10 greatest opening matches in WrestleMania history
1. Daniel Bryan vs Triple H (WrestleMania 30)
The Bret vs Owen classic spent two decades as the gold standard WrestleMania opener until the magic of Daniel Bryan’s rise to the top came at WrestleMania 30. Variables like CM Punk leaving WWE, fans turning on Batista and the general love for Bryan forced the company to change plans. Bryan was originally scheduled to face Sheamus. Plans would change to give the fans exactly what they wanted.
Triple H faced Bryan in the opening match of WrestleMania 30 with the winner getting added to the main event against Randy Orton and Batista for the WWE World Championship. Despite the payoff coming in the title win, Bryan’s main rival on the road to WrestleMania was Triple H. The heel authority-figure role of Triple H had him cutting down Bryan’s opportunity every time he came close to the top of the mountain.
Bryan and Triple H perfectly played off that story in their match. The underdog Bryan would get the win over Triple H and win the title later in the night. Another element to add to the impressive nature of the match was that they followed a long promo segment featuring The Rock, Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan.
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Many matches would have lost the crowd. Bryan and Triple H however gave us a payoff of months of storytelling to set up another payoff later in the show. This rightfully deserves the spot as the greatest opening match in WrestleMania history.