Has the Wrestlemania build up been kinda terrible?
 

I know it's Wrestlemania season, because I am constantly reminded of it by all of the sign-pointing and commentary references. There have been some really good matches spread throughout a few Raws, but as far as hype for the actual matches, I don't really feel any real excitement at all. I know we've talked about most of the outcomes being predictable, but I'd be OK with that if they gave me any real reason to give a fuck.

Maybe I should give it a bit more time, because I did enjoy the Heyman/Brock promo, and Punk/Undertaker seems like it could get pretty good soon...but I dunno. Isn't it only a few weeks away?

Your thoughts, please.

3 weeks away.

I kind of agree though. Beyond the easily telegraphed main events (Rock/Cena, HHH/Brock, Taker/Punk) they haven't done much/anything to build interest in the undercard.

Orton/Sheamus/Show vs. The Shield should be fun, I guess, but Henry/Ryback and Del Rio/Swagger don't grab me.

Think there should have been more focus on setting something meaningful up for the IC/US/Tag champions.

I think back to the Triple H/Randy Orton build. The match was whatever, but the build up was some good TV. Orton DDTing Steph and kissing her while Triple H was handcuffed/etc...Triple H/Batista felt like it definitely was about to be huge...I dunno, I'm just not really getting that feeling from any match this year.

It doesn't help that Brock has very limited dates so it's all left to Heyman to carry his end, I love Heyman but it does take away from the build IMO. Pretty much the same thing with Undertaker/HHH/Rock, all three don't appear that regularly on tv for one reason or another so it comes across as kinda thrown together, all three matches were predicted months ago but for me still seem like really rushed builds.

Same with the other announced matches honestly, I think it should still be a solid card none the less though.

I think The Rock not being there along with them not being certain about The Undertaker up until last week kinda slowed things down. I'm expecting the Lesnar/Triple H stuff to pick up now after they've alternated weeks showing, hopefully Brock has enough of his contracted appearances left to show up every Raw between now and then.

Swagger/Del Rio has been built up pretty well, I think, despite the match coming right out of the blue (in terms of long term booking anyway). This is arguably Del Rio's first real feud that wasn't just "Give me that title" or "I'll feud with you just 'cuz".

The Shield/Ryback was being built up fine but they've seemingly changed direction with that now, probably not wanting to give Ryback another loss and them wanting to keep The Shield unbeaten as well. They've done well shoehorning Orton/Sheamus/Big Show into it though in my opinion.

They've done a bad job chopping and changing things as far as the midcard matches go, with them still not looking like they've settled on anything.

THey really should just pull the plug on Ryback soon

Henry and Ryback is shit. Sheamus/Orton/Ryback would have been much better, and made better sense.

Also, I'm angry that Cesaro likely won't be on the main card. This is what focusing 2/3's of the show on part-timers does. And once Wrestlemania season is over and Rock, Lesnar, Triple H, Undertaker etc go away until Summerslam or whenever they're ready to work again, WWE will be stuck with a loada midcard guys that nobody cares about, and then they'll be left wondering why ratings are down.

You'd think with Rock/Brock not being available every week and HHH/Taker on just reappearing, they've have made more effort to build the undercard, y'know, as they have more time.

3 whole hours

<font color=goldenrod>Regarding the build to the main event matches...the Cena/Rock build has been pretty atrocious. Doesn't help that The Rock is barely around, but it's pretty clear they just figured Rock/Cena sells itself so the build has felt half assed to this point. I've really enjoyed the Punk/Taker and Brock/HHH builds to this point, though. Regarding the undercard - I've actually really enjoyed the Del Rio/Swagger build. I imagine the World Heavyweight Title match will start the show for the 3rd year in a row, and it should be a fun opener. The Shield build has also been really good - they've been built as credible threats and I love what I've seen. I love badass heel Mark Henry, but the Ryback/Henry build has been incredibly meh to this point.

Still 3 weeks to shore up the rest of the undercard - so I'll remain cautiously optimistic. Team Hell No's dissension had to be paused temporarily so that Kane could avenge Paul Bearer, but I imagine it'll be picked back up this week, possibly with a match being set. Jericho will certainly be placed into a feud and there really are a million directions they could go with him. I'm hoping both Barrett and Cesaro find ways onto the card.

Mind, they don't really have to "sell" me on anything. I've already got tickets and I'm going to WM for the first time. They could book whatever the fuck they wanted and I'd probably still be just as pumped.</font>

This year's WrestleMania build-up has been subpar, no doubt.

I'm sure WWE will turn up the voltage as we get closer, but it's been kinda disappointing.

We have Swagger/Del Rio, Triple H/Brock, Punk/Undertaker and Rock/Cena.

I think Swagger and Zeb's schtick seems to be dying off somewhat (which I didn't think would happen), and the WWE Universe doesn't seem to care much for ADR.

Triple H and Brock can get uglier. I hope that's the case, that HIAC match is gonna be brutal.

We saw the Undertaker/Punk angle really get some steam last week and you'd think it's gonna get even better.

Rock/Cena, though, has been much worse than last year. This match is all about Cena getting his revenge. There has been no build-up, practically.

I actually no longer care for the main guys involved With the product. More interested in Barrett, Cesaro, Rhodes Scholars, Ryback, Henry, ADR/Swagger, Truth, Hell No than the 6 guys in the main slots. And those guys have taken no place in Wrestlemania buildup so my interest level is low. Just a wet blanket.

best part of the build to Wrestlemania has been Roman Reigns tossing Sheamus like a dwarf through a table

You might actually be right.

Been like that for the past several years where they focus everything on just 1-2 feuds and then fill up the rest almost at the last moment.

The only feud that's been built up well is the Shield vs Ryback/Super Friends. Everything else has either just started, struggling to build hype, or won't be confirmed until very close to Mania.

Cena vs Rock II is easily the worst main event build in years. The "redemption" storyline basically ignores everything Cena really did last year while both guys have barely confronted each other. Should have just made it a Triple Threat or kept the Rock-Punk feud going till Mania.

Rock-Cena doesn't need much. It's an old school ridiculously long build (as opposed to the new school blow through a feud in 2 months, move on, repeat method) that works because both guys haven't been interacting twice a week on free TV. And one of them doesn't even wrestle on free TV. It's good hype.

ADR/Swagger feels fresh and I'm enjoying it. It doesn't feel like a random "throw it on 'No Way Out'" match. They're being careful with the build and actually seem like they're trying to make it feel like a "WrestleMania match". I like it.

I hated the way Taker-Punk was thrown together through Punk winning a fatal four-way. Seemed like such a huge letdown after the intensity of the last four WM Taker matches. Last week was the goods though. Granted, Paul Bearer's death lead them to do something intriguing but hopefully they can keep it up.

I was against the Brock-HHH rematch because it does nothing for anyone to have a rematch but depending on the stipulation it could end up being a great spectacle. And the build has definitely not lacked. Another match that's been brewing for a long time.

That's four good "WrestleMania feel" matches to me. I always WANT to see them get really detailed and focus on making every little match from top to bottom feel "special" but considering what we're accustomed to, I'll take this.

They've sucked at putting focus on stuff outside the main event for a while now. Not just during WrestleMania season.

I kinda doubt Ryback is gonna be involved in that match come WrestleMania. I think the consensus is he's gonna leave the team to face Henry. So scratch that.

You don't need guys to confront each other very often to build a feud. Do you realize how rare it was to see two guys in the main event of a WrestleMania confront each other back in the day? And it's not like early WrestleMania main events lacked intensity. I'd say they actually had more build because of it. I don't think anyone was going into Hogan-Andre saying "They BARELY interacted on TV! What a shitty build!"

I agree it would have been better if Cena had a shittier year but it's not like the guy was rolling character-wise. He definitely had his ups and downs and failed to win the title even with the MITB contract. The same title Rock came back and won in his first match in 10 months. And considering how huge the match was last year, I think the redemption story works fine.

Yeah Henry seems like the direction the WWE wants for Ryback at Mania. The Shield's feud has been the only big feud that's been given the long slow build to the point they've faced enough guys to allow swapping to occur without hurting it.

The other big feuds either just started or are using past incidents as the jump starts for their Mania matches.

Given how things have gone since, I have no idea why Ryback took the pinfall at Elimination Chamber and not Sheamus. Kinda makes Ryback seem weaker to not be able to beat the Shield, actually get pinned by them and then just avoid them in favor of someone else. Especially after how he left the ring after the match.

They could have transferred that "I need to fucking beat these guys" thing over to Sheamus by having him directly get one-upped by them. I really don't think they know what they wanna do with The Shield more than a month in advance. "Just throw three dudes at them" is getting repetitive.

Most recent Wrestlemanias seem to have had poor builds. I just assume WWE has assumed, rightly or wrongly, that Wrestlemania has basically reached max saturation.

Because honestly, who is going to buy Mania that's really going to be swayed by the card?

I would enjoy it if they called every group of three dudes they throw at The Shield the Superfriends

<font color=goldenrod>I could actually see a scenario where Ryback stays on his team against The Shield, but Henry and Big Show both get thrown into the mix and it winds up being an 8 man tag: Ryback, Sheamus, Show, and Orton vs. Henry and The Shield. Presumably they'd only do this if they realize there are a ton of guys they need to squeeze onto the card and as such decide to merge a few matches. Doing this would also allow Ryback to hit the Shellshock on Henry and get his "WM moment" with nobody on The Shield having to take the fall.

Would rather it not come to that, though. I don't want to see The Shield teaming with anybody else.</font>

There's nothing on the card I'm looking forward to. The marquee matches all sound fine on paper, but it's all so very underwhelming and business as usual. Most of my "favourite" guys aren't even on the card yet or even invested in anything that should be on a Wrestlemania card for that matter.

Forgetting Dolph Ziggler exists for the past couple months was probably a bad idea. There's no concept of momentum with this booking. It makes every "major" win end up meaningless. It looks like they might go with him and Big E going for the tag titles. Not exactly a great follow-up for the Money in the Bank holder who ended his last real feud by beating John Cena in the main event of a PPV.

Also, I fear for Jericho who could easily have been put in a major angle and put another major match on the card. As it stands he'll probably be in an IC Title match in the best case scenario.

I was just thinking the other day: Everyone (including myself) considers WrestleMania X-7 to be this legendary PPV. How good was the build for that, really? Austin vs. Rock were two icons that both wanted to be WWE Champion. Kurt Angle had a rookie year title reign that lasted a little while before he dropped the belt to The Rock on the last PPV stop before Mania. Angle then moved down the card to wrestle another wrestling machine, someone who had just lost a series of Intercontinental Title matches to the very over Chris Jericho, who was now feuding with the Commissioner and spent his time pissing in his tea.

Triple H and Undertaker literally had a match because Triple H had "beaten everyone else" and neither really had anything to do. Kane and Big Show were thrown into a Hardcore Title match with the entertaining Raven act. Test, who had squashed the Intercontinental Title challenger to win the European Championship was defending his title against Eddie Guerrero in a match that was just...there. The Right to Censor battled three faces that were pretty over just because. I'll give the WWE this: Ivory vs. Chyna and Vince vs. Shane both had really epic builds.

WrestleMania will no doubt be an entertaining PPV, but I'm hoping it far surpasses expectations.

Ryback being taken out of the The Shield match means that it's possible The Shield can win without making Ryback look like complete shit for like the fourth time on PPV. They needed to address Ryback's issues with The Shield but move him on to something else without busting Ambrose, Reigns & Rollins' momentum -- this sideways move into the Mark Henry is pretty much perfect for that. Now Ryback can go 1-0 and The Shield can look like a dominant force on PPV (although I can totally see the face team going over).

I do wish Antonio Cesaro would make the card, but he will at the very least be given the pre-show spotlight (probably against Sin Cara). That's being realistic -- in my fantasy world, there are still two possible options for Cesaro to make the main card. The first is that Cesaro defends the US Title in what would probably be used as a buffer match between bigger matches. A "cool-down" spot on the card. Cesaro could make an open challenge on RAW or SmackDown and declare that he will face any American for the US Title at WrestleMania. This mystery spot can create speculation for the match and might even get a bit of a buzz going in the mid-card for WrestleMania.

Rob Van Dam would be my personal pick for this spot. RVD would still be pretty over and recogniseable to the WrestleMania crowd, and he's currently a free agent. Yes, RVD is probably in talks with TNA about returning and their schedule would seem to suit him more -- but a WrestleMania pay-day can be kind of alluring, and I'm sure the WWE could convince RVD to sign a short-term deal -- even if he only works WrestleMania, a couple of RAWs and then drops the US Title back to Cesaro at Extreme Rules. If you can't get RVD, Christian returning (despite being Canadian) and kick-starting a feud with Cesaro could be pretty fun.

Alternatively, since WrestleMania is a pretty big stage and Big E. Langston hasn't even wrestled an official match in the WWE yet -- it doesn't really seem practical or logical to give him a Tag Team Title shot at WrestleMania. He'll no doubt be involved, but maybe they can have Dolph Ziggler announce he is going after the Tag Team Championship and Antonio Cesaro can be his tag team partner? This can be used to create a bit of fan empathy for Big E., who Dolph brushes over in favour of the US Champion, but it also allows Langston to have the crucial role as the heavy for Ziggler & Cesaro in the match.

There is no evidential basis for any of this happening, but I have faith that Cesaro has impressed enough people to at least earn a filler spot on the Mania card.

Oh, and the WWE is building their main matches at the moment. The mid-card talent are being used to put over the main event wrestlers. As the main event matches are solidified heading into the event, there will likely be more promo work between those guys, leaving the mid-card guys that have been used to put them over (Cesaro, Rhodes & Sandow come to mind) to take their spots.

i am sure tna had a 90 day no going to wwe in rvd's contract, but then again how they screwed up roodes contract who knowes.

It could've been better. Winning a match to face the Undertaker was just silly, although they did (unfortunately) get a saving grace in the form of Paul Bearer's death. Now that insta-feud has substance.

Rock/Cena II got another year-long build to the match going, with Cena's shot at redemption, both with winning the WWE title and defeating The Rock.

I'm liking the Del Rio/Swagger feud. Can't wait to see the crowd's reaction to it (do the Americans boo the American in favor of the Mexican???? OOOOOOOOHHHH!!!!)

All Dolph has to do to have a match at WM is cash in the case.

Christian hasn't been a part of it, so yes.

The guy who thought up the "Taker match" was fired. Thank God.

So far I haven't been feeling the Road to WrestleMania build except for Punk/Taker and Brock/HHH.

I'd like for some of the under-card to get fleshed out on Raw and Smackdown this week. Maybe NAO Vs. Road Scholars from Raw last week can get into Mania or add Team Hell No to make it a Three Way for the tag titles.

... What match?

The 4-way between Punk, Sheamus, Orton and Show to decide who would face UT

I assume he meant the 4-way from Raw a couple weeks ago.

When I started viewing this thread, that Crazy Edgar post was not there. But yes.

Was it stupid when HBK won a match to face The Undertaker at WrestleMania 25?

Yeah, kinda.