10 WrestleMania Main Events That Changed The Direction Of WWE

After these bouts, there was truly no going back.

by Andrew Pollard

Ever since The Shield made their debut back at 2012€™s Survivor Series, many have pointed at Roman Reigns as being somebody who will dominate the main event scene for years to come. Many even believe that Reigns is on the track to becoming €œthe man€, the heir apparent to John Cena. If Reigns does, as many are predicting, go on to conquer Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania and indeed take over the wristbands, product placement and tiresome catchphrases from the former Doctor of Thuganomics, it could mark a big shift in the direction of the WWE as a whole. With Brock still to come to terms on a new deal past €˜Mania, we€™re very likely to see a main event scene led by the likes of Reigns, Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt, Daniel Bryan, Rusev, and Dean Ambrose. Make no mistake about it, Cena will still be there or thereabouts, as will Randy Orton on his return, but Wrestlemania 31 could be the moment where Roman Reigns has the company put on his back and is left to sink or swim. Many Wrestlemania matches have acted as a changing of the guard or as a push in a different direction for the WWE as a whole. Here€™s 10 €˜Mania main event title matches that led to such a change in the company.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.