“Wrestlemania is for casual fans these days,” one article says. “Goldberg and Brock Lesnar are the mainstream stars, and that’s just how it is,” another contends. Hardcore wrestling fans have been moaning about Wrestlemania 33‘s likely main event long enough, so the polite but practical backlash was probably inevitable. In internet pseudo-journalism it’s what is known as a “hot take”, and as of March 2017 everyone who can use WordPress and string a coherent sentence together has decided “Mania’s for the mainstreams, deal with it” is the wisest commentary ever.
There’s a seam of pragmatism in me that even believes it. In a calander year where wrestling is banished to a small, embarrased corner of pop culture, Wrestlemania is its mainstream moment. Lesnar and Golberg are burned into the memories of millions of former teenage wrestling fans. As they’ve grown up they’ve drifted away, like Peter Pan in Hook, and suddenly for 51 weeks a year wrestling is lame. WWE needs old star power to bring them back. Fine.
But let’s not pretend there isn’t a sneaky, self defeating logic to this argument. A logic WWE will soon have to face.
Everyone remembers Goldberg. Everyone knows Brock Lesnar. Everyone recalls Stone Cold Steve Austin. Because everyone remembers superstars. And no, calling your entire roster “Superstars” doesn’t make it mean anything. Superstars don’t start our pre-made. They must be built. Then, with the eyes of the world watching at Wrestlemania, they must be crowned. Wrestlemania 32‘s reluctance to do this is why it will ultimately be remembered as a failure.
But what of this year? With Brock Lesnar and Goldberg bringing casual fans back, who is positioned for a star making moment?
Bray Wyatt
Randy Orton has been a star. His ceiling is what it is. But since Wyatt Vs Orton will likely go on just before the main event, WWE have a rare opportunity to make a star out of the perennially misused Eater of Worlds. He’s young, he’s charismatic and he looks like no one else in wrestling. His feud with Orton has been weirder than anything in WWE for a long time. A house got burned down. A man teleported out of a shipping container.
If Bray’s entrance is demonic enough, if his victory is dramatic enough, WWE will have created a new supernatural monster. People will want to know what’s next for him. What will he say or do? Those who maybe forget to find out will still remember his face. And when they see it on Facebook, or Vox, or on their local news station advertising a nearby house show, they’ll want to know what Bray Wyatt is doing. It would be the start of a new star.
Seth Rollins
Right now Seth Rollins is bigger than just another guy. You don’t cash in your Money in the Bank briefcase at Wrestlemania and return to obscurity the next day. And Rollins has been evolving into a draw ever since he was champion. At Wrestlemania 33 though, the Architect faces Triple H in a hold harmless match. It’s a dumb name, but it raises the stakes while protecting Rollins’ injured knee. It’s also a great way to distinguish Rollins from the rest of the card and have him deliver a well earned comeuppance to Triple H.
Whatever a hold harmless match ends up looking like, I have faith Triple H and Rollins will make it great. It could not be more obvious, outside WWE storylines, that Triple H is Rollin’s biggest mark. Whether they brawl through the arena in jeans or beat each other up with lead pipes, Rollins should and probably will come out of this looking like an avenging angel. And he doesn’t necessarily even have to win.
People might vaguely recognise his face, but if he’s to become a star they need to be reminded why he’s important as often as possible.
Sasha Banks
Remember how last year Sasha Banks entered Mania with all the momentum in the world? With Snoop Dogg accompanying her to the ring? Remember? Okay. Now remember how WWE used that momentum to give her a star making victory at the biggest show of the year? No, me neither.
God fucking damn it.
This. This was the most egregious mistake of Mania 32. This decision proved just how clouded WWE creative had become when it came to what was staring them in the face. The forest was gone, and all they could see was the trees.
This year though, Banks might just have a second chance. Bayley’s crowning moment has been robbed of her. As Bayley’s number one superfan this is painful in the extreme to even say, but it’s true. Breaking Charlotte’s pay-per-view streak and winning her first title at Wrestlemania would have sealed the deal. Apparently though, someone at WWE creative must have been on quaaludes the day it was pitched.
Anyway, in its wake Sasha Banks once again has the chance to walk out as a star. This time though, she should also leave Orlando gobsmacked at her epic heel turn. It’s time for the original Boss to make her return. If WWE allow Sasha to betray Bayley at Mania, to go all out with post match brutality, you’ll have created the hottest feud in wrestling.
Kevin Owens
WWE
People remember history differently. Vince McMahon clearly thinks we all remember Bill Goldberg spearing and ass kicking everything but Bret Hart’s metal stomach plate back in our youths. What I remember as a kid though, was Y2J. He was cool. He could talk. His hair was always stupid. And at Mania 33 he’s going to nearly kill himself to make Kevin Owens look like a star.
Remember, people will be tuning in because they saw Goldberg on the poster. They remember him from back in the day, or at least that’s the theory. But if they remember Goldberg, you can bet Jimmin Marvinluder most of them also remember Chris Jericho.
Which is why Owens must beat him.
Owens is about as far from WWE’s traditional mould as they’re ever likely to go in Vince McMahon’s lifetime. He’s rotund, has an untidy beard and a grumpy face. But he’s also a great character, an excellent wrestler and has all the tools he needs to be a brutal bad guy. Kevin Steen has won over fans wherever he’s gone, and he can do the same at Wrestlemania if he’s just given the chance.
Of late WWE has a tendency to book things in the heat of the moment. I won’t even deny that seeing Jericho win at Mania would be a feel good moment. I think I’d love it – as a kid I could take or leave Steve Austin, but I was fucking there if Jericho was on the TV. Trouble is, if WWE want to make money in the future they need to put younger guys on the map. Jericho putting over Owens tells casual wrestling tourists they need to pay attention to something new.
When you’re forced to sell a show on nostalgia, showing people why they should care about what’s new shouldn’t be a choice. It should be a necessity.
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