WrestleMania title shot: Defeated Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania XXVIII Put aside the Daniel Bryan diehard fan mentality for a couple minutes. Yes, it was a tragedy for Bryan (and wrestling fans who wanted to see a competitive match), but try to remember that at the time, Bryan was the obnoxious, sniveling heel. Sheamus last eliminated a returning Chris Jericho, which itself was a questionable decision, but at least the Celtic Warrior came in to the Rumble with some momentum. He famous knocked off Bryan in 18 seconds, which was ridiculous from a Bryan fans perspective, but it was set up similarly to Ultimate Warrior ending Honky Tonk Mans Intercontinental Championship reign. Sheamus would go on to have a seven-month reign as champ, which makes this a pretty successful Rumble title shot in the long run.
Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.
