Re: WWE Road to WrestleMania starts tonight!
With under 2 weeks to go and looking at the Wrestlemania card... on paper it looks solid. Four main event quality matches, a 30 man battle royal, Shield vs. Kane and NAO is a nice mix of future vs the past, and the first time the Diva's Title will be defended at a WM. I have to say though the build (minus HHH-Bryan and Wyatt-Cena) has been beyond underwhelming. I'm glad I ordered the WWE Network over 6 months as opposed to shelling out $60 just for the PPV itself.
Undertaker vs Lesnar has been booked poorly. We all know Undertaker is going to win, so why are they not making Lesnar look strong going into the match?! These two have only been under the same roof twice and both times Undertaker has gotten the upper hand. The whole storyline is based on beating the streak. Which fine, at this point that's mainly the draw of Undertaker wrestling at Mania. However, these two have a real life out of ring history and past matches from 2003 they could've incorporated into the storyline to make it more meaningful. CM Punk-Taker last year had far better story telling. Although, Paul Bearer's death played a role in that.
Batista and Orton have both been made to look like complete doofuses. Especially Batista. He is so awkward and cringe worthy both on the mic and in the ring. Orton I realllllyyyyy wanted to like as a heel champion, but he has been a complete flop since day one.
The 30 man battle royal is cool in some ways. It has some tradition to Wrestlemania and gets a large number of people involved. The downside is the Raw and Smackdown booking is lazy because of it and guys like Big Show, Mark Henry, Del Rio, Ziggler, Sheamus, Chrisitan, Miz, Big E, Rhodes Bros, etc. are all being underutilized.
The mid card belts are irrelevant and wont be defended it appears. No shock there.
Tag titles look to be defended between The Usos vs. Real Americans vs. RybAxel. Real Americans just appeared to split up and then *poof* they're on solid ground again. I cant remember the last time RybAxel has won a match and 2 weeks before WM are losing to the Los Matadores, yet somehow are involved in a title match over the Rhodes Bros who were the only good thing going for WWE in late 2013?!?! Creative is so hilariously bad sometimes.
As much as I wanted to see a Triple Threat match with The Shield... I'm actually glad they are staying together and getting a babyface run. They are still entertaining to me as a trio and even though the build is rushed and somewhat weak... I think a program against The Authority (Kane & New Age Outlaws) is actually a decent idea. Although one could argue that The Shield deserved something better after a year and a half of dominance then facing some guys from the attitude era.
Sorry for the mostly negative rant, but it's just a little disappointing that the biggest Wrestlemania ever seems to be tossed together so poorly. Thoughts?!