WrestleMania 35: What if the PPV doesn’t live up to the hype?
WrestleMania 35 is right around the corner and the card for the biggest show of the year has promise. There’s the first women’s main event at a WrestleMania, which has the heat, star power, and intrigue to legitimately feel like a match worthy of its placement. Kofi Kingston has quite arguably usurped Becky Lynch’s spot as the hottest act in the company based on a series of excellent performances en route to challenging Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship.
Elsewhere on the card, Triple H vs. Batista has its marquee value, the prospect that Seth Rollins could take the Universal title off Brock Lesnar has its appeal, and Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre should be a fun big man match. While Kurt Angle’s retirement match isn’t likely to be a classic, it will at least have historical significance.
For all of these potential highlights, there’s no guarantee that any show will be great. Indeed, with a bloated card expected to reach as many as seventeen matches, and with some key signature WrestleMania stars out of the mix, there is the possibility that the show will run long and lose the crowd, or under-deliver in some key spots. While all WWE fans hope for the best at WrestleMania, this article considers what it might mean if WrestleMania 35 ultimately falls short of expectations.
#4. The women don’t get another shot at the main event
One of the most historically significant components going into this year’s WrestleMania is that the show is set to close with a women’s match for the very first time.
Women’s matches have only closed WWE PPVs four times before. Ronda Rousey vs. Nikki Bella closing Evolution may or may not count, given it was an all-female show. Otherwise, the original main event, Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte Flair at Hell in a Cell, garnered mixed reviews, while the first women’s Royal Rumble was better received, and fans by and large approved of the women’s TLC match that closed out 2018 PPVs.
Now that Ronda Rousey, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte Flair are headlining WrestleMania, they’ll face more scrutiny than any women’s match before. While it may not be entirely fair, if the show feels like a flop, it’s reasonable to think this match and its performers will suffer some blame. Whereas a great match could kick down the door for more women’s main events across the board, a lackluster match on an underwhelming ‘Mania may spell the end of female talent main eventing big shows in WWE.