Well, WrestleMania 32 was one of the best WrestleMania’s ever to take place. From three Hall of Famers walking down the ramp to Rock having a 6 seconds match, everything that could possibly happen, occured at the AT&T Stadium.
But, let’s keep the excitement aside for a few minutes and analyze what went down at WrestleMania with an unbiased eye. The bookings of major stars and what would be their impact on WWE in the upcoming months are always a fun to analyze and speculate.
But, we can’t possibly understand the direction WWE is going in before we see the next edition of programming. Now that the next edition of programming is out and WWE’s direction is somewhat clear let’s analyze the some of the major booking decisions of WrestleMania.
Baron Corbin wins the Andre the Giant Battle Royal
An impressive win for a debut performer. WWE has introduced Baron Corbin in style and it looks like there is good push behind him.
Frankly, I don’t mind the push behind Corbin as WWE lack proper heels today. Corbin has all the workings for a heel and he is incredibly athletic to actually back up the push. If his feud with Ziggler hits all right notes then we can assuredly be sure that a great heel is being manufactured.
Verdict: 3/5
Zack Ryder wins Intercontinental Championship
A booking that was made to defy the odds and provide the surprise factor. Well, it paid off well. The social media was buzzing with news and drew in people who were not watching WrestleMania to the PPV.
Aside from the glorious moment Zack Ryder had, dropping the belt from Kevin Owens made a lot of sense. The most obvious of the reasons is the Owens vs Zayn feud. Their rivalry was red hot that WWE’s idea of riding it along was a good choice.
The feud was a moneymaker no matter what, so by relieving Owens of the title WWE made sure there could be another good storyline heading into the next PPV. As a result, it provided the opportunity for other midcarders to come into picture without Owens and Zayn obstructing their rise. This way, WWE could build the careers of multiple superstars.
And by making Owens drop the title, WWE has cleared Owens and Zayn to move to the next level, say United States Championship. If indeed a title feud must be held, they could always do it for United States Championship which has lost its importance lately.
The downside is that talented workers like Cody Rhodes and Dolph Ziggler are again fading into background. With Ziggler now battling the upcoming Baron Corbin, a victory here would have established a good legitimacy of threat to Baron Corbin.
Over all, it was a good decision.
Vedict: 3/5
Lesnar beats Ambrose
For all the hype this match created, this match was a big letdown. This match was a big letdown in many senses, be it the entertainment, brutality or booking.
Lesnar’s win was a guaranteed decision heading into this match. So, there was nothing we could say about the decision. But the way the match played out was really awful to watch. A strong showing by Ambrose would have put him over like nothing else. But, the match was below par and Lesnar destroyed Ambrose too quickly for the fans to get behind him.
A loss to Lesnar at WrestleMania is not a bad thing, but Dean was robbed off the opportunity of a lifetime by the quick ending to the match. The thirteen suplexes Dean took were coming in so fast that people could not sink in the moment before the next one came.
A strong showing here and a win over a victorious Jericho could give him all the momentum he needs to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. But, the hurried finish has left Dean in a spot where he has to come out strong while defeating Jericho to regain the lost momentum. Will WWE do it? Let’s wait and Watch.
Verdict: 2.5/5
Jericho beats Styles
This one was an eyebrow raiser when it occurred. Jericho, being the veteran, didn’t need that win at all. I was one among the many who were cribbing that WWE is gonna bury AJ Styles with their unexplainable booking.
But after seeing Monday night’s Raw, the decision was just a genius move. Everyone was considering AJ Styles was going to be buried and Jericho reaffirmed it by stating it loud in the Raw after WrestleMania. But at the end of the day, AJ rose from the fall to provide a glorious ending to the Raw after WrestleMania. That was brilliant storytelling on-screen.
Whereas, Jericho with a big win behind his back and a whole lot of heat that was generated from the win can use this victory to put over the next face. Now, Jericho is a legitimate threat to the next opponent he is gonna face (which incidentally turns out to be Ambrose) and if the person wins Jericho, then he is propelled to the main event scene with a huge momentum behind his back.
The reason this booking is a brilliant option is because WWE has advanced two faces using only one heel. This also provides a fresh beginning for new rivalries and also advances two storylines with a single decision.
The downside to this booking is relatively small as there is no other heel benefiting from this apart from Jericho, who frankly doesn’t need it. Jericho is sort of bulletproof as a heel now. There are very few legitimate heels in WWE to provide even a competition for Jericho apart from Owens.
Verdict : 4/5
Charlotte crowned as WWE Women’s Champion
A hard pill to swallow for a lot of the fans as most of them wanted Sasha Banks to win it and have her WrestleMania moment. But both Becky and Charlotte deserved the moment too. These three women are incredible performers and they put on the best match at WrestleMania.
The decision was between two choices and WWE chose one that would have long range impact. It was either to book Sasha to win the match and have her WrestleMania moment or book Charlotte to cheat and generate a lot of heat. WWE chose the later and it was the best decision considering overall.
The women’s division is on the rise and it needs some gripping feuds to make sure it keeps rising. WWE needs characters whom people care about and feuds that people invest in when it comes to the women’s division. One better way to do it is to pile the heat on the champion and let the challengers carve their way to the top to challenge her.
WWE took the tough decision to keep the revolution going. This way, they have made sure that the fans hate Charlotte and want to see her fall. That fall could come from any wrestler in the division. Sasha will definitely have her moment, but the moment is postponed to give the division a shot in the arm.
Overall the tough decision paid off.
Verdict: 4.5/5
The Wyatt Family gets trampled by Rock and Cena
The Rock opening the segment with a good promo, The Wyatts interrupting, The verbal showdown between The Rock and Brayy Wyatt and John Cena making the save, oh it’s all glorious. But, the problem here is that The Wyatts are getting trampled in the process.
Considering the situations that this decision was made, it was a good one. With Bray injured and Rock’s contract preventing him from wrestling there was no chance of Bray vs The Rock match. So, WWE chose the obvious one going into this segment, letting the legendary faces trample the upcoming superstars.
However, what this does to The Wyatt Family, who has not won any of the major PPV matches, is nothing but bury them. With such a good mic-worker in their head and impressive human specimens in their tow, The Wyatts should be ruling WWE now, But, sadly they are relegated to the status of glorified jobber.
They could have had the entire segment without that stupid match and it would have been brilliant. That six seconds turned this segment a nightmare for The Wyatts. Now, with such a bad showing at WrestleMania it would be hard to get back the momentum for anyone but The Wyatts. The Wyatts are so over with the fans that one small segment is enough to turn them back.
Maybe, WWE knows this and that's why they are using The Wyatts in such a manner. Nevertheless, the match was a poor booking decision.
Verdict: 1.5/5
The Undertaker beats Shane McMahon
The result was surprising at the beginning, but as of now it is irksome. The surprise came from the fact that WWE was pushing Shane McMahon as the agent of change and he indeed did have the potential to have become that.
The Undertaker is an aged veteran and he did not need this win. But Shane needed it desperately to legitimately establish control of Monday night Raw. But WWE played on people’s emotions here to get a well hyped match and it was a letdown to see them value people’s emotions so less.
I concede that the two superstars put up a tremendous performance and also that Shane’s running of Raw is far more exciting than it has been recently. But, WWE fumbled big time with all the theatrics leading to the bout and after the bout.
Overall, WWE undermined their entire match with it’s frivolous usage of people’s emotions.
Verdict: 3.5/5 (I hate being unbiased, the verdict is in respect to the match booking alone.)
Roman Reigns walks out WWE World Heavyweight Champion
A bold booking decision considering how much Roman was booed by the crowd. But, when I take a step back and look at it, it makes sense.
WWE has been building Roman to be the face of WWE for nearly two years. The prematurely showed their hand when they pushed Roman at last WrestleMania, but Seth was there to bail them out with a Money in the Bank briefcase.
This year they had to put Roman over and they did it. But asides from the obvious dislike by most of the WWE Universe, this decision is a great one. By putting Roman on top of the pile at last, WWE has essentially freed their hands of Roman.
Oh, they can still build Roman’s character all right, but now they could concentrate to push other superstars too. Guys like Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, AJ Styles, Cesaro, Dolph Ziggler and Sami Zayn can now be pushed to the top to contend with Roman.
On the other hand, the veterans like John Cena, Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, Kane and The Miz can be used to push them to the top. Now the blockade has been cleared and WWE can play around with a lot of options.
From a booking standpoint, this decision was like the one you were gonna take before jumping into a river. You know the water will be cold, but unless you jump in you can’t swim.
Verdict: 3.5/5
What did you think of the analysis? Let me know by tweeting to me @VKKirupa.
