So if I miss something important you can let me know, I'm just going to touch on a few things to keep the conversation going.
First of all, I'm surprised you liked the Banks vs Jax matches. I didn't watch Fastlane, but I hadn't heard positive things and their previous pay per view match was pretty bad. If you ask me, Nia Jax just isn't ready for Raw let alone a major match at Wrestlemania. She's a liability in the ring and has very little personality. She's so far out of her depth that it's painful. In fairness we were saying that about Strowman a few months ago and now he's got something ... but Jax has had more matches than Strowman and she hasn't improved.
And yeah, I still think her being added to the match is pretty random. I mean the essence of this story is that Charlotte is messing with Sasha and Bayley's friendship, and she might actually have a point. Jax doesn't belong in that story and her being in there makes the story and the match worse.
It's also just very disappointing that this is what they're going with. They could have had Bayley win the title from Charlotte at Wrestlemania. They could have had Sasha turn on Bayley and had that match at Wrestlemania. Those were matches fans actively wanted. This is weak in comparison.
You were right in saying that we usually get weak women's matches at Wrestlemania - but that's no reason to celebrate this one. Especially because for the first time ever, the women's division was one of the highlights of the year last year. If they had gone with Bayley vs Sasha or Bayley vs Charlotte that would have been one of the matches that would have really got me excited about Wrestlemania.
Also, I appreciate that we get weak women's at Wrestlemania regularly. And that we get pretty blandly booked feuds like Undertaker vs Reigns all the time. But that doesn't make me hypocritical for being down on Wrestlemania this year. Because I hate Wrestlemania generally. This is well documented.
I'm not even more negative about this year's Wrestlemania than usual. Just more apathetic. And I think that's because I'm just not passionate about any of it either way. Usually there's at least something happening at Wrestlemania that I'm excited about. Or there might be something that I hate so much that it gets me invested in a less enjoyable way. The fact is that nothing about this show is that bad. There are no horrible matches or stories for Wrestlemania this year. But there aren't any great ones either.
I understand a lot of your defenses of the product, and I can see how you could begin to be optimistic. But I just don't see anything there to be genuinely excited about. No babyfaces that I really want to see win. No exciting possibilities that I'm anticipating. No matches that I'm invested in emotionally. That's the important part. This card could deliver. There are a bunch of matches that could go either way quality wise. If they all go the right way, then it could be a very entertaining show. But even if that does happen, the show will still have lost something by them not giving fans enough reason to invest emotionally.
As a European, there's a pretty easy standard for me to use when it comes to judging my excitement levels for a wrestling card: would I be willing to stay up until after 4am to watch the show live? Nothing is giving me that incentive to deprive myself of sleep.
Finally on the NXT thing, I agree that this is a weak Takeover. And much like Wrestlemania, I don't think it's possible for them to deliver an excellent show, because build always factors into how good a show is. But people tend to be more optimistic about Takeovers because they're so consistent. The matches tend to be very high quality. Fans like the faces and want them to win. The faces generally do win, unless it's the right time for them to lose. The shows are just the right length. The stories are simple. Takeovers do the basics and do them well.
But yeah, my expectations are being set at a reasonable level for this one. The matches are very lacking in story, and some of them have been added out of nowhere at the last minute. I'm not particularly excited for the show, but I have confidence that I will enjoy it because of their track record.
