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Lack of WM Build


AJS269

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Looking at the confirmed card for Wrestlemania 28 with less than a month to go, I was shocked to see there was only 5 confirmed matches.

 

Has the fact that WWE already have 4 cast iron main event matches hurt the rest of the card with a lack of build?

 

Admitedly there is unlikely to be any buys on the back of say Cody Rhodes vs The Big Show, or whatever the match coming out of this Teddy Long, Johnny Ace GM feud or even whatever diva's match comes about (if one happens at all) but still would it hurt to have a litle build into the matches for the biggest show of the year?

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Obviously it would be better if all the matches had more build up and there's no reason why they shouldn't be featured more prominently, one of the big selling poits of 'Mania is that it has a big stacked card with lots of blow off to storyline matches.

 

This should probably be in the Wrestlemania discussion thread.

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A more interesting question is - when did the WWE start building so many matches as "bigger" than their World Championship match? Was it when the brand split and you therefore had 2 potential matches? Was is Rock/Hogan at Wrestlemania18? Or did it happen earlier than that?

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A more interesting question is - when did the WWE start building so many matches as "bigger" than their World Championship match? Was it when the brand split and you therefore had 2 potential matches? Was is Rock/Hogan at Wrestlemania18? Or did it happen earlier than that?

Rock/Hogan was definitely the start of it. The brand split itself gives you a problem though because there will always be one title match that's lower on the card than the other.

 

The other thing is that apart from Taker/HBK 2, they've always protected the World Title match by putting it on last. But then people moan that it's overshadowed anyway.

 

In the past, they'd have been hammering home "Quadruple Main Event!!" on every show. They don't bother now.

 

World titles have been fucked as a drawing card since 1999.

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A more interesting question is - when did the WWE start building so many matches as "bigger" than their World Championship match? Was it when the brand split and you therefore had 2 potential matches? Was is Rock/Hogan at Wrestlemania18? Or did it happen earlier than that?

 

The First WM didn't have a World championship match, so right since the begining

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The First WM didn't have a World championship match, so right since the begining

 

Yeah, that's cos the World Champ was wrestling in the main event! Not the same thing at all.

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Rock/Cena, HHH/Taker and the two title matches are the most anticipated matches on the show, therefore require the most build up/exposure on the weekly TV shows. The IC title match and the GM match will be good matches I'm sure, but they aren't going to pull in many additional buys. I guess it's all about prioritising.

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Back around WrestleMania 5 to 7, some matches not only didn't get a build, but were between guys who weren't even feuding. You'd get several matches that were the same kind of "it's a squash, but against a name guy" that you now get on Raw.

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Also to be fair, the GM match has been excellently built, just not announced yet. That's been some of the soundest, most logical and committed booking WWE has put into anything Raw vs Smackdown based in ages. It has very clearly defined heels and faces, a legitmate and believable reason for the conflict and there's likely to be a good reward for the winner assuming it's to be GM of both shows.

 

I hope they don't flush it away in 3 minute squash or have it end up being a singles match, but assuming they go with gangs of four or whatever, it's been easily better built up that Sheamus/Bryan and arguably Jericho/Punk. Let's be honest, it has the chance of being a more entertaining match than both of those too.

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Back around WrestleMania 5 to 7, some matches not only didn't get a build, but were between guys who weren't even feuding. You'd get several matches that were the same kind of "it's a squash, but against a name guy" that you now get on Raw.

 

Exactly and look at Wrestlemania 15 too, I watched the Raw's leading up to that and Billy Gunn and Road Dogg didn't even have the titles they defended at WM at this time of year, let alone be in a feud. Then you've got the tag titles which was thrown together before the show, the list goes on.

 

And as others have said I can't think of a match that looks like it's going to be on the card that hasn't had a build, okay some are better than others but there's only so much TV time and two of the biggest matches ever are quite rightly going to get a lot of time.

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I still wish they would have kept Bryan/Show going into Mania and worked Sheamus into the Punk/Jericho feud.

 

I just think the fans were into Bryan/Show and it still had legs to have a big Mania blow-off match. It was already a well developed and long running storyline.

 

After eliminating Jericho in the Rumble, Sheamus could easily have been worked into the feud with Punk/Jericho becoming a triple threat match.

 

Orton could have been the captain for the Teddy Long team in the GM feud and Kane/Ryder could have continued.

 

I feel all of the above would have meant a better build and more people caring about the other matches outside of Taker/HHH and Rock/Cena.

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Exactly and look at Wrestlemania 15 too, I watched the Raw's leading up to that and Billy Gunn and Road Dogg didn't even have the titles they defended at WM at this time of year, let alone be in a feud.

 

To be fair, the pair were well built up to be wrestling for the I-C and hardcore title at WrestleMania, it's just they mysteriously swapped positions a couple of weeks before the show for no apparant reason other than to surprise fans who'd figured out where the booking was going. Ah, Russo.

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A more interesting question is - when did the WWE start building so many matches as "bigger" than their World Championship match? Was it when the brand split and you therefore had 2 potential matches? Was is Rock/Hogan at Wrestlemania18? Or did it happen earlier than that?

 

 

Well, in theory the first Mania which promoted a non-WWE champion main event would be Wrestlemania 11 when the focus was squarely on Bam Bam Bigelow and Lawrence Taylor. Diesel and Shawn Michaels should've been big news as the two friends for 2 years, tag champs and now little shit Shawn turned on Diesel, but if I remember correctly they insisted on turning it into about Pamela Anderson and Jenny McCarthy.

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Looking at the confirmed card for Wrestlemania 28 with less than a month to go, I was shocked to see there was only 5 confirmed matches.

 

So? We know what two others are going to be, so that's seven in total. They'll sling a couple of other bits in there as well that they've been hinting at so they're doing fine. I think the build to Wrestlemania has been very clear and very defined this year and everything they have been doing, almost, has been focused on that.

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^exactly. And before they scrapped the Kharma plans, they'd been laying the foundations for her and Beth since, what, January? It's obvious that's where they were going with Beth's "Nobody can beat me, I'm gonna be champion forever!" stuff. So if that had gone to plan, we'd have 8 matches being built by now, which is as many as were on last year's card.

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