5 things we’d change about the Road to WrestleMania

The Road to WrestleMania has well and truly begun as we look ahead to another exciting edition of the showcase of the immortals. We all know that every single Mania has a wide range of ups and downs, but above all that, it's just great to see so much intrigue and uncertainty in the air regarding what's actually going to go down between now and the big night.

The 'road' itself is often full of many twists and turns, and while it may be hard for anyone to not enjoy that, we tend to believe that there are a few things that could be changed in order to make the experience a little bit more enjoyable.

We might be grasping at straws here, but even so, these points need to be made.

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#5 More Than One PPV

Do we really need two other big events?

From the second the Royal Rumble ends right up until WrestleMania week is all said and done, the main focus should be Mania and nothing else - aside from perhaps one other major pay per view event that the WWE decides to put on.

Having two different big time events between the Rumble and Mania just feels incredibly congested and doesn't allow for enough time for any of the shows to really breathe. The build-up to WWE's showcase event often kicks into high gear with just a matter of days remaining until it all gets underway but even so, we think more time needs to be awarded to the episodes of RAW and SmackDown that really matter.

This year, for example, we don't need to see Super ShowDown right alongside the Elimination Chamber. The Chamber itself does the job of building towards WrestleMania just fine on its own.

#4 Oblivious Commentators

Be more switched on, guys

For what its worth, it feels like WWE is starting to put the right pieces in place regarding commentary. It certainly isn't perfect but both teams on RAW and SmackDown, in addition to NXT, are starting to feel more cohesive as we head into the heart of WrestleMania season.

One of the biggest issues many fans have, though, is that it feels too unrealistic when the commentators don't mention the fact that WrestleMania is on the horizon when it comes to non-title feuds.

It's as if they aren't in on a secret that quite literally everybody else knows about. The clarity of pointing out that any two superstars or teams could blow off their feud at at event as big as Mania would instantly raise the stakes, and it'd go some way towards helping WWE feel more like a sporting organisation as opposed to a pantomime show.

It's all well and good trying to swerve the fans in a million and one different directions, but sometimes, pointing out the obvious works just as effectively.

#3 Random HOF Announcements

A bit more consistency

When it comes to the Hall of Fame announcements every single year, it feels as if everyone knows what to expect at this stage. The names are often leaked pretty far in advance, the 'scoops' are given to notable mainstream media released by WWE themselves, and a video package formally announces their entry into the Hall.

Instead of all that, we want to see WWE mix things up a bit. They could reveal the criteria behind being eligible, announce a specific week by week pattern that unveils the class, and produce short interviews or segments with the stars themselves to find out how they're feeling about their impending induction.

Those are just a few short ideas, but the options really are endless with this. WWE probably just doesn't want to go out of their way to create more hassle for themselves during the busiest time of the year which is understandable, but the Hall of Fame should feel just as prestigious as many other HOFs across all of sports.

#2 Host City Hype

Tampa here we come

Every single year thousands upon thousands of fans from all around the world descend upon the host city for WrestleMania in a tradition that isn't going to stop anytime soon. However, if you want to draw more fans into the idea that going to the show of shows isn't actually impossible, you need to hype up the events around the city more on RAW and SmackDown.

Talk a bit more about Axxess, point out some of the best tourist attractions around the Tampa Bay area and go into detail about the history of pro wrestling - and WWE - in that city.

WWE goes to town on this during WrestleMania week itself with a whole lot of marketing and media appearances, but we want to see the same thing happen when the travel packages are about to be released or in the wake of the Royal Rumble when there are still a few tickets floating around.

WrestleMania week is wonderful and more fans should get the chance to experience that.

#1 Delaying Match Announcements

Let's get going already!

Over the course of the last few years, it seems as if WWE has fallen into a bit of a pattern regarding the match announcements for WrestleMania. Instead of finding the perfect time to make the revelation, it instead feels as if they've started waiting until the very last minute before pulling the trigger on announcing the match.

We know that there's also the flip side of that and some bouts can be announced 'too early', but all you need to do is look at The Rock vs John Cena from WrestleMania 28 to see that it's never too early to set something up for the showcase of the immortals.

We'd imagine the perfect example of this will come in the form of Randy Orton vs Edge this year which already feels like the biggest match on the card. We'll have to wait and see what sort of trajectory they go in with this, but we wouldn't be surprised if Edge didn't appear again on RAW or SmackDown until the go home show.