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What in the hell went wrong with WWE WrestleMania 34 last night? In my previous article, I wrote 5 reasons 'Mania 34 was the best card ever presented in the history of professional wrestling.
However, a show that promised to be the biggest show in the history of professional wrestling history transformed into a lengthy and plodding affair that will indeed go down among the disappointing 'Mania editions in the history of the pay per view.
Unlike the 30th edition, which also took place in the same stadium and ended with one of the biggest crowd pop in modern history, 'Mania 34 ended in complete silence following another boring Brock Lesnar encounter.
There is certainly gonna be an elaborated discussion regarding how WWE literally screwed up on a pay per view that was loaded with a plethora of world class encounters.
WWE will have a hard time finding the short comings given that almost all of their top superstars featured on the show. In my opinion though, these are the 5 things or reasons that led to the downfall of 'Mania 34.
#5 Rusev Day? Who cares about that?
WWE has a history of generating special 'Mania moments with superstars who are massively over with the fans, and no superstar on the whole roster is more over with the WWE universe than Rusev.
His sky-rocketing popularity, and his subsequent addition to the US title match at 'Mania, not only brought a new life to the dead US Title picture, but also gave him much needed spotlight.
Loud chants of Rusev Day were heard during the pre-show, and Aiden English easily got one of the biggest pop while introducing The Bulgarian Brute.
Fans could sense Rusev Day at 'Mania, and WWE screws it all, again. Not only did, the most popular superstar in the match, fail to win the title, he was asked to lay down for Jinder Mahal.
Of all people on the roster, WWE chose the least popular wrestler, someone who sucked the life out of the product last year, to pin their most loved superstar.
Does WWE really not care about what the fans want? This was the first death blow to the show as the fans clearly displayed their disdain by giving absolutely no reaction to Mahal's win.
#4 High expectation from matches
WrestleMania 34 was actually the first time that WWE was promoting not 1, but at least 4 dream matches for their biggest show, hence the buzz was an all time high for the show.
When the buzz is at an all time high, fans expect the matches to exceed their already high expectations, and when they fall below the level, it is the fans who turn against them. This is what happened with 'Mania 34, as a number of matches fell below the towering forecasts.
While the program behind the 'Taker-Cena showdown was presented in the best way possible, the way 'Taker squashed Cena was a slap to the face of the people who were looking for a long due clash between two of the biggest superstars in the history of WWE.
It only took 2 minutes and 46 seconds to defeat someone who has 16 world championships to his name. The main event also falls in this category, but we have a special place on this list for that match.
And then, we have the WWE Championship match. See, we all knew it was nearly impossible for Naka and Styles to topple their Tokyo Dome clash, yet we were expecting a slobber knocker from them.
And even though we witnessed a fantastic bout, the fact that fans were expecting a NJPW style match in a WWE ring led to a dream match of the decade turning into one of those B-level pay per view World title matches.
#3 A 10-year old fan is above the whole roster
For all who have been watching professional wrestling since the 1990s, David Arquette's reign as the WCW Champion in 2000 is easily the worst decision in the history of wrestling, and while WWE couldn't topple that 'WCW-killing' storyline, they certainly took a decision that will forever stay as a bad taste in the mouth of fans.
Right at the time when WWE has the best possible roster since the 2001, they choose a 10-year old fan to partner Braun Strowman.
If that wasn't weird enough, they actually have Strowman and 'The Kid' beat the best tag team of Raw for the title. Talk about a death blow to your credibility.
See, I know WWE was trying to create a 'Mania moment for a fan (who is a referee's son), but why is the WWE keeping such a huge roster if they are not gonna get a chance at the Grandest stage.
Fans came to see their favourite superstars passionately fight for a title that matters to them, not to see a random 10-year old boy win the title by just standing on the apron(although he did enter the ring). Although surprising and a happy moment, it left a bad taste in the mouth of the fans.
#2 A lackluster and drained-out crowd
Has there ever been a more lackluster and boring crowd in the history of WrestleMania? Was this really the same place where fans, bursting their vocal cords out, gave Daniel Bryan his 'Mania moment 4 years ago?
Yes, the show was a little too long to stay active till the end, but, come on, it was 'Mania. It is the time of the year when even the dullest of the matches receive big reactions from the crowd, no matter how late or early they take place on the show.
If the fans are blaming WWE for the show's length, they are equally responsible for now giving enough reaction to the big matches.
Lesnar and Goldberg came after 4 hours last year, yet people took the 5 minute brawl to a whole new level with the reaction, hence blaming the lack of reaction on the length of the show is just an excuse.
For months, fans had been craving for Nakamura-Styles match at 'Mania, and when they finally get the match, they just went into dead silence.
Had it not been for the post-match shenanigans, the match which certainly was well below expectations could have gone down as the most disappointing dream match in 'Mania history.
#1 Horrendous main event
Take out the record book because history has been rewritten in New Orleans. Cena v The Miz and Hogan v Sid now have a proud (ironical) successor, as Reigns and Lesnar wrestle the worst main event in the 34 year history of 'Mania.
And it was not because of another failed Roman coronation. it was just plain bad. Main event matches are the prime attraction of the show, something that the fans pay for despite a ton of other matches.
Ever since 'Mania 33, Lesnar and Reigns were destined to meet in the main event of 'Mania 34 in what was supposed to be Roman's final coronation as the face of WWE. Since their previous 'Mania main event was a surprise package, fans were okay with this match.
However, what we got was a 15 minute plodding affair full of F-5s, suplexes, spears and Superman punches, with Reigns eating the pinfall at the end.
Like seriously, why would you put Roman in another Main event match when he was planned to lose the match? Fearing the inevitable that didn't happen, fans hijacked the match with chants like 'This is awful', 'Boring' and 'CM Punk'.
Although it was also underwhelming, WWE should have gone with Nakamura and Styles as the main event if Roman was never planed to win the match.
At least, it could have given fans their dream 'Mania main event, and 'Mania would have ended with an 'OH MY GOD' moment that we witnessed after that match.
