WrestleMania is the biggest event in the world of wrestling. Even being on the card of WrestleMania is a huge thing for a wrestler. Winning a World Championship on the Grandest Stage of Them All is a distant dream for every wrestler who gets in the squared circle for the very first time.
The first World Title is special for every wrestler, and there is no place better than WrestleMania to have that unforgettable moment. Ever since the Royal Rumble winner started getting World Title shot at WrestleMania, we have seen many wrestlers win their first World Titles at 'Mania.
10 Randy Savage - WrestleMania 4
Randy Savage became the first wrestler to win his first World Title at WrestleMania at the fourth edition of the event. This was also the first time a new WWE Champion was crowned at WrestleMania. After Andre The Giant won the WWE Title from Hulk Hogan, he gave the title to Ted DiBiase. However, the title win was considered invalid by WWE and the title was vacated.
Due to this, a WWE Title tournament was organised at WrestleMania 4, in which Savage took part. Savage beat Butch Reed, Greg Valentine and One Man Gang to meet Ted DiBiase in the final match of the tournament. Savage got little help from Hogan in the end, and he hit the Diving Elbow on DiBiase to win the title.
9 Yokozuna - WrestleMania 9
Yokozuna made his WWE debut towards the end of 1992. It didn't take long for him to have success as he won the 1993 Royal Rumble match. The 1993 Royal Rumble match had a special stipulation which gave Yokozuna a WWE Title match at WrestleMania 9.
Yokozuna challenged Bret Hart for the WWE Championship in the scheduled main event with Mr. Fuji in his corner. Yokozuna dominated much of the match due to his size and in the end, Mr. Fuji threw salt in Bret's eyes which allowed Yokozuna to pin Bret and win his first WWE Championship.
8 Shawn Michaels - WrestleMania 12
Shawn Michaels had challenged Diesel for the WWE Title at WrestleMania 11, but he didn't win the title. One year later, he won the 1996 Royal Rumble match and once again got the opportunity to challenge for the WWE Title at WrestleMania.
This time he faced Bret Hart in the main event in the first televised WWE Iron Man match. The match was 60 minutes long, but we didn't get any falls in the duration. As Bret was leaving thinking it was a tie, fans learnt there would be a sudden death. Shawn then hit the Sweet Chin Music on Bret and won the title.
7 Steve Austin - WrestleMania 14
Steve Austin had won the 1997 Royal Rumble match, but he didn't get the WWE Title opportunity due to old-school WWE booking shenanigans. The next year in 1998, Austin won the Royal Rumble match once again and got the WWE Title opportunity in the main event of WrestleMania 14.
He went on to challenge Shawn Michaels. Mike Tyson was the special outside enforcer for the match. In the end of the match, Austin hit the Stunner on Shawn. Since the referee was down, Mike Tyson entered the ring and counted to three quickly, making Austin the new WWE Champion.
6 John Cena - WrestleMania 21
John Cena was in the final two of the 2005 Royal Rumble match. However, he failed to win the Rumble as Batista won it. There was no #1 contender for the WWE Title at WrestleMania 21 so Teddy Long announced a #1 Contender Tournament with the final match taking place at No Way Out.
Cena beat Orlando Jordan and Booker T to face Kurt Angle at No Way Out. Cena won the match, thus earning himself the WWE Title match against JBL at WrestleMania 21. Cena performed his finisher FU on JBL to win his first WWE Championship.
5 Batista - WrestleMania 21
John Cena wasn't the only wrestler to win his first World Title at WrestleMania 21 as Batista also won the World Heavyweight Title for the first time in the main event of the show. In the 2005 Royal Rumble match, Batista and Cena eliminated each other and both men hit the floor at the same time not giving a clear winner.
Once Vince McMahon blew out his quads and the match was restarted, Batista dumped Cena out, getting the World Title opportunity at WrestleMania. Triple H and Ric Flair tried their best to convince Batista to challenge JBL, but Batista chose to challenge Triple H during the contract signing, and attacked Triple H. At WrestleMania, Batista hit the Batista Bomb on Triple H to win the World Heavyweight Title for the first time.
4 Rey Mysterio - WrestleMania 22
Rey Mysterio isn't the ideal WWE World Champion. But he won the 2006 Royal Rumble match as a tribute to Eddie Guerrero to get the World Title opportunity. The Road to WrestleMania wasn't smooth for Mysterio, as he first faced Randy Orton at No Way Out with his WrestleMania title match on the line.
Orton went on to defeat Rey Mysterio at the event to win his WrestleMania title shot. Later, it was announced that the World Heavyweight Title match at WrestleMania 22 would be a Triple Threat between the champion Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio and Randy Orton. Mysterio performed a 619 and a West Coast Pop on Orton to win the World Heavyweight Title in a great underdog moment.
3 Seth Rollins - WrestleMania 31
Seth Rollins had won the Money in the Bank Ladder match in 2014. He tried cashing in the contract on a few occasions over the next months, but failed every time. He headed into WrestleMania 31 with the contract. He first had a match on the card against Randy Orton which he lost.
During the main event WWE World Heavyweight Title match between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns, Rollins shocked everyone as he cashed in his contract during the match when both men were down. As Reigns hit a Spear on Lesnar, Rollins performed the Curb Stomp on Reigns and pinned him to win his first WWE Title.
2 Braun Strowman - WrestleMania 36 Night One
Braun Strowman's first World Title win came at an unexpected time. Initially, Strowman was nowhere in the plans of WrestleMania 36, and it even seemed like he would be left out of the card. The original Universal Title match was Roman Reigns vs. Goldberg, but Reigns opted out of the event prioritizing his health.
Since every major star in WWE was already booked on the card, Braun Strowman got the opportunity to challenge Goldberg for the Universal Title. The match lasted just a little over 2 minutes with both wrestlers trading finishers. Strowman hit Goldberg with several Running Powerslams to win the Universal Title.
1 Drew McIntyre - WrestleMania 36 Night Two
Drew McIntyre is the most recent wrestler who won their first World Title at a WrestleMania event. McIntyre wasn't having the best of runs until Royal Rumble 2020, when he won the 30-man Royal Rumble match to get a World Title match at WrestleMania.
The decision of choosing the champion was a no-brainer for Drew as he challenged the WWE Champion Brock Lesnar. The match was the main event of the Night Two of WrestleMania 36. The match was less than 5 minutes and was a finisher fest. McIntyre hit multiple Claymores on Lesnar to win the WWE Title. In the process, Drew also became the first ever British-born WWE Champion.