10 WrestleMania Main Events That Changed The Direction Of WWE

9. Triple H vs Batista - WrestleMania 21

With Ric Flair at his side, The Game would defend the World Heavyweight Championship against former Evolution brother Batista at €˜Mania 21. This feud was the second step in the implosion of Evolution, with the first one coming when Randy Orton upset the apple cart by winning the WHC at Summerslam 2004. Now in possession of the gold himself, HHH would retain the belt against Orton at the 2015 Royal Rumble, an event where Batista would wind up winning the actual Rumble match itself. After a tease of Batista deciding to face JBL for the Smackdown belt, The Animal gave Hunter the thumbs down and made it known that it was the gold around HHH€™s waist that he wanted. Wrestlemania 21 was the moment where Batista cemented his spot as a bona fide main eventer, winning his first World title by defeating his former mentor. This would lead to Big Dave becoming a big time player in the future of the WWE€ well, until everything got a bit too PG for him and when his check-list of diva conquests was completed. Then he would leave for a few years and eventually wind up in a little movie by the name of Guardians of the Galaxy (you may have heard of it). Regardless, Wrestlemania 21 was a huge changing of the company. Orton had already arrived at the top of the mountain and now Batista and a certain Doctor of Thuganomics had joined him.
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 dayjob, 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.