10 WrestleMania Openers Better Than The Main Event
2. Daniel Bryan Vs. Triple H ('Mania XXX)
Who could ever forget the lasting visual of Daniel Bryan hoisting both belts comprising the WWE World Heavyweight Title aloft as 'Mania XXX faded to black? It was very much the prototypical happy ending, one which fans had pretty much demanded from WWE before the show even aired.
The story was that Bryan would have to defeat Triple H in the opener first and if he didn't, he wouldn't progress to a Triple Threat bout also involving Randy Orton and Batista later in the show. As we all know, Bryan did defeat 'The Game', and Triple H did everything in his power to make him look amazing in the process.
Fans were red hot for the battle, seemingly ready to riot if they didn't get their own way. This created an atmosphere only matched by the main event itself and whilst the aura wasn't too different, the match quality was.
Triple H vs. Bryan was a much more well-rounded match, because both worked worked their asses off to make it memorable, whilst the triple threat suffered a little because of the problems inherent in 3-way matches.
It's mind-boggling to think Bryan produced more than one great match at 'Mania XXX, but his effort alongside Triple H was better as a standalone encounter than the main event, despite the incredible amount of emotion the show-closer generated.