10 PPV Main Events WWE Sacrificed For Part-Time World Champions

3. John Cena (C) Vs. Roman Reigns And/or Daniel Bryan - WrestleMania 31

CENA ROCK PUNK WM29
WWE.com

This shouldn't be this hard.

The Santa Clara edition of WrestleMania is a paradox in the sense that WWE turned a main event build that was unquestionably lose-lose between a part-time champion who fans were destined to boo out of the building and an overexposed challenger who fans were destined to boo out of the building and accidentally created the most satisfying possible outcome when Seth Rollins cashed in Money In The Bank and committed "The Heist of the Century".

Under this new narrative, John Cena carries the WWE World Heavyweight Championship from Money In The Bank to WrestleMania weekend. The match with Roman Reigns is set in the classic 'Old Guard vs. New Guard' main event and Big Match John effectively passes the torch at the biggest show of the year, NOT two years later at the inconsequential No Mercy 2017.

OR...

If the prevailing concern is that Roman Reigns vs. John Cena will be perceived as a boo-fest, regardless of the magnitude of the match itself, insert the recently-returned Daniel Bryan. The Leader of the YES! Movement could then resume his pursuit of the titles that injury forced him to surrender. This simultaneously creates the enormous 'Mania blockbuster that Vince McMahon craves AND gives the harder-to-please fans among us a rooting favorite. Depending on the projected outcome, Rollins could still enter after the match and leave as either the hero or the villain.

Contributor
Contributor

Troy has been a WWE (and wrestling-at-large) fan for over thirty years and a long-suffering but recently rewarded fan of both the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles since 1994 and 1996 respectively. After toiling in retail for the better part of a decade, he has eliminated his student loan debt and is finally pursuing his passions.