WWE made a few big changes during the Attitude Era that focused more on the product becoming unpredictable. Edgier content helped tap into what society wanted at the time, but it was the star-making that made them must-watch television. Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H and Mick Foley were the faces of the company with many great main eventers to their name.
However, not everyone to have a main event PPV match was a great wrestler at the time. WWE forced a few odd wrestlers into unexpected roles. Other names were talented, but they just happened to be in a weaker spot at the time. The following names were the worst to main event PPVs in the Attitude Era.
10 Mr. McMahon
WWE started using Vince McMahon as a heel character to become the perfect rival to Steve Austin. Most of the stories revolved around Vince trying to make sure various wrestlers defeated Austin to get the WWE Championship away from him with mostly failed attempts.
However, things progressed to a shocking level when McMahon started wrestling matches himself. Vince had four PPV main event matches in the Attitude Era during his various feuds with Austin, The Rock and Triple H. Even though McMahon did well for an untrained athlete, he was clearly on the weaker list of names.
9 Diamond Dallas Page
Diamond Dallas Page would be on the positive side of a list looking at the greatest WCW main eventers. Unfortunately, everything about how WWE used Page ended up turning into a huge mistake. DDP debuted as the stalker of The Undertaker’s wife Sara.
WWE instantly made fans lose any interest in Page after he left WCW as a legendary top star. Invasion featured the big WWE vs WCW and ECW tag match in the main event. DDP being part of The Alliance saw him at his absolute worst.
8 Road Dogg
The tag team success of the New Age Outlaws allowed both wrestlers to reach new heights in their respective careers after various struggles in WWE. However, it feels strange to see Road Dogg’s on any list of PPV main events, especially in the Attitude Era when looking at the other names.
WWE booked a big tag match for In Your House: No Way Out of Texas just one month before WrestleMania 14. The New Age Outlaws were part of the heel team in the main event match. Road Dogg not even being in D-Generation X made him feel even further out of place at the top of the card.
7 Rhyno
WWE signing Rhyno was a cool move that made him a fun part of the mid-card picture. However, Rhyno felt out of place getting placed in the Invasion main event representing ECW as part of The Alliance. The hope was that Rhyno arriving to WWE months earlier made him important enough for fans to care.
However, Rhyno just never felt as important in WWE as he did in ECW and TNA. This was the only main event spot of Rhyno’s WWE career as he moved back down the card. Rob Van Dam would have been the better choice representing ECW.
6 Rikishi
Rikishi received the first main event push of his career when turning heel as the driver who ran over Steve Austin. The entire storyline spiraled out of control when fans didn’t treat Rikishi like a credible top heel, and WWE pivoted towards a swerve of Triple H hiring him.
Armageddon 2000 was the end of Rikishi’s main event push as part of the six-man Hell in a Cell match for the WWE Championship. Rikishi does deserve credit for taking the biggest bump of that match when Undertaker pushed him off the top of the cell.
5 Shane McMahon
Shane McMahon joined his dad as a wrestler when storylines called for him to get physical. WWE placed Shane in a handful of main event tag matches when feuding against Steve Austin and The Rock. Shane getting beat up by the wrestlers did have fans invested in the match.
However, this was before Shane gained the reputation of having fun matches with the stunt show spots. WWE didn’t have Shane main event any Attitude Era shows once fans actually got into him. The main event matches were lackluster and hard to watch back today.
4 Big Show
WWE signed Big Show to become the next major star after he grew frustrated in WCW. Unfortunately, it took Big Show some time to get used to the WWE style. A rocky start made Big Show look like a failed signing at various points.
Big Show won the WWE Championship in the Attitude Era and had a few main event matches. Most instances saw Big Show being a tier or two below the other massive names in the Attitude Era. Big Show did start to feel more like a main eventer in the Ruthless Aggression Era to his credit.
3 Savio Vega
Savio Vega is a very good wrestler, but he wasn’t a noteworthy performer in the Attitude Era by any means. WWE made Savio a lower mid-card heel after his babyface push ended. However, Vega was picked when WWE needed a replacement for the In Your House: No Way Out of Texas main event.
Shawn Michaels was injured, so WWE picked Savio of all people out of the blue to join the heel team. This made no sense and caused Vega to feel like an all-time bad main event name. WWE clearly dropped the ball trying to come up with a last-minute change here. Chyna may have been a better choice to get protected in a tag match before she regularly wrestled.
2 Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan returned to WWE at the end of the Attitude Era with the New World Order act. WWE turned Hogan face after he had his iconic match with The Rock and fans rallied behind him. Unfortunately, the face run of Hogan exposed all his weaknesses all at once.
The final PPV of the Attitude Era saw Hogan defeating Triple H in a terrible match to win the WWE Championship at Backlash 2002. Hogan looked significantly worse in the ring than the names fans were familiar with closing the show at this time.
1 The British Bulldog
The British Bulldog had a disappointing WCW run that almost paralyzed him. However, an improvement in health was good enough for Bulldog to sign with WWE in 1999 for one more run. Davey Boy Smith was no longer as good as he was in the early 1990s, and it showed right away.
WWE made an odd call placing Bulldog in a six-pack match for the WWE Championship to main event at Unforgiven 1999. Bulldog felt completely out of place compared to the other top stars of the Attitude Era since he left.