Cesaro winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, Brock Lesnar breaking The Undertaker’s WrestleMania Streak, and Daniel Bryan defying all the odds to win the WWE Championship. WrestleMania 30 has a strong list of big moments that feel worthy of the name “Grandest Stage of Them All”.
But there’s missteps that drag the whole show down like The Shield being wasted in a nothing six-man along with the tag and women’s divisions being put in thoughtless multi-person matches. This is a rare ‘Mania that only requires a few tweaks rather than a complete overhaul.
Daniel Bryan vs Triple H
WWE got this one right at the time. All year, Bryan’s main ideological antagonist was really Triple H – The Palpatine to Randy Orton’s Vader. So, for this story to be truly satisfying, they needed to go head-to-head. Bryan needing to beat Triple H to earn his spot in the main event is also an extra layer of adversity that only serves to make him an even bigger underdog. We have to stack the odds against him as much as possible so that his triumph feels even greater.
The in-ring itself is solid. There’s not as much tension as Bryan winning is a predictable outcome (especially on rewatch), but it’s still the right call. At the time, no one would have put it past WWE to have Triple H win here, so there was more tension live. Thanks to Bryan though, the crowd is molten throughout which ends up making this a satisfactory opener even on rewatch.
Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal – Cesaro
A testament to how special this night felt – one of the biggest pops of the year was for this thrown together battle royal. When Cesaro slammed Big Show out of the ring, it felt as if a main event push was on the horizon. Unfortunately, WWE mishandled the Swiss Superman, failing to hide his weaknesses, and not seriously attempting to make him a main eventer until right before his departure in 2021.
But for this night, it felt like a new star was born. And that’s good enough for us to keep it as is. Our only change is to remove Cody Rhodes and Goldust from the participants as we’ve got bigger plans for them.
The Usos vs Goldust & Cody Rhodes (c) Tag Team Championship Match
An underrated highlight of 2010s WWE is the Rhodes’ feud with The Authority. The acting performances from Cody & Goldust in their promo segments and matches with Randy Orton generate incredible amounts of sympathy. Looking back now, this storyline gives us a first glimpse into the top babyface that Cody would become. It also builds on the legacy of the Rhodes family, showing them as this wonderfully strange and loveable tight-knit unit who have overcome so much hardship through love. This foundation amplifies the emotionality of ‘Mania 40, helping to visually and emotionally contrast the Rhodes family with the Anoa’i dynasty.
Unfortunately, after Cody & Goldust won the Tag Team Championships, there was no meaningful follow-up or intention to present them like the audience should care anymore. Their story had ended for now and there was no effort to expand or build upon the emotion they’d tapped into.
In this version, we fix that by using this tag title reign to plant seeds for an eventual Cody vs Goldust feud. We wouldn’t have the brothers get into any direct conflict yet – we’d just dive deeper into their relationship and family dynamics. Elements that we later got to see in AEW with Cody vs Dustin. Keep it simple with the occasional line in a promo here and there hinting at deeper unaddressed issues from their upbringings and relationships with their father. Does Cody feel held back or embarrassed by his eccentric older brother? Does Dustin feel jealous that Cody grew up closer to Dusty? Have they ever talked about this?
Various nuggets like these are hinted at throughout their reign as they defend against every team in the division. But here at ‘Mania 30, when the lights are brightest and they’re contrasted with The Usos of the legendary Anoa’i dynasty, two identical twins far unlike Cody and Dustin, these issues surface. Dustin’s too eager to prove himself, Cody’s too unwilling to let him help. A miscommunication leads to double superkicks and an Uso Splash. The Rhodes lose their championships and there’s an awkwardness in the way Dustin consoles Cody.
After ‘Mania 30, Cody’s attempt to fix things isn’t to have a direct conversation with his brother, instead he creates his new persona, Stardust. He believes that by becoming like his brother then he can understand him. They remain a team throughout 2014 – with various ups and downs – until 2015 and the build to ‘Mania 31 sees Stardust betraying Goldust.
And yes, we’re keeping Stardust. All these years later the character’s proved to be far too important to Cody’s history to remove. It’s his lowest point, and it’s a very low point. But that only serves to make his ascension feel even greater.
Nikki Bella vs AJ Lee (c) Women’s Championship Match
It’s difficult to book this era of the women’s division because WWE wasn’t invested in developing or showcasing its women’s talent. Therefore, the division feels thin. We toyed with the idea of having AJ face someone not on the roster at the time, such as Cheerleader Melissa, Mickie James, or Candice LeRae, but none felt right. Ultimately, we landed on Nikki Bella. While perhaps a repetitive choice, these two are so opposite that their feuds are always interesting and feel like a big deal.
But since it’s WrestleMania, let’s use this program to dive deeper into their emotional conflict. By this point, it’s already been touched on that AJ feels as though Nikki has used her looks instead of her skill to get her success. And that Nikki doesn’t love wrestling like AJ does, only seeing it as a stepping stone to stardom. But for this Mania feud, dive deeper by spotlighting Nikki’s perspective. Show the hard work she’s done to get this far. Question if it’s fair for AJ to dismiss her based on how she presents herself.
We think this, along with Nikki stepping up her in-ring around this time (the Nikkisawa forearm is amazing and she absolutely should use the ripcord version as a finisher), provides a fresh angle on the feud. Despite this, AJ Lee still wins the match as her loss to Paige the next night on RAW is a fantastic shocking moment that sparks another iconic feud of this era.
Brock Lesnar vs Batista
A dream match with the two ruthless aggression era legends facing off for the first time ever. In the 2014 Royal Rumble, Batista returns to WWE and eliminates Brock Lesnar, setting up this match. This doesn’t need a complex, emotional story – it’s just a concise and focused car crash. The arena struggles to contain them as the ringside area gets destroyed and they brawl through the crowd. Lesnar ultimately wins though and looks strong for his big 2014 to come.
But what about The Undertaker? Well, in our version of history, Taker retires after WrestleMania 28 and his Hell in a Cell Match with Triple H. That whole 4-year saga is one of the best stories that WWE has ever told but the lack of consequences following the “End of an Era” match makes that label and the whole storyline less impactful. If The Deadman retires there, we only miss out on a handful of good matches while avoiding a box load of poor, and frankly depressing matches.
Yes, The Streak remains intact, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it has to forever or that this is the very last match in Taker’s career – there’s always time for an encore. In real life, he wrestled for almost 10 more years after WM 28 so, if need be, he could’ve been brought back for any one of those and used in a similar fashion as Stone Cold Steve Austin was at WrestleMania 38.
We also don’t have any issues with Lesnar being the one to break The Streak. WWE squeezed more than enough juice out of that win, really utilising all of Taker’s built-up equity. Someone on Lesnar’s level absolutely should have been the one to do it. However, Lesnar’s one of the few that could’ve been used at that level and been believable without breaking The Streak.
The Shield vs The Wyatt Family
This one seemed like a layup at the time and in hindsight. The Elimination Chamber match a month prior is electric and it would’ve been simple and just as entertaining to run it back at ‘Mania. The rematch can see both teams build on the first match, expanding upon the in-ring action. There’s also potential for a quality story here, we just have to look at how these two factions are different and similar.
Both “families” are made up of non-blood related members, they’re found families. But The Wyatts are a dictatorship while The Shield are a democracy. That’s what both groups hone in on in the build-up promos, both seeing their structure as a strength while seeing the others as a weakness. The key thread here though is Bray’s insistence that one of The Shield will betray his brothers soon. Start pitching the betrayal here, so it’s well set-up for The Evolution feud to knock it out of the park. This also allows Wyatt to be tied to each Shield members career, making it more sensical later in the year when Bray starts feuding with Dean Ambrose.
Since The Shield are soon to be dissolved, The Wyatts winning here establish them as the next dominant trio while proving Bray’s prophecy may have some truth to it.
Daniel Bryan vs John Cena vs Randy Orton (c) Undisputed WWE Championship Match
Rebooking The Authority
We’ve chosen a similar destination to the real ‘Mania 30, but with a pretty different route, one that involves John Cena turning heel.
In recent years, the Cena heel turn has been a hot topic as we finally got to see it instead of having to imagine it. Our thoughts on that will be expanded upon in another article, but as it relates to ‘Mania 30, all you need to know is that Cena turned heel in 2012 during his feud with The Rock and the “500 days of summer of Punk”. And no, he’s not wearing that dreadful “Fear My Name” singlet – his gear stays largely the same since he doesn’t see himself as a heel.
After losing the WWE Championship to Bryan at Summerslam ’13, Cena returns from injury and immediately wins the World Heavyweight Championship from Dolph Ziggler – joining The Authority in the process. Triple H brings Cena into the group as he’s grown frustrated with Orton not being able to solve the Daniel Bryan problem permanently. Cena’s also a more proven top star than Orton, turning the “Best for Business” philosophy against Orton.
While there is tension between the two, they also share a lust for power and team together to win the Tag Team Championships from Cody Rhodes & Goldust. However, their rivalry with each other gets in the way and they quickly lose them back to The Brotherhood.
This loss causes the Two-Man Power Trip to implode, setting up a unification match at the end of 2013. Orton wins which seemingly disappoints Triple H, causing more tension between them. This eventually justifies Triple H going up against Bryan and trying to get into the main event match himself. Meanwhile, Cena leaves The Authority, wanting to get out of politics so he can fully focus on becoming champion again.
Rebooking Daniel Bryan
It’s quite difficult to do this because Bryan’s story is innately tied to bad writing. It’s one of the truly unique aspects of wrestling that makes watching it feel like a toxic relationship. For example, if we rebook Daniel Bryan vs The Authority using the traditional babyface championship win template, fans wouldn’t be as rabid and the whole storyline would be far less memorable. In wrestling, sometimes bad writing is good writing.
Since there’s no way to completely control the crowd reactions, all we can do is rewrite it in a way that feels right to us.
This means following a largely similar path to real life. After losing the championship to Orton, Bryan earns multiple attempts at the title and is screwed in all of them. Eventually, he feels that the system is too powerful and there’s nothing he can do to win since he’s just one man. This is when Bray Wyatt’s gospel starts to sound appealing. Bryan goes through the Wyatt side-story and eventually rediscovers his fire, deciding that he will change the system his way or die trying. During this, Bryan does in fact enter the Royal Rumble, starting at number 1 and making it all the way to the end. Unfortunately, he gets eliminated by the winner, John Cena.
Adding this disappointing moment helps to make the eventual triumph seem impossible. WWE have their dream ‘Mania main event in Cena vs Orton, and there’s no more opportunities for Bryan to force his way in. But he refuses to give up. Using some of the manipulation techniques he learned from his time with The Wyatts, Bryan prods Triple H’s ego, wondering why he isn’t in the main event to crown the ultimate face of the company. This, along with fans making their voices heard and rioting, forces The Authority’s hand.
Wanting to kill two birds with one stone, Triple H decides to face Bryan for the right to enter the main event. Winning would prove that Triple H is better than Bryan and would give him the opportunity to hold all the gold and all the power, just like he’s always wanted.
Of course, that’s not how it goes. Bryan overcomes all the odds and beats Triple H, John Cena, and Randy Orton all in the same night to become Undisputed WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Bryan proves himself and everyone who believed in him right. He’s changed the system. Our voices do matter. We can make change as long as we never give up. The confetti falls on one of the best endings to WrestleMania ever.