WrestleMania's Financial Success Will Further WWE's Confidence in Roman Reigns

With Roman Reigns at the top of the card, WWE WrestleMania 31 raked in unprecedented amounts of money. The staggering numbers associated with the pay-per-view make a formidable case to keep Reigns in that very spot for a long time to come.

The ultimate measure of pro wrestling success is being able to pull in massive amounts of fans—to "draw," to use the squared circle's own parlance. Reigns is still no maestro on a microphone and is not as versatile in the ring as many of his peers, but the latest financial info will have him poised for future opportunities to headline.

On Thursday, WWE held a conference call to announce its first-quarter earnings for 2015. The company also released its earnings report via its corporate website. The results are mighty impressive.

The total earnings for the quarter stood at $176.2 million. WWE also saw a 99 percent increase in WWE Network subscribers from last year's WrestleMania to this one. In addition, WrestleMania 31 pulled in 259,000 buys. 

The earnings report states that "WrestleMania 31 was viewed in more homes globally than ever before."

WrestleMania's overall resounding success is one of the biggest takeaways here. As wrestling writer Chris Harrington shared, WWE pointed to the event being the most financially successful of its kind:

Earlier in the month, WWE's Joey Styles tweeted the numbers for WrestleMania's gate and merchandise sales:

"

DID YOU KNOW? WrestleMania 31 was the highest-grossing live event in @WWE history, grossing $12.6 million and $3.3 million in merchandise.

— Joey Styles (@JoeyStyles) April 1, 2015"

It's impossible to separate how much of the event's success was Brock Lesnar's doing and how much can be attributed to other factors, including Sting's first-ever WWE match. And WrestleMania as an event has gotten so massive that records are broken regularly.

As Variety notes, WrestleMania 29 outperformed every WrestleMania before it. 

Credit: WWE.com

Regardless, WWE is liable to look at this as proof that Reigns is top-star material. WrestleMania 29 had two bona fide megastars go on last. The Rock is a star beyond the wrestling ring, consistently killing it at the box office. John Cena has been WWE's top dog for years.

Reigns, on the other hand, was more of a question mark. WWE clearly believed in him, but he had yet to prove he could impact the company's bottom line as guys like Cena have done.

In the end, though, he and Lesnar outdid The Rock vs. Cena, Triple H vs. Randy Orton and, as sacrilegious as it sounds, Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant.

That's most certainly a career-boosting accomplishment.

WWE positioned his attempt to become world champion as one of the biggest selling points of the pay-per-view. It was his face that looked out at fans from the WrestleMania poster between Lesnar and Cena.

It was Reigns who came out week after week proclaiming that he could and he would dethrone The Beast Incarnate.

He was portrayed as the hero looking to topple the unstoppable villain. He and Lesnar played lead roles in the event's buildup. And in the end, the event thrived.

That's what WWE officials will be thinking when they discuss who should hold the company's top title or what plans for next year's WrestleMania should look like. They will surely realize that Lesnar was a big part of this past WrestleMania's success, but Reigns will get plenty of credit as well.

Expect him to eventually win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Look for his name at the top of many prominent cards.

WWE believes it has a moneymaker in Reigns.

Should Reigns sit on the marquee for The Show of Shows minus Lesnar and bomb, adjustments will be made. For now, though, this will be a bullet point on his resume that screams for him to earn more time in the spotlight.