Wrestlemania 36 - One for the casual fans
March 11, 2020
I’ve been trying to pinpoint the moment that Wrestlemania became more for the casual fans than those who tune in week in week out throughout the year. I say this as Bill Goldberg walks into Wrestlemania 36 as Universal Champion, despite not being around for the last twelve months.
Recently on Smackdown, John Cena returned with a great spiel about how Wrestlemania spots should be earned. Cena said he wouldn’t be performing this year, until Bray Wyatt came out and challenged Cena to a match without saying a word. The same Bray Wyatt that lost to Goldberg in Saudi Arabia last month. The same Bray Wyatt (kind of) that lost to John Cena at Wrestlemania 30.
Ah, Wrestlemania 30. You remember that one, right? The one that saw Brock Lesnar end The Undertaker’s streak. More importantly, the one that saw Daniel Bryan win the World Title in a culmination of a storyline that developed over months. Six years later, there is still conjecture over whether the WWE was forced into the storyline, or whether it was their plan all along. Still, Wrestlemania finishing with an arena full of people chanting “Yes!” was a breathtaking moment.
A couple of years before that, CM Punk delivered his famous worked shoot promo about Wrestlemania having The Rock V John Cena as it’s main event. So I guess 2012 is the answer to my question. In 2011, Edge beat Alberto Del Rio, and The Miz beat John Cena in the main championship matches. Back in 2011, not one of those four was a household name outside of wrestling fandom.
In the near decade since, we’ve seen John Cena drift in and out of the ring as he pursues a film career. The Rock comes back occasionally. The Undertaker has his match almost every year, as does Triple H. Brock Lesnar has won the title and been off television for months at a time. Now it’s Goldberg’s turn.
Now, not for a second do I begrudge any of the above earning a pay cheque. They have all sacrificed their bodies for entertainment over the years.
Yet, on message boards throughout the crazy world of professional wrestling, there is a bitterness that fan favourites are left off the main card, or shoehorned into gimmick battle royal matches, just to get the casual fans to tune in for their one time of the year. Wrestlemania sells itself. It’s like the Melbourne Cup. It doesn’t really matter who is on the card.
There will soon come a time when Goldberg, The Undertaker, The Rock, Triple H, John Cena etc will no longer be able to compete. For the WWE and Wrestlemania to keep its place as the Greatest Show on Earth, they will need new stars to fill those part time roles towards the end of their careers. Wrestlers such as Seth Rollins, Becky Lynch, Roman Reigns, Charlotte Flair, Drew McIntyre, and yes, Bray Wyatt. I bet I could ask fifty people in the street who any of these people are, and forty would look at me blankly.
Still, Vince McMahon has been doing this for a long time. And he is a billionaire, and I’m not.
I just really don’t want to watch Goldberg V Roman Reigns get booed out of the building in Tampa in a month’s time.
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