10 Superstars who had multiple matches in the same night

10 Superstars who had multiple matches in the same night

Competing in one match at a WWE special event is hard enough. Having two is damn near impossible. Yet, that’s exactly what awaits Seth Rollins when he defends his WWE World Heavyweight and United States Championships — against Sting and John Cena, respectively — on Sept. 20 at Night of Champions. As rough a road as The Architect has to travel to retain his hardware, he’s far from the only Superstar who has had to trudge it. In honor of Rollins’ induction into WWE’s club of Marathon Men, here are eight Superstars who stepped between the ropes twice when the spotlight was brightest … and two guys who did it three times.

Daniel Bryan — WrestleMania 30

10 Superstars who had multiple matches in the same night

Perhaps the highest-profile twofer in recent WWE history belongs to Daniel Bryan, who capped off his nearly year-long struggle against The Authority with a one-two punch at the thirtieth Showcase of the Immortals in 2014. In one of the most emotional performances in the history of WrestleMania, Bryan defeated his personal tormentor, Triple H, in the night’s first contest to earn a spot in the evening’s main event. Once there, he powered his way past Randy Orton and Batista to win the unified WWE World Heavyweight Championship. It was, all in all, a pretty big deal. He even wrote a book about it.

Chris Jericho — Vengeance 2001

10 Superstars who had multiple matches in the same night

Speaking of winning two titles at once: Jericho invented it. The original Undisputed Champion was crowned in a double-down effort by The Ayatollah of Rock ‘n’ Rolla at Vengeance 2001, where he first knocked off The Rock to win the WCW Championship and, moments later, was forced to battle WWE Champion “Stone Cold” Steve Austin (also in his second match of the night) to unify the two titles. Thanks to a cavalcade of interlopers, interferences and near-impossibilities, ol’ Corazón de Léon pulled it off, earning a notch in his belt that would go unmatched by any Superstar for 12 long years.

Brock Lesnar — Royal Rumble 2003

10 Superstars who had multiple matches in the same night

If we’re doing a list of superhuman feats, we can’t in good conscience omit the presence of The Beast Incarnate. Before Brock attained that fearsome mantle and was simply The Next Big Thing, the former NCAA Heavyweight Champion showed an aptitude for defying expectations. Not the first, but perhaps the most pertinent, sign of his powers was the 2003 Royal Rumble, where Lesnar defeated Big Show to earn a spot in the Royal Rumble Match later that night (the two would meet again 11 years later, with a rougher outcome). Brock entered at 29 and won the melee by last eliminating The Undertaker, with whom Brock would also have a similar, fateful confrontation years later. Two, actually.

Christian — Over the Limit 2012

10 Superstars who had multiple matches in the same night

It had been a long road since Christian when Captain Charisma made his special event return at Over the Limit 2012. And though the former World Heavyweight Champion didn’t exactly get “One More Match” for WWE’s biggest prize, he did get two matches in one night — and a title to boot. In Christian’s first rumble of the evening, he won a Battle Royal to earn either an opportunity at Cody Rhodes’ Intercontinental Championship or Santino Marella’s U.S. Title. Given his villainous bona fides at the time, Christian was expected to put the boots to The Italian Stallion, so imagine everyone’s surprise when he set his eyes on The Prince instead, ultimately winning the pearly-white title when all was said and done.

Kurt Angle — King of the Ring 2001

10 Superstars who had multiple matches in the same night

A Superstar competing not once, not twice, but thrice in one night? Oh, it’s damn true. One of WWE’s most noteworthy iron men was Kurt Angle, who stepped through the curtain for a troika of hellacious matches at King of the Ring 2001. You’d think a pair of high-stakes contests in the King of the Ring tournament itself — a semifinal win over Christian and a finals loss to Edge — would be enough for one guy. However, the gold medalist went and outdid himself in a legendary Street Fight against Shane McMahon that saw him belly-to-belly The Boy Wonder through a pane of glass. Hey, something had to break by the end of the night.

Dolph Ziggler — Vengeance 2011

10 Superstars who had multiple matches in the same night

He steals the show every single night, and sometimes twice in the same night. Amid Dolph Ziggler’s rise to “hey, this guy’s really good” prominence in 2011 was a high-stakes twofer at Vengeance 2011, where The Showoff both defended and challenged for championship gold. His first effort, the challenge, didn’t go so great when he teamed with Jack Swagger for a run at Air Boom’s WWE Tag Team Titles. The Zig-Swag combo couldn’t get the job done, but Ziggler still left a champion when he defended his U.S. Title moments later against Zack Ryder and kept his run as the Star-Spangled Champ alive … at least for a few more months.

Cesaro — WrestleMania 30 and WrestleMania 31

10 Superstars who had multiple matches in the same night

So, we’ve had Superstars who wrestled twice, even three times, in one night. Now here’s one who wrestled twice in a night at the same event, two years in a row. Who could it be? What ridiculous, superhuman specimen could possibly — oh, right, Cesaro. The resident übermensch of WWE competed in both the WWE Tag Team Title Matches and Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royals of WrestleManias 30 and 31. He unsuccessfully challenged The Usos for the twin titles alongside Jack Swagger, but won the inaugural Battle Royal at WrestleMania 30, then defended his and Tyson Kidd’s titles at WrestleMania 31 and participated in the Andre Battle Royal moments later. He didn’t win that one, but he came pretty close. Can’t wait to see what he does in Dallas next year.

Bret Hart — WrestleMania X

10 Superstars who had multiple matches in the same night

Talk about excellence and execution. WWE Hall of Famer Bret “Hit Man” Hart proved himself to be an exemplar of both at the tenth-ever WrestleMania, when he laced up for a pair of matches to bookend the show. Unfortunately, the night started off rough for The Best There Is, the Best There Was and the Best There Ever Will Be when he lost to his brother Owen Hart, but a victory over Yokozuna for the WWE Title at the night’s end proved that this Hart was a dynasty unto himself. Speaking of Yoko …

Yokozuna — WrestleMania IX and X

10 Superstars who had multiple matches in the same night

… The master of the Banzai Bomb pulled double duty at the very same WrestleMania as Hart! His night was a mirror performance of The Excellence of Execution, as he defended the WWE Title against Lex Luger, only to lose it to Hart later in the night. Coincidentally, Yokozuna pulled double-duty at WrestleMania IX as well, winning and losing the ultimate prize in a matter of minutes thanks to a controversial succession of matches.

Triple H — No Mercy 2007

10 Superstars who had multiple matches in the same night

Time to play The Game … again and again and again. Our second instance of a three-in-one performance comes from Triple H, whose night at No Mercy 2007 was marked by a grueling trifecta of WWE Championship Matches. The first was a victory over his protégé, Randy Orton, to whom Mr. McMahon had awarded the vacant title at the start of the night. The Game successfully defended his newly-won prize against Umaga at the evening’s midpoint, but Orton evoked his rematch clause for the night’s final match, a Last Man Standing contest, and ultimately won back the title hours after he’d lost it. It’s tough to be The King. And tougher to be The King of Kings. Let’s see if Rollins can do better.

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