Wrestlemania 21: So What?

[Anybody Thrilla]

I was talking to a buddy of mine after Raw yesterday, and we were discussing possible main events for Wrestlemania 21....and really, none of them really seemed like big money maker matches. Alomst any matches from the Raw side for the World title, we've seen before. Anything on SmackDOWN! will probably involve JBL, so that automatically makes me not care about it.

Anyway, my buddy made a comment about Wrestlemania 21 being basically a "throwaway Wrestlemania", in terms of the lack of promotion they've been putting into it (as compared to Wrestlemania XX), and that kind of made me sad. Do you guys think there's any possible way for this Wrestlemania to even be close in terms of quality and build as the last Wrestlemania?

Now, I understand that Wrestlemania XX in and of itself is a great marketing tool. 20 is a number people care about, in terms of years. 21, however, not so much. But still, Wrestlemania XIX wasn't a big number, but it still was a great show.

I don't really know where I'm going with this, but discuss.

[The One]

Give it some time...they always manage to do some decent promoting (Except for XV for some reason)...they still have 3 months to build up matches that we care about. Remember, the best WrestleMania matches are usually not the main events/World Title matches.

[Loose Cannon]

It's not even Rumble yet. Hold your horses

[SuperSlim]

yeah in due time we will all know

[Anybody Thrilla]

But looks at what they have to work with, is what I'm saying...

Triple H v. Randy Orton? Blah.

Triple H v. Batisita? A little more interesting, but still, I dunno.

Triple H v. Anybody is kinda like zzzzzzzzzz....

Same goes for JBL. I just don't see any potential blockbusters.

[Loose Cannon]

Rock, Foley, Hogan, Brock, etc.... might all be there

[Anybody Thrilla]

Phuck Hogan.

And do people still care about Brock?

Foley's all right, I guess.

The Rock would be the only person to generate any excitement from me.

[The One]

I am really holding out hope I don't see Brock and ESPECIALLY Hogan at Maina...it would be nice to just go completly Hogan free..... :)

[Anybody Thrilla]

I mean, I hope I'm wrong and it's just an amazing card, but I really just don't think they have the tools for it.

[Shadow]

Doesn't seem to me like they're doing anything different with promoting Mainia this year from any previous years. So I wouldn't worry about it.

[The Naitch]

The Cock vs The Rock

:y: :y:

[Mr. Nerfect]

Triple H vs. Batista vs. Randy Orton? Maybe they could add Chris Benoit in there somewhere.

[tucsonspeed6]

Now, I understand that Wrestlemania XX in and of itself is a great marketing tool. 20 is a number people care about, in terms of years. 21, however, not so much. But still, Wrestlemania XIX wasn't a big number, but it still was a great show.


Well......there is the fact that now Wrestlemania can legally drink. Oh, and remember Wrestlemania XVIII, when it had to register for the draft? Good times.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Well......there is the fact that now Wrestlemania can legally drink. Oh, and remember Wrestlemania XVIII, when it had to register for the draft? Good times.

:lol:

[MVP]

I'd love to see Foley vs. Flair.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I'd love to see Foley vs. Flair.

Oh yeah. Great match right there. But it shouldn't be for the World Heavyweight Championship.

[Loose Cannon]

Oh yeah. Great match right there. But it shouldn't be for the World Heavyweight Championship.

who said it should be for the World Championship?

And Foley doesn't really want to do it. Could be a big work though.

[Mr. Nerfect]

who said it should be for the World Championship?

And Foley doesn't really want to do it. Could be a big work though.

No one, but the original basis of the thread was to discuss the title scenes heading into Mania. Foley vs. Flair is a main event calibur match, and we would all (probably) like to see it.

I think Foley would do it if they asked him to. Any chance to prove he's just as good as Flair. If he doesn't, though, it'd probably be because he's afraid of hurting Flair. :-\

[Loose Cannon]

They did ask him already though and he said he wouldn't do it. Ric actually is ok with it I've read.

[The CyNick]

Ive been saying for months that I think this Mania will tank, and nothing has happened to change that thought process.

They seem to have two hot challengers in Batista and Cena, but I dont think either guy can sell a major PPV like Wrestlemania.

In terms of the promotion, you cant really compare it to last. The reason is that last year, they literally promoted the show for an entire year. You cant do that every year. You cant tell people "this is the biggest show of all time" every year and expect people to buy into it.

That said, by this time last year, most of the key matches that would sell the show were very obvious. At SurvSer last year they set up both goldberg-Lesnar and Kane-Taker. Angle-Eddie was fairly obvious by this point, and you knew Foley was facing Orton is some fashion. This year, they only really set up Orton-HHH, but thats obviously a dead program.

That means they'll have to rely on shooting some major angles with some outside guys between now and March. But I just dont see something out there that will give them another 800,000 buy show. I think this one is going to be a lot closer to the Seatte show in terms of buys, and in fact, I think its going to be lower than that.

Of course the other problem is that by relying on guys like Foley, Rock, Austin and maybe Hogan, you are hurting the current stars by pushing them aside for the guys who wont be around after Mania. So then they'll come out of Mania in even worse shape because all the "stars" will be gone, and we'll be left with the same crap we have now.

In terms of the quality of the show, thats impossible to predict. They could do 450,000 buys (a terrible number for Mania), but could have six 4 star matches, making it an time great show. But thats not going to put asses int he seats, and like I said, you cant really predict that this far out.

I'm really interested to see what they have planned, because in all my years watching wrestling, Ive never been so unexcited about a Wrestlemania.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Ive been saying for months that I think this Mania will tank, and nothing has happened to change that thought process.

They seem to have two hot challengers in Batista and Cena, but I dont think either guy can sell a major PPV like Wrestlemania.

In terms of the promotion, you cant really compare it to last. The reason is that last year, they literally promoted the show for an entire year. You cant do that every year. You cant tell people "this is the biggest show of all time" every year and expect people to buy into it.

That said, by this time last year, most of the key matches that would sell the show were very obvious. At SurvSer last year they set up both goldberg-Lesnar and Kane-Taker. Angle-Eddie was fairly obvious by this point, and you knew Foley was facing Orton is some fashion. This year, they only really set up Orton-HHH, but thats obviously a dead program.

That means they'll have to rely on shooting some major angles with some outside guys between now and March. But I just dont see something out there that will give them another 800,000 buy show. I think this one is going to be a lot closer to the Seatte show in terms of buys, and in fact, I think its going to be lower than that.

Of course the other problem is that by relying on guys like Foley, Rock, Austin and maybe Hogan, you are hurting the current stars by pushing them aside for the guys who wont be around after Mania. So then they'll come out of Mania in even worse shape because all the "stars" will be gone, and we'll be left with the same crap we have now.

In terms of the quality of the show, thats impossible to predict. They could do 450,000 buys (a terrible number for Mania), but could have six 4 star matches, making it an time great show. But thats not going to put asses int he seats, and like I said, you cant really predict that this far out.

I'm really interested to see what they have planned, because in all my years watching wrestling, Ive never been so unexcited about a Wrestlemania.

I agree with you, Orton vs. Triple H was dead as soon as Orton started playing the generic face. And now they've given it away on television, and PPV, I think they're either going to do something else, or expand on it somehow.

I would honestly go with Triple H vs. Batista, with maybe Orton added in there somewhere. If they started having Batista do appearances, he could draw a few people in. He's a big guy who has a lot of charisma, and although they may not do as well as last year, Batista has a better chance than Orton at drawing right now.

I would also do something like Muhammad Hassan vs. The Rock, or Stone Cold Steve Austin if he can wrestle. Maybe even a Handicap Match, or Hassan could team with Khosrow Daivari.

The thing is, there are so many main event quality matches they can put on the card, you could promote each one to try and draw in fans.

World Heavyweight Championship
Triple H vs. Batista

WWE Championship/WWE United States Championship
John Bradshaw Layfield vs. John Cena

People's Championship
Randy Orton vs. The Rock

Six-Pack Elimination Match
Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho vs. Edge

Grudge Match
Mick Foley vs. Ric Flair

Triple Threat
The Undertaker vs. The Big Show vs. Kane

Grudge Match
Muhammad Hassan vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin

Monster vs. Monster
Heidenreich vs. Gene Snitsky

Ladder Match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
Shelton Benajmin vs. Maven

[Corkscrewed]

Well......there is the fact that now Wrestlemania can legally drink. Oh, and remember Wrestlemania XVIII, when it had to register for the draft? Good times.
I need to spread more rep somehow. :rofl: