The Complete A-Z Of WrestleMania

13. N - New Day

Stone Cold Steve Austin The Rock
WWE.com

The story of one of the most successful gimmicks WWE has produced in recent years is a story of how WrestleMania can impact careers in the most unlikely ways.

Forming in late-2014, The New Day's smiling-and-clapping babyface act was a flagrant misfire from WWE's creative team in an attempt to salvage the flagging careers of Kofi Kingston, Big E Langston and Xavier Woods.

However, the three wrestlers themselves seemed to spot this, and have since explained how they knew the wholly dislikable performance was destined for an eventual heel turn.

This was triggered on the WrestleMania 31 pre-show, when the trio heard vicious 'New Day Sucks' chants for the entirety of the match, with the abuse proving so popular it could be heard later in the show and for weeks following the event.

Leaping on the disdain, the group converted their 'power of positivity' line into something smug and insincere, and quickly scored tag team gold in the process.

A year later, and New Day had already turned face thanks to overwhelming popularity. Entering their match with 'The League of Nations' from inside a giant cereal box, WrestleMania had bookended a career-best annum for the triumvirate.

Contributor
Contributor

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