2020 brings us WrestleMania 36, though you wouldn’t know that since WWE stopped numbering these things sometime around Rock vs Cena II. They couldn’t pass up a chance for XXX at Mania 30, but other than that it’s been Bullhorns and Pirate Flags all the way down.
The 2010s were a turbulent and transformative decade for WWE. The company shifted from a PPV model to a monthly over the top Network plan, put a tremendous emphasis on women’s wrestling, and retired several hall of fame performers. WrestleMania continued as a stadium show, fully blossoming into a multi-day, multi-show spectacle. The show at the heart of the weekend also ballooned into a ghastly seven-hour event, dragging on and on with too many main-events that fans lost interest in sticking around after the fourth or fifth hour.
Speaking of, let’s look back on the past decade’s worth of main-events and rate them simply on a scale of 10 to 1, worst to best. Might we discover some pattern? Is there a common denominator between the matches that worked and those that didn’t? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe this article will have more thought put into it than half the main-event storylines mentioned, but that’s the state of WWE these days.
Disclaimer: When I say “main-event” I mean the actual show-closer, the last match. If there was an impromptu “Hogan vs Yokozuna” add-on to the last-match, then that’s considered as part of the last match and rated alongside it as one “experience.”
#10 – ROMAN REIGNS vs UNDERTAKER (WRESTLEMANIA 33)
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Easily among the very worst WrestleMania main-events of all time, the 33rd edition featured Roman Reigns in his third-straight appearance at the close of the show. This was the mini-era where Vince was bound and determined to make him into the next John Cena. The trouble was, after three years at the top, John Cena had grown his fanbase. He still had vocal opponents in the stands, but there was a sizeable “Let’s go Cena” contingent too. After three years of All Roman All the Time, fans were neither angry nor supportive; they were bored. Tossing the Undertaker out as a sacrificial lamb was also classic “stubborn, prideful Vince,” refusing to admit his mistake.
Rewatchability /10 = 0
Workrate = /10 = 4
Storyline = /10 = 2
Crowd Heat = /10 = 2
#9 – ROMAN REIGNS vs BROCK LESNAR (WRESTLEMANIA 34)
Easily among the very worst WrestleMania main-events of all time, the 34th edition featured Roman Reigns in his fourth-straight appearance at the close of the show. This was the mini-era where Vince was bound and determined to make him into the next John Cena. The trouble was, after four years of trying, the fans weren’t buying. It’s interesting to look back on this now that some time has passed: Roman Reigns improved tremendously as a performer between Mania 31-34 but he became less popular and viable as a main-eventer over the course of that span. If that’s not an indictment against the way he was booked, nothing is. This main-event is easily the dumbest of the lot as it featured everyone finally worn-down to the point of begrudgingly accepting a Roman title run, only for Vince to chicken out and keep the belt on Brock Lesnar. Never change Vince, you fickle old has-been.
Rewatchability /10 = 3
Workrate = /10 = 1
Storyline = /10 = 0
Crowd Heat = /10 = 4
#8 – JOHN CENA vs THE MIZ (WRESTLEMANIA 27)
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Remember this? Let me summarize the night for you: The guy everyone paid to see in the main event was the “host” of the show, who didn’t even make an appearance in the main-event until after the match ended in a DQ.
That’s the most Monday Nitro thing I’ve ever typed.
Rewatchability /10 = 0
Workrate = /10 = 0
Storyline = /10 = 5
Crowd Heat = /10 = 7
#7 – ROMAN REIGNS vs TRIPLE H (WRESTLEMANIA 32)
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After failing to make Roman Reigns the next John Cena at WrestleMania 31, Vince was bound and determined to make it stick the following year. This time, Triple H stepped into the role, filling the shoes he once wore a decade before when he passed the torch to John Cena. As you might imagine things did not go as smoothly here as they did in Chicago. Say what you will about the Windy City, at least their fans stayed till the end to boo John Cena’s every move. Here, after a too-long and inconsistent Mania, nearly half the audience went home early, deciding to beat the traffic rather than watch the unpopular Roman Reigns be crowned. Good for them as the match was a boring slog.
Rewatchability /10 = 1
Workrate = /10 = 5
Storyline = /10 = 5
Crowd Heat = /10 = 2
#6 – JOHN CENA vs THE ROCK II (WRESTLEMANIA 29)
A main-event so nice, Vince ran it twice. Credit to him for having a two-year plan that he saw through to the end—then again, that only happened because it had The Rock in the middle of it—but points deducted for his failure to include CM Punk in the match as a triple-threat. The match we got was much less “special” than the first version, partially because Rock injured himself early on, and also because fans had grown bored of the feud over the preceding two years.
