There’s no business on Earth where rumors are more prevalent than pro-wrestling. The greatest ones in my opinion always involve WrestleMania. The biggest show of the year is obviously going to draw the biggest questions & speculations. So, with arguably the biggest WrestleMania right around the corner, I thought we’d take a look at some of the best rumors of all time.

Top 5 WrestleMania Rumors of All-Time

5. Ric Flair vs Hulk Hogan for the WWE Championship – WrestleMania 8

When Ric Flair left WCW, with the championship belt no less, he created a landmark moment in pro-wrestling and brought to life just about every fan’s fantasy booker sheets. Of course, for most, the match that was at the top of their Dream Card was Ric Flair vs Hulk Hogan. Sure, multiple wrestling companies and multiple champions had been around for decades, but never at the height of the NWA and WWE in the 1980s. Flair and Hogan were wrestling’s first rock stars, in that they were famous on a national level, and both leading companies to ridiculous success.

Now, it wasn’t just the fact that these two were the respective champions of their companies that made the match seem so appealing, it was also due to the fact they had such different styles and personalities. Ric Flair was the James Bond of pro-wrestling. A man so smooth he could dropkick you with his fist. He was all about money, women, and a good time. On the opposite side was Hulk Hogan. He was Superman without a cape. Leading the charge of good for the youth of America.

Once Ric Flair won the WWE Championship at the 1992 Royal Rumble, it was clearly a no-brainer regarding his opponent come WrestleMania 8. Hell, at a press conference, Hulk Hogan was even named the #1 contender, and everything was set. However, somewhere down the line things changed. Hogan was now facing Sid Justice in what was suppose to be his last match, and Flair would defend against Macho Man Randy Savage.

To this day it’s unclear as to why the match never happened. Some say that when Hogan and Flair did the house show circuit, the business wasn’t booming. However, I’m not sure I believe that, as I’ve heard they did great numbers. Hell, when WCW put the match on PPV, at 1994’s Bash at the Beach, it did a massive buy. The biggest in the company’s history up until that point, so clearly the fans wanted to see this. It’s truly one of the oddest moments in WWE history, and something fans will question until we finally get an answer from Vince. Of course, knowing him, he’ll say he didn’t go with it because both were blonde and he felt fans would get confused over who was who.

4. Psycho Sid Craps Out In His Against The Undertaker – WrestleMania 13

It wasn’t a main event that very many people were excited for. While The Undertaker will go down in history as one of the greatest wrestler’s in history, at this point he wasn’t really known for his ring work. A good reason for that is he was always stuck with guys who were more about their gimmick than their talent. Sid had the ability to have a good match, but it required the right kind of opponent, generally someone smaller and quicker than him. So, when these two were set to face for the WWE title in 1997, fans weren’t exactly clamoring to see it.

Word is, that right before Undertaker was set to deliver his Tombstone, both he and the ref noticed a rather off-putting smell. Apparently, Sid had crapped his pants just before the move, placing The Undertaker’s face right in the business end when hit him with the Tombstone. Some say it was an accident that simply added to Sid’s legend, along with scissoring Arn Anderson, and wielding squeegees. Others say he was pissed about dropping the strap, and since he was on his way out of the company he decided to get a bit of revenge. Some say Sid crapping his pants is why he scurries out of the ring afterward.

As far as I know, neither Sid or ‘Taker have been asked about this directly, so we’ll just have to wait for that YouShoot to know the truth.

3. Lex Luger Is A Chatty Cathy – WrestleMania X

Lex Luger was retooled into Uncle Slam, a flag-waiving All-American who was suppose to take the place of Hulk Hogan. Given the Lex Express, he drove around the country in American flag workout pants and asked people to rally behind him as he attempted to take down Yokozuna at SummerSlam. At this point, it was pretty much the biggest push a wrestler had ever been given. An f’ning bus! So, it was pretty amazing when he didn’t win the title at SummerSlam. Apparently, Vince was just waiting until WrestleMania. Well, the big day finally came, and once again, Luger choked.

The reason for this is that apparently Luger was at a bar the night before WrestleMania, getting friendly with someone who turned out to be a reporter. He told said person that he was definitely going to win the belt the next night, that Uncle Slam, that George WashingTonsOfMuscle, that Abraham PunchYouInTheFace, was going to bring home the gold for the good ol’ US of A. Well, the reporter was obviously going to go to print with this, thus ruining the results of WrestleMania X. Naturally, Luger was punished, and forced to lose again. Depriving us of the long and fruitful reign of Sexy Flexy Lexy.

2. HBK’s Drug Abuse Inadvertently Saves The Streak – WrestleMania X7

WrestleMania X7 is often considered the Holy Grail when it comes to quality in a PPV. From beginning to end, the card is stacked with matches that usher in quality for every piece of genre that creates great wrestling, from action, drama, twists, and flat out fun. One of those matches is Triple H vs The Undertaker. A no-DQ match that went all over the place and helped cement WMX7’s place in history. It also marked the 9th win in The Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak, a streak that was almost finished that night.

Word is that Shawn Michaels was due to guest referee the match and Triple H would end up with the W. Now, I know it’s hard to imagine Triple H shoehorning a friend in for a WrestleMania payday, and winning his match, but for the sake of the rumor please bare with me. Ever since Shawn’s last couple of years full-time with the company, and the sporadic few appearances he’d had since retiring, he was often a pilled up asshole. For this last run, Triple H had really gone to bat for him, and earned Shawn another chance. However, the night of WrestleMania, he apparently showed up in absolutely no condition to perform, and allegedly passed out backstage. Since he was retired, and only doing a few guest spots here and there, he couldn’t really be punished. However, since Triple H had endorsed Shawn the whole way, the finish of the match was switched around and ‘Taker got the W.

If I were Shawn, I’d be hitting up ‘Taker these days for a piece of his WrestleMania paydays, since I was an inadvertent reason the Streak was going on.

1. Sting Does This, Does That, He’s Coming In To Face The Undertaker At WrestleMania – WM 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31.

Honest to God, this WrestleMania rumor will continue to pop up every January until at least three years after they’ve both died. I don’t know what it is about WrestleMania that brings about the Sting rumors, but it never fails. I also don’t understand why the WWE waits until WrestleMania to reach out to him. I mean, we dig Sting, and we’d be perfectly fine seeing him in the company in June, or August, November, or hell, even February. Well, maybe not February, I don’t really feel like seeing Triple H eliminate Sting in the Chamber. Apparently though, we’re closer than ever to seeing him finally take a shot at the Streak, with WrestleMania 31 being the place. At least that’s the rumor.