10 PPV Main Events WWE Sacrificed For Part-Time World Champions
9. Roman Reigns (C) Vs. Dean Ambrose - WrestleMania 32
If Murphy's Law was a Road to WrestleMania, 'Mania 32 WAS that WrestleMania.
WWE practically had to hold their biggest show of the year together with duct tape in 2016 after what felt like half of their roster went down with a vast assortment of injuries, including, no exaggeration, every single superstar that left the previous year's WrestleMania with a championship belt. Unfortunately, this included former Shield member Seth Rollins' knee exploding in November and crippling any plans WWE might have had for the much sought-after Shield triple threat match the following April.
Worse still, this show was set to play out in front of what is still the largest attendance of any WrestleMania in history (inflated numbers aside). Naturally, in the ensuing panic, WWE placed the Championship on Triple H at the Royal Rumble, despite him not competing in the previous ten months.
Obviously, Rollins defending against both former Shield brethren Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose wasn't feasible under these circumstances, but why not do the next best thing? In this scenario, Reigns retains his championship against former champion Sheamus at Rumble '16, while Ambrose enters and wins the Royal Rumble, which fans were hoping for anyway. Then when WrestleMania rolls around, Reigns and Ambrose have a match that tears the house down instead of a 27-minute slog in front of an exhausted crowd that wasn't invested in either man as champion or an uninspired Street Fight with an unmotivated Brock Lesnar respectively.