History Wrestling / Wrestlemania

* BittersweetEnding: For Seth Rollins in Wrestlemania XL. He loses his title to Wrestling/DrewMcIntyre during Night 2 after trying to help Cody win the grueling main event last night against Roman and The Rock but failing to succeed at that, leaving him battered for his own match. However, he still has the last laugh, for he manages to provoke Roman in going for him in a key spot of his match against Cody Rhodes, meaning the American Nightmare had enough time to recover and counter the Spear to win the match and the title. At the end of the day, he once more was the bane of Roman's life. On top of this, he gets a moral victory in that Drew immediately loses his title via cash in.

** ''[=WrestleMania=] XL'': Wrestling/CodyRhodes finally defeated Wrestling/RomanReigns to win the Undisputed WWE Championship, ending the latter's three and a half year reign. Wrestling/{{Bayley}} defeated her EvilFormerFriend [[Wrestling/IoShirai IYO SKY]] to win the WWE Women's Championship, also a title Bayley only won once in her career over seven years prior. Drew [=McIntyre=] finally won a top Championship in front of a live crowd, short-lived though it was. R-Truth also gets his first Mania win.

* 31: Seth Rollins cashes in Money in the Bank to win the WWE Championship.

** WM 24 - ShawnMichaels defeated Wrestling/RicFlair, forcing the latter to retire (in WWE at least) per stipulations.

** WM XIV: Wrestling/Shawn Michaels drops the WWF Championship and goes on a long hiatus to recover from a lingering back injury.

** WM 24 - Wrestling/ShawnMichaels defeated Wrestling/RicFlair, forcing the latter to retire (in WWE at least) per stipulations.

** ''[=WrestleMania=] 22'': Wrestling/{{Rey Mysterio|Jr}}, in honor of his dear friend Wrestling/EddieGuerrero, surviving a triple threat match against Wrestling/RandyOrton and defending Champion Wrestling/KurtAngle[[note]]Rey won the Wrestling/RoyalRumble Match and was going to compete, but lost the chance to Orton at ''Wrestling/{{No Way Out|WWE}}'' until Wrestling/TeddyLong reinstated Rey back in[[/note]] and against all odds became "The Ultimate Underdog" to achieve the World Heavyweight Championship.

** ''[=WrestleMania=] 23'': Even though Mick Foley lost to Edge, he did finally get his own Mania moment after he was speared into a flaming table.

** And you could argue Cody is the UrExample for ''positive'' obsession: His main goal since his return two years prior was to conquer the title his father never obtained and never really lost focus of this goal, although he had to deal with [[Wrestling/SethRollins occasional]] [[Wrestling/BrockLesnar obstacles]] along the way. However, he didn't let this obsession dominate his life, and never stepped out of bounds against Roman or anyone from the Bloodline even when they did it constantly and his heroic acts made him respected by many in the roster - including former bitter rival Rollins, who ends up being the key in ending the Bloodline's reign of terror.

* AbortedArc: Early on in [=WrestleMania=] XX, Raw General Manager Wrestling/EricBischoff assigned Jonathan Coachman to get an interview with the returning Wrestling/{{Undertaker}} in order to upstage Smackdown by getting an interview with one of their stars. After one segment in which Coach inadvertently walked in on Howard Finkel and Bobby Heenan making out with Mae Young and the Fabulous Moolah in the UsefulNotes/MadisonSquareGarden boiler room while searching for the Undertaker, this plot was dropped for the rest of the night, not even getting a BrickJoke payoff after Undertaker actually made his return and defeated Wrestling/{{Kane}}.

* AbortedArc: Early on in [=WrestleMania=] XX, Raw General Manager Wrestling/EricBischoff assigned Jonathan Coachman to get an interview with the returning Wrestling/{{Undertaker}} in order to upstage Smackdown by getting an interview with one of their stars. After one segment in which Coach inadvertently walked in on Howard Finkel and Bobby Heenan making out with Mae Young and the Fabulous Moolah while searching for the Undertaker, this plot was dropped for the rest of the night, not even getting a BrickJoke payoff after Undertaker actually made his return and defeated Wrestling/{{Kane}}.

** After being betrayed by Damage CTRL, Bayley gets revenge on IYO Sky, the one who would begin the fracturing of the group..

** The ''[=WrestleMania=] XXVII'' main event between Wrestling/TheMiz and Wrestling/JohnCena was a slow, boring match that lead to a double countout. [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]] came out and ordered the match to continue, but it ended again about 5 seconds later with The Rock hitting the Rock Bottom on Cena and Miz retaining. The Rock then gave Miz the People's Elbow so the night ended with a semi-retired wrestler standing over The Miz, WWE Champion, and Cena, WWE's currently most popular wrestler. It was nothing more than a SequelHook for the main event for ''[=WrestleMania=] XXVIII'', Rock vs. Cena.
** Wrestling/TheUndertaker refused to let his PyrrhicVictory over Wrestling/TripleH at ''XXVII'' be his lasting memory, thus demanding a rematch at XXVIII.
** The overarching theme of Wrestling/CodyRhodes journey in between Wrestlemania's ''39'' and ''XL'': he lost to Roman right in the final moments of his bout with Roman, which leads to him waiting for an entire year for a new chance at winning the title in the grandest stage of them all. It even becomes the tagline for WWE 2k24, "Finish the Story."

* TheShowMustGoOn: [=WrestleMania=] 36 was initially scheduled to take place in the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The logo for the event was even similar to the logo of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the local NFL team. But the 2019-2020 coronavirus outbreak canceled those plans, moving instead to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando. It was the first WWE pay-per-view without a live audience.

** Wrestling/TrishStratus wins her fourth Women's Championship at ''[=WrestleMania=] XIX'', tying her record with that of Wrestling/TheFabulousMoolah. Especially notable because she had been antagonized by [[Wrestling/LisaMarieVaron Victoria]] and [[Wrestling/CarleneMoore Jazz]] for months.

* BittersweetEnding: For Seth Rollins in Wrestlemania XL. He loses his title to Wrestling/DrewMcIntyre during Night 2 after trying to help Cody win the grueling main event last night against Roman and The Rock but failing to succeed at that, leaving him battered for his own match. However, he still has the last laugh, for he manages to provoke Roman in going for him in a key spot of his match against Cody Rhodes, meaning the American Nightmare had enough time to recover and counter the Spear to win the match and the title. At the end of the day, he once more was the bane of Roman's life. On top of this, he gets a moral victory in that Drew immidalty loses his title via cash in.

** Damian Priest is so obsessed with retaining the RAW Tag Team belts that he wasn't paying attention to Referee Jessica Carr trying to warn him that the ladder he's using will break if he does another stunt. Miz and Truth, however, are aware of this with Miz climbing the ladder to get his attention -- just as the ladder buckles -- and R-Truth takes the time to slip into a new ladder, goading Priest to climb it before Truth pushes him off and out of the ring. In another match involving a member of Judgement Day, Santos Escobar and Domink Mysterio are obsessed with beating Rey Mysterio up for different reasons, Santos for what he believes Rey is overshadowing him and Dominik hating his dad in general by being a SpoiledBrat, but they are blindsided when Rey and Andrade gain extra help on their side. Take note that the only victories Wrestling/TheJudgmentDay had in the event were when they went beyond their personal obsessions and focused on finishing their jobs - Rhea defeated Becky clean and Priest later redeems himself by capitalizing on Drew's bitter obsession with Punk to make his cash-in and leave Mania as the World Heavyweight Champion.
** Damage CTRL's desperate need to prove they are the strongest woman group in WWE makes them powerful enemies - in special, Asuka's quick ascension to power alienates the former leader of the stable to the point Bayley makes a HeelFaceTurn and goes against IYO, managing to triumph in the end, whereas the other women of the group get beaten swiftly by Naomi, Bianca Belair, and Jade Cargill.
** The Final Testament and Bobby Lashley's plus the Street Profits showdown is motivated by the obsession of both groups to get rid of each other - Kross's group as a statement of power and Lashley's to get vengeance because the Testament just keeps screwing their chances to gather more power in the card.

** [=iShowSpeed=] couldn't help but taunt Randy Orton throughout his match against Logan Paul and Kevin Owens and eats an RKO for his troubles. Logan Paul averts this, despite his cockiness: while he kept being a smug asshole, do note that in his match at Wrestlemania and the build-up he did take care to put himself in theoretically superior positions to Owens and Orton, and he utilizes the fact that the two were fighting each other to get title to pin Kevin after he takes an RKO.

** And you could argue Cody is the UrExample for ''positive'' obsession: his main goal since his return two years prior was to conquer the title his father never obtained and never really lost focus of this goal, although he had to deal with [[Wrestling/SethRollins occasional]] [[Wrestling/BrockLesnar obstacles]] along the way. However, he didn't let this obsession dominate his life, and never stepped out of bounds against Roman or anyone from the Bloodline even when they did it constantly and his heroic acts made him respected by many in the roster - including former bitter rival Rollins, who ends up being the key in ending the Bloodline's reign of terror.

* BittersweetEnding: For Seth Rollins in Wrestlemania XL. He loses his title to Wrestling/DrewMcIntyre during Night 2 after trying to help Cody win the grueling main event last night against Roman and The Rock but failing to succeed at that, leaving him battered for his own match. However, he still has the last laugh, for he manages to provoke Roman in going for him in a key spot of his match against Cody Rhodes, meaning the American Nightmare had enough time to recover and counter the Spear to win the match and the title. At the end of the day, he once more was the bane of Roman's life.

** ''[=WrestleMania=] XL'' ends up as this, being the first WrestleMania fully managed by Triple H, the first in which Vince [=McMahon=] had no hand in producing (though Stephanie appears to introduce the second night) and the one to change the champions, as the only ones to still retain their respective titles by the end of it were Rhea Ripley as Woman's Heavyweight Champion and Logan Paul surviving the triple threat with Randy Orton and Kevin Owens barely.

** ''[=WrestleMania=] XL'' ends up as this, being the first Wrestlemania fully managed by Triple H, the first in which Vince McMahon had no hand in producing (though Stephanie appears to introduce the second night) and the one to change the champions, as the only ones to still retain their respective titles by the end of it were Rhea Ripley as Woman's Heavyweight Champion and Logan Paul surviving the triple threat with Randy Orton and Kevin Owens barely.

** Damian Priest is so obsessed with retaining the RAW Tag Team belts that he ignores Referee Jessica Carr trying to warn him that the ladder he's using will break if he does another stunt. While he focuses on Miz also climbing that ladder, R-Truth takes the time to slip into a new ladder and then toss Priest overboard before getting the belts for himself. In another match involving a member of Judgement Day, Santos Escobar and Domink Mysterio are obsessed with beating Rey Mysterio up for different reasons, Santos for what he believes Rey is overshadowing him and Dominik hating his dad in general by being a SpoiledBrat, but they are blindsided when Rey and Andrade gain extra help on their side. Take note that the only victories Wrestling/TheJudgmentDay had in the event were when they went beyond their personal obsessions and focused on finishing their jobs - Rhea defeated Becky clean and Priest later redeems himself by capitalizing on Drew's bitter obsession with Punk to make his cash-in and leave Mania as the World Heavyweight Champion.

** Drew [=McIntyre=] and Seth Rollins call each other out for their obsessions during the buildup -- Drew with CM Punk and Seth with dismantling the Bloodline -- that led to them both losing the championships. Drew would've been more alert to Damian Priest cashing in if he didn't waste precious minutes mocking CM Punk. Meanwhile, Rollins' obsession with stopping the Bloodline, while it resulted in him losing the title he had been defending for almost an entire year, ended with him being a key factor in Cody Rhodes pinning Roman Reigns.
** Speaking of Roman, Roman's obsession with trying to move past the "There's always a Plan B" moment 10 years prior ended up being his downfall. When Rollins, dressed in his Shield attire, arrives to save Cody, Reigns, steel chair in hand, has two choices: he either uses the chair on Cody or gets one last chance of vengeance against Rollins. He chooses the latter, and this ends with his undoing. His obsession with being acknowledged also has numerous wrestlers from his past charging in and dismantling the Bloodline. On a lighter note, Roman's tunnel vision on Cody made him unable to stop himself from spearing The Rock on Day 1.

** The Rock crows that he's the Final Boss and obsesses over the power and dread he gives to everyone, even beating Cena with a Rock Bottom after Cena decides to taunt him instead of just going for the punch. He quickly gets blindsided by The Undertaker, the ''true'' boss of [=WrestleMania=]. Undertaker defies this by simply going after the Rock then vanishing since he's already gotten his revenge on the Bloodline (and Paul Heyman by extension). Meanwhile, Solo's obsession with being the enforcer of the Bloodline and constantly kicking Cody to support Roman when he should stay out of the way has him taken out by John Cena.

** [=iShowSpeed=] couldn't help but taunt Randy Orton throughout his match against Logan Paul and Kevin Owens and eats an RKO for his troubles. Logan Paul averts this, despite his cockiness.

* CentralTheme: ''XL'' has a recurring theme about "obsession" and how it can lead to one's downfall or glory.

** [=iShowSpeed=] couldn't help but taunt Randy Orton throughout his match against Logan Paul and Kevin Owens. He eats an RKO for his troubles. Logan Paul averts this, despite his cockiness.
** The Rock crows that he's the Final Boss and obsesses over the power and dread he gives to everyone, even beating Cena with a Rock Bottom. He quickly gets blindsided by The Undertaker, the ''true'' boss of [=WrestleMania=]. Undertaker defies this by simply going after the Rock then vanishing since he's already gotten his revenge on the Bloodline (and Paul Heyman by extension).
** Solo's obsession with being the enforcer of the Bloodline has him taken out by John Cena after he hit Cody with his Samoan Spike.

* AbortedArc: Early on in [=WrestleMania=] XX, Raw General Manager Wrestling/EricBischoff assigned Jonathan Coachman to get an interview with the returning Wrestling/{{Undertaker}} in order to upstage Smackdown by getting an interview with one of their stars. After one segment in which Coach inadvertently walked in Howard Finkel and Bobby Heenan making out with Mae Young and the Fabulous Moolah while searching for the Undertaker, this plot was dropped for the rest of the night, not even getting a BrickJoke payoff after Undertaker actually made his return and defeated Wrestling/{{Kane}}.

** Part X centered around the idea if anyone can beat Yokozuna for the Championship. He gets two separate challengers and it is Bret Hart who beats him.
** One of the major stories of Part 21 is whether or not Kurt Angle can, if not beat ,then at least outperform "Mr. Wrestlemania" Shawn Michaels.

** ''[=WrestleMania=] XL'': Wrestling/CodyRhodes finally defeated Wrestling/RomanReigns to win the Undisputed WWE Championship, ending the latter's three and a half year reign. Wrestling/{{Bayley}} defeated her EvilFormerFriend [[Wrestling/IoShirai IYO SKY]] to win the WWE Women's Championship, also a title Bayley only won once in her career over seven years prior. Drew [=McIntyre=] finally won a top Championship in front of a live crowd, short-lived though it was.