Most Controversial WWE WrestleMania Moments of the Last Decade

Over the last decade, WWE WrestleMania has been home to its fair share of controversial moments.

Sprinkle in the rise of social media and its place in creating conversation about the industry, its stars and most prominent company, and you have plenty of opportunities for such controversy to spread.

From lightning-quick losses deemed disrespectful to the talent involved to head-scratching losses for two of the industry's most beloved characters, The Show of Shows has become as recognizable for its questionable decision-making as the glitz and grandeur that has been a staple since its inception.

Ahead of WrestleMania 38 in Arlington, Texas, where there will almost certainly be something that generates controversy among the fans, relieve these 10 moments of the last decade that raised eyebrows.

10. John Cena Defeats Bray Wyatt (WrestleMania 30)

Entering WrestleMania 30, it felt like the outcome of John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt was fairly obvious. The latter was a red-hot young star with a character fans were engaged and intrigued by.

He was interesting, creative and unlike anything else on the show. He had won over fans for his originality, and the result was a desire to see him pushed as far and as quickly as possible.

A win over the top star in the industry would expedite the process. But a win never came.

Instead, WWE told fans the same story it had many times over the years, with Cena overcoming the odds and thwarting the latest evil threat to his overwhelming goodness.

The moment derailed Wyatt. While he did go on to win the WWE Championship three years later and remain a main event-worthy competitor throughout his run with the company, he never quite regained the momentum he had entering that night's event.

The only reason the missed opportunity to create a megastar does not rank higher on this list? Wyatt at least got his win back against Cena six years later at WrestleMania 36 in a surreal Firefly Fun House match.

9. The Miz Loses to Shane McMahon (WrestleMania 35)

WWE had its greatest opportunity to establish The Miz as a babyface star at WrestleMania 35.

Fresh off a humiliating assault in front of his own parents in his hometown of Cleveland by Shane McMahon, The A-Lister entered MetLife Stadium prepared to unleash hell on The Prodigal Son and pay off the storyline with a triumphant victory.

However, McMahon inexplicably triumphed, scoring his first of several high-profile victories over The Miz in what would become a one-sided feud.

A trademark big bump, this time a superplex off scaffolding set up in the middle of the stadium, would define the match, but it was impossible to forget an outcome that neutered Miz's babyface persona before it even got started.

8. CM Punk vs. Undertaker Does Not Headline (WrestleMania 29)

After the success of the "Once in a Lifetime" showdown between The Rock and John Cena at WrestleMania 28, it made sense that WWE would want to run that match back, if for no other reason than financial gain.

That The Rock would conceivably put Cena over in the epic rematch made it a much more appealing bout for officials.

Except, after watching that same matchup a year earlier, fans had less interest in it, especially knowing Cena was getting his win back. The lack of desire to see it headline its second consecutive 'Mania was only exacerbated by a stronger feud between The Undertaker and CM Punk elsewhere on the show.

And therein lies the controversy.

Instead of running with the Undertaker-Punk main event, which would have put the Superstar most synonymous with WrestleMania at that time in the show-closer against the hottest performer in the company, WWE went with the predictable Cena-Rock rematch...and the predictable Cena victory.

The fans rejected it, booing the winner and The Rock's passing-of-the-torch moment afterward.

The result was a moment that fell flat and a bout that failed to match the quality of what The Deadman and The Straight Edge Superstar accomplished earlier on the card.

7. Charlotte Flair Ends Asuka's Unbeaten Streak (WrestleMania 34)

Asuka arrived at WrestleMania 34 in 2018 on a 914-day win streak. She had never suffered a pinfall or submission loss in NXT and had ridden a wave of momentum into the biggest show of the year that also included a historic women's Royal Rumble match victory.

There was every reason to believe her main roster arrival would culminate with a SmackDown Women's Championship victory over Charlotte Flair that established The Empress of Tomorrow's dominance on WWE television.

Instead, WWE opted to give The Queen another signature win, ending a historic run for Asuka. While The Empress would go on to win titles and enjoy a few runs here and there, she never experienced the level of success she did prior to the devastating loss on The Grandest Stage of Them All.

Flair, on the other hand, would headline WrestleMania 35 and remain one of the centerpieces of the WWE product in the four years since that victory.

6. John Cena and Nikki Bella's Ill-Fated Engagement (WrestleMania 33)

In hindsight, John Cena's engagement to Nikki Bella at WrestleMania 33 stinks of a publicity stunt to hype a reality television show.

The moment came at the conclusion of the couple's win over The Miz and Maryse in a mixed tag team match. But it was almost universally criticized for being too choreographed or rehearsed, especially with the presence of NBC's Al Roker at the event.

Perhaps it was legitimate. Maybe it was as real as television portrayed it to be, but it felt like a cheap attempt to steal headlines and hype for Total Divas rather than the defining moment in a couple's life that it should have been.

As history tells us, that moment was the beginning of the end for the relationship.

Cena went on to remarry while Bella had her first child with fiance Artem Chigvintsev, whom she met during her time on Dancing With The Stars.

5. New Orleans Turns on Brock Lesnar-Roman Reigns Main Event (WrestleMania 34)

Fans had seen enough of Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns by the time they took to the squared circle for the main event of WrestleMania 34 and let WWE know it.

The New Orleans crowd booed Reigns, the supposed hero , out of the arena. From there, crowd silence turned to jeers and chants of "This is awful" as The Beast Incarnate and The Big Dog hardly gave fans a main event worth getting excited over.

Repeated finishers and questionable booking only intensified the disdain the audience had for the match.

By the time Lesnar cut off one last attempt at a babyface comeback by Reigns and put the match out of its misery with a sixth F-5, the audience was over everything about the contest.

It was the last time The Big Dog headlined WrestleMania as a babyface. In 2021, WWE reversed the roles, with Reigns serving as the egotistical Head of the Table and Lesnar exploding back onto the scene as a vengeful hero.

They will headline WrestleMania 38 in Arlington, hopefully with better results than the abysmal marquee bout that unfolded in The Big Easy four years earlier.

4. Sheamus Defeats Daniel Bryan in 18 Seconds (WrestleMania 28)

It took just 18 seconds for WWE to change three years of its history.

The opening contest of WrestleMania 28, headlined by The Rock vs. John Cena, would have longer-reaching effects than the blockbuster main event. In it, Daniel Bryan defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Royal Rumble winner Sheamus.

After weeks of loudmouth promos and an obnoxious kiss with on-screen girlfriend AJ Lee to open the bout, Bryan found himself on the receiving end of the Brogue Kick. Three seconds later, his reign as champion ended in definitive fashion.

Except, the fans were solidly behind Bryan and the "Yes!" chants that would come to define him. They respected the all-time-great professional wrestler and wanted to see him succeed. His treatment was met with anger to the point that those same chants could be heard throughout the Orange Bowl over the course of the show.

Fans would make it a point to fill arenas with the chants in the ensuing months and years, to the point that WWE had no choice but to change up its plans for WrestleMania 30 two years later, turning it into "YES-tleMania" and a celebration of Bryan.

Who really knows what would have happened had the match between The American Dragon and The Celtic Warrior been a hard-hitting, highly competitive bout instead of the disrespectful squash we got instead.

3. COVID-19 Forces an Unprecedented WrestleMania (WrestleMania 36)

For the first and only time in WWE history, WrestleMania was held in an empty arena in 2020.

A product of the global COVID-19 pandemic, WrestleMania 36 occurred in a quickly remodeled Performance Center with no audience. It was played out in silence, with the Superstars competing between the ropes able to hear every word of the announcer.

It was a surreal experience, for performer and viewers alike, the pomp and circumstance of the annual extravaganza replaced by the reality of the situation, straightforward professional wrestling, and a dash of theatricality and cinematic entertainment to go along with it. 

Headlined by Drew McIntyre defeating Brock Lesnar to become WWE champion and the Match of the Year in the boneyard match between The Undertaker and AJ Styles, it was a show that set the stage for the year to come and an experience no one involved will forget, for better or worse.

2. Sting Loses His First WWE Match (WrestleMania 31)

For years, Sting avoided signing with WWE.

First, out of loyalty to WCW and then out of uncertainty surrounding Vince McMahon's plans for a guy who had been the main competition's franchise player. 

When The Icon finally took the leap of faith and signed with WWE, he was greeted with a hero's welcome by fans. Unfortunately, the creative team did not support him nearly as much.

At WrestleMania 31, Sting met Triple H in a dream match of sorts. Instead of being a showdown between a justice-fueled antihero and a corrupt figurehead of The Authority, it devolved into a commercial for WWE Network's Monday Night Wars docuseries in which The Game and his D-Generation X buddies vanquished Sting and the New World Order.

It was massively disappointing and not at all reflective of the initial storyline that brought the two together. That Triple H, the lead heel in the company, defeated Sting in his first WWE match sparked outrage from fans who did not, and still don't, understand the thought process behind the decision.

Sting would never win a match during his in-ring run with WWE, which was shortened by injury later in 2015.

1. Brock Lesnar Ends the Streak (WrestleMania 30)

Brock Lesnar's match-winning F-5 to The Undertaker at WrestleMania 30 shocked the wrestling world, leaving the SuperDome in New Orleans in stunned silence.

Prior to The Beast's victory, it was assumed The Phenom would never lose at WrestleMania; that his unbeaten streak of 21-0 was the real drawing point behind the biggest event of the year and a mark that should never be tarnished.

He could not lose and would not lose.

And then he did. The internet reaction was proof positive that WWE could still shock its audience, still create buzz beyond its bubble as celebrities commented on the defeat. Sports websites and mainstream entertainment publications reported on it.

And fans? They took to social media to denounce the decision, their minds moving faster than their fingers could type. That it was Lesnar instead of a younger star who could benefit from the win only fueled their disdain for the booking.

To this day, The Beast ending Undertaker's streak remains one of the hot-button topics of WrestleMania history. It was something that could not be reversed, rebooked or fixed. Once the genie was out of the bottle, there was no going back.

Something that was evident when Roman Reigns defeated The Deadman three years later in what should have been the end of the streak but was just loss No. 2 for The Phenom.