 | This article describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style.(August 2022) |
| Reality Era | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 The logo used by WWE throughout most of the Reality Era | |||
| Promotion | WWE | ||
| Date | March 24, 2014 – May 1, 2016 | ||
| WWF/WWE eras chronology | |||
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The Reality Era is an era of professional wrestling within World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which began approximately early 2014 through May 1, 2016. It succeeded the previous PG Era.
On April 8, 2013, post-WrestleMania 29 episode of Raw , fans expressed intense and vocal displeasure when then-SmackDown General Manager Booker T suggested the possibility of a third match between John Cena and The Rock. [1] [2] John Cena's increased prominence in major storylines had also been criticized by various media outlets. [3] [4] Conversely, fan support for Daniel Bryan began to rise as the year rolled on, as he was compared to Stone Cold Steve Austin during the Attitude Era. [5] [6] Similar to the "What?" chants associated with Austin, the "Yes!" chants among the fans of Bryan have become a cultural trend in the WWE — the chant even going as far as being translated to "Oui! Oui! Oui" whenever WWE would hold televised events in Montreal in 2018 and 2019. [7]
After John Cena lost the WWE Championship to Daniel Bryan at SummerSlam, the storyline featuring The Authority began. During the "Championship Ascension Ceremony" segment ahead of Cena and Randy Orton's approaching championship unification match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, the fans' "Yes!" chants forced Cena to go off-script and acknowledge Bryan. [8]
Batista shockingly returned in January 2014 and won the 2014 Royal Rumble match. [9] The negative reaction of the fans attending the event in Pittsburgh was so significant that it was reported as one of the major news items coming out of the event [10] [11] and described as the live audience engineering a "takeover" of the final two hours of the show. [11] [12] During the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match between Cena and Orton, fans booed both men and chanted for Bryan, with chants such as "This is awful." [13] After the show was taken off the air, Batista, who had been presented on the air as a heroic babyface character, mocked Bryan and gestured his middle finger at the crowd. [14] [15]
On the March 10 episode of Raw, Bryan would "Occupy Raw" until Triple H gave in to his requests. [16] During the March 24 episode the following week, Triple H would dub that point in time the beginning of the "Reality Era". [17] At WrestleMania XXX Bryan would go on to defeat Triple H to earn a place in the main event where he faced Orton and Batista. He faced the two in a triple-threat match on the same night and won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. [18]
During Triple H's post-WrestleMania attack on Bryan on the April 7, 2014, episode of Raw, The Shield interfered on behalf of Bryan and saved him from the assault by Triple H, Batista, and Orton. This led to the three of them reforming their old stable Evolution. [19] [20] The two groups would then engage in a feud that saw The Shield defeat Evolution consecutively at the 2014 Extreme Rules and Payback events. [21] On the June 2 episode of Raw, Triple H announced his intention to continue the recently reunited Evolution's feud with The Shield, despite Batista quitting WWE to focus on his acting career. [22] Later that night The Shield was in the ring, Seth Rollins attacked stablemates Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns with a steel chair. Rollins turned his back on The Shield, allying with The Authority. [23]
Of the three, Roman Reigns would also receive a heavy push. It was during 2015 that John Cena slowly began to transition to a part time role and WWE began to establish Roman Reigns as the face of the company, which received polarizing reception from fans and critics, since having Reigns win the 2015 Royal rumble match on January 25, 2015. [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] Yet, much like what happened to Cena, Reigns' increasing prominence in major storylines was met with fan backlash. At the 2015 Royal Rumble, Reigns received massive heat from the live crowd. [30] Fans expressed their outrage during and after Fastlane where Reigns defeated the fan's favorite, Daniel Bryan. [31] [32] During the main event of WrestleMania 31 between Reigns and then-WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, Rollins surprisingly cashed in his Money in the Bank contract in the climax. This turned the still-ongoing title match into a triple-threat match, and his eventual victory was met with a positive response. However, Rollins would be forced to vacate the title later on in October 2015 after an injury. At the 2015 Survivor Series event, a tournament for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship was held, with Shield members Reigns and Ambrose making it to the finals and Reigns defeating Ambrose in the tournament final to win his first WWE World Heavyweight Championship. This received a mixed response from the fans. [33] Reigns would then begin feuding with The Authority, culminating in the main event at WrestleMania 32. There he would defeat Triple H to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship again after losing the title to Triple H at the Royal Rumble, wherein the title had to be defended in the royal rumble match. [34]
WrestleMania 32 received a negative response, with many calling NXT TakeOver: Dallas which took place the day before WrestleMania on April 1, 2016, a far superior event and many citing the match between Shinsuke Nakamura and Sami Zayn at the event as the match of the year. [35] [36]
At WrestleMania XXX, The Undertaker's undefeated streak of 21 consecutive victories dating back to 1991 would be broken by Brock Lesnar. [37] [38] Lesnar would go on to defeat Cena at SummerSlam to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, winning his first WWE title in a decade. [39] On the following episode of Raw, Brock Lesnar received a newly designed belt to represent the WWE Championship. [40] [41] [42]
WCW wrestler Sting, who had previously been dubbed the "greatest wrestler to never wrestle in WWE," [43] made his debut at the 2014 Survivor Series, helping Team Cena defeat Team Authority in a (5 on 5) Elimination Tag Team match, going on to have his first-ever match in WWE at WrestleMania 31 against Triple H in a losing effort.
Kevin Owens made his main roster debut at the 2015 Elimination Chamber event defeating top star John Cena in an upset but well-received victory. However, he lost their rematch at the 2015 Money in the Bank event. Despite that Rolling Stone named it the match of the year. [44]
One of rival wrestling promotion TNA's most popular wrestler AJ Styles made his WWE debut at the 2016 Royal Rumble event in the Royal Rumble match that would be won by Triple H. [45]
The Reality Era moved to an end in the lead-up to Payback on May 1, 2016, an event that was being touted as the start of a "New Era." [46] [47] At Payback, The Authority would officially disband as WWE Chairman Vince McMahon announced that Stephanie and Shane McMahon would run Raw jointly. [48]
Paul Michael Levesque, better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive, actor, and retired professional wrestler. Regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he is the current chief content officer and head of creative for WWE.
Brock Edward Lesnar is an American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist, amateur wrestler, and professional American football player. As a professional wrestler, he is currently signed to WWE, where in storyline, he is designated a "free agent", allowing him to appear on both the Raw and SmackDown brands; however, as of August 2023, he is on hiatus. Often regarded as one of the most prolific combat sport athletes in the world, Lesnar is the only person to have won the primary heavyweight championships of WWE, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), the Inoki Genome Federation (IGF), and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
John Felix Anthony Cena is an American actor and professional wrestler. As a wrestler, he has been signed to WWE since 2001, but has performed part-time since 2018. A record 16-time world champion as recognized by WWE, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.
The 2004 Royal Rumble was the 17th annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown! brand divisions. The event took place on January 25, 2004, at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As has been customary since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner received a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania, in this instance, WrestleMania XX. Beginning with this Royal Rumble, the winner could choose which championship to challenge for at WrestleMania, either Raw's World Heavyweight Championship or SmackDown!'s WWE Championship.
WrestleMania XX was the 20th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It featured professional wrestlers from both of the promotion's two brand divisions – Raw and SmackDown!. The event took place on March 14, 2004, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was the third WrestleMania at Madison Square Garden and the fourth of six WrestleManias in the New York metropolitan area. To this date it is the last WrestleMania to have been held at the Garden. Its calendar date of March 14 also stands as the earliest that WrestleMania has ever been held in any year.
Randal Keith Orton is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand. With the tied-third most world championship reigns in history, and a career spanning over 20 years, Orton is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.
In professional wrestling, heat can refer to both crowd reactions and real-life animosity between those involved in a professional wrestling angle, or match.
Leati Joseph "Joe" Anoaʻi, better known by his ring name Roman Reigns, is an American professional wrestler and former football player. As a wrestler, he has been signed to WWE since 2010, and currently performs on the SmackDown brand. He is the former leader of The Bloodline stable and a member of the Anoaʻi family. Reigns's title reign of 1,316 days as Undisputed WWE Universal Heavyweight Champion was the fourth-longest world title reign in WWE history and the longest championship reign since 1988.
WrestleMania XXX was the 30th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on April 6, 2014, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana and was the first WWE event simultaneously broadcast live on PPV and livestreamed on WWE's subscription streaming service, the WWE Network, which launched in February. WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan served as the host of the event.
WrestleMania 29 was the 29th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on April 7, 2013 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Nine professional wrestling matches were contested at the event, with one match contested on the Pre-Show.
WrestleMania 33 was the 33rd annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on April 2, 2017, at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, and was the third WrestleMania held at the state of Florida after XXIV and XXVIII. The New Day served as the hosts of the event. It was the first WrestleMania to feature Goldberg since WrestleMania XX.
The Shield was a professional wrestling stable in WWE that consisted of Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins. Their original characters were mercenaries for CM Punk; however, they quickly became mainstay main-event names. The group debuted on November 18, 2012 at the Survivor Series pay-per-view. The Shield was a dominant force in six-man tag team matches with an undefeated televised streak lasting from December 2012 to May 2013, during which they scored a victory at WrestleMania 29. In May 2013 at Extreme Rules, all three members of The Shield won a championship, with Ambrose winning the United States Championship while Rollins and Reigns captured the WWE Tag Team Championship. Rollins and Reigns were WWE Tag Team Champions until October 2013, and Ambrose was United States Champion until May 2014, which was a record reign for the WWE version of the championship. As a Shield member, Reigns gained prominence by setting and equaling elimination records at the 2013 Survivor Series and the 2014 Royal Rumble events.
The 2014 Royal Rumble was the 27th annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on January 26, 2014, at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the first Royal Rumble to be held in the city of Pittsburgh and the first WWE pay-per-view event held in the Consol Energy Center. The Royal Rumble match winner received a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For the 2014 event, the winner received a match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XXX; this was the first time since 2002 in which there was only one eligible championship for the Royal Rumble winner to challenge for.
The 2014 Elimination Chamber was the fifth Elimination Chamber professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. The event took place on February 23, 2014, at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was WWE's final PPV to air before the launch of their online streaming service, the WWE Network, on February 24; following its launch, the events began to be simultaneously broadcast on PPV and livestreamed on the WWE Network.
The 2015 Royal Rumble was the 28th annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on January 25, 2015, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This was the second Royal Rumble held at this venue after the 2004 event, when it was formerly known as Wachovia Center; the arena changed its name to Wells Fargo Center in 2010. It was also the first Royal Rumble to livestream on the WWE Network, which launched in February 2014. As has been customary since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner received a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For the 2015 event, the winner received a match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 31.
The 2014 Payback was the second annual Payback professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on June 1, 2014, at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois for the second consecutive year. This was also the first Payback event to livestream on the WWE Network, which launched in February. The theme of the event was wrestlers seeking payback against their opponents.
The Authority was a villainous professional wrestling stable in WWE, which originated due to Triple H helping Randy Orton win the WWE Championship from Daniel Bryan at the 2013 SummerSlam pay-per-view immediately after cashing in the Money in the Bank contract. The name of "The Authority" was introduced on October 7, 2013 on Monday Night Raw during a match between The Shield vs Cody Rhodes, Goldust and Daniel Bryan. Jerry Lawler first said "The Authority" during that match. The Authority initially referred to only Triple H and Stephanie McMahon as a power couple. The Authority shares similarities with The Corporation and The McMahon-Helmsley Faction, and also had ties to Triple H's previous stables D-Generation X (DX) and Evolution, the latter of which existed alongside The Authority for a brief period in 2014.
WrestleMania 31 was the 31st annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on March 29, 2015, at Levi's Stadium in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Santa Clara, California.
WrestleMania 34 was the 34th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brand divisions. The event took place on April 8, 2018, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, and was the second WrestleMania held at this venue after XXX.
Professional wrestler Roman Reigns is a focal point of extensive press coverage, with public attitudes towards him fluctuating at various points throughout his career.
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