Road to WrestleMania 35: Grading the Storylines going into the Show of Shows
WrestleMania 35 takes place this Sunday at MetLife Stadium, yet the excitement for the show has been underwhelming for a professional wrestling event WWE markets as the "Grandest Stage of Them All."
With Kofi Kingston's rise to the top of the card to challenge Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship, Batista returning to face Triple H and the Winner Take All main event between Charlotte Flair, Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch for both the Raw & SmackDown Women's Championships, this year's show has the potential to be a long, but entertaining affair.
However, the potential isn't always realized and this year's WrestleMania buildup is a great example of this very point.
Though fans are looking forward to some of the matches on the show, the road that leads to a lot of these matches was convoluted and random heading into an event of this magnitude.
WrestleMania always has at least a few great matches and moments, but there doesn't seem to be as much hype as there usually is.
So, to get a feel for what type of show will take place on Sunday, this article will be ranking and grading the build-up of the WrestleMania card.
Note: The Andre the Giant Battle Royal and the WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal will not be included in this list. Nor will the SmackDown Tag Team Championship match, which was confirmed this week.
#12 Daniel Bryan(c) vs. Kofi Kingston - WWE Championship
Kofi Kingston's incredible story began on the SmackDown before Elimination Chamber where he gave one of the best performances of his entire career.
Kingston would follow the gauntlet match performance with one of the greatest Elimination Chamber matches of all time that helped chart his course to his first-ever singles match for a WWE World Championship against The New Daniel Bryan.
Everything about this storyline has been entertaining with Vince McMahon attempting to interject other wrestlers into Kingston's spot, The New Day confronting The Chairman and demanding the chance for Kofi to succeed and the support and love of the fans who want Kingston to ride the wave of "KofiMania" to become the first African American WWE Champion since The Rock.
This feud not only hit home with the wrestling fanbase but it flipped the "B Plus Player" angle that Bryan had to overcome five years ago, which was a really nice touch.
The only part of the storyline that could've been better would've been Kingston earning his opportunity rather than Big E & Xavier Woods, but that is a minor issue compared to the excellent segments and matches heading into this year's title match.
Grade: A+