10 Shortest WWE WrestleMania Main Events Ever
Punching the clock on WWE's 'Grandest Stage'
Match times used to be fairly rigid in WWE. Especially at the top of the card.
Main events featuring Hulk Hogan wouldn't ever need to go beyond the 15-20 minute mark if all the identical ingenious story beats had already cycled through and it was time to Hulk Up. Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels could extend it closer to 30 if it was absolutely necessary, and the one the time they doubled it divided the entire fanbase. Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Mankind and Triple H could normally get all their sh*t in in 20-25 tops in the Attitude Era, as could John Cena at the height of his topline tenure.
The familiarity didn't breed contempt but consistency. Audiences knew what they'd be getting for their money, and enjoyed the shock of a match going crazy long or explosively short. The rule-proving exceptions stood up as such, before the company leaned into the mammoth success of the Goldberg/Brock Lesnar programme.
Short sharp shock became a formula of its own, so much so that both major men's titles were decided under the format at WrestleMania - the second in as many title changes involving Bill Goldberg this year.
The game has changed, but how did Drew McIntyre's coronation stack up against the other relatively quick WrestleMania conclusions?
10. Brock Lesnar Vs Roman Reigns (WrestleMania 34) - 15:55
Brock Lesnar's WrestleMania 34 win over Roman Reigns was among the most depressing matches in the history of the 'Show Of Shows'. That it went over a quarter of an hour was just another black mark against it.
In between suplexes and some brawling on the floor, fans didn't bite on six F5s as a way to beat 'The Big Dog', nor shed any tears for Roman shedding blood. Lesnar unleashed a primal wail has he delivered the final blow, as if to instruct the audience to do the same instead of leaving early or sitting on their hands in protest of something they simply didn't want.
Things are, thankfully, mostly different now, but this match served as as good an item for the Roman Reigns time capsule as the disastrous Royal Rumble 2015. Ahead of a personal battle that gradually transformed perception about the beleaguered 'Big Dog', Vince McMahon's planned empire yet again looked in a state of ruin.