10 Worst WWE SmackDown Main Events

For much of the show’s history, SmackDown has very much been viewed as the B show to Monday Night Raw's status as WWE’s flagship series. This has even proliferated during periods when SmackDown presented a superior product in terms of in-ring action. 

That hasn’t always been the case, though, and SmackDown has had some horrendous matches since the show launched all the way back in 1999, including in the main event slot. Bad booking, bad action or just all-around bad vibes make these 10 show-closers matches to skip when tuning in for a rewatch of SmackDown. 

These are the 10 Worst WWE SmackDown Main Events. 

10. Booker T & Josh Mathews vs. JBL & Orlando Jordan - November 4, 2004

In late 2004, WWE decided to revive Tough Enough. Around this time, Booker T was being established as a challenger for JBL’s WWE Title, which provided the basis for this curiosity of a main event.

On the November 4, 2004 edition of SmackDown, Tough Enough season one runner-up Josh Mathews, who had been used as a backstage interviewer, host, and Velocity commentator, made his in-ring WWE debut after being slapped by JBL for apparently insulting the champion’s right hand man, Orlando Jordan. 

A tag team main event saw Mathews team with Booker T to take on JBL and Jordan in a match that was about as compelling as you would expect it to be, considering who was involved. 

Mathews didn’t look terrible when hitting a crossbody or a dropkick, but nothing about this whole presentation suggested he belonged in the main event. After being beaten down, he managed to make the hot tag to Booker T, who proceeded to clean house and pin Orlando Jordan following a Scissor Kick. 

Arguably the worst insult in having Mathews in the main event was the likes of Eddie Guerrero and The Undertaker didn't even have a match on this show. 

9. Brock Lesnar & The Big Show vs. The APA - October 30, 2003

While Brock Lesnar was main eventing SmackDown against the likes of Rey Mysterio in 2002, SmackDown’s creative was noticeably on a downward trend in late 2003, which was clear to see as the blue brand presented Brock Lesnar & The Big Show vs. The APA. 

The match served as a preview for the Traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series Elimination Match just a couple of weeks later which saw Team Lesnar (Brock Lesnar, The Big Show, Matt Morgan, Nathan Jones, and A-Train) take on Team Angle (Kurt Angle, John Cena, Chris Benoit, Hardcore Holly, and Bradshaw). 

This preview didn’t make anyone want to buy Survivor Series 2003 on pay-per-view, however, as the sluggish, heatless main event consisted of punches, kicks, clubbing blows, and shoulder blocks. One of the few positives was the match was short and only went three minutes before Lesnar decked Faarooq with a chair. 

The whole match only existed for the post-match angle where the heels pillmanised Faarooq’s leg with a steel chair as a reason for him to be taken out of the Survivor Series match and be replaced by John Cena, who was turning babyface at the time after establishing himself as a popular talent through his Doctor of Thuganomics gimmick. 

8. The Rock vs. Kevin Nash - March 21, 2002

Just a few days after stealing the show at WrestleMania X8 with Hulk Hogan in an Icon vs. Icon dream match, The Rock was booked against the Hulkster’s now former New World Order stablemate Kevin Nash. 

On paper, The Great One vs. Big Sexy should have been something of a dream match itself, as two of the top stars of WWE and WCW during the Monday Night Wars faced off for the first time in singles action. The match was a giant dud, though, and consisted mainly of Nash wearing down Dwayne Johnson with punches, forearms and other deliberate clubbing blows while Scott Hall cheated at ringside and The Rock attempted brief comebacks.

The match ground to a halt when Nash applied a bear hug, before The People’s Champion made his usual comeback and hit the People’s Elbow, which was the cue for Hall – who put in as much work as anyone with two big bumps over the top rope – to run in for the disqualification.

The post-match angle, with Nash putting Rock through the announce table with a Jacknife Powerbomb and Hogan running in for the save, only to be beaten down by the nWo, including new member X-Pac, was infinitely more interesting than the preceding seven-minute snoozer. 

7. Triple H vs. Vladimir Kozlov vs. The Great Khali - January 30, 2009

Triple H is primarily associated with Monday Night Raw but The Game did have a brief spell on SmackDown in the late 2000s during his later reigns as WWE Champion. This spell, while featuring highlights like his programme with Jeff Hardy, also saw Triple H have a main event Triple Threat against Vladimir Kozlov and The Great Khali.

The odds were stacked against HHH both in real life and in storyline for the Elimination Chamber qualifier on the January 30, 2009 episode of SmackDown. The match was kept simple, with The Great Khali being kept out of the way as much as possible, but it was far from thrilling and looked outright terrible whenever Khali and Kozlov came to blows. 

There were far less botches than would be expected from this three-way, but that is also because the sequences were kept basic. The finish was particularly poor as Khali received one of the worst Pedigrees to ever be delivered. 

6. John Cena vs. Orlando Jordan - March 3, 2005

By the time the March 3, 2005 edition of SmackDown aired, it was clear that John Cena was ready to break out and become The Guy in WWE. The future 17-time world champion had a WrestleMania match booked with WWE Champion JBL, but he was still the reigning United States Champion heading into the Showcase of the Immortals. 

WWE decided to get the title off Cena, which led to his match with JBL's right hand man and The Cabinet Chief of Staff Orlando Jordan. The match was given plenty of time and was a main event for the United States Title, but Cena and Jordan failed to produce an entertaining contest. 

The match was clunky, stuffed with rest holds, and ended when Jordan beat Cena after run-ins and a shot with a chain from JBL to become one of the least credible United States champions in history.

5. Kane vs. The Great Khali - August 17, 2007

In the summer of 2007, WWE fans saw The Great Khali become the World Heavyweight Champion and it wasn't exactly a popular decision.

After Edge was forced to vacate the belt due to injury, Khali won a battle royal to become the new champion. With the SmackDown roster very thin on star power at the time, The Punjabi Giant was immediately programmed with Batista and Kane. 

This led to a non-title clash between Khali and Kane on August 17 in what was a rematch of their awful WrestleMania 23 match. Their latest clash had a readymade storyline as Kane had taped up ribs, but this didn’t make the clash of the giants any more exciting. Khali could barely move and so it was up to Kane to move for the two of them before Khali put his opponent and the sorry match out of its misery with the dreaded head vice.

Fortunately, Khali was soon binned as World Heavyweight Champion as Batista regained the belt at Unforgiven.

4. Jinder Mahal vs. Baron Corbin - August 15, 2017

Jinder Mahal’s WWE Title reign was not a hit with fans, who believed he was being pushed based on his look and WWE’s desire to appeal to the Indian market rather than talent or merit. 

With the right opponent, Jinder Mahal could have an entertaining enough match, though. That opponent was not John Cena as they clashed in a middling non-title match on the go-home edition of SmackDown before SummerSlam 2017. Cena even had the match won following an Attitude Adjustment from the top rope, but Baron Corbin charged to the ring and broke up the winning pinfall by sliding his Money in the Bank briefcase into Cena, drawing a DQ in the process. 

With Mahal down and out, Corbin seized the opportunity to cash in the briefcase. As soon as the match began, though, Cena hopped on the apron and distracted Corbin, allowing Mahal to roll The Lone Wolf up for the 1-2-3 out of nowhere in all of nine seconds. 

Several years on, it is still difficult to believe that Jinder Mahal vs. Baron Corbin was a match for the same belt that has been held by some of the biggest stars to ever grace the squared circle. 

3. The Undertaker vs. Heidenreich & Paul Heyman - January 6, 2005

Particularly in the 2000s, if there was a new super heavyweight fresh out of developmental that WWE were looking to get over, he would be put opposite The Undertaker as Mark Calaway was given the difficult task of creating watchable television. 

While not his fault, The Undertaker had a mixed track record against fellow giants and Heidenreich was one of the talents he struggled against. This didn’t bode well for the main event of the January 6, 2005 episode of SmackDown when The Undertaker took on Heidenreich and Paul Heyman under the stipulation that if the duo won, they could change the match type for the impending Casket Match between Heidenreich and ‘Taker at the Royal Rumble. 

A match that was thankfully short, it consisted of some rudimentary wrestling in the opening exchanges before Heidenreich took control with a Chinlock. Following The Undertaker’s babyface comeback, the druids arrived with two caskets to terrify Heidenreich. This left Paul Heyman easy prey for a Tombstone from The Undertaker and the former Paul E. Dangerously was placed in a casket to end the match. 

2. Mr. America vs. Sean O'Haire - May 22, 2003

On paper, this match had all the makings of a quality SmackDown main event with Sean O’Haire, managed by Roddy Piper, taking on a masked Hulk Hogan who was accompanied to the ring by one-legged superman Zach Gowen, with the added stipulation that Piper would be fired if O’Haire lost while Mr. America would take a lie detector test if he was the wrestler defeated. 

Despite the match having plenty going for it, it was very poor as O’Haire was far from a ring general and Hogan’s in-ring work was rapidly declining by 2003. 

The match was kept simple but looked incredibly dated as they worked a 1980s-style bout on the same show which was populated by the likes of Rey Mysterio, Brock Lesnar, and Chris Benoit. 

The pedestrian nature of the main event saw Mr. America sleepwalk his way through the match before Hulking up and hitting his Leg Drop to have the win in his grasp, only for Roddy Piper to get involved. This brought out Vince McMahon, who had Zach Gowen arrested, which caused Hogan to lose via count-out as he wondered what was going on with all the police officers.

1. Brock Lesnar vs. Kofi Kingston - October 4, 2019

At WrestleMania 35, Kofi Kingston did what few thought he would ever do and beat Daniel Bryan to become WWE Champion, making it KofiMania in the process.

While never presented as The Guy, Kingston held the belt for six months, defending it against the likes of Randy Orton, Samoa Joe, Kevin Owens, and Dolph Ziggler. The writing looked to be on the wall, however, when Kingston went one-on-one with Brock Lesnar on the FOX debut of Friday Night SmackDown on October 4, 2019.  

While few expected Kingston to win, the manner in which he lost - jumping at Brock straight into position for an F5 and being pinned in seven seconds - makes this encounter one of the most infamous WWE Title matches in company history.  

After half a year of defending his title with pride, Kingston’s main event career came to an end in the blink of an eye. It was a slap in the face to him and his fans and made the match, pretty much by default, the worst main event in SmackDown history.