double digits.
“The Bizarre One” had his first encounter at WrestleMania 12, starting in style as he faced Roddy Piper in a ‘Hollywood Backlot Brawl’. The match famously had a highspeed car chase parodying the OJ Simpson incident from nearly two years earlier. In the end, “The Grandson of A Plumber” was disrobed to reveal black lingerie, ending when Rhodes ran to the back.
Although by far his most memorable encounter, Goldust would appear in other main card WrestleMania matches, wrestling a young Triple H and challenging for the Intercontinental title belt in a fatal four-way at WrestleMania 15.
For the last decade of his WWE run, Goldust became a mainstay in multi-man affairs, competing on the main shows of WrestleMania 30 and 32 in the ‘Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal’.
R-Truth (0-5)
Like Goldust, R-Truth was a performer often on the card but rarely in a featured position. Indeed, R-Truth has competed in five ‘Mania matches, but of these, none were singles matches.
Despite still being an active performer for the company, the former K-Kwik has not wrestled on a main card since WrestleMania 32, eight years ago.
Amongst his most notable matches are a tag team title challenge at WrestleMania 26, being a member of Team Teddy at WrestleMania 28’s battle over who would be WWE General Manager, and competing in the Intercontinental title Ladder match at WrestleMania 31.
Despite five losses, Truth has never been pinned or submitted at the event.
Big E (0-5)
In 2013, Big E. Langston made his in-ring main roster WWE debut when he and Dolph Ziggler challenged Team Hell No for the WWE Tag Team title belts.
The next year, he was in the ‘Andre Memorial Battle Royal’.
Despite being one of the most consistent and high-profile groups in modern history, The New Day have never won a WrestleMania match. Despite managing Kofi Kingston to the WWE championship in 2019, as a unit, they are winless.
As a part of the group, E was on the losing side to The League of Nations at WrestleMania 32 and The Bludgeon Brothers at WrestleMania 34, having hosted ‘Mania 33.
In 2021, Big E. entered “The Grandaddy of Them All” as IC champion. For the seventh time that year, he faced Apollo Crews, losing in a ‘Nigerian Drum Fight’. They would wrestle a total of 17 televised times that year.
Big E’s neck was broken a few weeks before WrestleMania 38. Instead, Kingston and Woods fought a match dedicated to their fallen comrade but were bafflingly defeated in under two minutes. It continued Xavier Woods’s similarly unsuccessful ‘Mania track record.
The Dudley Boys (0-4)
A cornerstone of the tag division for years, it may be surprising that the team that held 10 tag titles in the WWF/E never won a match at the company’s flagship Pay-Per-View (PPV).
Their most famous ‘Mania match was the iconic Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at WrestleMania X7. A standout match on perhaps the best event the WWF ever produced, it was an energetic and chaotic encounter, heavily featuring the Dudley Boys’ beloved tables. TLC 2, as it became known, was itself an adaption of a Triangle Ladder Match held between Edge and Christian, The Hardy Boys and The Dudleys at WrestleMania 2000.
Less memorable are the two multi-team affairs The Dudleys competed in in 2002 and 2004.
In 2002, the team were the second eliminated in a Four Corners tag bout for the World Tag Team titles. Although outlasting The APA, they were eliminated by The Hardy Boys in a match won by Billy & Chuck.
In 2004, they were a part of another four-way tag match, challenging for Booker T and Rob Van Dam’s tag titles although they failed to win, with the former Alliance members retaining their belts.
Asuka (0-4)
Amongst a stacked women’s roster, few stand out as much as Asuka. As talented as “The Empress of Tomorrow” may be, she has suffered from stop-start booking, as can be seen by her ‘Mania rap sheet.
In her first appearance at WrestleMania, she lost her SmackDown Women’s title to Charlotte Flair. Condemned as a disappointing result, it also saw Flair snap the Japanese star’s undefeated streak on the main roster. At the next year’s event, Asuka was not even on the main card, having lost her title belt to Flair shortly before and appearing as another body in the pre-show battle royal.
In 2020, Asuka and Kabuki Warriors tag partner Kairi Sane competed in the first match of the lockdown WrestleMania, dropping their tag belts to Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross.
At both WrestleManias 37 and 39, Asuka was involved in torch-passing women’s title matches with Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair respectively. The matches made Rhea the first woman to challenge for all four major women’s belts at WrestleMania and expanded Belair’s undefeated run.
Of note, WrestleMania 38—which Asuka missed due to injury—saw Sasha Banks end her 0-5 streak with a tag team title win with Naomi.
MVP (0-4)
A fixture of the WWE’s mid-card during the mid-late 2000s, it is surprising Montel Vontavious Porter has never won at “The Showcase of the Immortals”.
In his only singles outing, he failed to capture the United States title from champion Chris Benoit, being pinned after “The Crippler” performed his diving headbutt.
From WrestleMania 24 through to 26, he competed in three different Money in the Bank ladder matches at a time when the gimmick match was not yet its own standalone PPV.
Of these, his first was perhaps the most notable due to an ongoing storyline that impacted him during the bout. About to retrieve the briefcase, long-time rival Matt Hardy sabotaged Porter, performing a twist of fate off of a ladder to rule MVP out of the match.
In 2008 and 2009, the match was won by CM Punk whilst 2010’s edition was won by Jack Swagger.
Crush (0-4)
During his WWF career, Brian Adams had various gimmicks yet lost all four of his WrestleMania matches, which was rather Reckless—and yes, that is a Bryan Adams pun.
Two of these matches were featured feuds.
At WrestleMania IX, Kona Crush took on Doink The Clown. He fell short of toppling the portentous prankster after a second Doink, referred to as an “illusion” by the commentators, used a loaded prosthetic arm on the Hawaiian.
The next year, Crush turned heel after coming back from an injury and stating friend Randy Savage never visited or called him. Crush, who—to be honest—was totally justified at being irritated, also bizarrely became a Japanese sympathiser, complete with a martial arts moveset, purple singlet, and black face paint. In their falls count anywhere match, Savage emerged victorious after a botched attempt to hang Crush from a pulley system. It would be the ‘Macho Man’’s final ever WWE match.
These two matches were bookended by two tag matches. At WrestleMania VII, Crush teamed with Demolition partner Smash in a loss to Japanese talents Genichiro Tenryu and Koji Kitao. Featuring two workers fans had never seen before and following the momentous Randy Savage versus Ultimate Warrior match, fans were ambivalent to the clunky affair.
In 1997, Crush was a part of The Nation of Domination for their tag Chicago street fight with The Legion of Doom and Ahmed Johnson. Crush was pinned after being hit with a 2×4 by Animal.
The Godfather (0-3)
Like Crush, Charles Wright had each of his WrestleMania matches under a different gimmick.
Also like Crush, he was a member of The Nation of Domination. Although not involved in the WrestleMania 13 street fight, he did compete in WrestleMania XIV’s opener, representing the Nation in one of two teams in the number one contender’s tag battle royal.
At WrestleMania 2000, incidentally an event without a regular singles bout, he teamed with D’Lo Brown (who too has lost three ‘Mania matches without a win) in a loss to The Big Boss Man and Bull Buchanan in the opening bout.
The next year, he competed in his third ‘Mania tag bout at ‘Mania X7, this time as The Goodfather and tagging with Right To Censor stablemates Val Venis and Bull Buchanan in a losing effort to The Acolyte Protection Agency (APA) and Tazz. It was fairly forgettable, and is considered one of the lesser matches of one of the greatest WrestleManias of all time
Notably, in all of The Godfather’s ‘Mania matches, Bull Buchanan was also involved.
Jimmy Snuka (0-3)
‘Superfly’’s list of WrestleMania matches is a star-studded snapshot of some of the greatest wrestling heels across the eras.
In his first outing, Snuka was defeated by ‘Ravishing’ Rick Rude at WrestleMania VI. Falling foul of the Rude Awakening, the match was the penultimate bout of the show, followed by “The Ultimate Challenge”: Hulk Hogan versus Ultimate Warrior. Already in his late 40s, it was clear time was not on Snuka’s side at this time.
The next year, he would have his most memorable encounter when he locked horns with The Undertaker in the latter’s first WrestleMania encounter. In a one-sided contest, The Undertaker pinned Snuka with a Tombstone, in spite of a botched end spot. He later remarked: “It was a great pleasure to be the first guy to wrestle The Undertaker at WrestleMania.”
At WrestleMania 25 in 2009, Snuka made an in-ring return albeit in a limited quantity. The 65-year-old got back in the ring with fellow legends Roddy Piper and Ricky Steamboat to fight Chris Jericho but was eliminated in short order after submitting to the Walls of Jericho.
Shinsuke Nakamura (0-3)
After a whirlwind NXT run, fans were clamouring for Shinsuke Nakamura on the WWE’s main roster. However, his time there has been underwhelming, with his ‘Mania record indicative of his main roster run overall.
After winning the 2018 Royal Rumble, ‘The King of Strong Style’ challenged WWE champion AJ Styles for his belt at WrestleMania but fell short. Although perfectly serviceable, the match was seen as a major letdown considering the duo’s previous work together, notably at Wrestle Kingdom 10. Nakamura turned heel after the bout, punting Styles below the belt.
At WrestleMania 35, Nakamura and Rusev, once rivals, competed in a four-team match for the SmackDown tag belts. In a match also featuring Aleister Black & Ricochet and The Bar, The Usos retained the belts in the end.
At WrestleMania 38, Nakamura again was defeated by The Usos, losing to them in another SmackDown tag title match. On this occasion, however, Nakamura teamed with guitar-playing partner Rick Boogs. The match was thrown into chaos when Boogs injured his leg, tearing his quadricep and patella, and ripping the tendon off the bone. Undoubtedly hindering the match, it took it, in his words “from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows.” Once that happened, The Usos quickly won, hitting Nakamura with the 1D.
Not only has Nakamura got a dismal win-loss record but he also has not had the standard of matches fans would have hoped for from such a sensational talent. Sad, really.
