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WWE is firmly entrenched in WrestleMania season, and the Las Vegas-hosted Showcase of the Immortals is beginning to loom large on the horizon. Underdog Jey Uso set the ball rolling in January when he shockingly won the Royal Rumble as a 33/1 outsider. That victory triggered perhaps the most shocking heel turn of all time when John Cena obliterated Cody Rhodes and aligned with The Rock at the Elimination Chamber a month later, setting up one of the most significant Mania main events of all time.
On both night one and night two of the upcoming Sin City showdown, the two main events are genuinely too close to call. On night one, CM Punk will headline his first WrestleMania when he faces off against both Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins in a triple-threat match for the ages.
The Second City Saint is no stranger to being the betting underdog. Websites offering UFC betting such as the popular crypto outlet Thunderpick made Punk a 2.68 and a 4.28 outsider for his two Octagon bouts against Mike Jackson and Mickey Gall respectively, and now, the Chicago native has the opportunity to shine in the role of underdog once more. Similar sites currently price the former AEW star as the 4.00 outsider to get the victory, with Roman Reigns the shortpriced -200 frontrunner and Seth Rollins sandwiched in between. Bettors will be closely watching sites like Thunderpick to see how things are looking as the match approaches.
Then, on night two we get the big one, Cody Rhodes vs John Cena for the biggest prize in the game, the Undisputed WWE Championship. The stakes could not be higher, with the veteran challenger proclaiming that he will ruin wrestling for everyone by winning the championship from the American Nightmare and retiring with the gold in his possession. The champion has the unenviable task of stopping that nightmare from becoming a reality, and he is a 2.70 outsider to do exactly that, with Cena priced as a 1.40 betting favorite.
The upcoming Allegiant Stadium showcase promises to be a thriller, but where will its two showcase matches fit in terms of the best WrestleMania main events of the last decade? Well, here are the three that we think it needs to beat if it wants to be considered as one of the greatest of modern times.
Back in 2015, WrestleMania 31 was a strange old show. The build-up to the Granddaddy of them All was uncharacteristically weak. Roman Reigns had won his first Royal Rumble match barely half a year on from the explosion of The Shield, but fans most certainly weren't on board with him being the next top star in WWE. He was jeered with thunderous boos when he won the Rumble in Philadelphia, and with rumors swirling that then WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar would be leaving the company after Mania, it seemed like the stage was set for Reigns' coronation.
The go-home Raw before the Levi's Stadium blockbuster was a weak one, with the final image on the show being Lesnar and Reigns embroiled in a strange tug-of-war with the championship belt. But in the days before WrestleMania, it was announced that champion Lesnar had signed a new deal and would remain with WWE, which left fans thinking there was a genuine possibility of him retaining the gold.
On fight night, fans were in for a treat. Lesnar and challenger Reigns embarked on a hard-hitting match that had fans on the edges of their seats throughout. Reigns kicked out of three F5s, something that even The Undertaker couldn't do a year prior when his storied Streak was broken. However, neither of them would emerge as the champion.
In the dying embers of the all-time great main event, Mr. Money in the Bank Seth Rollins would cash in his briefcase and world championship opportunity, turning the match into a triple threat. In a wild couple of minutes, Reigns delivered a wicked spear to Lesnar, before Rollins nailed his former Shield brethren with a devastating curb stomp, escaping with the title in what has become remembered as the Heist of the Century.
Eight years later, Reigns had finally shed his skin to become the villainous Tribal Chief, and he ruled over WWE with an iron fist. Between August 2020 and April 2023, he had clung on to the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, but it appeared for all the world that his time was up when he met Royal Rumble winner Cody Rhodes at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Online oddsmakers made the challenger a huge betting favorite to end Roman's reign of terror, but there would be a cruel twist in the tale.
Reigns and Rhodes battled it out for over half an hour, with the contest twisting one way then the next. Interference from Reigns' Bloodline stablemates and real-life cousins The Usos as well as Rhodes' allies Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens seemingly handed the challenger the victory. But shockingly, further interference from Reigns' enforcer Solo Sikoa followed up with a blistering spear from Reigns ensured that it was the Tribal Chief that won, silencing the 80,000+ in attendance in California.
A year later, Reigns and Rhodes did battle once again. And this time around, the American Nightmare would finally have his moment in the sun. After losing a tag team match against Reigns and The Rock on the previous night, Rhodes had to overcome the odds of a match contested under Bloodline Rules.
The match ebbed one way and flowed the next, leading to a chaotic final five minutes which many consider the greatest in WrestleMania history. Interference from Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, Solo Sikoa, John Cena, Seth Rollins, The Rock, and The Undertaker left the contest in the balance.
However, it was Reigns who cost himself the victory, turning his attention to Rollins and bludgeoning him with a steel chair rather than nailing Rhodes, and it proved costly. The American Nightmare would reverse the Tribal Chief's devastating spear, drilling him with a trifecta of finishers, good enough to finally secure the pinfall victory and end Roman's reign as champion at a staggering 1,316 days.
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