40 Years Of Fascinating WWE WrestleMania Facts (Part 4)
Records and empires fall, history gets made and WrestleMania FINALLY adds a second night...
The most recent decade for WrestleMania has cemented an era that reflects perhaps the very best and worst of pro wrestling's controversial market leader.
The capital-M moments only grew with the size and scales of the shows, and those continued to expand at an insane rate. From stages to set-pieces and everything in between, WrestleMania remained mammoth between 2015 and 2024, ensuring that there was still only one 'Grandaddy Of Em All' even if there were (at least) two other organisations that had it in them to fill stadiums.
A full decade of streamed shows saw the run-times spiral out of control before the event of the weekend became the weekend in totality. Two-night WrestleManias became the norm, as did, oddly, the trend of Night One destroying Night Two for quality, card layout and vibes.
And then, by the end of the event's fourth decade, the 'Grandaddy Of 'Em All' was neither produced by Vince McMahon nor even exclusively a WWE event. 2024 even brought The Rock back in at the very highest level, if the highest level can still include Seth Rollins anyway.
It did in 2015...
10. WrestleMania 31 - A Heist In Every Sense
Seth Rollins' "heist of the century" victory at the climax of WrestleMania 31 was an atypically shrewd solution to yet another self-made problem by WWE, not least because supposed top babyface Roman Reigns was getting mercilessly booed no matter how much he gutted through the worst of a Brock Lesnar beating.
Yet, despite how well it played out, it wasn't the original plan.
In a story corroborated by multiple parties after the fact, just about everybody involved in the grandiose payoff were only informed of the new finish while WrestleMania was in progress. To be specific, it was during The Rock and Ronda Rousey's verbal showdown with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon barely over an hour before bell-time that all the key players were informed of the late change. Only Lesnar - having signed a new contract earlier that week - was given an inkling that WWE might be going with 'The Architect'.