It may not seem like it, but WrestleMania is approaching us very quickly and time is running out for WWE to make any last minute adjustments to the schedule. With only two more episodes of Raw before the show, if something doesn’t happen on the March 16th edition, it has virtually no chance of being implemented. If anything, history has shown us that the week of WrestleMania is more likely to see something be cut from the card rather than added.
Even if WWE scrambles to come up with another match or change direction on March 23rd, their work will be cut out from them as they’ll have no time to set it up properly. One episode of television is not a good enough build to the biggest show of the year, particularly when some matches are months in the making.
Due to the circumstances in front of them, this is now the so-called “crunch time” where WWE’s creative team needs to solidify all of their plans going forward. Everything must be concrete before the next episode of Monday Night Raw so the proper amount of storytelling can take place.
But what are some of those decisions WWE might still have not quite settled on?
Who is Winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal?
I’ve spoken out against this match numerous times on numerous different platforms, expressing how I feel that it is a stupid idea to begin with to have a battle royal so close to the Royal Rumble. Worse than just that, however, is if WWE makes the same mistake as last year where it was all for nothing.
Cesaro won last year’s battle royal and had the fans buying his stock at record numbers….momentarily. This quickly went downhill as the trophy was destroyed, his babyface turn was denied, Cesaro shacked up with Paul Heyman for a hot minute and proceeded to do nothing for months. That can’t happen again this year. WWE needs to know well in advance who is the best option to win the battle royal and how to follow it up with a legitimate push for that person.
Two years in a row where this match results in zero value will kill the point of having it. Would there be any prestige to the King of the Ring tournament if every winner had been someone like Mabel? The Royal Rumble and the Money in the Bank only matter because of what happens afterward, so if the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal is supposed to be worth anything, it needs to be booked as such. WWE cannot call an audible and decide who should win too close to the event and then figure everything else out starting with the Raw that follows.
Can Rusev Survive a Loss to John Cena?
After years of people being built up as dominant forces in WWE only to lose to John Cena, a double-edged sword has been forged. If someone loses to Cena, he’s got more than enough credibility to not make the person look like a complete chump such as if they lost to Hornswoggle. Still, when this happens, that opponent loses all of his momentum and the process of building them up for months ends up having a waste of a finish. Cena is so far above and beyond the rest of the roster that he stands to come out no better by beating Rusev at this point. Essentially, he has nothing to gain and Rusev has everything to lose.
Outside of having Cena win through some kind of screwjob or shenanigans, which will dilute the loss and make it not worth doing to begin with, there is only one way that Cena can win and not render Rusev tamed: if WWE has a plan to make up for it immediately afterward.
The story of Rusev versus Cena simply cannot be a lackluster victory for Rusev at Fastlane, a loss at WrestleMania, and then some win via cheating at Extreme Rules. Even worse, the last thing WWE should do with Rusev is end the feud and have him feud with someone lesser, because that will be viewed as a step down.
If Rusev is to lose at WrestleMania in any way, WWE needs to take precautions for the next two weeks to counterbalance that and plan for what comes after. Some damage was already done by having him tap out on this week’s episode and if the wrong moves are made before WrestleMania, WWE will be looking at a neutered Bulgarian Brute.
Will Sheamus be a Heel or Babyface Upon Returning?
It looks as though there are two ways WWE can go about booking Sheamus for WrestleMania.
If WWE wishes to have the match between him and Daniel Bryan, they will be rushing it and have to backtrack the Intercontinental title match placement for Bryan (although Goldust can fill that spot, as we’ll mention later). Even if he returns at the start of Raw and attacks Bryan, WWE will only have the rest of that episode and one more episode to build up the entirety of their feud. Sure, there’s SmackDown, Main Event, Superstars and the online material, but let’s be realistic, nobody pays anywhere near as much attention to those and WWE knows it.
On the other hand, if WWE wants to hold off on his heel turn and just have him show up for the sake of it as a babyface, they pretty much have no other choice but to have him come out and be announced for the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. There’s just not enough time to build up a feud for him if he’s a babyface, nor are there any heels that are in the position to take on that responsibility.
Simply put, WWE has wasted as much time as they could with this. Sheamus either needs to be a huge priority next week or WWE needs to make the call that he is just another name in the mix for the battle royal and not all that special. Beyond the next episode of Raw, any hopes of a successful heel return before WrestleMania are completely shot.
At this point, it would probably be better off for Sheamus if he was in fact held off the card entirely at this point instead of being shoehorned in somewhere in a way that is counterproductive.
What is Happening with Goldust vs. Stardust?
There were many things wrong with Fastlane, but among the worst was the match between Goldust and Stardust, which was a failure on various levels. The WWE Universe was under the assumption that these two would face off in a match at WrestleMania where Goldust would be retiring. Now that Stardust has been announced for the Intercontinental Championship ladder match but Goldust hasn’t, what is going on with this feud?
Is Goldust going to be added into the mix for the title? Is Stardust going to be taken out of the match to wrestle a singles bout against his brother? Is this feud even happening at all, or did WWE kill it yet again? This is not just crunch time to figure out what an extra match at WrestleMania will be—this is also a determining factor in how Dustin Rhodes will end up finishing his entire in-ring career! There are plenty of big things at stake here.
Since it doesn’t appear to be happening at WrestleMania at this point, if WWE has decided upon holding off on this and doing it a future pay-per-view, there needs to be planning on how to keep the feud going in some way without having the match at this event. Does Goldust get placed in the title match or does he merely interfere and cost Stardust his opportunity? How do you follow it up at Extreme Rules?
Speaking of which…
What Matches are on the Extreme Rules Card, Anyway?
Sometimes, WWE looks at WrestleMania as the end of the season and builds up to it with no real plan seemingly in place for what follows. This isn’t the Super Bowl, World Series, or any equivalent, though. There isn’t an off-season where the action stops and it can pick back up from the start a few months down the road—things just keep on going the very next night.
Because of that, WWE cannot ignore Extreme Rules and not plan ahead. Assuming Roman Reigns wins the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and Brock Lesnar does not wrestle a rematch at Extreme Rules, who will challenge for the title? Unless WWE does a proper job ending the storylines between Randy Orton, Seth Rollins, John Cena, and Rusev, none of those could be considered. WWE would have to prematurely finish those programs or merely throw Reigns into the mix in a triple threat scenario, where he will be viewed as a third wheel instead of the top guy.
Are the Fans Ready to Cheer Roman Reigns?
While I’ve been on board with Reigns taking the title at WrestleMania, I certainly as not in the majority when it came to the Royal Rumble. Since then, WWE has flip-flopped on mending fences with the audience. After teasing them with the idea that Daniel Bryan could take the spot away from Reigns—which could have been disastrous and pissed the fans off even more—Paul Heyman has been the primary driving force behind getting the crowd on Roman’s side.
Some ground has been made up and the crowds are not as hostile against him as in January, but there is still more work to be done. Pushing Reigns to the sideline and barely utilizing him like they did this week on Raw absolutely cannot happen again or the main event will seem less exciting to the audience. Who cares about a match that comes off as a problem WWE is trying not to address rather than something that has been embraced, celebrated and anticipated?
Whatever brainstorm sessions need to take place to figure out the answer to “how can we be sure Reigns will be cheered” need to take place NOW. This isn’t a test WWE can cram for the night before and hope the multiple choice can get them a passing grade. This is supposed to be huge. If WWE fails, it will mean the end of Undertaker’s streak, months of not having a WWE champion, all those expensive paychecks and a year’s worth of build will have been a disaster. Not only that, but it will also kill off the chances for Roman Reigns to become that next big star WWE so desperately wants.
Plenty of things can go wrong even on the night of the show, but WWE is in a position right now where there can be no second-guessing. Time is up. Either the decisions are made and finalized this weekend with the proper path mapped out for the Road to WrestleMania, or WWE will be haphazardly driving in circles and just hoping there’s someone out there that can point them in the right direction. You can turn down the wrong streets and get to the same destination, but judging by Fastlane, it’s better to plan ahead than to have to make up for lost time.
