WWE WrestleMania is the biggest wrestling show in the world debuting in 1985 as a huge wrestling spectacle, and marked the beginning of a grand celebratory wrestling phenomenon. Indeed, The Show of Shows is indeed the most awaited and most watched Premium Live Event that the global wrestling juggernaut, WWE holds.
After four decades of WrestleMania, the event has established a rich and iconic history of its own, having countless memorable moments and instant classics that have blown the roof off the stadium joints. However, there are a collective number of matches that have happened two times in a row as part of captivating storylines and the desire for its passionate fanbase.
Let us take a look at four of those WrestleMania matchups that occurred two years in a row:
1. Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes
Roman Reigns was on the run of a lifetime ever since he returned from his hiatus in 2020 and immediately won the WWE Universal Championship, The Head of the table went on to defeat The Beast Incarnate, Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 38 to unify the Universal title with WWE Title to elevate his status even further.
At the same event, Cody Rhodes made his shocking return to the WWE when Reigns unified both world titles at WrestleMania 38 with the story building up to next year’s Show of Shows. It was heavily speculated that The Prodigal Son would defeat The Tribal Chief at WrestleMania 39, only to be shocked when Reigns retained his title on that night. However, that was not the case at the WrestleMania 40 rematch as The American Nightmare won the Royal Rumble Match again this year to challenge Roman Reigns again for the second year in a row and this time, defeated Roman Reigns to clinch the title and Finish The Story.
2. Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan
The Celtic Warrior Sheamus holds one of the fastest victories in the history of WrestleMania and it came at the expense of one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, Daniel Bryan. Sheamus infamously defeated Daniel Bryan within 18 seconds of the match after hitting him with the Brogue Kick to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 28.
However, Bryan and Sheamus were not strangers to each other in a WrestleMania ring at WrestleMania 28 as the duo also had faced each other in a one-on-one match a year prior at WrestleMania 27 for the WWE United States Championship where The Great White retained his championship in a no contest.
3. John Cena vs. The Rock
The Rock returned to WWE this past year when he teamed up with Roman Reigns to face Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins and Cody Rhodes in the main event of WrestleMania 40. However, this is not the only time when The Final Boss returned to the WWE after a long hiatus for a match. The Rock returned to the WWE in 2011 after seven years to engage in a rivalry with John Cena that culminated in a dream showdown with him not once, but twice.
The Cenation Leader went toe-to-toe with The Great One at WrestleMania 28 where The Rock delivered a thunderous Rock Bottom to seal the victory over John Cena. However, it was not the only time these two legendary stars faced each other as the duo battled again in the main event of next year’s edition of WrestleMania, WrestleMania 29 where Mr. Hustle, Loyalty, Respect earned his redemption and defeated The Rock to win the WWE Championship.
4. Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker
The two greatest wrestlers, perhaps, to ever compete against each other at two consecutive WrestleMania are Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker. The Heartbreak Kid and The Phenom were involved in the most heated feuds of all time when they faced each other at WrestleMania 25 and delivered one of the greatest WrestleMania matches in history.
The Deadman defeated Mr. WrestleMania at WrestleMania 25, after which Michaels became hell-bent on ending The Undertaker’s undefeated streak to the extent that Michaels put his career on the line against The Undertaker at the following WrestleMania in their rematch. However, The Phenom was too big of a mountain for Michaels to climb as The Undertaker defeated Shawn Michaels again at WrestleMania 26, thus ending his career and extending his streak to 18-0.
5. The Undertaker vs Triple H
After The Undertaker put the career of Shawn Michaels to rest, his best friend and 14-time WWE Champion Triple H stepped up to challenge The Phenom’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania 27. Following a hellacious No Holds Barred match, although Undertaker scored a submission victory, it was Triple H who walked out under his own power, and Taker had to be carried away on a stretcher.
The Undertaker returned to WWE a year later to erase that lasting image, and a rematch was set between him and The Cerebral Assassin for WrestleMania 28, inside Hell in a Cell with Shawn Michaels as the referee. Despite certain odds against him, The Undertaker once again managed to pick up the win over Triple H to extend his streak to 20-0.
What do you think of these matches that happened two times in a row at WrestleMania? Share your thoughts in the comments!