5 things WWE should have done differently in 2021
2021 was a memorable year for the wrestling community. Whether it was Roman Reigns entertaining the WWE audience as the Tribal Chief or CM Punk making his highly-anticipated AEW debut, fans had lots of moments to cherish this year.
WWE, in particular, got a lot better with the return of the live crowds. The presence of an actual audience allowed WWE to bring back top stars, build up cohesive storylines, and entertain the fans with some epic dream matches. However, not everything went right for the company this year.
This year, Vince McMahon made some questionable decisions that affected the quality of the product. While these decisions weren't entirely bad, the way they were executed was a bit underwhelming. WWE could have definitely done a better job in some of their booking strategies.
In this article, let's take a look at five things that WWE could have done differently in 2021.
#5. The second half of the Roman Reigns vs. John Cena feud was underwhelming.
Photos of @JohnCena from WWE Gallery - Roman Reigns vs John Cena — Universal Championship match: photos #SummerSlam wwe.com/shows/summersl… https://t.co/Y7MYiATGZk
John Cena's return at Money in the Bank was probably the biggest WWE moment of the year. The timing, the atmosphere, and the execution, everything about Cena's return was perfect.
Just when Roman Reigns thought he had run out of all the credible threats, he was confronted by a ghost from his past. The Cenation Leader entered the Dickies Arena with a bang, made his trademark babyface entrance, and came face-to-face with the biggest heel in the industry.
The weeks that followed saw Cena doing some of his best mic work in years. The tension between the two men was at an all-time high, as Reigns kept denying Cena his Universal title match. However, the 16-time World Champion outsmarted the Tribal Chief to get himself into the main-event of SummerSlam.
But this was where things began to go wrong. After a solid promo battle, Reigns and Cena met again a week before the pay-per-view. Their last segment before SummerSlam was probably the most disappointing part of their feud. It was written to recap the whole storyline but ended up being a forced attempt at recreating the magic of their previous promo war.
@WWERomanReigns ain’t leaving WWE twitter.com/WWE/status/142…
Things got even worse when Roman Reigns announced that he would leave WWE if Cena manages to pin him at SummerSlam. This one booking decision took away the unpredictability of the match. No one bought the whole "Roman Reigns is leaving" thing, making the eventual title bout a lot less interesting.
#4. WWE should have kept booking Cesaro.
I will just say this. @WWECesaro deserves the push and should have had the opportunity a long time ago. I'm always in the Cesaro Section. I love that guy!! https://t.co/ELkApSd63i
2021 started with a bang for Cesaro. After being underutilized for years, it seemed like WWE was ready to take a chance on the Swiss Superman. He also signed a multi-year deal, which further strengthened his relationship with backstage officials.
As the weeks passed, Cesaro began getting more and more TV time. The company started putting him in important matches on a regular basis.
Cesaro didn't disappoint as he picked some impressive victories over the likes of Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, and Baron Corbin. This period also brought another achievement to the former Tag Team Champion, as he claimed his first-ever WrestleMania singles win by defeating Seth Rollins.
After gaining so much momentum, Cesaro was ready to enter the title picture. He collided against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania Backlash, which marked his first-ever World title match. It was a technical masterpiece and one of the best matches of the year. Although Cesaro failed to take the title, he still looked strong in defeat.
Unfortunately, this was one of Cesaro's last moments in the limelight, as he was sent back to struggle in the mid-card division. He was put in meaningless storylines with Alpha Academy and Los Lotharios. All these decisions took away the momentum he had built up. Right now, he is part of another odd WWE storyline with Sheamus and Ridge Holland, which doesn't seem to do him any favors.
Hopefully, 2022 will provide Cesaro a chance to rebuild himself so that he finally gets to taste World title gold.