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When the New Year comes along, it’s time for the professional wrestling fans to sit down and wait for the exhilarating journey, as the road to WrestleMania arrives at its final destination. With the New Year comes new possibilities; new superstars get the opportunity to make a name for themselves.
Although the Cenas will always be present, WrestleMania is the grandest stage of them all, and hence the other young superstars try to make an impact in the organization. Veterans who haven’t had the opportunity to headline the mega event try to up their game, and the storylines in general get much more intriguing.
The period from January to April is arguably the best time of the year, as the fans get to witness something spectacular instead of the same monotonous storylines that we get to see for the remainder of the year.
For the past couple of years, the selling point of WrestleMania has been constant. Whether you talk about the stale main event in 2011, when Cena faced The Miz in an abysmal match, or the next two years with Cena in the main event, it wasn’t about John Cena as much as it was about Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
WWE decided to bring back Dwayne and milk out as much as they could, and in the end, it proved to be a success. The last two WrestleManias generated record revenues, and the formula for the feud worked. The matches, however, were of low quality, and although WWE had the star power, both the matches were below average at best.
With the last three WrestleManias played around Dwayne and John Cena, there comes a point when the fans lose the nostalgia factor that has helped the WWE in making the feud a success. For the past three years, we’ve seen (or barely seen) Dwayne trash talking Cena via satellite and Cena retorting with jokes that wouldn’t make a third grader chuckle.
Even though CM Punk was red hot in the past couple of years, he wasn’t involved in the matches that went on last, albeit holding the WWE title in 2012. One has to feel that the Dwayne Johnson factor has run its course at WrestleMania, although he can be involved in matches that don’t close the show.
There have been reports and rumours recently about Dwayne Johnson not willing to work at the next WrestleMania. Although Dwayne has brought in great numbers in the past couple of years and generated revenues, it’s better for WWE to go ahead with a plan B.
As a wrestling fan, you’d want new ideas and new matches at WrestleMania, instead of the same superstars putting on below average matches. This time, WWE can go ahead with a different story, and revolve the story around the superstars who will be the future of the business, instead of living in the past and trying to milk out as much as possible from the nostalgia factor.
Daniel Bryan
Apparently, Vince McMahon told the writers to make long term plans leading to WrestleMania without Dwayne Johnson being involved. Some people might say that could hurt the revenues, and that is partially true. But when you think about the long term consequences in the company, there is no better time than now to push the likes of Daniel Bryan as the new mega face of the WWE, and put him in the main event of WrestleMania.
If all the cards are played right, Daniel Bryan can be the next John Cena in the WWE. Although WWE thinks about making the most out of the WrestleMania season, it is time they think about the future and not just about the present.
In the end, bringing in Dwayne Johnson does more harm than good in the long run. Instead of giving the CM Punks and Daniel Bryans the opportunity to close the biggest event of the year, we’ve been witnessing two entertainers trying to put on a passable match, but failing miserably.
Although John Cena will be present in the WWE for a long time to come, and hence can be the main event at WrestleMania, there are others who deserve the opportunity to head line the PPV instead of Dwayne Johnson.
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