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Wrestlemania 35 will take place in April at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. While the World title need not always be the last match on the card, it is still considered a matter of prestige that a superstar is scheduled to take part in a World title match at Wrestlemania.
There have been great World title feuds leading up to WrestleMania over the years - notably Daniel Bryan's journey to the top of the mountain at Wrestlemania 30, but there have also been a few stinkers.
This list takes a look at 5 times the Wrestlemania World title feuds haven't been of stellar quality over the last 15 years. Please note that the article only considers the build-up to the match and not the actual match itself.
#5 Chris Jericho vs Edge - Wrestlemania 26
Despite having two master storytellers to build the feud around, Chris Jericho defending his World Heavyweight title against Edge at Wrestlemania 26 failed to excite the neutrals because of the tame build.
Edge and Jericho had been Unified Tag team champions before Edge had to vacate the title due to injury. Jericho would choose The Big Show as his tag team partner and went on to have a main event feud with DX on Raw.
The storyline saw a returning Edge winning the Royal Rumble and seeking revenge against his former tag team partner, who would claim that he was 'genetically superior' to Edge.
However, by the time the angle came about, Jericho had fallen down the pecking order in SmackDown and he wasn't treated as main event material. The only reason he had become Champion heading into Wrestlemania was that Shawn Michaels cost The Undertaker the title at Elimination Chamber.
Jericho came across as a weak champion and when Edge proclaimed that he would 'beat Jericho with a Spear at Mania' and then proceeded to do the same move on Jericho week after week on Smackdown, it did nothing to amp up the anticipation for Wrestlemania.
In the end, they had an okay match at Wrestlemania, but when Jericho beat Edge with a Codebreaker to retain his title, it sucked away all the momentum Edge had built since his return.
#4 Daniel Bryan vs Sheamus - Wrestlemania 28
People still talk about this match for all the wrong reasons - Daniel Bryan's first World title match at Wrestlemania ended in 18 seconds following the Brogue Kick from Sheamus. While the match was disappointing, the buildup wasn't any better either.
Bryan vs Sheamus for the World Heavyweight title did not excite many people. The two had a singles match on the pre-show for the previous Wrestlemania, and there wasn't much build for this one as well. Both were overshadowed in comparison with the fantastic build-up to the WWE Championship match featuring CM Punk and Chris Jericho
CM Punk was well into his historic run as WWE Champion and he was held in much greater esteem than Bryan. Even though Sheamus won the Royal Rumble after eliminating Chris Jericho, the match between Punk and Jericho had a better build.
The World Heavyweight title feud featured more of Bryan ill-treating his valet AJ Lee rather than any explosive exchange with Sheamus.
With the Rock vs John Cena match taking all the media attention and the WWE title considered to be priority over the World Heavyweight title, Bryan vs Sheamus was a disaster before it even began.
#3 Bray Wyatt vs Randy Orton - Wrestlemania 33
Bray Wyatt had been in a top spot with the WWE for years before finally winning the WWE title at Elimination Chamber. However, having him go on to meet Randy Orton, who had won the Royal Rumble the previous month, did not make any sense for a variety of reasons.
It all began at the Rumble when Orton - who had no momentum for a number for months - went on to win the Rumble. Fans had gotten bored of the Orton character and weren't on board with the idea of the Viper getting another title shot. Also, Orton and Wyatt were part of the Wyatt Family stable and the title match did not make much sense.
On Smackdown, Orton renounced his WWE title shot and a battle royal was scheduled to determine Wyatt's next challenger. AJ Styles and Luke Harper went over the top rope together to leave the situation indecisive. They later had a match the next week which AJ won, making him the No. 1 contender.
After this was set, Orton declared that he would indeed challenge for the title, seemingly burning down the Wyatt compound as part of an 'inside' job.
Orton took on a red hot AJ in another match on Smackdown, beating him to regain his WWE title match with Wyatt. But fans were so weary after all this back and forth that they seemed no longer interested. At WrestleMania, Orton went on to defeat Wyatt in a finish nobody asked for, leading up to a sub-par Smackdown world title scene for some time.
#2 Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns - Wrestlemania 31
All the other entries in this list had the excuse that there was another high profile World title match going on that reduced its prominence. But there was nothing of the sort at Wrestlemania 31, where there was a single world title on the line, with the company unifying the WWE and World Heavyweight titles two years back.
However, Brock Lesnar defending his title against Roman Reigns failed to attract the attention of the fans. Lesnar was working part-time and rarely made appearances on RAW prior to WrestleMania. Reigns was getting booed mercilessly for becoming No. 1 contender ahead of Daniel Bryan and endorsements from both Bryan and the Rock failed to change the public opinion.
The build-up added to the mediocrity. There was no physical exchange between the two, with the go-home Raw before WrestleMania ending with Lesnar and Reigns having a tug of war over the WWE title as if they were kids.
At Wrestlemania, the title match was under severe threat of being undermined by the secondary titles as John Cena and Rusev had a great United States title match and Daniel Bryan won the Intercontinental title in an exciting ladder match. However, WWE saved the situation by booking Seth Rollins to cash in his Money in Bank briefcase during the WWE title match, ensuring that neither Lesnar nor Reigns left Wrestlemania as the champion.
#1 Alberto Del Rio vs Jack Swagger - Wrestlemania 29
This match was bound to fail. Alberto Del Rio never really connected with the WWE fans as a babyface and Jack Swagger did not get much of a response either way. So when it was announced that it would Swagger challenging Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship, fans expected a snooze fest.
Swagger was seeming plucked out of nowhere to challenge Del Rio when he won the Elimination Chamber match. The fact that the match contained fan favourites like Chris Jericho and Daniel Bryan meant that the decision made even less sense.
The entire build was based on Swagger's manager Zeb Colter stressing about America's ignorance in letting 'illegal migrants' in. The WWE fans turned their back on this much-used rhetoric, but there was no incentive in cheering on Del Rio either.
At a WrestleMania which had Undertaker vs Punk, Triple H vs Lesnar 2 and Cena vs The Rock 2, the World Heavyweight title match sank without a trace.
