We’re just two weeks away from the biggest event of the year, and the build up to this year’s WrestleMania has been underwhelming to say the least. While the fans wanted Dean Ambrose to be in the main event, WWE has once again turned a deaf ear. Last year’s WrestleMania was saved by Seth Rollins, who cashed in his “Money in the Bank” contract in the main event.
This year however, WWE’s plans of making it the biggest WrestleMania of all time can come back to haunt them. If you thought the reception Roman has been getting in the past couple of weeks leading up to WrestleMania was bad, imagine 80,000 odd fans booing Roman Reigns out of the arena!
Today, we give you five reasons why we believe WrestleMania 32 will fall well short of expectations of the WWE fans around the world.
Roman Reigns in the main event
For the past couple of years, the WWE machine has been trying hard to push Roman Reigns, but the fans have outright rejected the idea of Roman becoming the next face of WWE. While Vince McMahon and the WWE brass will eventually get what they want, and do as they please, the WWE Universe isn’t thrilled about the main event of WrestleMania 32.
Roman Reigns is set to take on Triple H in the main event for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, and the fans have expressed their displeasure at the fact that Roman is being forced down the throats of the fans. While John Cena was able to turn the hate and use it in his favor, Roman Reigns is neither capable, nor has the verbal skills to do what Cena has done for the past decade.
The WWE fans have gotten behind Dean Ambrose, and while WWE teased the possibility of Dean walking into WrestleMania as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, they quickly put those ideas to rest, and went back to their original plan. This isn’t the first, and certainly won’t be the last time that the WWE management pushes Roman Reigns, force – feeding him to the fans.
Major stars missing WrestleMania
While there is never a good time to get injured, the injury bug has claimed several victims in the past few months leading up to WrestleMania. While Seth Rollins was ruled out for nearly a year after his horrific injury, superstars such as Cesaro, who were building a head of steam and got over with the fans organically have been ruled out as well.
In the past month alone, Neville and Luke Harper have sustained serious injuries, forcing them out of the mega event. Putting things into perspective, all the champions at the end of WrestleMania 31 will not be a part of WrestleMania 32, which includes Seth Rollins (WWE World Heavyweight Champion), John Cena (United States Champion), Daniel Bryan (Intercontinental Champion), Tyson Kidd and Cesaro (WWE Tag Team Champions) and Nikki Bella (WWE Divas Champion)!
Add the Stinger, Neville, Harper and Randy Orton to the long list of injured superstars, and there is a wealth of talent missing from what is supposed to be the biggest event of the calendar year!
No legends returning for big matches
Last year and the year before, the professional wrestling fans were treated to “dream matches”, including Sting – Triple H, Daniel Bryan – Triple H and The Undertaker – Brock Lesnar. This time around, WWE has shot itself in the foot by booking Roman Reigns and Triple H in the main event. With Hulk Hogan blackballed from the company, WWE hasn’t announced any legend playing a role at WrestleMania.
While rumors were rampant couple of weeks ago about Shawn Michaels possibly getting involved as the special guest referee in the main event, there is no intrigue to the build – up. While the fans wanted to see Sting taking on The Undertaker, with Sting’s injury and a possible retirement on the horizon, there is pretty much nothing WWE can do about booking a dream match this time around.
The ladder match for the Intercontinental title and the match between Dean Ambrose and Brock Lesnar will likely be the show stealers, but the fact remains that WWE doesn’t have that marquee match that defines every WrestleMania.
Predictable outcomes
Last year, people were divided between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns. With Lesnar signing a new long term deal with WWE, people didn’t know what to expect in the main event. At the same time, WrestleMania 31 had a stacked card, with John Cena and Daniel Bryan walking out as the United States Champion and the Intercontinental Champion respectively.
This time around however, pretty much everyone knows the outcome of almost all the matches, except for Ambrose – Lesnar and ‘Taker – Shane. However, with WWE booking a “RAW versus WWE” show post WrestleMania, they might’ve given the ending of that match as well. The fact remains that the unpredictability factor for this year’s WrestleMania isn’t great to say the least.
To cap it off, it is almost certain that Roman Reigns will walk out of the AT&T Stadium with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, especially after WWE changed their plans at the last minute at WrestleMania 31. The fact that Roman is almost expected by the fans to walk out as the champion doesn’t do him any favors.
Stipulation for the Shane McMahon – The Undertaker encounter
While the odds are that Shane McMahon will walk out of WrestleMania as the winner, forcing The Undertaker to announce his retirement (a well deserved one) on RAW the next night, WWE has made the fans scratch their heads with the way they’ve booked this match. Shane and The Undertaker are fan favorites, and WWE didn’t even take the time to explain most of the intricacies involved in the storyline (What is inside Shane’s “lock box”? Why did The Undertaker accept the match, especially when he hates Vince’s guts?)
With the recent stipulation essentially making it a “career vs. career” match – Shane’s career in WWE and ‘Taker’s career in WWE on the line, there’s almost a sense of confusion among the WWE Universe. While WWE has booked a heel versus heel and face versus face match before, with the high stakes involved, and the fact that the fans don’t want to see either star losing, there is more confusion than intrigue.
At the end of the day, the fans won’t be happy with either man losing. Shane losing would mean that the promise WWE showed going into WrestleMania would constitute to nothing. The Undertaker losing at WrestleMania – which was unfathomable till two years ago, would mean that he will call it a day. In the end, this is one match that will leave the fans split almost in half, and not in a good way.
