There are several reasons why I am excited. First off, I think this is the best the product has been in a long time. Maybe that isn't saying much, but between Raw and SmackDown, it is not hard to find entertainment. I don't watch Raw in its entirety; I read recaps and watch the condensed segments on Youtube. Usually I will try to watch SmackDown unless I'm busy, otherwise I will also watch it on Youtube. Raw is a more hit and miss show, but I have enjoyed the rise of Strowman, how
different Reigns has been than other previous Undertaker opponents (will go into that later), the story of Zayn and how it appears he will be put in a position to be the babyface everyone gets behind this year, the Women's storyline, etc. SmackDown hits it out of the park almost every week. The continuity on this show on a week-to-week basis is amazing. There are rarely, if ever, any plot holes. The Orton/Wyatt storyline has dipped a little bit in the past couple of weeks but I still respect the effort they have put into it. Quite frankly, it is hard to put a main event story with Wyatt together without some parts that might rub fans the wrong way. It's just his character.
I just don't get some of the complaints about the product. It feels like the WWE gets held to a ridiculous standard that is hard to match. I agree that there were missed opportunities with this show. For example, A.J. Styles deserves better than he has gotten. However, he's still in a high-profile match. The seeds for the match were planted all the way back to the Tuesday after SmackDown. It isn't like he was thrown into a throwaway story, he's probably going to win the match, and he is probably going to go right back into the Championship picture.
I will use NXT as an example of how the WWE gets held to ridiculous standards. NXT, quite frankly, sucks. I'm not a fan of Goldberg/Lesnar as a main event, but you want to know what is crazy? Their storyline has been
far better than Roode/Nakamura. That isn't even a storyline. The amount of effort NXT has put into building that match, from what I have seen, is lousy as hell. And it is what NXT does. They take two big names, put them in a match together, and tell you how big of a match it is without giving you much of a reason to care. And nobody says anything about it. Saturday will come, NXT will have a bunch of solid to great matches, and people will call the show great. If WrestleMania puts on numerous good/great matches, it won't matter. People will still find a way to criticize the build or something like that. It's just a stupid double standard. Personally, I thought NXT San Antonio sucked. I don't know why anyone cared about Roode/Nakamura. It was such a lousy feud. And the fact they are having another match together with even less build is atrocious, but nobody says anything about it.
In comparison, while I disagree with Lesnar/Goldberg being the main event and for a World Championship, I can't blame the WWE for not trying. It's a storyline that makes a lot of sense. If it wasn't for the title, I would honestly be a lot more excited for it.
I'm looking forward to the Raw's Women's match and I don't know why people are hating on it either. It feels like a lot of people are just confused by the storyline for some reason. It makes a lot of sense and concise. I don't see how it has been "messy". Would you mind elaborating on that? It's straightforward. Banks doesn't think she can beat Charlotte on PPV. Charlotte has her number. She's helping Bayley beat Charlotte because Banks wants to challenge Bayley, not Charlotte, for the title. Charlotte has pointed this out several times on television. It is all leading towards a Banks heel turn and her turning on Bayley is going to be an awesome moment as it will be the first time we truly get heel Banks on the main roster. As far as Jax, just because she was added to the match a week ago doesn't mean the inclusion of her is random. She just got out of a storyline with Banks that went a couple of months, including solid matches between the two (I particularly enjoyed their Fast Lane encounter). On top of that, she's attacked Bayley and beaten her. How is her being put into the match make it feel bundled together when she's been involved the entire time and has never been given a Women's title match that she deserved in kayfabe? It's stuff like that which comes across as an unfair criticism or like you haven't really been following along, no offense. Which if you haven't, is fine. Or if you just don't like Jax, that is cool too. However, I just don't see how the storyline has been messy or bundled together. It all makes sense.
I know I'm in the minority, but I'm loving Cena and Bella vs Miz and Maryse. Miz has been an A+ performer for the last year and they had to put him on the show. They have dedicated a lot of time to this feud. The way they started the feud made a lot of sense. It was simple but effective. Cena eliminated The Miz at both Elimination Chamber and in a #1 Contenders battle royal, which led to the Miz coming back to eliminate him. It's classic story-telling. It then led to numerous great segments between the two, but they have made sure to limit the physical interactions to keep suspense and make sure you are looking forward to Cena finally getting his hands on The Miz. People have criticized this feud for what will be a predictable ending, but who cares? WrestleMania has always been full of predictable endings; predictable isn't a bad thing. Plus Cena proposing to Nikki, which seems like it will happen, is a great moment.
Undertaker/Reigns is another simple, old-school storyline that I appreciate. Now this is a feud that really will depend on the direction they take Reigns after WrestleMania. I'm kind of not looking forward to it as much anymore because I doubt it leads to a Reigns heel turn, but I think Reigns has played his role well. Quite frankly though there isn't much you can do with The Undertaker that will be remotely interesting, so this is kind of one of those "shiniest shits" things.
You have the tag team ladder match that will almost certainly be good. It is the only match on the main card that was bundled together, but WrestleMania will always have at least one of those matches. Plus you can still argue it makes sense because it will almost certainly lead to Enzo and Cass winning their first ever titles and love them or hate them, that will be a HUGE moment. The fans are going to go nuts, especially for people who followed them in NXT and saw how close they came there.
Anyway, I don't think it's unfair to call a match thrown together just because WWE have been planning it for a while. If they haven't really bothered to take the time to tell a story leading up to the match, then it comes off as thrown together.
Yes, but it isn't like they have just been planning these matches. They have planted the seeds for almost all of them months back.
A match like Reigns vs Undertaker was teased at Royal Rumble, but the feud since then was just rushed at the last minute and again there's no meat to the story. Which is my biggest problem with all Undertaker feuds - they never have that added dimension.
Every WrestleMania is going to have a couple of matches like that though. It is why I don't understand the criticism. It's near impossible to put 10 matches on a show and have all of them feature 3-4 months builds. Angle/Benoit at WrestleMania 17 is no different than Reigns/Undertaker at WrestleMania 33, and Reigns/Undertaker was teased and built longer than Angle/Benoit was (which wasn't made until the Raw before WrestleMania IIRC).
Few people have been given time to get excited about either of the women's matches
Yeah, this is just not true at all. I don't know why you keep saying it. Banks/Charlotte/Bayley was not thrown together. It was clear this was the direction they were headed the second Banks cost Charlotte the title against Bayley. I don't see how Jax being added (even though she has been involved with them as well) changes that. And I'm pretty sure Charlotte/Banks/Bayley was announced shortly after Fast Lane.
Maybe you just don't care. Which again is fine. But this match didn't come out of nowhere.
I'm not going to get into what's on the main show and what's on the pre-show, because I'm not exactly sure what match is happening where. But there are no meaningful one on one (or two on two) encounters taking place featuring the women's or tag team divisions on either show.
Bayley/Banks/Charlotte/Jax (and once Jax is eliminated, Bayley/Banks/Charlotte) is definitely meaningful. I don't know why it has to be a one-on-one match to be meaningful. On top of that, the tag team titles will be featured in a ladder match and will probably end on a great moment. That is far more meaningful than 80% of the tag team matches that happen at WrestleMania.
And it still seems like a random critique. How many meaningful one on one or two on two encounters happened at WrestleMania 24 that took place featuring women's or tag team divisions? The Playboy Bunny match? Same with WrestleMania 17. Or WrestleMania 19. Or WrestleMania 30. All great WrestleMania's that lack the one on one or two on two meaningful women's/tag matches that you are criticizing WrestleMania 33 for lacking.
But I'm barely even interested in anything else and nothing actually excites me.
Which I 100% understand. I get why people aren't interested. Me defending WrestleMania as much as I have doesn't mean I'm saying it is perfect. There are a lot of things they could have done better. But it feels like you are letting your lack of interest lead to some undue criticism. You saying the WrestleMania is full of a bunch of multi-man matches just wasn't true. I don't agree with you saying a lot of matches were just thrown together. They have clearly put effort into these storylines, even if they don't excite you. To me, a thrown together match is Batista vs Umaga at WrestleMania 24. Hell, Benoit vs Angle at WrestleMania 17. Matches that are happening just because. And I'm only mentioning those because those are 2 WrestleMania's many people consider great. Aries/Neville is no more thrown together than those matches. You just don't care, which is fine. Neville has been built up on Raw as a great heel cruiserweight very well while Aries is going to make his PPV debut as the over babyface looking to strip him of his title. Two great performers in what should be a good 10-12 minute match. I don't consider it thrown together for that reason. It wasn't a match that was made out of nowhere or because they didn't have anything better to do, it was made because it made sense. That isn't thrown together to me. But if you don't care, then that is okay. No problem with that.
I just feel like a lot of criticisms thrown at WWE are kind of double standards. They are much better now than they were 2-3 years ago, yet people are acting like this is the worst WrestleMania build ever. That is just ridiculous to me. The same people (not saying you) are going to call NXT TakeOver some amazing show when in actuality, why the fuck does anyone care about anything happening on that show? Nobody minds that Roode/Nakamura is predictable as hell (but criticize Miz/Maryse vs Cena/Bella for the same reason) and has barely had a build in the 4-5 months the feud has been going on. There is literally no reason to care about Ember Moon. The tag team match is the only exciting thing happening on the show and that is because it will probably be a 5 star match, but I doubt anyone will be calling it a thrown together match just because it features 3 teams.