So i was watching Wrestlemania 20, and noticed how every seemingly almost every match on the card had months of build towards it. 

Christian/Chris Jericho's mid card love triangle feud had been building for ages, and i didn't see the heel turn coming. 

The Undertaker's return storyline had been started at Survivor Series with Kane burying him in his match with Vince McMahon.  

Brock/Goldberg had also been built since Survivor Series with Goldberg interfering in Brock Lesnar's backstage interview after tapping out to 
Benoit. 

Triple H/Shawn Michaels had been a feud since 2002, with Chris Benoit's entrance starting after his Rumble win in January.  

-----

As others have pointed out now, the build to Wrestlemania has been very lacklustre, with even the main event of the show's build 
only starting after Elimination Chamber and despite some highlights just seems like the build to a B show PPV..when they 
could have potentially built to this match for a year (aside from very protective booking aside from Summerslam). 

To me it seems like a shift in attitude. In the past Wrestlemania was basically the grand final of WWE, fueds that 
had been brewing for months finally came to a conclusion, with Raw the next night basically being the new season 
with new feuds starting and normally a debut of sorts.

Now it seems that Wrestlemania is basically a Billboard that's designed to lure casual fans into the WWE. 
Celebrity cameos and Part timers returning as always been a part of WWE, but the attitude that the full time roster 
work their ass off to get rewarded at Wrestlemania seems inaccurate in recent years, when a lot of workhorse wrestlers 
are either on the pre-show/in the battle royal or left off the card completely. To me it seems now that Wrestlemania 
is an introduction to lure fans in, rather than an epic conclusion of feuds that have been built for months as opposed 
to slapped together in a few weeks, despite having an extra hour of Raw and hours more content available than every before. 


I think it's mostly to do with two things, the WWE Network and ticket sales. The people i've known who have gone to Wrestlemania 
buy tickets as soon as their available, and obviously the card isn't known by anyone at the time. Obviously Wrestlemania serves as a 
tourist attraction, especially for international guests as most seem more interested in what part of the US they can visit while attending 
Wrestlemania rather than the card. Also the network negates the need to be worried about the amount of PPV Buyrates considerably. 
If you're subscribed, they are going to get your $9.99 USD whether you watch Wrestlemania or not. 

What do you think, do you think WWE's attitude towards the build to Wrestlemania has changed? 

Discuss. 

Just take a look at what ESPN does on WrestleMania Sunday. They got SportsCenter live from Mania on that day. WWE's now in the business of making quick bucks from the mainstream media. Wrestling fans don't matter to Vince anymore.

Good points system, welcome to the last decade of wrestlemanias. Every other ppv is better and yet we all still watch. the Bayley/Sasha thing is a good example. Many here have stated they are ok with them not getting a match at mania because, and instead having a match at the next ppv because then they will get more time to shine. Like WTF. We have rationalized away two of todays top womens performers being shunted to a battle royale that serves no purpose other than to get every one on the show and thus become generic filler. Wrestlemania has become a product f manufactured moments instead of genuine culmination of storylines.

If every match at Wrestlemania was a culmination, it wouldn't give a WWE a lot of momentum moving forward. Ideally you've got a couple of big matches with some history behind them, and a few matches involving popular stars that serve the overall quality of the show and leads to something down the road.

Pretty bloody average to say the least. As mentioned, Wrestlemania should be the grand final show, the super bowl. It should be months and months of build towards the money matches. It hasn't been anything like that this year.

It's felt like Wrestlemania has been thrown together in the last 2 weeks, while predictability isn't something to enjoy, there should still be a clear, defined path beginning at the very least, at the Royal Rumble for all parties.

I don’t think every feud needs a LONG build heading into Mania, but a strong build would be awesome.

AJ/Nakamura has been locked since the Rumble, and we’ve got 2.5 months of “I’ll beat you” as the only build.

On the flip-side, the Cena/Taker build has been phenomenal for just one guy cutting promos. Cena single-handedly has made this the most interesting feud.

Apr 3, 2018 17:22:02 GMT KJ said:

I don’t think every feud needs a LONG build heading into Mania, but a strong build would be awesome.

AJ/Nakamura has been locked since the Rumble, and we’ve got 2.5 months of “I’ll beat you” as the only build.

On the flip-side, the Cena/Taker build has been phenomenal for just one guy cutting promos. Cena single-handedly has made this the most interesting feud.

For real? This is the worst build ever for a taker match, and that says a lot considering how little build there usually is. They haven't even officially announced the match yet

I think it was Djm who said that Wrestlemania is better if you treat it like it isn't canon. Wrestlemania is like a special episode of a series, like a Christmas special or a time jump episode that stands on its own separate from the rest of the story.

It was always meant to evolve into what it is today. Whether that's good or bad is up to the viewer. If you don't like it, don't watch it. If you do, it's your Super Bowl.

With a PPV every 3 weeks, dozens of hours of programming every week, and social media/YouTube/etc on top of all that, there's no way they can treat Wrestlemania like a big blow-off to months-long feuds anymore. Back when it started, there was like 3 or 4 big shows a year that they spent months building to, and Raw wasn't even a thing yet. They had plenty of time to build feuds and tell stories in their limited televised opportunities.

Now, the story has to progress faster than ever to keep the general viewers interested. If anything is to blame for Wrestlemania not having the build it once did, it's the insane amount of programming the WWE has.

Imagine having to write content for the amount of hours of TV every week the WWE puts on. It must be pure insanity.

Apr 3, 2018 15:15:59 GMT NATH45 said:

Pretty bloody average to say the least. As mentioned, Wrestlemania should be the grand final show, the super bowl. It should be months and months of build towards the money matches. It hasn't been anything like that this year.

It's felt like Wrestlemania has been thrown together in the last 2 weeks, while predictability isn't something to enjoy, there should still be a clear, defined path beginning at the very least, at the Royal Rumble for all parties.

My friend you ain't never lied. IMO to many PPVs and bad storylines/build ups kill Wrestlemania.

Apr 3, 2018 12:27:59 GMT Big Pete said:

If every match at Wrestlemania was a culmination, it wouldn't give a WWE a lot of momentum moving forward..

[

The raw after Mania is almost always the loudest crowd though, so they definitely have the atmosphere for it. Its just interesting watching lower cars guys with the mantra “work hard all year to get a Mania spot” when most are lucky to get in the Andre Battle Royal.

Johnny Gargano v Tammaso Ciampa will steal the weekend away on Saturday and it won't be because either man is Omega or Okada, it's because, it's been built, sold and people are invested in a story of friendship, betrayal, self doubt, revenge. It's been a long build, that has seen one of the best pure babyfaces emerge in years thanks to the timeing of the initial turn. And I think, we've got the confidence in both men to wrestle a match that tells of story of such.

The feud isn't convoluted, and it doesn't need weeks of promos and interviews to remind people they should care or to explain the complexities of how and why two men are fighting. It's storytelling.

Styles v Nakamura on paper should be the best match of the weekend and probably should be close, however, they are going to have to tell one hell of a story in the ring to make up for 2 months of simply reminding us, they worked in Japan and they're wrestling for the title. The ring work, needs to be a story of frustration, exhaustion and attrition, knowing these two guys - but knowing the WWE, it could easily come off as something completely different.

Apr 3, 2018 20:28:47 GMT RT said:

I think it was Djm who said that Wrestlemania is better if you treat it like it isn't canon. Wrestlemania is like a special episode of a series, like a Christmas special or a time jump episode that stands on its own separate from the rest of the story

Which is a nice idea, but when WWE themselves remind you about ‘The Road to Wrestlemania’...and try to build that hype with the sign-pointing etc and then the build just ends up being flat.

Apr 3, 2018 23:44:44 GMT System said:

Apr 3, 2018 12:27:59 GMT Big Pete said:

If every match at Wrestlemania was a culmination, it wouldn't give a WWE a lot of momentum moving forward..

[

The raw after Mania is almost always the loudest crowd though, so they definitely have the atmosphere for it. Its just interesting watching lower cars guys with the mantra “work hard all year to get a Mania spot” when most are lucky to get in the Andre Battle Royal.

I don't think guys have that mantra anymore. It's work hard to hold onto a job and maybe one day the boss may take a shine to me. I don't believe guys are naive enough to think being a 'hard worker' will get them a spot at Wrestlemania. Not when guys like Brock Lesnar & The Undertaker come in and are treated the way they are for the work they put in. Granted, you could argue in Taker's case he put in 27 years of loyal service, but Brock's career is checkered as they come.

I understand they use the post-Mania Raw as an opportunity to showcase new talent and advanced storylines. However, I don't think it serves Wrestlemania well to have 11 matches based around some kind of championship or prize. At a certain point, you're just diluting the value of the title and you're actually hurting the perception of the trinket. I don't think Wrestlemania would be any worse if you booked 3-4 championship matches and used the rest of the card to showcase the strengths of the modern roster.

Not only could it lead to a more memorable show, but the lead up would prevent there being less holding patterns. All the tension leading up to the show was lost because you knew that only important events would take place at Wrestlemania and those who weren't going to feature on the card, weren't going to matter leading up to the event. That's the problem with the WWE treating their television as a big advertisement for the Network. If you're not going to put on compelling television, casual fans aren't going to watch and won't subscribe to the Network.

I also don't think the brand split really helps matters. It basically forces the WWE to double a lot of spots on the show which really hurts the structure of the show.

I think we view the past with rose tinted glasses. XX was admittedly one of the best built manias of all time, but many Wrestlemanias had matches randomly announced the week before the show. Very rarely has every match on the card had a long build.

I would say that much of this years card has been building for a long time.

The most obvious example is Shane/Bryan vs. Zayn/Owens. This has been building since before Summer Slam.

Lesnar/Reigns has been building somewhat since Wrestlemania 31 in my eyes. Even if you don't want to go that far back, they've been building Brock as unstoppable (particularly after one F5) since last years Wrestlemania while simultaniously building Roman as the dependable face of the brand (beating Cena etc.) which has led to their feud in a way that makes sense.

The Cruiserweight title match has been building for months - really ever since Enzo got fired.

The Alexa Bliss/Nia Jax story has been slowly burning for most of the year.

The Usos and The New Day have been feuding for over a year, with the Bludgeon Brothers entering in recently.

And whilst the build to some of the other matches may have been lacklustre, none of them feel rushed or thrown together in my eyes.

Apr 4, 2018 22:18:11 GMT PB said:

I think we view the past with rose tinted glasses. XX was admittedly one of the best built manias of all time, but many Wrestlemanias had matches randomly announced the week before the show. Very rarely has every match on the card had a long build.

I would say that much of this years card has been building for a long time.

The most obvious example is Shane/Bryan vs. Zayn/Owens. This has been building since before Summer Slam.

Lesnar/Reigns has been building somewhat since Wrestlemania 31 in my eyes. Even if you don't want to go that far back, they've been building Brock as unstoppable (particularly after one F5) since last years Wrestlemania while simultaniously building Roman as the dependable face of the brand (beating Cena etc.) which has led to their feud in a way that makes sense.

The Cruiserweight title match has been building for months - really ever since Enzo got fired.

The Alexa Bliss/Nia Jax story has been slowly burning for most of the year.

The Usos and The New Day have been feuding for over a year, with the Bludgeon Brothers entering in recently.

And whilst the build to some of the other matches may have been lacklustre, none of them feel rushed or thrown together in my eyes.

I mean most of us figured Charlotte vs Asuka and AJ vs Shin from the time both Shin and Asuka were brought to the main roster so in that regard you 'could' say it's been building since then, but if you are looking at the more immediate timeline then two face to faces and one video package in terms of Asuka/Charlotte do not a buildup make IMO.  I think there's a big difference between 'planned' and 'built up' though. 

I feel like they threw a lot of the matches together and for the most part even this past week most of the stoprylines didn't exist let alone progress.  They rested on the names and hype to sell the matches.  Throw in a dozen recaps and a video package or two and suddenly that's buildup to some of the most anticipated matches in WWE history.  It felt lazy and in some cases non existent to me. 

So MacGregor vs Floyd was going to sell for the names alone but had the two men and the promoters not done their job it wouldn't have been AS anticipated or as watched.  I don't even watch boxing or MMA but even I watched.   That to me was great build up. 

I was in the process of writing a book about the card, but I'll try to keep it short and sweet.

I can see Reigns/Lesnar main eventing, which wouldn't be the best idea. There's no way they can live up to the original and Roman is such a heel at this point the fans will tear it apart.

Styles/Nakamura would probably be the safest bet. In a lot of ways, it's a historic match, I'm sure they'll work a great match and Nakamura winning the title would be a nice way to send the fans home happy.

If I had to choose, I'd go all-in on Ronda and make that my main event slot. I think it would rub a ton of people the wrong way that Stephanie McMahon was one of the first ever female performers to main event a Wrestlemania which will likely perturb the WWE, but if they want to make Ronda feel like the biggest star in the company than you've got to treat her as such. I wouldn't go too long with the match either, 5 minutes tops with Ronda knocking Stephanie out cold.

If I had to pick one match to open the show, it would be Miz defending against Rollins and Balor. That seems like a safe bet for a good match and I'd start it off with Balor winning the IC Championship on his first Wrestlemania.

Next I would go Nia/Alexa. Not much of a match here with Nia winning fairly decisively giving us a new champion.

Finally to end the first hour I'd do the Raw tag team match where we would have new champions. I'm not sure who would be Braun Strowman's partner...maybe an NXT call-up? I would give it to Jarrius Robertson because the guy is awesome but I think it would be saccharine.

Then we'd kick off SD with Rusev winning the US Championship and turning babyface.

I'd keep the tag belts on the Usos.

Asuka would win the women's championship thanks to Carmella royally screwing up her cash-in. Asuka would revert to her NXT personality of being the cocky heel champion, even though Charlotte likely had her beat. We can also get rid of this Carmella MitB nonsense. Nothing against Carmella, but I hate the MitB concept.

Then we'd get our big matches, first I'd have Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar with Reigns going over in a sub-15 smash mouth brawl.

Bryan & Shane would win against Owens & Zayn, they would then attack Bryan & Shane to a chorus of 'nanananaheyheygoodbye' only for Cena to make the save. Cena is standing tall when all of a sudden the gong sounds and Taker appears in the ring. They can do whatever they want, but let Taker go over.

Then you've got Nak/Styles and Ronda/Kurt v. Steph/HHH. If you want stars, go with Nak/Styles, if you want to think long-term and talk about Ronda's legacy in the company, go with that.

Wrestlemania XXXIV ladies and gentleman, still too long for it's own good, but an enjoyable show for us wrestling tragics.

With Brock already confirmed that he's leaving, I wouldn't put his match in the main event slot. That'd be too anti-climatic to close the show on.

I would give it to Jarrius Robertson because the guy is awesome but I think it would be saccharine.

Surely this would have gone over better than Nicholas?