SUNDAY, APRIL 6, 2014—10:18 P.M.
“‘Yes!’-ing with those titles is a lot harder than you would imagine,” jokes Bryan, still catching his breath on the other side of the curtain. “We had seventy-five thousand people out there tonight, and they were amazing. They made this moment happen, and they made this moment special. And for that, I can never thank them enough.”
Just ahead of him is a diverse but committed crew of familiar faces waiting for the man of the hour when his ticker-tape-dusted frame crosses through the curtain. WWE Superstars, indie alumni, and Bret “Hit Man” Hart—one of Bryan’s wrestling muses—are among those on hand to applaud the individual who refused to be told he couldn’t be WWE World Heavyweight Champion. The Celtic Warrior, Sheamus, who made his own World Title WrestleMania moment at Bryan’s expense two years ago, shares a strong embrace with his friend.
Yet it’s a beautiful friend, confidante, fan, and lover who offers the warmest arms to Bryan. Though titleless herself despite her best efforts in the Divas Championship Invitational earlier, Brie smiles ear-to-ear at her fiancé’s accomplishment. They exchange I-love-yous, and Bryan drapes his good arm over her. They exit the backstage ramp and walk on toward a brilliant future as husband and wife.
From here, they’ll return to their lives in a brand-new dream home. They’ll pick up their French bulldog, Josie, from doggy daycare. They’ll finalize their plans for the (unofficially titled) “Yes!” Wedding and say “I do” five days from now. Plus, there’s always Raw.
The World Champion “Face of WWE”—more appropriately, “Sweet Face,” as Brie likes to identify her fiancé—just grew a beard.
She might not have been allowed to come down to the ring, but Bri was the first person I saw as I came through the curtain, and I gave her a big hug. She was beaming and seemed so proud of me. I thanked Randy and Batista, who worked their asses off and, in truth, worked around me. Randy kind of knew I was in bad shape, and they did their best to make me look as good as possible. I thanked Hunter, both for the match earlier and for helping make the main event so special. Then I thanked Vince. He gave me a big hug and congratulated me on the performance. None of this would have been possible without the opportunities he’d given me.
One of the special things about this moment was being able to share it with friends I had known throughout my career. Seth Rollins and Cesaro. Sheamus and Cody Rhodes. Glenn. Jamie Noble, whom I hugged since he’d done so much to get me to that point.
And then there was William Regal. It’s impossible for me to overstate how much he has been there for me, ever since I was nineteen years old. He was there through it all, and I would never have gotten anywhere near WrestleMania without him. Seeing him after the match, there was no way I could ever thank him enough for all he’s done for me. I could see in his eyes how proud he was of me, in the way a father is proud of a son, and it touched my heart.
I got to the dressing room, and for a while I sat there by myself, immersed in a powerful moment of solitude. So many things in my life don’t feel real. When I gallop down to the ramp with thousands of people screaming “Yes!” with me, it doesn’t feel real. This amazing, beautiful woman loves me, and sometimes that doesn’t feel real. What I had just done was not real; it was fiction. I fictionally bucked The Authority. I fictionally won a championship. I was surrounded by fiction, but succeeding in the fiction felt like a real accomplishment, and everyone around me was treating my success in the fiction as if it were a real accomplishment.
I wondered if the movie heroes ever felt like that after shooting an action movie, feeling as if they had really somehow saved the day. I would imagine not. I couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. Still, I was proud. I rested there, holding this fictional, symbolic championship, seizing the opportunity to reflect on what had happened. This wrestling thing is strange. It blends fiction with reality in a way that makes them sometimes hard to separate, even when you’re on the inside. Regardless, it took my breath away, the scope of it—not for the destination, which was fiction, but rather for the incredible, real journey.