How Have WWE Stars Fared in Recent History After Breakout WrestleMania Moments?
It doesn't get much bigger for a WWE Superstar than having the spotlight shine on them at WrestleMania. It's a dream for almost all professional wrestlers.
For some, all it takes is one push on The Showcase of the Immortals to become iconic. But others haven't always been able to capitalize on their moment.
As WWE hypes up WrestleMania 38 as being an event where any Superstar can make their careers, let's look back on some of those from the past five years who had a major moment and assess what came out of that.
The Cruiserweight Division Duds
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While the Cruiserweight Classic was a great start to that division when it was introduced in 2016, it became obvious Vince McMahon wasn't interested in making the championship a priority.
205 Live showed signs of falling apart almost immediately, and the roster limped on for a few years before the show finally bit the dust last month.
In the meantime, several WrestleMania cards have included the Cruiserweight Championship as a focal point on the pre-show, but all have amounted to nothing in the long run.
It was a big deal for Cedric Alexander to beat Mustafa Ali in the tournament final at WrestleMania 34. Now, though, Ali wants to leave the company, while Alexander is used as an enhancement talent on Raw after WWE surprisingly broke up The Hurt Business.
Tony Nese had his crowning moment when he beat Buddy Murphy at WrestleMania 35, but both are now plying their trade in All Elite Wrestling after failed runs on the main roster.
Braun Strowman: A Bounty of Treasures All Gone to Waste
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Braun Strowman had a fascinating series of ups and downs in his relatively short WWE career.
For someone who could have believably beaten anyone at any point, The Monster Among Men struggled to achieve all his accomplishments and they were always quickly tossed aside.
Focusing on WrestleMania alone, he won the tag team titles alongside Nicholas at WrestleMania 34, won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal the next year, defeated Goldberg for the Universal Championship in 2020 and beat Shane McMahon in a steel cage match last year.
Strowman is such a baffling case. WWE clearly saw something in him but always seemed hesitant. Then, at the peak of his career in June last year, he was released instead of riding a wave of success.
It just goes to show that even succeeding in WWE might not be good enough. Nobody is safe from a potential release—even those who have won a major title on The Grandest Stage of Them All.
The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal Curse
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Strowman is only one of seven men to win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but he's part of a downward trend that extends to nearly all of them.
Everyone who has won this match has seen their push almost immediately disappear, and Cesaro, Big Show, Mojo Rawley, Matt Hardy and The Monster Among Men have all won but are no longer in WWE.
At least Jey Uso is doing well as a current SmackDown tag team champion, and Baron Corbin isn't doing too badly.
Happy Corbin isn't his best work and his forthcoming match with Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 38 means little, but being on the card in a featured role is more than most people on this list can say.
Drew McIntyre's Peak and Decline
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The peak of Drew McIntyre's career came with his victory in the men's Royal Rumble match in 2020 that led to him beating Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 36.
Unfortunately, it was in front of nobody because of the coronavirus pandemic, so the Scot was robbed of a true 'Mania moment in front of a packed house.
He followed that up with an unfortunate loss to Bobby Lashley in 2021, but this year he's facing Happy Corbin in a grudge match that means nothing.
Hopefully, things can get back on track next year and McIntyre will have a more prominent role at WrestleMania 39.
Naomi Gearing Up for a 3rd 'Mania Moment
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Most years, Naomi is a supporting player rather than a focal point of WrestleMania.
However, she's had two major achievements at The Show of Shows and looks destined for a third next month.
At WrestleMania 33, Naomi won a Six-Pack Challenge to capture the SmackDown Women's Championship and then clinched victory in the women's Battle Royal the following year.
Now, though, she's poised to win the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship alongside Sasha Banks when they face Carmella and Queen Zelina Vega. Hopefully, that will give her another surge of momentum toward what is already a Hall of Fame career.
While WWE may have its attention on others in the women's division much of the time, Naomi clearly hasn't been forgotten.
Bianca Belair Still Soaring High
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Bianca Belair won the women's Royal Rumble match last year and used it to win the main event of the first night of WrestleMania 37 in a historic match against Sasha Banks for the SmackDown Women's Championship.
The belt went to Becky Lynch at SummerSlam in under 30 seconds four months later, but The EST of WWE seems set to win a title at WrestleMania for the second year in a row.
If she does this, she'll not only be one of the few to win both the Raw and SmackDown Women's Championships, but she'll also have beaten the only other woman to win the main event at WrestleMania.
Things are still looking great for Belair, and she's still just getting started.
Rhea Ripley's Flight to the Top Keeps Hitting Turbulence
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Rhea Ripley is often spoken about as being the future of the women's division, but the way WWE treats her can seem to indicate it doesn't want that future to come any time soon.
The Nightmare has some massive achievements to her name: first-ever NXT UK women's champion, NXT women's champion, winner of Survivor Series and WarGames and former Raw women's champion.
However, last year's win over Asuka for the Raw title felt hollow. It was thrown together at the last minute and just didn't seem like a legitimate win.
Ripley was not positioned well as champion and fell to Charlotte Flair weeks later, meaning she's still looking for a victory over The Queen and is still seeking a WrestleMania moment that feels genuine.
Sadly, this year doesn't appear to be the time when that will happen.
Miscellaneous Other Superstars
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Let's round this list out with a few other Superstars who had less of a focus on them but are noteworthy enough to mention.
Kalisto's highlight, arguably, was retaining the United States Championship over Ryback at WrestleMania 32. Both are gone from the company after fizzling out soon after that.
Apollo Crews won the Intercontinental Championship last year in a Nigerian Drum Fight and is an afterthought on the roster at the moment.
Omos won the Raw Tag Team Championship alongside AJ Styles last year. His spot at WrestleMania 38 is still up in the air, but at least he's been protected as a nigh-unstoppable behemoth in this past year.
Damian Priest was given a huge win with Bad Bunny last year that led to an amazing 2021. While he recently lost the United States Championship, he can still turn things around and have another great year.
Austin Theory made his WrestleMania debut two years ago as an alternate. Now, he's in a featured role working with Vince McMahon, which is a massive upgrade.
Shinsuke Nakamura's loss against AJ Styles was something he's never recovered from, despite winning some midcard titles in the past few years.
KofiMania was huge and gave Kofi Kingston a long enough title reign that he can always hold dear, but he's long since been back in the tag team scene.
The IIconics won the women's tag team titles at WrestleMania 35, but both were gone from WWE two years later.
Otis beat Dolph Ziggler and kissed Mandy Rose, which led to a failed Money in the Bank run. Now, he's bounced back as one-half of Alpha Academy with a tag team title reign to his name.
Zack Ryder won the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 32, only to drop it to The Miz the next night on Raw. He then won the Raw Tag Team Championship alongside Curt Hawkins at WrestleMania 35 for another major moment, but that reign wasn't one for the record books, either. Both Ryder and Hawkins were let go in April 2020 as part of budget cuts.
Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.
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