40 Years Of Fascinating WWE WrestleMania Facts (Part 3)

3. WrestleMania XXVIII - The Defence Of The Indefensible

Kurt Angle Shawn Michaels Bobby Heenan
WWE.com

You probably watched the opener of WrestleMania XXVIII with your mouth agape.

The opener of WrestleMania XXVIII, in fact, was the only time it was permissible for wrestling fans to say the following word out loud at a wrestling show:

What?

The best wrestler in the entire system - and certainly in the United States, and were it not for Hiroshi Tanahashi, the world - was Daniel Bryan. He was really, really over too. His "Yes!" schtick, a deluded riot of a bit, was really going somewhere even before it was echoed with defiance. A lot of his fans, and they were growing in number, were excited to take in a presumed 15 minute war.

Why wouldn't a promoter book a man that talented to excel between the ropes?

Well.

Bryan lost in 18 seconds, sparking the revolt that altered his WWE career. The match scanned as a typical WWE burial. Bryan, after all, had been lambasted as a "vegan nerd" and the like. He had also committed the cardinal sin of being born small and excelling at his craft beyond the WWE system.

The actual idea was only marginally less stupid. The idea was for Sheamus to emulate Bruno Sammartino's maiden, sub-minute WWWF title win over Buddy Rogers.

1) Buddy Rogers had reportedly suffered from heart problems, explaining how short the title loss was, and while this has been disputed, many in wrestling believed it. Bryan in almost direct contrast had and has more stamina than anyone ever.

2) What a capital idea it was, when a lot of people were tiring of the same old sh*t Super Cena bit, to book Sheamus as an even more dominant classic babyface. Didn't really take!

 
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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!