WrestleMania is this weekend. Is there any hype?

[Everlong]

It could be just a productof this site being fairly dead, but even on other platforms I'm seeing less hype for this WrestleMania than ever before. Is it just a bad card?

I haven't even seen as much mainstream media promotion as usual. It's really strange. I actually had to check and see if WrestleMania was actually this weekend.

[The Legend]

I don't know, it's just really hard to figure out what to expect from this show. There's a lot working against from the card perspective. In one title match you've got a couple of midcarders that nobody wants to see in the title match over some of the best performers of the year and the other title match is a couple of guys that have specialized in 90 second matches to this point. Those two things have pushed the year's top guys or best feuds down to the middle of the card in less than stellar matches.

If I had to pick the things I'm most excited/interested in:

1. US Title - Jericho vs Owens, I'll be stunned if this isn't the match of the night that everyone is talking about after Mania.

2. CW Title - On the pre-show, Neville against the return of Aries should be awesome, but it's sad that it won't be on the main card.

3. Rollins vs HHH - This should be a good brawl with a pretty good psychological story considering the guys involved and the back story.

4. Lesser, the women's title matches could either push for one of the best women's matches at Mania and really put the stamp on the new era of women's wrestling.

[KaiserGlider]

It's still a really stacked card. Though a lot of matches fall into the category of potentially being either really good or underwhelming/bad. IMO, the two things that hurt this card the most is the lost potential and the feeling that a lot of these matches don't feel as special as they should. That being said, the card is finalized and I am looking forward to it (Goldberg/Lesnar, HHH/Rollins, Aries/Neville in particular). I liked Wrestlemania last year even though it seems like no one else did, and this show could deliver more than last year. Add the Hall of Fame on Friday and and NXT on Saturday, and this weekend should be a great one for wrestling.

[CMPUNKFAN]

I'm just looking forward to going to my 5th straight WM. I leave Friday morning and come back Tuesday. It literally is a blast going down the whole weekend. This year in Florida with beautiful weather and all, it looks like its gonna be great.

[AkydefGoldberg]

I think the build-up should pick up this week but yes, comparing to other notable Mania's such as WM28 it has had a quieter profile but that's symbolic of the card not being all that enticing. I'm looking forward to it though, primarily for Goldberg v Lesnar and Owens/Jericho, Reigns/Taker and if there's any special appearances. Plus, being in the chatbox that hopefully will have more participants to discuss the night's on-goings.

[DBSoT]

I'm just looking forward to going to my 5th straight WM. I leave Friday morning and come back Tuesday. It literally is a blast going down the whole weekend. This year in Florida with beautiful weather and all, it looks like its gonna be great.

Ditto

[Everlong]

I'm just looking forward to going to my 5th straight WM. I leave Friday morning and come back Tuesday. It literally is a blast going down the whole weekend. This year in Florida with beautiful weather and all, it looks like its gonna be great.

Ditto

You guys are both going? That's awesome!

[AkydefGoldberg]

I'm just looking forward to going to my 5th straight WM. I leave Friday morning and come back Tuesday. It literally is a blast going down the whole weekend. This year in Florida with beautiful weather and all, it looks like its gonna be great.

Ditto

You guys are both going? That's awesome!

@Camstud is at Mania as well

[Hanley!]

Love the way you phrased that, Tim. Really fitting for this particular Wrestlemania.

It really feels like there is a massive lack of hype going around. I checked out on this year's Wrestlemania a while back, but I kinda thought I'd be a little excited in spite of myself by Wrestlemania week. But I've actually been getting even less interested as time goes on. It's almost hard to believe that it's Wrestlemania week.

It's hard to put it down to just one thing, I think it's a bunch of stuff just not quite clicking all at the same time. Most of the stories have been going through the motions. There isn't a lot for the fans to really hope for, or any really popular baby faces for them to cheer for. What is there for fans to really buzz about?

There aren't a lot of matches that look like they could really blow us away. A bunch of matches have been thrown together at the last minute. Many of them don't even look all that good on paper. There are so many matches that involve multiple people in an attempt to get everyone on the card, but it makes it so impossible to care. This past year was all about the revolution in women's wrestling, yet at Wrestlemania we have two big clusterfuck women's matches that aren't about an actual issue.

It still feels like the main event was made because it has the most star power, but that nobody out there is emotionally invested in it at all. Everyone knows that it makes sense as a main event, but nobody is actually feeling it. Nobody is excited about it. Nobody will be losing their shit if Lesnar wins. Nobody will be losing their shit if Goldberg wins. It's just a match that's there.

I'm not sure about you guys, but at this point the length of these shows is also putting me off. This Wrestlemania will probably be seven hours long. Even if the card was a lot stronger that would still be way too much. It's just adding to what I don't like about Wrestlemania - they're always trying to make it bigger, longer, shinier, more expensive. Whereas all it really needs is good matches and satisfying pay offs.

I'll be interested to see how the excitement builds over the course of the week. They do have a good Hall of Fame class this year at least, though the Takeover show seems lackluster compared to usual. Though I'm sure the Takeover show will exceed expectations anyway, as they usually do.

[Everlong]

Yeah, the length is a bit off-putting to me too. SEVEN HOURS? Does that include all the pregame show stuff? How long is the actual Mania broadcast itself?

And yeah, I feel exactly how you describe about the Lesnar/Goldberg match. They blew their load with that at Survivor Series or whenever it was, THAT was a hype moment. Now it's just like... who cares?

Idk. To someone like me who's now basically a casual viewer at best. there's not a whole lot bringing me in this year. Rollins/HHH could be cool, same with Owens/Jericho. But otherwise... eh.

[Hanley!]

Yeah, the length is a bit off-putting to me too. SEVEN HOURS? Does that include all the pregame show stuff? How long is the actual Mania broadcast itself?

Yeah, usually for big shows now they do a two hour pre-show and then the main show is four hours. But now that they're not on pay per view anymore and they're hosting their own shows, they're very loose about when they end the shows. A lot of pay per views go 15-30 minutes over nowadays, and I think last year's Wrestlemania went around 5 hours for the main show. With the amount of matches that are booked for this show, I can easily see it going that long again this year.

[prophet]

None whatsoever.

Granted I'm more of a casual WWE viewer these days but I'm usually always a tad excited for 'Mania. This year I'm probably not going to watch the show, not live at least.

[AkydefGoldberg]

I'm assuming the Mania show will start at midnight in the UK with the pre-show stuff couple of hours before?

[DBSoT]

Yeah, the length is a bit off-putting to me too. SEVEN HOURS? Does that include all the pregame show stuff? How long is the actual Mania broadcast itself?

Yeah, usually for big shows now they do a two hour pre-show and then the main show is four hours. But now that they're not on pay per view anymore and they're hosting their own shows, they're very loose about when they end the shows. A lot of pay per views go 15-30 minutes over nowadays, and I think last year's Wrestlemania went around 5 hours for the main show. With the amount of matches that are booked for this show, I can easily see it going that long again this year.

I am going to watch 6 hours of WM and 2 hours of NXT Takeover. I may never want to watch wrestling again after this weekend.

[DBSoT]

I also haven't been to a wrestling show in a few years. I am kind of wondering if I will hate the smark crowds or really enjoy the interaction.

[Messiah]

A bunch of matches have been thrown together at the last minute.

You might not be invested in any of the matches, but in what world is this true?

Jericho/Owens has been going on for months.
Lesnar/Goldberg has been going on for months.
Wyatt/Orton has been going on for months.
Rollins/HHH has been going on for months.
Bayley/Charlotte/Jax/Banks has been an inter-twining storyline going on for months.
Undertaker/Reigns was teased at Royal Rumble.
Neville/Aries has been teased for months, from when Aries was made into an announcer and would always hype himself up.

McMahon/Styles, Cena & Nikki/Miz & Maryse, and Ambrose/Corbin have only come into fruition in the last 2 months or so but have had heavy television time dedicated to them. The only match on the main card that you could say was thrown together at the last minute was the tag team match, but seeing Enzo and Cass finally win titles (presumably) is going to be an incredible moment.

This is the most long-term built up WrestleMania I can remember in a long time. I don't know where you are getting "a bunch of matches have been made at the last minute" from.

There are so many matches that involve multiple people in an attempt to get everyone on the card, but it makes it so impossible to care.

Of the 10 matches on the main card, 7 of them are singles matches. One of the multi-man matches is Cena/Bella vs Miz/Maryse, in a storyline that has made a lot of sense and certainly wasn't just an attempt to get everyone on the card. The other is a tag team title match.

Again, I'm just not seeing where you are getting this from. In comparison, WrestleMania 17 had 11 matches on the main card and 7 of them were singles matches. WrestleMania 24 had 9 matches and 6 were singles matches.

This past year was all about the revolution in women's wrestling, yet at Wrestlemania we have two big clusterfuck women's matches that aren't about an actual issue.

You are right about the SmackDown match, but I don't see how you can say this about the Raw match. There is a logical reason for all of them to be involved in the title match and they have done a great job blending in the stories. Banks still hasn't proven she can beat Charlotte on PPV, while Banks has helped Bayley beat Charlotte twice with it being obvious that Banks is only doing it so she can challenge Bayley, not Charlotte, for the title. Jax's reason for being in the match isn't as strong and it could do without her, but I really enjoyed her feud with Banks and the matches were good with Banks playing the underdog babyface role. The match and story makes sense, I don't see how you can say it isn't about an actual issue unless you just haven't bothered watching.

It feels like this WrestleMania is getting a lot of undue criticism; it hasn't been nearly as bad of a build as people are making it out to be.

[Hanley!]

You're stretching on a few points there. Like saying Neville vs Aries has been teased for months. People predicted it would happen, but they've not been building towards it. And there's no real issue there, which tends to be important in building interest for a wrestling feud.

Nia Jax was just added to the women's match like a week ago, so that match definitely feels bundled together. Sure these four have been interacting for months, but that's because they're practically the entire Raw women's division. Just a few weeks ago people thought the Wrestlemania match was going to be Bayley vs Charlotte. A few weeks before that people thought it might be Sasha vs Bayley. Don't get me wrong, the story has been logical, but it's also been pretty messy and also pretty bad.

Anyway, I don't think it's unfair to call a match thrown together just because WWE have been planning it for a while. If they haven't really bothered to take the time to tell a story leading up to the match, then it comes off as thrown together. A match like Reigns vs Undertaker was teased at Royal Rumble, but the feud since then was just rushed at the last minute and again there's no meat to the story. Which is my biggest problem with all Undertaker feuds - they never have that added dimension.

In fairness there are a few matches that have genuinely had a nice long build. Owens v Jericho, Goldberg v Lesnar and Wyatt v Orton have all had lengthier builds than usual. Which is nice. I actually do give them some credit for that. And have done in other threads.

But like I said before, it's a mixture of things that makes this Wrestlemania card underwhelming for me. It's hard to care about some matches because they're thrown together at the last minute. Few people have been given time to get excited about either of the women's matches, the cruiserweight match, the tag match(es?) as a result. Yet on the other side of the coin, the matches with the long builds suffer because they're not building towards anything that people are all that invested in.

The exception there is Jericho vs Owens, though even that would work a lot better if Jericho was going for revenge by trying to take away KO's title. Jericho as champion doesn't work as well for the Wrestlemania pay off. But elsewhere it's hard to give a shit who wins in the Goldberg vs Lesnar match, and the Orton vs Wyatt feud has just been bad, and unfortunately it's hitting its lowest point at exactly the wrong time.

I'm not going to get into what's on the main show and what's on the pre-show, because I'm not exactly sure what match is happening where. But there are no meaningful one on one (or two on two) encounters taking place featuring the women's or tag team divisions on either show. That's bad, particularly given the progress that they were making with the women in 2016. The Andre the Giant Battle Royal is what it is, I guess. I'd rather they have that one match to get everyone on the card than spreading it around, but they haven't made people care about the match since the first year.

I could tease out everything that I find underwhelming about the card for a long time, but it's easier and more effective to do the opposite of that. To describe what about the card excites me. And the answer is ... almost nothing. I'm curious to find out if Styles can get something out of Shane. I'm hoping Jericho and Owens can have a killer match. But I'm barely even interested in anything else and nothing actually excites me.

Which brings me to this:

It feels like this WrestleMania is getting a lot of undue criticism; it hasn't been nearly as bad of a build as people are making it out to be.

Now I can only judge based on my own bubble: the people I talk to and what I see online, etc. But this Wrestlemania feels kinda cold to me right now. And if there really is a lack of buzz about Wrestlemania this year, then I think that on that metric alone, the build would have to be described as bad. Because people are usually so hyped at this time of year.


I'm interested though: what has you excited about Wrestlemania this year? I'm genuinely curious. You're not always the most positive guy here when it comes to WWE, but you've been pretty optimistic coming up to Wrestlemania this year. What are the things that you can't wait to see on Sunday night, or the things that you're really hoping to see? I'm not looking to argue about why they're actually not that good or anything - just trying to understand your point of view better.

[Viazon]

I've stopped watching Raw and SD so my interest is quite low. It just started to become to much of a hassle to actually watch it. I would record Raw and then watch it after work on Tuesday. But I felt like I was forcing my way through it. I felt like I could be doing more with my evening. I eventually realized that I didn't really care what happened so I stopped watching. I still watch the PPVs though so I will be watching Wrestlemania. I don't know much of what's been happening in the build up, but I have looked at the card and there is a bit of potential there for some decent matches.

[Messiah]

There are several reasons why I am excited. First off, I think this is the best the product has been in a long time. Maybe that isn't saying much, but between Raw and SmackDown, it is not hard to find entertainment. I don't watch Raw in its entirety; I read recaps and watch the condensed segments on Youtube. Usually I will try to watch SmackDown unless I'm busy, otherwise I will also watch it on Youtube. Raw is a more hit and miss show, but I have enjoyed the rise of Strowman, how different Reigns has been than other previous Undertaker opponents (will go into that later), the story of Zayn and how it appears he will be put in a position to be the babyface everyone gets behind this year, the Women's storyline, etc. SmackDown hits it out of the park almost every week. The continuity on this show on a week-to-week basis is amazing. There are rarely, if ever, any plot holes. The Orton/Wyatt storyline has dipped a little bit in the past couple of weeks but I still respect the effort they have put into it. Quite frankly, it is hard to put a main event story with Wyatt together without some parts that might rub fans the wrong way. It's just his character.

I just don't get some of the complaints about the product. It feels like the WWE gets held to a ridiculous standard that is hard to match. I agree that there were missed opportunities with this show. For example, A.J. Styles deserves better than he has gotten. However, he's still in a high-profile match. The seeds for the match were planted all the way back to the Tuesday after SmackDown. It isn't like he was thrown into a throwaway story, he's probably going to win the match, and he is probably going to go right back into the Championship picture.

I will use NXT as an example of how the WWE gets held to ridiculous standards. NXT, quite frankly, sucks. I'm not a fan of Goldberg/Lesnar as a main event, but you want to know what is crazy? Their storyline has been far better than Roode/Nakamura. That isn't even a storyline. The amount of effort NXT has put into building that match, from what I have seen, is lousy as hell. And it is what NXT does. They take two big names, put them in a match together, and tell you how big of a match it is without giving you much of a reason to care. And nobody says anything about it. Saturday will come, NXT will have a bunch of solid to great matches, and people will call the show great. If WrestleMania puts on numerous good/great matches, it won't matter. People will still find a way to criticize the build or something like that. It's just a stupid double standard. Personally, I thought NXT San Antonio sucked. I don't know why anyone cared about Roode/Nakamura. It was such a lousy feud. And the fact they are having another match together with even less build is atrocious, but nobody says anything about it.

In comparison, while I disagree with Lesnar/Goldberg being the main event and for a World Championship, I can't blame the WWE for not trying. It's a storyline that makes a lot of sense. If it wasn't for the title, I would honestly be a lot more excited for it.

I'm looking forward to the Raw's Women's match and I don't know why people are hating on it either. It feels like a lot of people are just confused by the storyline for some reason. It makes a lot of sense and concise. I don't see how it has been "messy". Would you mind elaborating on that? It's straightforward. Banks doesn't think she can beat Charlotte on PPV. Charlotte has her number. She's helping Bayley beat Charlotte because Banks wants to challenge Bayley, not Charlotte, for the title. Charlotte has pointed this out several times on television. It is all leading towards a Banks heel turn and her turning on Bayley is going to be an awesome moment as it will be the first time we truly get heel Banks on the main roster. As far as Jax, just because she was added to the match a week ago doesn't mean the inclusion of her is random. She just got out of a storyline with Banks that went a couple of months, including solid matches between the two (I particularly enjoyed their Fast Lane encounter). On top of that, she's attacked Bayley and beaten her. How is her being put into the match make it feel bundled together when she's been involved the entire time and has never been given a Women's title match that she deserved in kayfabe? It's stuff like that which comes across as an unfair criticism or like you haven't really been following along, no offense. Which if you haven't, is fine. Or if you just don't like Jax, that is cool too. However, I just don't see how the storyline has been messy or bundled together. It all makes sense.

I know I'm in the minority, but I'm loving Cena and Bella vs Miz and Maryse. Miz has been an A+ performer for the last year and they had to put him on the show. They have dedicated a lot of time to this feud. The way they started the feud made a lot of sense. It was simple but effective. Cena eliminated The Miz at both Elimination Chamber and in a #1 Contenders battle royal, which led to the Miz coming back to eliminate him. It's classic story-telling. It then led to numerous great segments between the two, but they have made sure to limit the physical interactions to keep suspense and make sure you are looking forward to Cena finally getting his hands on The Miz. People have criticized this feud for what will be a predictable ending, but who cares? WrestleMania has always been full of predictable endings; predictable isn't a bad thing. Plus Cena proposing to Nikki, which seems like it will happen, is a great moment.

Undertaker/Reigns is another simple, old-school storyline that I appreciate. Now this is a feud that really will depend on the direction they take Reigns after WrestleMania. I'm kind of not looking forward to it as much anymore because I doubt it leads to a Reigns heel turn, but I think Reigns has played his role well. Quite frankly though there isn't much you can do with The Undertaker that will be remotely interesting, so this is kind of one of those "shiniest shits" things.

You have the tag team ladder match that will almost certainly be good. It is the only match on the main card that was bundled together, but WrestleMania will always have at least one of those matches. Plus you can still argue it makes sense because it will almost certainly lead to Enzo and Cass winning their first ever titles and love them or hate them, that will be a HUGE moment. The fans are going to go nuts, especially for people who followed them in NXT and saw how close they came there.

Anyway, I don't think it's unfair to call a match thrown together just because WWE have been planning it for a while. If they haven't really bothered to take the time to tell a story leading up to the match, then it comes off as thrown together.

Yes, but it isn't like they have just been planning these matches. They have planted the seeds for almost all of them months back.

A match like Reigns vs Undertaker was teased at Royal Rumble, but the feud since then was just rushed at the last minute and again there's no meat to the story. Which is my biggest problem with all Undertaker feuds - they never have that added dimension.

Every WrestleMania is going to have a couple of matches like that though. It is why I don't understand the criticism. It's near impossible to put 10 matches on a show and have all of them feature 3-4 months builds. Angle/Benoit at WrestleMania 17 is no different than Reigns/Undertaker at WrestleMania 33, and Reigns/Undertaker was teased and built longer than Angle/Benoit was (which wasn't made until the Raw before WrestleMania IIRC).

Few people have been given time to get excited about either of the women's matches

Yeah, this is just not true at all. I don't know why you keep saying it. Banks/Charlotte/Bayley was not thrown together. It was clear this was the direction they were headed the second Banks cost Charlotte the title against Bayley. I don't see how Jax being added (even though she has been involved with them as well) changes that. And I'm pretty sure Charlotte/Banks/Bayley was announced shortly after Fast Lane.

Maybe you just don't care. Which again is fine. But this match didn't come out of nowhere.

I'm not going to get into what's on the main show and what's on the pre-show, because I'm not exactly sure what match is happening where. But there are no meaningful one on one (or two on two) encounters taking place featuring the women's or tag team divisions on either show.

Bayley/Banks/Charlotte/Jax (and once Jax is eliminated, Bayley/Banks/Charlotte) is definitely meaningful. I don't know why it has to be a one-on-one match to be meaningful. On top of that, the tag team titles will be featured in a ladder match and will probably end on a great moment. That is far more meaningful than 80% of the tag team matches that happen at WrestleMania.

And it still seems like a random critique. How many meaningful one on one or two on two encounters happened at WrestleMania 24 that took place featuring women's or tag team divisions? The Playboy Bunny match? Same with WrestleMania 17. Or WrestleMania 19. Or WrestleMania 30. All great WrestleMania's that lack the one on one or two on two meaningful women's/tag matches that you are criticizing WrestleMania 33 for lacking.

But I'm barely even interested in anything else and nothing actually excites me.

Which I 100% understand. I get why people aren't interested. Me defending WrestleMania as much as I have doesn't mean I'm saying it is perfect. There are a lot of things they could have done better. But it feels like you are letting your lack of interest lead to some undue criticism. You saying the WrestleMania is full of a bunch of multi-man matches just wasn't true. I don't agree with you saying a lot of matches were just thrown together. They have clearly put effort into these storylines, even if they don't excite you. To me, a thrown together match is Batista vs Umaga at WrestleMania 24. Hell, Benoit vs Angle at WrestleMania 17. Matches that are happening just because. And I'm only mentioning those because those are 2 WrestleMania's many people consider great. Aries/Neville is no more thrown together than those matches. You just don't care, which is fine. Neville has been built up on Raw as a great heel cruiserweight very well while Aries is going to make his PPV debut as the over babyface looking to strip him of his title. Two great performers in what should be a good 10-12 minute match. I don't consider it thrown together for that reason. It wasn't a match that was made out of nowhere or because they didn't have anything better to do, it was made because it made sense. That isn't thrown together to me. But if you don't care, then that is okay. No problem with that.

I just feel like a lot of criticisms thrown at WWE are kind of double standards. They are much better now than they were 2-3 years ago, yet people are acting like this is the worst WrestleMania build ever. That is just ridiculous to me. The same people (not saying you) are going to call NXT TakeOver some amazing show when in actuality, why the fuck does anyone care about anything happening on that show? Nobody minds that Roode/Nakamura is predictable as hell (but criticize Miz/Maryse vs Cena/Bella for the same reason) and has barely had a build in the 4-5 months the feud has been going on. There is literally no reason to care about Ember Moon. The tag team match is the only exciting thing happening on the show and that is because it will probably be a 5 star match, but I doubt anyone will be calling it a thrown together match just because it features 3 teams.

[Messiah]

I'll be interested to see how the excitement builds over the course of the week. They do have a good Hall of Fame class this year at least, though the Takeover show seems lackluster compared to usual. Though I'm sure the Takeover show will exceed expectations anyway, as they usually do.

This is what I mean though. WWE isn't held to this standard. Nobody is going to forgive the WWE if WrestleMania is full of good/great matches. People will just say they didn't care who won or lost.

The same thing doesn't apply to NXT. If they have good/great matches, suddenly the show is amazing. But why does anyone care about the show? The show isn't just lackluster. It's awful. For me, there is no chance of them exceeding expectations because the show is the most lazily constructed thing I have ever seen.

To tell you how lazy it is, have Asuka and Moon ever interacted with each other? It is just another NXT match where they tell us we should care. It is the same with Nakamura/Roode. It is what they do for every match outside of the tag team division.

Regardless I know we are on opposite sides of the spectrum and I hope there are no hard feelings because we disagree about the show so drastically . I get where you are coming from. I understand why you aren't interested. I don't think WrestleMania is perfect, but I think they have done enough to get me to care about what happens at the show and everything that will happen after it. I don't care about Lesnar/Goldberg, but I'm kind of looking forward to seeing where they go with Lesnar after and who takes the title off of him (reportedly he is going to start wrestling a lot more). So at this point it will just be a wait and see. Maybe WrestleMania ends up sucking, it wouldn't surprise me. But I have faith it will be a good show, certainly better than 32 and 31.