WrestleMania Hype Level

General
#1

Just curious what everyone’s personal hype level is for the upcoming WrestleMania. Judging by a lot of the feedback that’s been read and phone calls to the show, it seems many of you are pretty uninterested in the show. I’m wondering if this is a common thread, or a vocal minority.

Personally I am pretty excited for the event. I think they have done a good job building a few major storylines. Brock/Reigns is the biggest match between both AEW and WWE, for me, with MAYBE the exception of Punk/MJF because that weird babyface promo was just so intriguing. I am also very keen on the Becky/Bianca storyline as I want to see Bianca get her revenge.

Beyond that, they have a bunch of carnival sideshow stuff (Vince, Logan Paul, Johnny Knoxville) that I am at least interested to see what they do. There is a decent chance of a train wreck or two, which is intriguing. Plus whatever Austin does will at the very least be worth watching, and if he has a real match that is must-see TV for me.

Now there is definitely going to be filler. I don’t think anyone is clamouring for Drew/Corbin or whatever they do with the tag divisions. They have done pretty much nothing to get people interested so these are going to be cold matches. But one thing I have noticed with WWE is that, if you completely ignore the week-to-week TV (just tune in for RAR and RASD, of course), you can watch the PPVs and be treated to some really fun matches inside the ring. And considering we are looking at 10+ hours of wrestling over two days, we are going to need some bathroom breaks anyway.

So how is everyone else feeling with WM right around the corner?

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#2

Answering this in a roundabout way: rank of matches upcoming in most hyped for:

  1. MJF Punk
  2. Mox Bryan
  3. Jericho and Eddie
  4. Roman Brock
  5. Thunder Rosa and Baker
  6. Cole and Hangman
  7. Three way tag with possible redDragon and Bucks in it
  8. Becky Bianca

Not Eligible:
Cody showing up on WWE Tv
Stone Cold coming back for a match
Vince bumping at 70+
Claudio to AEW
Forbidden Door stuff

So I’ll let you figure out what has more Hype from MJfrmNJ

Maybe after some of those are off the board after next weekend I’ll have a new hype list

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#3

The last wrestlemania I was hyped for was the one in New Orleans where it was to be AJ Nakamura and ironically Brock and Roman as well. In that case I didn’t care about Brock and Roman but all of the other stuff, including Asuka and Flair and Ronda and Daniel Bryan as well as the undertaker against Cena etc. all made me buy a ticket and sit ringside.

This one is definitely more hyped than the last few years since that one. The one above was a bit of a disappointment because AJ Nakamora wasn’t that good. It’s definitely got more hype I think than anything since that one. Is it enough to make me jump on a plane again and go watch the show? Probably not.

Roman versus Brock is more interesting this time around, and yes if Austin is there that’s huge as well as possibly Cody. The women’s title matches however are not as interesting to me because Asuka versus Charlotte felt really special where as I’ve already seen Ronda versus Charlotte and Ronda has looked downright terrible

Also there isn’t a second man’s title match because of the nature of the main event . I’m not really that interested in seeing Logan Paul or any of the sideshow stuff.

So I would say while it is more hype than anything since that New Orleans wrestlemania, it’s not enough to make me wanna watch it .

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#4

Count me among the folks feeling pretty checked out on WrestleMania. So apologies, McGuire72. You’re getting a longwinded answer from this dude.

I don’t mind celebrity involvement (Bad Bunny was fun on a bun last year) but I rarely enjoy how WWE uses their celebrities. It’s not an impossible feat (Bad Bunny doing crazy Moves™, Pete Rose getting destroyed regularly, Bob Uecker getting throttled) just unlikely based on the bizarre WWE brand lens.

I like Johnny Knoxville and I went to Jackass Forever to see him do the Jackass version of gags n stunts. The WWE version of gags n stunts is from Vince McMahon’s “I saw this on MadTV at the gym with the sound off” level of inspiration and not always a great fit.

Also, the WWE has leaned on a pack of celebrities more recently that aren’t my cup of tea anyway. And that’s okay! Ha ha! But like Logan Paul (suicide forest guy?) and Pat McAfee (punter/Aaron Rodgers’ sympathetic ear) aren’t exactly firing up the ol’ BLOCKBUSTER EVENT circuits in my brain. I’ve seen these guys on WWE a bunch anyway. There’s no novelty to it. Mix in the same folks at the top (including Ronda Rousey) and WrestleMania just feels like a retread to me this year.

Don’t get me wrong, I think there’s going to be lots of entertaining stuff (Bianca vs Becky, Brock vs Roman: Resurrection) plus it’s always a blast to hang out with other wrestledorks and watch WrestleMania together, I just don’t feel the same kind of twitterpated excitement I do at WrestleMania season in other years.

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#5

We really should be hyped for this year as this will be the first “normal” wrestlemania in years. Obviously last year was limited capacity and the year prior was the PC one.

With the rumours about who may be appearing and wrestling, I can see myself getting more and more excited as it gets closer. Right now, not so much but it’s coming.

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#6

I’m kinda uhhh about Mania, with what’s actually announced, I’m a big fan of Reigns but can’t stand Brock, so I hope Roman clobbers him lol. I’m sure Becky/Belair will be great and I’m excited to see it. I don’t care anything about the Mysterios vs Miz/whichever Paul brother, Charlotte/Ronda, and I’m waiting to see who Edges opponent is but he always delivers fir me. So I’m sure I’ll enjoy the match, but we’ll see what else they come up with.

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#7

I feel the hype is pretty high for this mania. If we’re measuring it based on this particular board, then no.

But I can speak anecdotally and say that the rumours of Austin coming back has sparked the interest of many of my friends that haven’t watched wrestling since the 2000’s. To put that in perspective, not a single one cared when Punk came back. Austin speaks to an entire generation of fans.

To the hardcore base though, the interest level at this point seem average. I think Cody’s return will change that though.

Problem is their two biggest matches haven’t been announced yet.

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#8

You can’t use this board as a surrogate for what’s actually happening. If you viewed this board you would think that AEW dynamite was out drawing SmackDown by ratio of 1000 to 1 since the feedback for dynamite is enormous and sometimes the RAW and Smackdown shows don’t have a single person in the thread.

Obviously this site has people that are more hard-core about wrestling and for the hard-core fan I’m sure they’re much more hyped about an AEW show than they are for wrestlemania. However, this doesn’t account for the core WWE fan base as we know that’s probably people that don’t visit wrestling boards.

I know a few WWE fans that I’ve been messaging me about wrestlemania that seemed fairly hyped. I don’t even think they have ever seen a AEW show although they are aware of what it is.

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#9

I live in the DFW area and I can tell you there is no hype locally. I think I’ve seen it mentioned once on the local news that Wrestlemania is in town soon. I haven’t seen any billboards. No blitzing yet by the C tier superstars doing charity stuff. Nobody’s talking about it.

Even the people that know I’m a wrestling fan haven’t bothered asking if I’m going or excited. Nobody outside of the IWC bubble has any idea that Austin will even be there.

And I personally am more excited about AEW coming back to town for Rampage and Battle of the Belts in April. I mostly feel conflicted about Wrestlemania being here but not being able to justify the insane ticket costs for what could be one of the worst cards since WM29.

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#10

The card is definitely more sizzle than steak. Matches with McMahon and Austin in 2022 lol

Also the Ronda appeal is much less because she hasn’t been very impressive so far. Really the only dream match they’re giving you with Roman vs Brock you’ve seen like five times before and three times now wrestlemania.

Becky we’ve already seen versus Bianka as well.

It’s basically going to come down to if you want to see Austin and McMahon I think.

#11

Do I really want 2 nights? No, I don’t. I’ll check out a few of the key matches the next day or two but I won’t be watching live.

#12

As weird as it may sound I think most of the interest will be in the McMahon in Austin matches.

The McMahon egg storyline was the biggest thing they had all year. I have to admit even I was hooked in because it was McMahon and it was a reveal and it was more interesting than watching a regular wrestling match.

#13

I’ll take two nights at 4 hours each over a 9 hour show every single time. This is so much better as I never want to see a show end at 1am.

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#14

Uh oh. If Alex is down on the show, that probably doesn’t bode well. I feel like he’s one of the more vocal defenders of WWE around here.

I can certainly understand a lot of the hesitation. The sideshow stuff doesn’t appeal to the hardcore fans, nor is it designed to. The more I think about it, Logan Paul was a B-tier celebrity last year, and his star as only fallen since then. He’s probably C-tier at best at this point, as the only noteworthy things I remember hearing about are some cryptocurrency/NFT scams he pulled on his fans. So I don’t know how many casuals they are pulling in with this program regardless.

#15

I couldn’t care less about Logan Paul, but I don’t think you can call him a C list celebrity. He and Floyd did over 1mil PPV buys just last year. You can say he shouldn’t be a celebrity and that he doesnt really have much talent, but the guy has a following. He does have 22.3 mil IG followers, a stupid as it may be, that does matter in 2022.

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#16

Ask a 16 year old who Logan Paul is
Ask a 16 year old who Steve Austin is

Calling Logan Paul a B or C list only insinuates Stone Cold is D list. And Roman may not qualify as famous. :joy:

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#17

The core WWE fan base is a 50+ parent with a child or a casual fan who only ever checks in from January to April

The core WWE fan is a casual fan who will probably know only the celebrities or old acts and not understand what a Madcap Moss or a Happy Corbin is. They remember Drew McIntyre as a joke, can’t believe Rey Mysterio is still around, and are growing tired of it being Roman and Brock on every show they tune in for (3-4x a year).

It is correct that if you are on a pro wrestling board WWE is NOT targeting you. They assume you, but don’t try to market to you. You aren’t their target audience.

(Evidence was the 3 ppl i hung out with and watched Chamber with earlier this month OR ratings over lat several years that peak in growth in Q1)

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#18

Non. Existent. So let’s go by the numbers here, shall we?

Lesnar/Reigns III: Nothing about this has made any sense to me. Not how they ripped the title off of Brock just to throw it back on him. Now how they’ve had Roman just run through everyone and not even have Heyman’s departure really mean anything when there was a whole other story that could’ve been told off of his departure that WWE never even bothered with. They made it clear this was where it was going to end up and never really left anything up to the imagination after this was originally put out there after Day One. So this leads to the question folks need to be asking yet likely won’t…

How long will Roman get holding both belts before the WWE finds a reason to put a belt back on Raw, thus nullifying all meaning for this in the first place??? There has only been one other time that this company has gone the Title versus Title route in the main event and that was for WM VI when then IC Champion Ultimate Warrior dethroned Hulk Hogan. Warrior ended up giving up the IC Title. This, will not be THAT. (I don’t think.) I genuinely don’t mind either of these dudes. Roman’s easily on the run of his career and Brock is showing range that I genuinely don’t think anyone believed him capable of. Still, WWE has to figure out what’s after this for Roman cause in all seriousness, someone has to beat him before next year’s Mania.

SD Women’s Title: Rousey/Flair could be really good, even better than their first encounter at 2018’s Survivor Series. On the flip side, this very well could be another Lesnar/Goldberg from WM XX. (Yes, a dual mail in job from both combatants while fans lose it.) The biggest problem here though, is the next month leading into this thing. Neither individual is or can be likable and this is a scenario where Ronda’s the babyface, only she’s not overly big on people especially if they start to sour on her. Charlotte’s not as likely to go at her on social media with the voracity that Becky did a few years earlier, which really accelerated the fan vitriol that went against Ronda which ultimately forced her heel turn heading into Mania. Can Ronda do enough to get fans to care about her returning to the top of the hill? Can Charlotte hold up her end without losing interest at any point?

Raw Women’s Title: Good grief this really needed to be Lynch/Ripley. Bianca lost in 26 seconds to this woman at Summerslam, looked like a total geek in the process. Lost consecutive title matches in short order to Becky, sooooo…why should we care here? I mean, really. When Daniel Bryan got screwed out of the title at Summerslam 9 years ago, the company was super careful in how they went about keeping us invested in his quest back to the title. There really hasn’t been any of that here. So Becky finally cut a promo that somewhat justifies her going heel, but honestly, I’m just tired of the same ole same ole.

Edge/Styles: I sooooooooooooo wish we got this just a few years sooner. This is the kind of thing that I would’ve been amped about for Mania.

McMahon v. McAfee?: Pat was outstanding against Cole last year cause honestly, Pat played a natural foil to Cole which is truly remarkable given how particularly loathsome Cole is in the grand scheme. I’m genuinely not sure how Pat and Vince will come off, especially with the jump off point set to be his show where it’s probably gonna be super campy since Vince is involved. Even if this ends up being Austin Theory in Vince’s place, I need folks to understand how truly desperate this company is to even be in a position where they feel like VINCENT KENNEDY MCMAHON CAN GET BUTTS IN SEATS, PAL!!! So let’s be clear on this if nothing else…

McAfee/Theory & McMahon isn’t McAfee/Cole. McAfee/Cole believe it or not was well crafted over the course of about two years before it went full tilt last year. This is just something that they’re throwing at the wall praying it sticks. Speaking of praying it sticks…

The Miz & Logan Paul versus The Mysterios: Last year at this time, The Miz was just losing the WWE Championship to Bobby Lashley. The Miz is a two time WWE Champion while I don’t think Cesaro got so much as 2 title matches total over the span of his WWE career. (I’m talking WHC/WWE/Universal in its totality.) If I eye rolled any harder at this match, I’d make Taker laugh.

Sami Zayn/Johnny Knoxville: It’s seriously an indictment on how far the IC Title has fallen that this will most likely end up being for the title. Even the ardent disdain I have for Johnny Jackass can’t get me to even want Sami to kick this dude’s head into the nosebleeds of New Texas Stadium.

I don’t know how they fill out the rest of this card, nor do I honestly care. This is a company that has 50/50’d their roster into the nether regions. It honestly doesn’t matter what they do, unless you’re one of their hardcores who truly don’t care, nothing about this card is appealing in any way.

#19

I couldn’t disagree with you more. This re-match as well as Becky’s heel turn were the entire point of the Becky/Bianca match at Summerslam going the way it did.

Story wise, Becky makes her return at SS, only to resort to a cheap shot and screw Bianca out of the title. In their rematch, Becky cheats and is able to best her again. In that time, Bianca has overcome every single challenge that has come her way, only to finally get her big win at Elimination chamber and get the right to prove it to Becky that he is the better wrestler when she beats her at Mania.

Look, Im not going to say I loved the SS angle, I didnt. I’m also not defending the booking, of course there were lots of issues along the way, but its WWE, it is what it is. But, if you dont have Bianca avenge that loss, then she really is a geek. If she is able to be the first person to beat Becky clean in years at Mania, that puts her in a better place then where she was headed into SS. This is the story, unless you just dont believe in Bianca, this was the correct move.

#20

This is the kind of reasoning WWE wants their fans to have to justify their shitty booking.

Bianca still lost those matches, by hook or by crook. Folks keep trying to push this ‘oh, Bianca gets her payback’ as if they forgot that she had two shots after Summerslam and lost both times. So now months later, she gets another one at Mania? It reeks of ‘been there, done that’. So this time around we get Becky trying to cheat, only she fails? Even if the plan at Summerslam was to have Becky go heel, was it really necessary to have Bianca jumping up and down like she was some 10 year old girl about to get a picture with her favorite wrestler? (Are you serious???) That alone has me feeling no real apathy for you, it has me clowning you cause you got geeked.

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