THROUGH THE SANDS – A WRESTLING BLOG
HELL
As I write this week’s blog, we sit 12 days from Wrestlemania 32 in Dallas. Next week, I’m gonna write my thoughts on not only Wrestlemania, but the show on Friday as well, NXT Takeover: Dallas. But until then, I’m going to talk about a match that has seemingly lost any steam since it was announced.
When Shane McMahon returned unexpectedly last month, people lost their minds and marked out for Shane way more than the supposed Golden Child Roman Reigns (See last weeks blog for my thoughts on Reigns). Shane returned to interrupt his sister Stephanie getting the new Vincent J McMahon award for excellence. Shane said he wanted control of Raw and alluded to some sort of dirty laundry that he’s holding over Vince which allowed him to keep some stake in the company even though he left in 2009 to pursue his own path. Vince setup a match then for Wrestlemania where If Shane wins, he gets to take over Raw, which he believes will mean a take over of the company. I have my own theory which I’ll get to after Mania in 2 weeks. That match though is against The Undertaker……inside Hell In A Cell.
As the weeks went by, the shock value of Shane returning wore off and fans started questioning why Undertaker would side with Vince and the dark side (pun intended). While Vince has come out in various promos stating that Taker is basically “his bitch”, there hasn’t been much reasoning behind this obviously thrown together at the last minute storyline. Shane hasnt offered any reasoning for picking now to come back to take over the company, nor has the mysterious lockbox been mentioned since his return promo.
Last week I said that Reigns/Triple H cannot go on last in Dallas with the outcome that’s expected (Reigns winning his 3rd WWE Title) if they want the feel good moment to go home happy to. When the match was announced, the obvious go to for the main event would be the match that decides the company’s fate. But as we get closer to the event, it doesn’t seem like it’s a viable option. If Reigns/Triple H goes on last, maybe the fans tuning out and leaving early (or worse having no reaction) will finally be the wake up call Vince needs to pull the plug on the failed Reigns program. More than likely though, Vince will blame the undercard/Shane vs Taker/Dolph Ziggler/The announcers/The fans themselves/Dolph Ziggler/Literally anyone else besides Roman/Dolph Ziggler for the failure that the Reigns Program has become and continues to fail harder somehow.
The WWE is between a rock and a hard place right now. The card has taken form for the most part and on paper isn’t exactly screaming top 5…hell even top 10. Yes, Wrestlemania will draw a near sell-out (Latest report is 85,000 printed tickets). Yes, with the network people will watch it regardless of how bad it is (They only measure how many people watched, not when they turn it off). Yes, the WWE has us fans by the grapefruits (Its not comfy), but the tides are starting to turn. Ratings have been at near all time lows the last few months. The ratings spike that normally happens between January and April isn’t there. The general “Wrestlemania feeling” that’s usually in the air with fans just isn’t. Even Vince announcing that if Taker loses to Shane, this would be his last Wrestlemania isn’t going to make the difference that I’m sure in his mind he thinks it will. They need a drastic change going into or at the event, or else the forseeable future with be hell without the cell for the main roster. With major independant stars coming in (Shinske Nakamura, Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Austin Aries, possibly soon the recently released from TNA Bobby Roode and Eric Youg), and the ease of access thanks to the internet of watching those that have worked their asses off to get into the WWE, the uber-pushing era is over.
Let me know what you think. What do you think the main event of Wrestlemania 32 should be? How would you book the 2 big matches (Taker/Shane and Roman/HHH)? What is drawing you to watch this year? Let me know on my twitter @DaveBuzzKGRG.
