10 WrestleMania Matches History Deprived Us Of (That Weren't Actually Impossible)

8. The Shield Vs. The Wyatt Family - WrestleMania XXX

Bret Hart Randy Savage
WWE.com

The Shield Vs. The Wyatt Family match, at Elimination Chamber 2014, was spellbinding - a relentless, all-action war with a clever story of succession at its heart. When Seth Rollins took out Luke Harper with a suicide dive, the crowd popped big. When the much bigger Harper dusted off his suicide dive, the crowd popped huge. The Wyatts evoked and surpassed the Shield within the match and at the climax of it, sidelining Dean Ambrose to beat them at their own numbers game.

As excellent as it was, WWE jumped the gun. All six men deserved a bigger platform, and the platform itself would have benefitted from it. WrestleMania XXX was a muted night for The Shield, even if their short squash victory over Kane and The New Age Outlaws was better than it had any right to be.

Luke Harper and Erick Rowan were relegated to fodder on the night, swatted aside in conjunction with their leader Bray Wyatt in a misjudged match which saw Cena successfully subdue the nonexistent monster within him.

The Shield Vs. The Wyatt Family - a match which would have propelled 'Mania XXX into the conversation of greatest WWE show ever - was never on the cards. Cena was still operating within Super Cena mode. WWE, sadly, were a year or so away from experimenting with his weaknesses.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!