WrestleMania is clearly the biggest event of the year for the wrestling industry. Fans look forward to it each year with the hope of major matches taking place with many storylines culminating. There are quite a few rumors going around these days with some speculation of odd moments coming to the event in the future. Any announcements officially made for WrestleMania feels huge these days given the hype that comes for such a show. The past has shown many great moments of huge announcements adding interest to the biggest show of the year. WrestleMania is a huge success on its own with the name already adding huge credibility to sell tickets.
We will look at the past and the potential future when it comes to news that impacts WrestleMania. The past instances will feature some of the biggest announcements that added a lot to the respective WrestleMania events. Future possibilities can be odd given elements surrounding them. These range from rumors to speculation of things that can happen in the future on the big stage. Time will tell if they take place or if they do well if they end up happening at WrestleMania. Find out just what happens with the past and potential future of the biggest show of the year. These are the ten biggest announcements ever made for WrestleMania along with ten of the weirdest possibilities for the future.
20 Announcement: Sting's First Match in WWE
Sting avoided joining WWE for most of his career. The legendary WCW career ended, and Sting still had no interest in WWE for many years. Sting felt that WCW would use him poorly. The fear was that his legacy would be hurt by being wasted away in the biggest promotion.
WWE finally convinced Sting to join the company toward the end of his career in 2014. The announcement was made that Sting would make his official WWE match debut and face Triple H on the biggest stage at WrestleMania 31. It helped the interest in the show rise with WrestleMania with Sting’s first WWE match being a huge draw.
19 Weird Possibility: Face Miz vs. Heel Daniel Bryan
WWE’s version of Freaky Friday took place in the dark match main event following SmackDown. Daniel Bryan’s WWE Championship win featured a heel turn that has him now playing a hated villain. The dark match was scheduled to be Bryan vs The Miz before the character change.
WWE went through with the match in a potential experiment for the future by having Miz play a face character against Bryan’s heel. Many fans and pundits predicted Bryan vs Miz would be the WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 35. It appears this could happen but not in the way anyone expected. Miz being the fan favorite against a hated Bryan would be surreal at WM 35.
18 Announcement: Shawn Michaels' Career on the Line
One of the reasons that WrestleMania started to grow immensely this past decade was the reliance on major attraction matches in the main event picture. WrestleMania XXVI had this perk when announcing that Shawn Michaels would be putting his career on the line against The Undertaker in the main event.
The two legends had arguably the great match in WWE history one year prior when Undertaker pulled out the win. Michaels’ story featured him desperate enough to put his career on the line for one more shot at ending the streak. Fans were instantly sold with the high stakes coming from the announcement, making WrestleMania XXVI a must-see show.
17 Weird possibility: WrestleMania outside North America
Triple H and Stephanie McMahon have tried their best to continue WWE’s growth as a global brand. They both care about expanding the brand more than Vince McMahon did when it comes to new markets and historic firsts.
One possibility is the first-ever instance of a WrestleMania show taking place outside of North America. Triple H has discussed England, Australia and a few other places as realistic options in past interviews. It remains to be seen if WWE ever actually goes through with it, but the NXT UK creation by Triple H shows just how much he wants the company to grow. Maybe the first WrestleMania outside of North America is coming sooner than later.
16 Announcement: Bret Hart returning for one more match
Bret Hart had one of the worst possible endings to a WWE story in 1997 when leaving following the Montreal Screwjob. An injury from a reckless kick by Goldberg in WCW led to Hart’s wrestling career ending sooner than expected. The sad final chapter of his iconic WWE career always felt like a heartbreaking story.
That made it more noteworthy when Bret returned to WWE to start an angle for a WrestleMania match in 2010. Hart was announced to face Vince McMahon in a Street Fight. Despite physical limitations preventing him from having a classic, Bret getting the chance for closure in WWE wrapped up his career in the way it needed to.
15 Weird Possibility: Becky Lynch vs. Nia Jax
A wrestler being reckless and injuring their opponent usually leads to punishment. Nia Jax, however, is getting an even bigger push and is essentially celebrated by WWE for injuring Becky Lynch. The stiff punch thrown by Jax put Lynch on the sideline.
WWE responded by having Jax pin Asuka to become the sole survivor in the big women’s tag match at Survivor Series. Nia is now scheduled to face Ronda Rousey at TLC, but there is another big rumor about her future. There is speculation that Jax will win the Royal Rumble to move to Smackdown for a major match against Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 35. Imagine being sloppy and getting rewarded for it in such a manner at your line of work!
14 Announcement: Return of Women's Championship
A huge announcement for a recent WrestleMania took place just hours before the show started on the pre-show. WWE Hall of Famer Lita appeared on the WrestleMania 32 kickoff to reveal a new Women’s Championship belt. The news came that WWE was getting rid of the Divas Championship and was retiring the term "diva" altogether.
Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, and Becky Lynch saw their importance rise for their already major match for the Women’s Championship on the biggest stage. The ladies stole the show with the consensus for the match of the night. Charlotte won the match and held the new title proud to help showcase the change for the women’s division.
13 Weird Possibility: Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins
WWE has seen many ups and downs when it comes to the Brock Lesnar story in recent years. Lesnar is heading into 2019 the same way he headed into 2018 and 2015 as an unbeatable champion. WrestleMania 31 featured him defending the WWE Championship against Roman Reigns before Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to end Brock’s reign.
Rumors indicated that Rollins may once again be the one to end Lesnar’s run as the Universal Champion in 2019. Roman Reigns leaving WWE to battle leukemia has forced WWE to look for another person to beat Lesnar as a major moment. The story is being recycled, but the weird thing is that Rollins may once be the one to beat Brock like the first time with this experiment, only this time featuring the Architect as a babyface.
12 Announcement: Champion vs. Champion
The idea of the WWE Champion facing the Intercontinental Champion is not that wild today, but it was once unheard of. WWE finally went through with the idea in 1990. Hulk Hogan was the face of the company as the WWE Champion. Ultimate Warrior was a rising star as the Intercontinental Champion.
WrestleMania VI was headlined with the blockbuster announcement of Hogan and Warrior facing off in a title vs. title match. It was the first WrestleMania to be showcased with two titles on the line in the same match as well as the first major face vs. face match. Warrior won the match to cement his legacy in WWE.
11 Weird Possibility: Triple H vs. Batista
Triple H’s injury suffered at Crown Jewel during his tag match with Shawn Michaels against The Undertaker and Kane has his status unknown for WrestleMania 35. A memorable interaction between Triple H and Batista at SmackDown 1000 led to a rumor of the two facing off at WrestleMania.
The Game's injury may put the match in jeopardy, but most fans know he will do everything in his power to recover in time. It will be an odd visual to see a banged-up Triple H struggling to wrestle if he does indeed still have injury issues at 'Mania. Things could end poorly for both guys if Triple H is not healthy and they go through with it.
10 Announcement: Shane McMahon's Return
Shane McMahon made headlines for WWE when returning from a long absence in 2016. The fans were in awe when Shane surprised the world by appearing to interrupt his sister Stephanie McMahon and father Vince McMahon during a Raw segment.
This segment led to the announcement that Shane would be facing Undertaker at WrestleMania 32 in a Hell in a Cell match. The match became an instant draw with the return of Shane alone adding excitement and interest in WrestleMania. Shane created enough excitement to remain in WWE throughout the past three years. The buzz from the announcement showed Shane and WWE how much he helps by being there.
9 Weird Possibility: Trish and Lita Winning Tag Titles
Trish Stratus and Lita each retired from their roles as full-time wrestlers for WWE back in 2006. There’s a chance both could take part in a WrestleMania match almost thirteen years later. Trish and Lita each had fun returning to WWE this year for their tag matches at Evolution and on Raw.
Various interviews have seen Stratus implying she would love to work with Sasha Banks. Rumor has it that Trish and Lita agreed to have roles at WrestleMania 35 and will have roles on Raw in early 2019. The most likely option would be a showcase of Trish and Lita vs Sasha and Bayley for the first-ever WWE Women’s Tag Tea Championship. Any chance of the two legends holding gold all these years later would be a surprising moment to witness.
8 Announcement: Two WWE Championship Matches
The road to WrestleMania X featured an unusual twist at the 1994 Royal Rumble event. Bret Hart and Lex Luger were the last two wrestlers in the Rumble and eliminated each other at the same time. Instead of a Triple Threat match with both wrestlers challenging Yokozuna, WWE went a different route.
The announcement featured both Hart and Luger getting singles matches in the show. Luger lost his and Bret would defeat Yokozuna in the main event. It also gave us the Bret vs. Owen classic to open the show. Fans were stunned during the storylines to see WWE go such a unique route creating multiple main event WWE Championship matches for the biggest show of the year.
7 Weird Possibility: The Under taker's Retirement Part II
The Undertaker is forever a respected legend to WWE fans, but the false retirement moments are getting out of hand. Most WrestleMania events these years feature Undertaker getting a moment in the ring as if it’s his final time.
WrestleMania XXX felt like the end after his WrestleMania undefeated streak ended to Brock Lesnar. Roman Reigns defeating The Undertaker at WrestleMania 33 was an even bigger implication of retirement when Undertaker left his gear in the ring. He manages to return every year and is expected back for WrestleMania 35. The retirement angle taking place again will shift from touching to comedic at this rate.
6 Huge announcement: Mike Tyson
The most underrated moment in the shift of the Monday Night War between WWE and WCW took place when Mike Tyson appeared on Raw. Tyson was one of the most famous/infamous people in the world, thanks to his controversial boxing career.
WWE booked an angle for Tyson and Steve Austin to get involved in a shoving fest before it was broken up. This resulted in huge media coverage for WWE. The announcement of Tyson appearing at WrestleMania XIV also added a huge dynamic to the show and created stronger interest for WWE. This was around the time WWE took control of the Monday Night Wars and never looked back.
5 Weird Possibility: Daniel Bryan getting head shaved
Daniel Bryan has been public about one of his most unique wrestling goals. The WWE Champion is currently in a good spot for WWE, but prior years have seen him considering working elsewhere when his contract expired.
One of his desires was to wrestle in CMLL Mexico to have the appeal of a Hair vs. Mask match that would result in losing his hair. Bryan does have a chance to do this in WWE right now. Rey Mysterio is back as the top luchador of all time. He happens to be on the SmackDown brand, where Bryan is the top heel. Given the freedom Bryan has to offer ideas, this taking place at WrestleMania 35 with his head being shaved by Rey isn’t too crazy to come true.
4 Huge announcement: The Rock vs John Cena
The Rock vs John Cena was arguably the biggest success in WWE history and one of the toughest projects. WWE booked The Rock’s return at WrestleMania XXVII as the host of the event. It started his issues with John Cena. The two announced they would face off one year later in the main event of WrestleMania XXVIII.
WWE had to wait a full year to go through with the match and the waiting process truly did help it reach success. Buy rates and fan interest helped WrestleMania XXVIII make history, thanks to the announcement creating such long-term hype. WWE found more success again with a second Cena/Rock main event topping prior records at WrestleMania XXIX.
3 Weird Possibility: Four Horsewomen Match
Ronda Rousey’s feuds with Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch have each created huge interest. The segment between Lynch and Rousey on Raw was one of the all-time great women’s wrestling segments in WWE. Flair replaced Lynch in the Survivor Series match and the post-match beatdown added interest there.
Rousey has engaged in trash talk with two ladies on the SmackDown brand via social media. There have been rumors of WWE wanting to have the match of the Four Horsewomen of WWE (Charlotte, Becky, Sasha Banks, and Bayley) against the Four Horsewomen from MMA (Rousey, Shayna Baeszler, Marina Shafir, and Jessamyn Duke). WrestleMania 35 or 36 could be the ultimate stage with a 4-on-4 women’s match main eventing.
2 Huge announcement: Iron Man Match
Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart were the faces of WWE in the eras between Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin. Both men had incredible reputations for delivering the best matches of the time. Their rivalry in the ring and behind the scenes also added a lot of intrigue whenever they faced off.
A huge announcement was made for their WrestleMania XII main event match shortly after Michaels won the Royal Rumble match for the title shot. WWE revealed it would be an Iron Man Match to see who could get the most falls in one hour. This was the first-ever WWE Iron Man Match and added huge interest in the show. Michaels won the iconic match of an era after it went into overtime, with neither man having pinned the other in the first 60 minutes.
1 Weird future possibility: The Elite invades
The success of the independent wrestlers in the former Bullet Club faction now known as The Elite is a huge story. Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks financed the hugely successful All In event proving they could sell out a huge venue without the luster of WWE.
2019 will see Cody, The Bucks, Kenny Omega, and Adam Page all enter free agency. There are rumblings of them wanting to start their own promotion, but WWE will clearly offer huge money. Given the timeframe and investment, The Elite invading WWE at WrestleMania 35 would be the biggest way to make an impact and create a surreal moment.