5 things that were missing from Wrestlemania 34

Considered "the grandest stage of them all," or in non-industry terms "the Super Bowl of professional wrestling," WWE's Wrestlemania is a big deal to millions of people. Wrestlemania has been an annual tradition for more than 30 years. Requiring a proper bid from its host city, one week of Wrestlemania-related activities is estimated to bring hundreds of millions of dollars into a local economy. In turn, Wrestlemania has a crossover appeal that goes way beyond wrestling fans and who is actually wrestling on behalf of the WWE.

Wrestlemania 34 -- which took place in New Orleans on April 8, 2018 -- reportedly drew over 78,000 people to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, home of the New Orleans Saints. In addition, millions of people watched this year's Wrestlemania via the WWE Network and local television providers.

While the spectacle of the seven-hour event was undeniable, after watching the entire event, there were a number of things that could have been done to turn it from a good Wrestlemania into a great Wrestlemania. Below are five suggestions that this writer believes would have benefitted the WWE for Wrestlemania 34, which will hopefully be applied towards next year's event, which is set to take place in New Jersey.

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#1 Conciseness

As the saying goes, "less is more." This year's Wrestlemania started at 5:00pm local time in New York with the Wrestlemania Kickoff Show, as shown on the WWE Network and simulcast on our local USA Network.

The Kickoff Show featured three matches, including two battle royals and a one-on-one battle to determine the new Cruiserweight Champion. The two-hour program also included commentary from a round-table of talking heads -- including Booker T and Renee Young -- and assorted previews and trailers related to the WWE Network.

Other sports programming is known to have pre-show programming, helping to get viewers invested in what they are about to watch. But very few sports-related programs are five hours in length. Literally, Wrestlemania 34 kicked off around 7:00pm local time and went past midnight. Even though the show went that long, there was still so much missing from the overall event.

Not every non-injured WWE Superstar was included on the card. Some storylines were arguably left even the most loyal viewer with more questions than answers. In turn, a proper suggestion would be for the WWE to think of ways to knock a few hours off of next year's Wrestlemania, even if it means having fewer matches on the card.

#2 Using Celebrities

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson at a previous Wrestlemania press conference

Whether you are talking about the NFL's Super Bowl, the MLB's World Series or just a regular New York Knicks, celebrities are going to be shown in the audience. In the case of the WWE, Wrestlemania has been known for its tie-ins with celebrities. Beyond whichever musicians are utilized to perform the American national anthem or as part of a special ring introduction, Wrestlemania has been known to incorporate popular culture into the broadcast. Sometimes that comes in the form of a celebrity being incorporated into a match, other times that has meant celebrities being part of backstage segments during Wrestlemania.

Liberace, Muhammad Ali, Flo Rida, Snooki from Jersey Shore, Maria Menounos, Vanna White, Bob Uecker, Regis Philbin, Donald Trump, Alice Cooper, Pete Rose... The WWE has always found interesting ways to incorporate non-wrestling talent into Wrestlemania.

Aside from Chloe X Halle singing "America The Beautiful" and guitarist Nita Strauss playing during Shinsuke Nakamura's entrance, there was a lacking of familiar faces at Wrestlemania 34. Adding more of that into next year's event could not only make things more entertaining for casual viewers, but also keep things fresh with some humor.

#3 Utilizing WWE Legends

Ric Flair with Mickey Rourke at a prior Wrestlemania

Just a few months ago, WWE's flagship program Monday Night Raw celebrated its 25th anniversary with its RAW 25 special. While some notable legends were missing from the program (e.g. "The Rock" Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Nash, Bret Hart, Hulk Hogan), many WWE greats were present for the show (e.g. Chris Jericho, Scott Hall, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker). In fact, RAW 25 saw the return of a lot of talent that had not appeared on-screen on WWE programming in years, like Bruce Prichard, MVP and Harvey Whippelman.

While WWE's annual Hall Of Fame usually helps bring back a lot of greats, aside from the inductees shown during the Wrestlemania broadcast, there was not a lot of coverage of legends during the show itself. Sure, some veteran talent (e.g. Triple H, Kurt Angle, Goldust) factored into matches, and we saw the trailer of the upcoming HBO documentary on Andre The Giant. But there were no skits, promos or run-ins utilizing WWE legends.

Just a few years ago, the nWo and The Kliq were part of Sting's match against Triple H, while prior Intercontinental Champions congratulated Daniel Bryan after his Wrestlemania win. This sort of nostalgia is entertaining while helping to connect the past and present with the future.

#4 Backstage Segments

Jeremy Piven and Ken Jeong appeared as hosts of "Monday Night Raw"

On WWE weekly television programs -- namely Monday Night Raw, Smackdown and NXT -- a considerable amount of the action takes place backstage. Sometimes this entails the General Manager planning matches after being confronted by wrestlers. Sometimes this has to do with unplanned brawls and attacks. Sometimes this is related to wrestlers making their trip from the backstage area to the ring. Whatever it is, it adds variety, as otherwise all of the action takes place in and around the wrestling ring.

This year's Wrestlemania did not have any notable skits or backstage segments. Storylines and all, nothing seemed -- keyword being "seemed" -- impromptu or planned. Both the General Managers of Raw and Smackdown were involved with major matches during Wrestlemania 34, yet neither of them were involved with any backstage action.

I am not saying that we need to see Heath Slater being decked by Flo Rida, which actually happened at Wrestlemania 28, but Andre The Giant choking baseball announcer Bob Uecker during a pre-taped Wrestlemania segment does generally wind up in WWE highlight reels.

#5 Money In the Bank Cash-In

WWE Superstar Randy Orton in action

Although nowhere near as historic as Wrestlemania, one of the more popular WWE pay-per-views is Money In The Bank. Aside from the normal title matches, what makes Money In The Bank stand out is its namesake matches, in which the winner gets a briefcase. What is so special about briefcase? It supposedly contains a paper contract that guarantees the WWE Superstar a title shot, which they can "cash in" at any time. More times than not, the holder of the Money In The Bank briefcase turns out to be an opportunist and successfully cashes it in to become a WWE Champion.

As of April 9, 2018, WWE Superstar Carmella continues to hold her WWE Money In The Bank briefcase. The storyline of Carmella threatening to cash in was teased regularly in late 2017 and early 2018. In turn, Wrestlemania 34 was assumed to feature a Carmella cash-in, which it did not.

WWE Superstar Baron Corbin had one of the rare unsuccessful cash-in attempts last year, so there is currently no male holder of a Money In The Bank briefcase. Although a heel at the time, Seth Rollins' cash-in of his briefcase at Wrestlemania 31 turned out to be a fan-favorite moment, leaving one to wonder why neither briefcase cash-in was reserved for "the grandest stage of them all."