So, a lot has happened in the world since I last wrote a Wrestling with Mediocrity article two weeks ago. Vince had to shut the doors to RAW, SmackDown and NXT; opting to hold them in the Performance Center. Even more crazy though was the announcement that WrestleMania would also hail from the PC with essential personnel. Then finally when you thought no more damage could be done it was announced that it would be pre-taped amid fears that come April 5th they wouldn’t be allowed to run the show.
In the midst of all this madness it was also announced that WrestleMania this year was “too big” for one night and would be split between Saturday, April 4th and Sunday, April 5th. Obviously the “too big” tagline is a load of old bollocks. Vince decided pretty quickly after one episode of SmackDown that wrestling without fans was a bit shit and realised that a 6+ hour show with no atmosphere would die on it’s arse. So not only is it being split over two nights, but multiple matches will be filmed on location to liven things up a bit.
Now I said WrestleMania was being taped ahead of time. From what has spilled out from the company it seems the tapings were happening Wednesday, 25th and Thursday, 26th of March. So as I write this technically the whole WrestleMania show, including the RAW the night after should be in the can. So far no spoilers have gotten out which is unsurprising given the closed set. Although perhaps a rogue camera man will spill the beans in the coming days.
*Breaking News*
So since I wrote the first three paragraphs it has been announced that Roman Reigns removed himself from the card after seeing Miz backstage showing COVID-19 symptoms. With the main event in tatters rumour has it Vince subbed in everyone’s current least favourite monster among men, Braun Strowman. A lad who yesterday wasn’t even scheduled to be on the show! One can only imagine he was backstage making sure everyone was making an honest living and working super hard for it.
As stated above Reigns main reason for pulling out was reportedly the absolute state of Miz (COVID Miz, not normal Miz) so he was also removed from the card. With he and Morrison unable to defend the tag belts, talk is that the match was switched to Morrison v An Uso in a ladder match. Now that’s bound to be entertaining, but carries a whopper what the fuck factor. Lastly Andrade is also off the show, albeit with an injury (rib) instead of a viral complaint. His replacement is Austin Theory, because why the fuck not 😂 So it’s Theory/Garza v Street Profits. What do you mean you don’t care?!
At this point it’s blatantly obvious WrestleMania shouldn’t have gone ahead. I made the case for it still happening but given the fact that it appears that WWE will not be producing new TV after Mania until fans are safe to attend the shows it should have been postponed. They are clearly dropping like flies in that Performance Center now as well, so Vince better watch himself or a botched WrestleMania could be the least of his concerns.
I don’t want to dwell on this because I love Steve Austin, but my god that Austin segment with him, Saxton and Becky was so cringe worthy it made me embarrassed to be a fan.
I had planned to do some predictions for the show, but given all the changes that have surfaced so far and more that we potentially don’t even know about yet it seems like a fools errand. I will say with Strowman subbing for Reigns I expect Goldberg to retain. I think Wyatt beats Cena, Edge beats Orton, Shayna beats Becky and Lesnar retains against Drew. Had an audience been present I’d have taken Drew, but I think Vince will be be thinking about holding off his coronation. Now whether he loses interest before they eventually get to it, that’s an issue for another day.
I want to end this article with a thought about the future. If WWE do shut down production post Mania and run old clips and matches until fans can return to the show they will have a rare moment in time to reflect on things. Perhaps (probably) nothing will change, but the opportunity is there. I could see them revamping NXT. Dropping any hint of it being developmental and holding a draft with all three brands where they try (at first) to portray them all as equals.
While this would be cool and would almost certainly do big ratings at first, unless there are fundamental changes to the way they book and the lack of continuity things will drop again fast. Vince has had moments in the past where there was a chance to do something new and creative but he chose to dig his heels in. I really hope this isn’t one of those times, but history and the sheer cuntieness of the man makes change highly unlikely. I’ll be back post Mania to sift through the wreckage and try make sense of it all. Until then…
Peace ✌️
-VDZE
Photo Credit: WWE.com