5 Mistakes WWE has made in the buildup to WrestleMania 37

By Levi Grayshon
Modified Apr 08, 2021 18:09 IST
WWE has made some missteps as WrestleMania 37 draws closer
WWE has made some missteps as WrestleMania 37 draws closer

WrestleMania 37 is just around the corner. The biggest event in the wrestling calendar will take place at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, over the weekend. Just like WrestleMania 36, this year's pay-per-view will be a two-day event, taking place on April 10th and 11th. However, unlike last year, fans will be in attendance.

As it stands, there are currently 14 matches on the card for the two-night extravaganza. Out of all the matches, eight bouts feature a title at stake.

As WrestleMania 37 has drawn closer, many fans have been critical of several aspects regarding the buildup. Some have been vocal about the level of celebrity involvement this year - which often happens - and others have had different criticisms over the past few weeks.

Here are five mistakes that WWE has made in the buildup to WrestleMania 37.

#5 WrestleMania 37 mistake: Matches moved to SmackDown, no women's battle royal

In the buildup to WrestleMania 37, it was reported that WWE scrapped the pre-show for the first night of the pay-per-view. This appeared to be true, as the yearly Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and the SmackDown Tag Team Championship matches were moved to a "WrestleMania Special" edition of SmackDown. This episode of SmackDown will take place the night before WrestleMania.

Moving the pre-show matches to SmackDown means that multiple men on the roster will miss out on their WrestleMania payday and will not get to compete on the Grandest Stage Of Them All.

Also, there appear to be no plans for the traditional women's battle royal at WrestleMania 37. The match has been a great way to involve women who don't wrestle on the main card of the event. Instead, it seems that the Women's Tag Team Turmoil match is a replacement for the battle royal. But it still means that a lot of female talent will miss out on this year's WrestleMania event.

WWE may have also accidentally let a spoiler out of the bag for the Tag Team Turmoil match. The official WrestleMania Twitter account tweeted and swiftly deleted a match graphic that featured Billie Kay and Carmella.

#4 WrestleMania 37 mistake: Lack of legends' matches for a two-night event

Matches featuring WWE legends seem to be a staple of WrestleMania season. Over the years, WWE fans have seen many legends on the card at the event, including huge retirement matches. An example of such an instance was when Shawn Michaels retired Ric Flair. Even at last year's WrestleMania, The Undertaker faced AJ Styles in a cinematic Boneyard match.

Except for Edge and Shane McMahon's bouts, it seems strange that there will be no legend-specific matches on the two-night card at WrestleMania 37, especially as it is the first live WWE event with fans being physically present in a venue since March 2020.

There could have been many options to explore with WWE legends at WrestleMania 37. For instance, Bayley, who is a big name missing from the card at this year's event, would have been a great choice to face a female legend.

Many female legends could have faced Bayley, for example, Hall of Fame inductee Molly Holly, who The Role Model has claimed to be a huge fan of.

Matches featuring legends are always a huge highlight of WrestleMania and can prove to be a huge draw, so it feels strange that there hasn't been an extensive focus in this department in 2021.

#3 WrestleMania 37 mistake: General lack of buildup towards several matches

The buildup to WrestleMania 37 has felt somewhat flat in comparison to recent years. Unlike previous WrestleMania events, it feels as though there hasn't been as much hype around the matches on the card. Fastlane being scheduled just three weeks before WrestleMania hasn't helped either.

The buildup to WrestleMania used to start months or even a whole year before the event took place. However, a lot of matches on this year's card were only built towards less than a month before The Show of Shows. For instance, the RAW Women's Championship match was only decided two weeks before WrestleMania. The WWE Championship match was only made official while challenger Drew McIntyre was still feuding with Sheamus.

The storyline between Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair has also suffered due to WWE stalling on the buildup for a while. The focus for weeks had been on the pair working together and attempting to win the tag team championships, rather than focusing on the rivalry between the two stars.

WWE's approach towards WrestleMania 37 has robbed fans of the big storylines that are expected at this time of year.

#2 WrestleMania 37 mistake: Controversial pick for one of the hosts

When WWE announced WrestleMania 37 was set to be hosted by Titus O'Neil and Hulk Hogan, some fans expressed their disappointment over the inclusion of the latter.

Titus O'Neil made sense to many - his hometown is Tampa, Florida, where WrestleMania 37 will be taking place. He has been heavily involved with charitable groups in the Tampa Bay area and was also honored with WWE's Warrior Award for 2020.

Hulk Hogan, however, is a controversial figure in the eyes of many WWE fans. In 2015, racial comments that Hogan had made in the past came to light, and he was temporarily removed from the Hall of Fame, until 2018. Hogan's appointment as the host for this year's WrestleMania hasn't gone down well with some fans.

Many were also expecting current WWE talent to have more involvement. For instance, Bayley, who has received praise for her SmackDown talk show "Ding Ding, Hello!" was expected to be announced as the host at one point.

SmackDown star Billie Kay is another name that has been mentioned as a potential host due to her comedic skills that have come to the forefront even more significantly since she split from Peyton Royce.

#1 WrestleMania 37 mistake: Treatment of the WWE women's division

In the buildup to WrestleMania 37, the women's division as a whole has been wholly mismanaged. Despite Bianca Belair winning the Royal Rumble back in January, it has taken months for the feud between herself and Sasha Banks to take off. The rivalry between the two women has been very stop-start, and the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships being involved has cheapened their rivalry.

Over on the Red Brand, a title feud between Asuka and Rhea Ripley was only established two weeks ago. Although the two women are hugely talented, there hasn't been an extensive focus on the backstory between them. The Women's Tag Team Championships were unnecessarily involved in this case as well.

The Women's Tag Team Turmoil match is also something that seems a decision thrown together at the last minute. In addition to this, the women of WWE have suffered badly from a lack of screen time in the buildup to WrestleMania 37, with some members of the roster even calling it out.

For example, women were only on television for 30 minutes during the go-home edition of RAW. They only had less than ten minutes of screen time the week before.

There has also been confusion over whether Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair will be headlining night one of WrestleMania 37.

Over the past few weeks, Banks has claimed that the SmackDown Women's Championship match will be the main event, but others have claimed that the WWE Championship match will have that slot. This has also created controversy online, with the hashtag #MainEventBanksvsBelair being used on Twitter.

Regardless of the main event scene, WWE could have made a better effort regarding the women's division's overall booking on the road to WrestleMania 37.