5 Interesting facts that might surprise you heading into WrestleMania 35

With only just over two weeks to go, the Road to WrestleMania has well and truly begun. With several dream matches already confirmed at the MetLife Stadium, this year’s edition of the pay-per-view looks to be another one to remember with matches like AJ Styles against Randy Orton, Seth Rollins' bid to slay the beast, and the triple threat match for the Raw Women’s Championship potentially becoming the first ever all-women's main event at WrestleMania.

One of the main reasons that WrestleMania is the must see pay-per-view of the year is that it tends to give shocking moments that the WWE Universe never thought they’d see. From Shawn Michaels retiring to Seth Rollins unforgettable Money in the Bank cash in, to Undertaker abd Asuka losing their streaks, WrestleMania simply pulls out all the stops with the message that anything can happen on the night.

With this being said, there are certain facts and statistics that seem to have a regular consistency at WrestleMania that many WWE fans may not have noticed. Here are five interesting facts heading into WrestleMania 35.

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#5 The Intercontinental Championship has only been successfully defended once in the past 17 WrestleMania pay-per-views

Dean Ambrose has been the one wrestler to successfully defend the Intercontinental Championship in 17 years

It goes without saying that the Intercontinental Championship is one of the most sought after Championships in WWE considering its illustrious history, so it should be no surprise that this title has proved to be the hardest one to keep in the last two decades at WrestleMania.

The Intercontinental Championship has not always been a pivotal part of WrestleMania in the past 17 years, with a lot of the champions not defending the title and usually being placed somewhere else on the card. Many former Intercontinental Champions by WrestleMania during this time have usually been competing in the Money in the Bank match. However, since the match got their very own pay-per-view in 2010, the title has been more prominently featured again.

The Intercontinental Championship has only been defended a total of eight times in the past seventeen WrestleMania pay-per-views. It is also worth noting that in that time frame, the title has only been successfully defended once. Talented wrestlers such as Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens as well as former WWE Champions JBL and The Miz have failed to walk away from WrestleMania with the championship still around their waist.

The only wrestler that has managed to successfully defend this Championship since Chris Jericho at WrestleMania X-7 is none other than Dean Ambrose, who fought off Baron Corbin at the preshow of WrestleMania 33.

While it’s not confirmed what the WWE has planned at WrestleMania 35 for the current Intercontinental Champion, Bobby Lashley, it is safe to say that history is definitely not on the champion’s side.

#4 Daniel Bryan has won his past five WrestleMania matches

Daniel Bryan is only one of three wrestlers that have had five victories in a row at WrestleMania

If you take into account the hundreds of male and female wrestlers that have competed at WrestleMania, a very small fraction of wrestlers have had their hand raised five times or more. But from the small pool of those wrestlers, only three wrestlers have won five matches in a row. Besides The Undertaker’s infamous streak, Edge managed to win in all five of his matches from WrestleMania 2000 to WrestleMania 22.

The only other person in the history of WWE that has achieved this is none other than the current WWE Champion Daniel Bryan. What makes this statistic more impressive is that his five matches have included retaining the Tag Team Championships, winning the Intercontinental Championship in a ladder match and having to compete twice at WrestleMania XXX to win the WWE Championship.

Even though Kofi Kingston fell short from winning the gauntlet match on the 19th March episode of SmackDown this past week, it still appears that he’s the likely contender for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35. However, with the title firmly around Bryan’s waist, not to mention he hasn’t lost at WrestleMania for the past six years, Kingston will have to pull out all the stops in order to capture his first WWE Championship.

#3 There have been at least three title changes in the past four WrestleMania pay-per-views

Roman Reigns winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 32

Whilst WrestleMania is known as WWE’s flagship pay-per-view, it is also largely considered as the pay-per-view to end feuds yet also setting the foundation for the upcoming months for the company’s creative direction. Taking this into account, it shouldn’t actually be a surprise that countless championships change at WrestleMania.

However, while there have been more than a handful of WrestleMania pay-per-views that have had at least three title changes, this is the first time in WrestleMania history where it has happened on four consecutive occasions. Many of these title changes from WrestleMania 31 to WrestleMania 34 have been significant in steering the WWE Universe in a new direction.

Seth Rollins' Money in the Bank cash-in at WrestleMania 31 for the WWE Championship strengthened The Authority in the company. The Divas Championship being retired at WrestleMania 32 led to Charlotte not only being crowned as the first ever WWE Raw Women’s Champion, but also led to a SmackDown Women’s Championship being introduced further developing the Women’s Evolution.

More recently, Brock Lesnar’s 500+ day reign began with an F5 to Goldberg at WrestleMania 33. At WrestleMania 35, all of the current champions defending their championships will be doing everything in their power to break this ongoing pattern.

#2 This will be the first time in five years where Roman Reigns will not be in the WrestleMania main event

It is very unlikely that Roman Reigns will be headlining WrestleMania for a fifth consecutive year

It is no secret that in the past few years that Roman Reigns has been pushed to be the new franchise player of the WWE. Since his arrival as part of The Shield in 2012, he has accomplished almost everything there is in the WWE, including winning the Royal Rumble and becoming a Triple Crown and Grand Slam Champion. Another highlight worth mentioning is him cleanly beating John Cena at No Mercy 2017, WWE’s franchise player for the best part of a decade.

This is why it shouldn’t be a surprise that Roman Reigns is the only wrestler since Hulk Hogan that has managed to be in the main event in four consecutive WrestleMania events – a record that Cena hasn’t even matched. However, if you take into account what has happened in the WWE since Roman Reigns last hasn’t been in the main event of WrestleMania it is still somewhat an interesting fact.

Some of the key moments that have happened in the WWE since Reigns has been in the main event at the Show of Shows include six new Championships being introduced, one of them being the first ever Women’s Tag Team Championship in the WWE. Also during this time, a women’s match has been the main event of a pay-per-view at Hell in a Cell in 2016, and Asuka arrived to the WWE and had the longest undefeated streak in the WWE at over 900 days.

There are only two more episodes of Raw before WrestleMania 35, and with no scheduled match yet for Roman Reigns, not to mention the huge possibility for the Raw Women’s Championship match being the first ever all-women’s main event at WrestleMania, this will be the first time since WrestleMania XXX where the Big Dog won’t be in the main event of WrestleMania.

#1 Triple H has been involved in the longest match in 7 of the past 8 WrestleMania pay-per-views

Triple H against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 32

With the exception of The Undertaker, Triple H has wrestled the most matches at WrestleMania, with a total of twenty two matches to date. While that is a feat in itself, a more impressive statistic for the near fifty year old wrestler is the longevity of his matches at WWE’s flagship event.

In his last eight appearances at WrestleMania, all but one match has lasted over twenty minutes against his opponent whether it is a mixed tag team match, a No Holds Barred match, or even a Hell in a Cell match. The only exception to the rule in the last eight years where Triple H didn’t have the longest match was at WrestleMania 32 when Undertaker faced Shane McMahon in a Hell in a Cell match.

At WrestleMania 35, Triple H will be competing in another No Holds Barred match – but this time his opponent will be against former Evolution member, Batista, and considering the strength and power of The Animal, the Cerebral Assassin may need at least twenty minutes to get the important three second count.