None of the matches feel must-see, like they have any stakes. And besides Gunther/Jey, none of them feel like the end of storylines, just the beginning. They're trying to do the whole "future of the company is on the line" thing again with Cena, but what really happens if he wins? He goes to Hollywood with the title and becomes a part-time champion? He already said he's retiring at the end of the year, so it's not like he's going to end his career as the champion. And Roman was literally a part-time champion for the second half of his reign.
Last year, Rock's heel turn meant something because he had legitimate power. He was the Final Boss, someone Roman teamed up with to ensure he stayed on top of the company. There were actual consequences if Cody lost again. Not only was it Bloodline rules, but Rock was going to make sure Cody never got another title shot and Seth would never see the WHC again. He was going to terrorize the industry, the Bloodline was going to continue to rule and Cody and Seth had to team up to prevent that from happening.
What do you have this year? Cena sells his soul to become Rock's champion. Where the hell is The Rock? Nobody knows. Without him, Cena's heel turn means nothing. He's just some desperate old man rambling about the fans being mean to him, speaking in weird cadences and talking about taking the title with him, I'm evil now, blah blah blah.
Punk, Rollins, and Reigns had no clear WrestleMania plans, so they're together. That's it. There's nothing on the line, which makes it weird, and there was no way Punk wasn't going to main event Mania after missing it last year, so here we are. I feel like whoever wins should be the #1 contender for the WWE Championship, but that's just me.
Rhea/Bianca was right there. I didn't think they would be able to make it work, but they somehow freed Bianca up to make it happen and instead of getting Iyo out of the picture, they made her champion. Now, they had to do all this convoluted bullshyt just to hold back a match everyone wanted to see. And it's not like Rock/Roman where the fans rejected it. Iyo didn't need to be in the title match this year. If they don't do Rhea/Bianca by next year's Mania, that's a huge fumble on their part.
Orton has no match because Owens is gone for who knows how long? One of the few matches with a great story and we won't be able to see it.
Charlotte/Tiffany should be a great match, but I don't care who wins. Tiffany was pushed too quickly and Charlotte doesn't need the title anymore.
Liv and Raquel don't even have actual opponents for the tag titles. They could have faced Damage CTRL, Nia and Candice, Chelsea and Piper, an actual team. Could have been a showcase. But they decided Bayley/Roxanne isn't worth it and for some reason, they would rather have Lyra on the card than Chelsea.
Naomi/Jade is one of the few matches I don't have a problem with. Hopefully, the crowd's hot and they tear it down.
I'm hoping everything leads to a great WrestleMania because this happened ten years ago (31), but we were deprived of a much better show.
wtf?
That’s what actually took shyt next level last year
booker.
