Considering that it’s April 15th, make sure you send all of your files to Mike Rotunda. After that, we are just a few days away from Wrestlemania 42, the biggest event on the sports entertainment calendar, or it is?
I’ve covered the ticket sale debacle as the story unfolded over the past few months, and the harsh reality is that TKO initially priced out a huge portion of the fan base and then tried to course correct too late. The 25% or 31% wasn’t going to make a dent in the total costs when you factor in the travel expenses, which is why neither sale truly moved the needle. But, as I also said, they will paper the house so that it’s full by the time the bell rings on Saturday, and it’s moot in the grand scheme of things because the scheduled payoff of more than $100 million from Saudi Arabia next year for Wrestlemania 43 is the big picture for the TKO corporation.
That’s the business side of the equation, but what about creative? Sure, there are big expectations for the Wrestlemania brand, sometimes unrealistic expectations, but when the cheapest ticket to get into the building is $350 per night then management has to deliver on the pryo and ballyhoo worthy of the historic value that WM brings to the table. As we head into the homestretch of the build to WM 42, depending on your point of view, the scripting of the program either added a layer of intensity or reeked of desperation. We heard the rumors as far back as Survivor Series last November that another Cody Rhodes/Roman Reigns bout was penciled in for Las Vegas this year, with the conclusion of the War Games match seeming to hint at that direction. Since that time, the direction of the main event scene, both for Raw and Smackdown was shuffled on a few different occasions, suggesting indecisiveness, not spontaneity. The rumor mill was that the Rhodes/Reigns bout was scrapped because the audience had already seen it twice within the past three years, and given the two-year storyline between those two title matches, I’d say it was the right call to choose different opponents since another contest between the two would’ve been a retread. At one point, it looked like Cody/Drew was the decided match-up for WM, based on Drew’s inference at different pay-per-views. Cody lost at The Royal Rumble, lost at The Elimination Chamber, and then won the belt back on a random episode of Smackdown. The speculated motive was that there was already a series of matches between Rhodes and Drew McIntyre last year so the fourth or fifth bout in a relatively short period of time wouldn’t be strong enough to main event one of the nights of WM 42. That would be correct, but should also be a lesson about why a performer the caliber of Drew shouldn’t have been thrown into random PPV matches just because Cody needed an opponent last year. The bigger issue was, as I’ve written at previously, the scripting that shoehorned Rhodes back into the main event picture actually devalued his star power. Cody is a top-tier talent and should be the representative of the company, he checks all the boxes for a global, publicly-traded corporation, but the way his character was scripted took away a lot of his shine. In some respects, he was able to lose his way to the main event of the show. He randomly lost the title to Drew on an episode of Smackdown in January, but there wasn’t a journey for him to regain the championship. Instead, he was given opportunities until he won it back.
When the office shifted gears towards Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes, which is why Cody beat Drew abruptly, the heel turn from Orton was needed to provide some sizzle to a rather flat main event scene at the time. That being said, the entire Pat McAfee involvement is bizarre and counterproductive, which bled over into the CM Punk/Roman Reigns storyline as well. Trying to refer back to the Attitude era was a total miss, and while I get the attempt to lean into the reserve psychology aspect of the criticism of the ticket prices, it’s also publicly admitting that the company overvalued the product. The WWE literally had a product, the biggest event of the year, that the audience wasn’t buying compared to last year.
The worked shoot stuff between Roman/CM Punk and then Cody/McAfee almost seems like management is trying to use the same strategy to sell two different feuds. Depending on how the matches are booked this weekend, it could be a repetitive presentation. That was the biggest takeaway from Raw’s final confrontation between Roman Reigns and CM Punk, it was basically the exact same set up and promo that they’ve done the past several weeks. The storyline almost appears one-dimensional when there’s much more to draw from with their shared history. The more promos that Pat McAfee cuts on Smackdown, the more obvious it is that he was added into the mix as a late-minute desperate attempt to get some mainstream press for the event. There wasn’t a need or a purpose for him to be involved in the storyline so he doesn’t have anything to add other than to repeat that Randy Orton is going to save the business without any logic behind it so again, it comes off as very one-dimensional.
I’m somewhat surprised that Cody/Orton is scheduled for Saturday since you’d assume that the top position in the company would close out the weekend, but that might be by design. Keep in mind, the ESPN subscription is $30, and with gas prices over $4 a gallon thanks to the orange villain’s conflict in Iran to distract from the Epstein files, it’s not an automatic purchase that casual fans will pay for Wrestlemania, especially since this is the first WM event since the switch to ESPN with the price increase that went along with it. There continues to be rumors that Vince McMahon might peak his head back into the WWE landscape, particularly because of how closely he worked with the Saudis over the years, and it’s possible that something newsworthy is going to be booked for night one in an attempt to get more fans to subscribe for the Sunday show.
Drew McIntyre vs. Jacob Fatu should be a quality bout, and it’s a segment that I’m looking forward to, but it’s a match-up based on the fact that the writing team didn’t seem to have anything else for them to do. The same could be said for Seth Rollins/Gunther, it should be a very good bout, but it doesn’t seem like a major match because there wasn’t much build up for it. The same can be said for the rest of the card, there should be quality performances based on the talent involved, but everything from the top damn has seemed either scrambled or less than ideal in terms of the build. Stephanie Vaquer/Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley/Jade Cargill have some hype around them, but you can’t really say the same for AJ Lee vs. Becky Lynch, which had the potential to be the biggest women’s match on the card when the feud started a few months ago. Ironically, the match with the best build is one that will be shown for free on ESPN, with it being Brock :Lesnar vs. Oba Femi. It’s no coincidence that the bout with the most direct and steady angle is the one that had the best build ahead of bell time. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have Paul Heyman, still the best talker in the industry to sell the importance to the audience. Still, this was an angle that was two monsters that were going to clash, the writing team just told you what time it was, they didn’t try to build the watch in the process, which is what happened with the detours, particularly with the Cody/Orton storyline.
If I had to guess, I’d say that this weekend’s Wrestlemania events will deliver a quality show on each night, but aside from the fact that ticket prices were astronomical, the argument could be made that outside of Brock/Oba, and potentially Roman/Punk, there wasn’t truly anything “must see” on the card as far as the perception of its importance from the build up of the pay-per-view.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
