Wrestling is in a boom period. That much is evident. But for this year’s WrestleMania, emanating from Jerryworld in Dallas, Texas, it’s an inflection point on the industry’s future.
I promise I will turn this all into a positive eventually. But to tell the greater story of this year’s WrestleMania, you have to talk about WWE’s failures. Failure is a relative term. The company is profitable, making over $1 billion in revenues in 2021, as crowds started filling arenas. Well, filling might be a strong word. But we know The Fed is going to make money. They are near “too big to fail territory” with the investments that both FOX and NBCUniversal have invested into the company.
That return on investment is not insignificant, obviously. And we knew it was coming before 2018, when All Elite Wrestling debuted. Now, this is a proper WrestleMania preview. But WWE is telling us that this is a new era because they are promoting a top match in which the fan interest centers around waiting to see an AEW star debut in WWE.
For the better part of the last year, one disgruntled WWE wrestler after another was released due to “budget cuts” or let their contract expire because of the appeal offered by WWE’s first real competitor since the 90s. AEW isn’t going anywhere. They are in so many ways the Yin and Yang of the modern wrestling industry. For WWE, the brand is King. WrestleMania is the Super Bowl of Wrestling and will stay that way forever. If you’re in Dallas this weekend, there’s a good chance you’ll run into AEW superstars.
AEW is a part of the wrestling culture now. It’s taken a few stabs at infiltrating pop culture (we’ll get to some of that later too). But as long as Khan keeps delivering like he has been AEW will be loved by its loyal, passionate fanbase (this writer included, who has attended ALL IN and three ALL OUT event’s. Soft flex.) Just this past year, former WWE superstars CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Keith Lee, Swerve Strickland, Jeff Hardy, Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish to name just some of the talent that has moved to AEW in the past year.
Welcome to The Wrestler Empowerment Era.
Ring of Honor, now potentially an AEW property but DEFINITELY a Tony Khan property, is running one of their biggest PPV’s, Supercard of Honor on Friday night in the Dallas area. The card is littered with current AEW and ROH stars and promises of a few surprises.
WrestleMania and WWE are the suns the wrestling industry orbits around. AEW’s success is so much more enjoyable because they are a real, relevant competition that is going to continue to be successful in the long term. David vs. Goliath is a fun story because Goliath is damn near unbeatable.
Basically, between last year’s WrestleMania and this year’s we learned something really important. Superkick Parties can thrive in Suplex City.
Vince McMahon has always done his best work with his back against the wall. And has been able to pull off compelling WrestleMania’s sans great weekly TV builds.
As I mentioned earlier, this context is important because WWE does some of its best storytelling implicitly rather than explicitly. As a fan of entertainment, that can be REALLY frustrating. But sometimes, your own understanding of the story is wayyyyyy better than anything that WWE would’ve realistically booked in the first place.
Seth Rollins’ WrestleMania Moment
The Seth Rollins storyline is perhaps the biggest test and most ambitious use of this storytelling technique that WWE annoyingly leans on way too much.
Most of the WrestleMania card has been set for a while, but up until this Monday, Seth Rollins was without a dance partner. This is the biggest example of that “implicit WWE storytelling” we’ve been talking about. WWE in the modern age has approached the internet wrestling community really the best way to handle a rabid, seemingly never happy enough fanbase. Fuck with them.
Rollins fought his former tag team partner, Kevin Owens. He failed to steal Owens’ spot in the main event of WrestleMania. (We’ll get to this later). Next week he tried the same tactic with AJ Styles to fight his arch-nemesis Edge. To no avail. Vinnie Mac to the rescue.
Rollins will have a dance partner. Who is it? The IWC is afraid that WWE is truly trolling and Shane O Mac or Elias will walk out onto the WrestleMania ramp to a chorus of boos and Cody (not Colby, Becky) chants. Yes, Cody Rhodes has been rumored to appear in The Fed since his surprising departure AEW.
In 2016, Rhodes left WWE. Shortly after the passing of his father, wrestling legend Dusty Rhodes, Cody decided he needed to move on to different pastures to build up his value in the wrestling world. He was always known as Dusty’s kid.
Unlike his potential Mania counterpart, Rhodes started his career in WWE’s developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling (now known as NXT. well, NXT 2.0). He debuted in WWE at 21. He worked with legendary Randy Orton in his first few years and was anointed one of the chosen ones. Until he wasn’t. He never held one of the main singles titles, going through various character changes, including wrestling folk hero Stardust, before departing The Fed.
You see, Rhodes never got to experience the indie wrestling scene properly. And indie stars began to flock to NXT during the promotions boom period featuring stars such as Owens, Sami Zayn, Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura, Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa and soon, the Undisputed Era. Rhodes saw his value in ENTERING the indie scene and becoming a worldwide star. He wanted to start a revolution. Owens put him in contact with his buddies, a little-known tag team you may have heard of, The Young Bucks. He joined Bullet Club and the rest, as they say, is history.
Cody Rhodes is underrated and underappreciated. Seth Rollins is also kinda underrated and underappreciated. Their paths have been star-crossed for a long time. WWE has a chance to tell a really special story if they let these two talented wrestlers tell it properly.
Rollins is almost the antithesis to Rhodes. Rollins started out in the newest Tony Khan property, Ring of Honor and quickly became a champion.
If CM Punk and Bryan Danielson opened the door for indie wrestlers like Rollins (known as Tyler Black in ROH) wedged it wide open for fellow indie stars to come in and not only succeed but thrive. He was Dusty Rhodes’ handpicked first champion of NXT.
He debuted with The Shield and partnered with two of the biggest current stars in the business. Rollins has one of the greatest WrestleMania moments in history.
Cody should’ve been the chosen one and Rollins had no wrestling lineage. Instead it’s not the Prince that was Promised, but the revolutionary who took over. Rhodes is the Prince that was Promised, but did not like how the hierarchy of his kingdom looked. So he created his own. Now, Rhodes (allegedly) returns home, a revolutionary of his own, aiming his sights at The Fed’s resident revolutionary.
The Shield and the Rhodes brothers had been at odds for a long time. Cody Rhodes/Stardust and Goldust were a thorn in the side of The Shield. But let’s be honest, everyone was getting fed to Dean Ambrose (Jon Moxley), Rollins and Roman Reigns.
The Rhodes brothers helped the Shield deliver some of their best performances. But you could tell in real-time that The Fed was ready to strap their rockets to the trio. Reigns had the unpolished potential. Moxley’s charisma oozed on screen as the “leader”.
The Shield never REALLY had a leader, but Mox was the best on the mic in the group at the time. And he was the only member to hold a singles title while they were together.
Rollins was just the best overall. He’s grown as a personality, doing his best character work ever on his current run. He was always the best in the ring. He is the main event player anywhere in the world, and not as the chosen one like Roman Reigns or with the undeniable charisma of Moxley. He’s earned it.
Rhodes is underappreciated but can work a 5-star match in the right setting. His time away from WWE has allowed him to grow into himself as a performer. The crowd began to turn on him at the end of his AEW run. But we started to see a more delusional Cody, refusing to believe the fans would turn against him. Rollins is delusional….he’s just delusional. But feels this is built for HIS moment. Surely, seeing Rhodes exit the tunnel, knowing their shared history, will make Rollins feel some type of way.
While you could make an argument that Reigns-Lesnar, The KO Show with Stone Cold Steve Austin, AJ Styles-Edge (which is kind of just a version of this match with wrestlers in their 40’s instead of 30’s) Bianca-Becky and Charlotte-Ronda are all bigger matches, there may not be a match with more implications to the greater wrestling universe than Cody Rhodes-Seth Rollins. With Rhodes likely returning to WWE for the first time since May 2016 and debuting at THE MOST STUPENDOUS WRESTLEMANIA OF ALL TIME. (Vince told me I had to write that in all caps at least once).
The WrestleMania 31 errr 38 Main Event
Now, the rest of the card. And we have to start with the main event. A match that is truly 7 years in the making, as the aforementioned Rollins cash-in spoiled the first iteration of this WrestleMania event, after 20 minutes of hard-hitting action Rollins entered the match and pulled off the heist of the century. At WrestleMania 34, before Reigns had to miss extended time with a cancer diagnosis, Lesnar defeated Reigns for the Universal Title.
This time is so, so much different.
Paul Heyman is the mastermind behind this entire program and the last 7 years of the Suplex City era. Suplex City was invented during their Mania 31 match. The first time Brock ever uttered it. Watching it back is insane, as you know you’re literally witnessing a historic wrestling moment in real-time. Now, Heyman is aligned with The Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns. Over the last two years and during his historic WWE Universal Title reign, Roman has established himself and is doing easily the best character work of his career.
An over-powering heel, with the help of his Wiseman Heyman who is basically the wrestling Midas, and one of the greatest tag teams of all-time and lucky for Reigns, loyal family members The Usos, has ran carried WWE and besides Rollins has been the most consistent and excellent segment of WWE programming. That is, until Brock Lesnar showed up at SummerSlam.
The swerve was SUPPOSED to be that Paul Heyman, that deviant mastermind, was too afraid of Lesnar and when his loyalties were tested, invited Lesnar to try and stop the Tribal Chief’s reign. Until he didn’t. And then felt such great remorse and love for his tribal chief, that he has re-aligned himself with Reigns as the Bloodline is in full force heading into Sunday.
Lesnar won the WWE Title in the Elimination Chamber and looks to be having the most fun he’s ever had in his career. He’s being himself. A corny, ass-kicking cowboy who loves to poke fun at this opponent because no one can match him physically. Except for maybe Reigns? Since WrestleMania 31, WWE has told us that Reigns is their new Superman and Lesnar is his kryptonite. It’s a true meeting of unstoppable force vs. immovable object in a winner takes all match AKA THE GREATEST WRESTLEMANIA MATCH OF ALL TIME.
Since WrestleMania 31, Brock has run over all competition with the exception of a WrestleMania loss to the other foil in this story, Seth Rollins. You see we started this article with Rollins because you can’t tell the story of the main event without Rollins. If Lesnar disposes of Reigns at Mania 31, maybe he never has the drive to not only return to the mountaintop but the motivation to go on a run like he has and truly become “The Tribal Chief”. Lesnar might have been champion for 3 years himself if it wasn’t for the Rollins cash-in. There were no REAL credible challengers to Lesnar for years, as every time he showed up on WWE television we expected an underwhelming title run.
This brings us to this year, where both men are in the midst of arguably their most enjoyable title runs. Only one man will leave a champion.
Women Championship Matches Highlight Night One
Last year, Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks delivered a bona fide classic on Night 1 of WrestleMania, main eventing the show (the first women’s singles match to do so in history) and burning the damn house down. Belair won, and moved forward until SummerSlam as a typical babyface champion, still finding her footing but with an indelible connection to the audience.
Our story brings us back to SummerSlam. A returning Becky Lynch interrupts a starstruck Belair, delivers one (1) rock bottom and becomes Raw Women’s Champion just as fast as she returned. Belair has waited for redemption and will get her chance on Saturday night. This match won’t be the main event (it should be, we’ll get to the main event shortly) but I think it will steal the weekend.
Dragon-Steamboat Honorary Match Possibilities
- Lynch-Belair
- Edge-Styles
- Cody-Rollins (if it happens)
- Fatal 4-way Women’s Tag Championship
- Omos-Lashley (kidding)
The build has been “underwhelming” to some, but I think the IWC claims some WWE stories are underwhelming when really they’re just the obvious story. Belair won the Elimination Chamber and is challenging for the title she lost, against Lynch who has carried the Women’s division for the last 3 years and is the biggest women’s star in wrestling.
And they’re probably the two best workers in the company not named Sasha Banks.
What more could you ask for?
On the Smackdown side, Ronda Rousey won the Royal Rumble and swerved most wrestling fans, selecting Charlotte and the Smackdown Women’s Title.
Wait, FOX just called. Oh okay, gotcha, yeah.
FOX wanted Ronda.
Honestly, this has been a lackluster build to what will likely be an incredible match. Flair and Rousey are incredibly talented wrestlers, but Rousey has looked uncomfortable on the mic and with her presence in her return to WWE. Charlotte has been her normal self, which is continued excellence that the IWC either worships or detests. There’s not much of a gray area when it comes to Charlotte, but what you can’t doubt is her wrestling ability. This could be a classic as well.
Owens and Zayn have been destined to do this forever
We would be hard-pressed to mention Ring of Honor, Tyler Black, CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe, Cody Rhodes, Adam Cole and The Young Bucks in this article without mentioning the names Kevin Steen and El Generico.
Known in WWE as Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, Generico and Steen are among the most successful “Indie Wrestler Turned WWE Superstar” stories in all of wrestling history. And as we wrap this long, long love letter, manifesting an exciting WrestleMania, it only makes sense that we intertwine the stories of Zayn and Owens. That’s because that’s how WWE has told us they want these two to be remembered.
Owens has reached greater “heights” when it comes to WWE accolades over his career. But Sami Zayn has made it clear that you can find value in your work regardless of contending for the main title. Both carry important positions for the company going into this crucial event.
Kevin Owens will main event Night 1 of WrestleMania hosting the KO Show with Stone Cold Steve Austin as his guest. There are no indications of what the show will end up entailing, but most assume we will end up with some sort of match even if it’s a short sprint around the arena. Why else would they main event an entire night with this match/interview/ass-kicking?
Well, this is WWE after all. Just the glass shattering and Stone Cold delivering a stunner might be main event worthy it in Vince’s mind. And maybe it would be enough considering we’re going to consume 372 hours of wrestling this weekend.
But like I said earlier, Vince does his best work with his back against the wall. And there’s reason to believe Stone Cold wants a WrestleMania moment.
Owens is the man for the job. Not only has he adopted the stunner and the moniker of the modern-day Stone Cold, but he also has truly never missed in WWE. He is arguably their most consistent performer and you can see the trust Vince gave him in running this program because Owens has built the heat pretty much on his own. And it’s working.
So hopefully, we get a match. And maybe it’ll even be a good one because Stone Cold and Kevin Owens are wrestling geniuses. Bar none.
Sami Zayn is trusted in a staple of WrestleMania, the celebrity match. But this is not a normal celebrity, this is Johnny Knoxville of Jackass fame. A man who has taken his fair share of bumps to say the least.
Zayn is one of the most entertaining wrestlers on the roster and is the perfect match for Knoxville. Zayn can get a 4-star match out of a broom and these two are incredible storytellers who are going to embrace the chaos of the moment. Expect Sami to go through a lot of tables. Maybe tables on fire. Maybe with barbed wire attached. I don’t know man, it’s Jackass at WrestleMania something wild is gonna happen right? And remember Sami Zayn did this before.
So yeah, this is gonna rule. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens deserve it.
—
This WrestleMania weekend feels like a significant moment. I could write forever about this card, which would be one of the most stacked one-night cards ironically enough now that they are running two different shows. Still, both nights should provide a lot of moments that will satisfy all kinds of wrestling fans.
Edge and AJ Styles could’ve headlined WrestleMania 10-15 years ago, but they’ll have to settle for probably stealing the show and being a 5ish star match. Lashley and Omos slapping meat in a big meaty man meat match. The women’s tag title match is full of superstars and will be a great showcase of the talented women on this roster. Plus chaos. The New Day against Sheamus and anyone never misses. Rick Boogs mania entrance?!? The Usos again as champions!?!? RKBro smoking a doobie in the ring together?! Drew Mcintyre ushering in the debut of Sad Corbin. THE MYSTERIOS HITTING FROG SPLASHES ON LOGAN PAUL AND THE MIZ. Pat McAfee the wrassler taking on the human create a wrestler Austin Theory, with Vince potentially involved?
It’s going to be a great weekend and a great showcase for the business. We’re in the free agency era and the wrestler empowerment era. The wrestling industry is on the verge of NBA-level free agency drama and WWE and WrestleMania will benefit greatly from the chaos in their company and across the industry, as I write this during Ring of Honor’s first show in the Tony Khan era.
As we move into this new era, this weekend feels like a snapshot of the last era of wrestling which we haven’t found a good name for. The NXT era? The Elite era? The Shield era? The Daniel Bryan era? There are a lot of snapshot moments along the way. I think it starts with Bryan winning at 30, then getting injured, ushering in the breakup of The Shield which remains one of the most significant wrestling moments in history.
And that coincides with NXT’s rise as Triple H’s vision becomes realized and he starts to attract the best talent from around the world to wrestle under the umbrella of WWE, but let’s be honest the best part about the gold era NXT is that it never felt like a WWE product at its best.
Ring of Honor is a part of WWE’s history as much as NXT is. And WWE isn’t afraid to admit that, just not explicitly and in ways that would satisfy fans. But Owens and Zayn’s relationship is shared by ROH and WWE canon. Just like the Undisputed Era/Elite’s is as well as superstars such as CM Punk and Bryan Danielson. At points throughout their stint with WWE, their time in ROH was used as a part of a main event story. That matters, even if it isn’t in any official manner.
A thriving wrestling business is good for all parties. WWE will benefit from a thriving AEW/ROH and vice versa. Talent will always switch companies and jump ship. That just means there are more opportunities out there for more wrestlers, more money and hopefully, the power to live with a better work-life balance.
For wrestling fans, keep creating special moments that can resonate enough to write this long ass essay about a really fun era of wrestling.
I was in person for a few snapshot moments that help tell the story of at least Cody and Rollins’ road to tomorrow night. The 10 bell salute after the passing of Dusty Rhodes. ALL IN, Cody’s masterpiece. Rollins vs Ambrose/Moxley in a ladder match for the WWE title at Money in the Bank, in the rivalry that defined this era alongside Owens-Zayn and Reigns-Lesnar. I’m lucky. And that’s what inspired me to write this love letter to wrestling. It gave me so many wonderful moments through good times and bad. This weekend feels like we are moving into new, exciting territory.
Y’all ready for a stupendous weekend or what?
Your Friend,
Jake
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