10 Fascinating WWE WrestleMania 35 Facts

9. Brock Lesnar: Curtain Jerker

Becky Lynch
WWE

Seth Rollins kicked off the main show of WrestleMania 35 by defeating Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship. It was a surprising show opener, to say the least, although the brief nature of the match and its crowd-pleasing climax made such a spot logical, especially considering the main event was already set in stone. Royal Rumble winner Rollins slaying the beast was a great way to open the show proper.

Wait, what's that, Brock Lesnar in the opening match? Since returning in 2012, Lesnar has been a constant presence in WWE main events, be it in short squashes or slightly longer squashes. The Beast Incarnate in jerking the curtain? That doesn't happen every day.

Once every 16 years, to be exact. WrestleMania 35 was Lesnar's first appearance in the opening match of a pay-per-view since Survivor Series 2003, and that was as part of a traditional elimination match. Lesnar's last pay-per-view singles match in this spot? Royal Rumble 2003, against Big Show, and even that led to a victorious spot in the eponymous main event. Put simply, Lesnar doesn't open pay-per-views all too often.

Contributor
Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.