A year ago fans were selling their WrestleMania 31 tickets because all signs pointed at a Roman Reigns title push was being forced down their throats. This year we are back in the same situation but what the WWE has earned is trust.
Last year, the WWE delivered one of the best WrestleManias of all-time with one of the worst Road to WrestleMania build-ups. This year they’re once again scatter brained when putting together their feuds heading into Mania. The champion, HHH, has taken the championship into hiding, the Fastlane PPV will have almost no carry over into WrestleMania and Roman Reigns is still getting booed.
Not to mention that they’ve lost three of their biggest stars, Daniel Bryan, Seth Rollins & John Cena, due to injury.
We now know that DB is retired and ruled out of any match-ups, Rollins could make an appearance but even the best ACL recoveries take up to 6 months but Cena is the wild card of the bunch.
We’ve seen Cena return abnormally fast from surgery before and the hush around him points toward another heroic appearance. If Cena was to return for the Raw after Fastlane, that’s not a given, they’d still only have 4 weeks to build up a feud for Mania. This is where the Undertaker comes in.
The WWE have kept the Undertaker under wraps since Survivor Series but there’s little doubt that the deadman will make his presence felt at WrestleMania. The fact that he’s yet to appear on television to build his rivalry is a sign that things are still very much in the air.
So why the delay?
Braun Stroman seemed prime for the Taker match, a big-undefeated opponent for the Undertaker to defeat and ride off into the sunset, but the fans revolt whenever the match is mentioned. Thus, Stroman heads to the Andre the Giant to continue his domination and Taker is left waiting in the wings.
That could be seen as a knock on Stroman but it has more to do with the climate surrounding WrestleMania. The WWE selected AT&T stadium in hopes of breaking their attendance record and they’ll need marquee matches to drive the event. With HHH vs Roman Reigns locked in as a near certainty, the main event is still up for grabs. Reigns isn’t over enough to carry the main event slot without a swerve, I.e. Last year’s Rollins cash in. Lesnar vs Wyatt could headline the event if it was a specialty match such as Hell in a Cell but even then it’s a tough sell to casual fans.
The waiting game being played by the WWE is as clear of a sign as any that we will be getting Cena vs Undertaker for this year’s main event. If Taker is walking off into the sunset after this match,what better way to do it than with a victory over “Super” Cena?
It’d allow the casual fans to get excited for a match they’ve never seen before and allow John to wrestle if he’s not quite 100%. A match vs Owens, Brock or any other fighter would push John to the threshold but a match with Taker will be fought at a slower pace and focus on the storyline instead of high impact manuvevers.
The stage is set for two of the biggest superstars to finally headline a Mania together and the WWE is smart for holding out as long as it takes to see this become a reality.