40 Years Of Fascinating WWE WrestleMania Facts (Part 4)

2. WrestleMania 39 - Roman's Record-Setting Reign

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WWE.com

WrestleMania 39's ending may have been one of the most divisive in company history, not least because audiences had fully gotten behind Cody Rhodes to such an extent that him losing was considered unthinkable at the time.

And though 'The American Nightmare' was made to wait to finish his story, defending Champion Roman Reigns was adding another historic chapter to his. In this case, setting a new WrestleMania record that will surely never be touched. Nobody - not Hulk Hogan, nor John Cena, nor Steve Austin nor The Rock nor The Undertaker nor anybody else you can think of - before 'The Tribal Chief' had managed to three consecutive defences of the same title.

Hogan managed two between WrestleMania 2 and III, it felt like Triple H never let go of the thing between 2002-2005, and even John Cena's long reigns never stretched across multiple 'Show Of Shows'. Reigns made it four in 2024, and it might be another four decades until anybody comes close to even half that again. 

 
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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett