A Wrestled Development

Five Burning Questions Heading into WrestleMania 32

By: Jeff McDonough

 

Will WWE Break the Attendance Record?

On Saturday and Monday, upwards of 70,000 college basketball fans will pack into NRG Stadium in Houston — formerly Reliant Stadium — for the Final Four and NCAA Championship game. Sandwiched in between those days, there will be another massive stadium event down the road in Arlington at AT&T Stadium as World Wrestling Entertainment presents the Show of Shows, the Super Bowl of Wrestling, WrestleMania. Now despite WWE’s often hyperbolic boasts, their billing of ‘Mania as “the Greatest Spectacle in Live Entertainment” rings somewhat true, as this will mark the 10th straight year they’ve hosted their marquee event in a football stadium for 70,000+ screaming fans each time. WrestleMania for the first 22 years had mostly been held in considerably smaller basketball arenas. So what caused enough hype for WrestleMania ten years ago that would require the jump to a much larger venue? Well, of course, the involvement of WWE Hall of Famer and future US President Donald J. Trump!

So while that was the start of the football stadium as an every year thing for ‘Mania, there had been some large events in the past. Let’s examine this in reverse order: Before this ten year run, WWE did a sort of a swan song run for basketball stadium ‘Manias in its diehard cities of New York, LA and Chicago. The three years before that they tested out the larger crowd model by using three baseball stadiums with crowds between 54,000 and 69,000. Every other ‘Mania before that, except for two, was held at an arena with less than 21,000 attendees — including Trump hosting back-to-back years in Atlantic City! The two outliers were the 62,127 at WrestleMania VIII in Indianapolis at the Hoosier Dome, and the Grand Daddy of Them All, WrestleMania III in Detroit.

That’s right. The Pontiac Silverdome was jam-packed with 93,173(!) fans to watch “former best friends” Hulk Hogan and André the Giant battle for the WWF Championship. When the unstoppable force met the immovable object the result was the image above, the most iconic moment in wrestling history. That is the record that WWE is going after this year. Those are the stakes. Not only is that the attendance record for WWE and WrestleMania, it stood as the overall North American indoor attendance record until 2010 when the NBA All-Star Game drew 108,713 fans at, whadda ya know, AT&T Stadium in Arlington. WWE has the venue to do it. Can they finally bump that 29 year-old record? Most likely. The 93k seems forgone, but the 108k, while doable, is much loftier.

Funnily enough, none of these events represent the largest crowd in wrestling history, which was a 1995 WCW/NJPW supershow held in Pyongyang, North Korea. That two-day event that was main-evented by Japanese legend Antonio Inoki and 16-time World Champion Ric Flair — more on him later — saw a reported attendance of 150,000 and 190,000 for each day. So… yeah. Since it was freaking North Korea, the possibility of fudged numbers and forced attendance remain entirely plausible. Still, even so, no one’s getting within a mile of that.


Will Brock Lesnar Kill Dean Ambrose?

 

Okay now, that we got my nerdy numbers rant out of the way, let’s get to the theatrics! Dean Ambrose is probably the most universally adored wrestler going today. Kids, Ladies, Hipsters, Rednecks, Nerds — you name it, they all cheer him. He’s like Roddy Piper with a hint of Stone Cold mixed with Bugs Bunny. Everybody loves Dean. That’s why it’s going to be so sad to watch him be sacrificed to the Norse God of Pain and Suffering, Brock Lesnar. Lesnar is Thor meets the Hulk. He’s essentially Hitler’s wet dream, a merciless Aryan beast. So as far as the TV show goes, Brock might actually murder Dean on Sunday. It is a No Holds Barred Street Fight after all! In actuality, Lesnar is truly an athletic freak. In amateur wrestling, he won the NCAA Division I Heavyweight Champion as a senior at Minnesota. After becoming WWE’s top star, he left to pursue a career in the NFL despite not having played football since high school. He made the Minnesota Vikings preseason roster as a defensive lineman and showed some promise with his athletic ability and violent pursuit on tackles. He was too raw of a player though, started fights and drew penalties and was one of the last cuts before the season. If I’m WWE, I’m spinning that as “too extreme” for the NFL. Instead of hanging around on their practice squad, Lesnar decided to go wrestle in Japan for a little while and won their top World Title in his first match there. Sorry, back to real sports.

 

After this, as we all know, he joined the UFC. In just his third fight there, he TKO’d Randy Coture, arguably the most decorated champion in UFC history, to become Heavyweight Champion. In his next fight, he beat Interim Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir to unify the belts in what remains the best selling UFC show of all-time. After this he missed a year of time due to a bout of diverticulitis that nearly killed him. When he returned, he beat Interim Champion Shane Carwin in a second unification bout. When Lesnar’s diverticulitis returned he lost the championship, lost the following fight when his prone midsection was targeted and retired on the spot. Those three championship fights I mentioned, against those three fighters, are enough to cement anyone’s legacy — and that’s before you factor in the boon in popularity he caused for the sport of MMA. He got healthy, returned to WWE and ascended back to the top of that sport. Lesnar brings such legitimacy to a WWE “fight.” He’s a real life ass-kicking machine. So that’s why this extreme stipulation in this match is perfect, because it’s the only way Ambrose would have a chance. Ambrose cut his teeth — and his face — on the independent wrestling circuit in brutal hardcore matches. We’ve seen a toned-down taste of that in WWE as well. Aside from this track record, an important thing to note is Dean Ambrose is a fucking cockroach. You can’t kill him. He will not die. So in the build to this match we’ve seen Lesnar repeatedly kick his ass and Ambrose keep asking for more. How much will it take to put him down for good? On Sunday, we might see the lion rip the gladiator to shreds as the coliseum roars with applause. And yes, we’d cheer. I know we all love Dean, but c’mon, it’s Brock Lesnar.

Will Shane McMahon Kill Himself?

 

I know it can be tricky to tell with pro wrestling, but to introduce Shane’s background, I will try to discuss only real-life occurrences, as I understand them. Shane McMahon, the 46 year-old real-life son of WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, was once his father’s heir apparent, the one who would shepherd the WWE for years to come. For reasons not entirely clear to the public, Shane’s sister and brother-in-law seemingly jumped him in line, and he left the company six years ago to forge his own business career. He is currently the chairman of You On Demand, China’s first VOD & Pay-Per-View service. A few weeks ago Shane shockingly returned on RAW to a massive standing ovation. The billionaire owner’s snotty son? How would he be beloved? Well, aside from his dealings backstage and in the corporate offices, Shane occasionally mixed it up as a combatant. And whenever he did, he had a proclivity to take some of the most insane bumps we have seen anyone in WWE take.

 

This kid had it made — silver spoon, heir to the company, never needed for anything. Why on Earth would he feel the need to do this? Why did he put his body at such risk? The answer was for our entertainment, and it led to where we stand today, with Shane McMahon, the boss’s son, as one of the most beloved WWE characters of the last 20 years. So why is Shane back now? Well, in storyline, it is because he thinks Stephanie, Triple H and Vince are doing a terrible job running the place. Ratings have dropped, stock numbers are dipping, the writing has often been terrible and there have been an alarming amount of wrestler injuries lately. So Shane wants control of WWE to enact the change us fans want to see and cement his own legacy in this industry. So that’s why he’s back in storyline. How about in real life? Well, we don’t know. It may be those exact same reasons. Is this just a one-time payday to perform one last time? Will he be back but only as an on-screen character? Or will he be back in the fold of the business operations as well? That is perhaps the most intriguing part of this storyline, how story and reality blend so seamlessly together… That is until we get to the fact that in order to get said control of the company, he has to win a fight against an outlaw zombie biker. Yes, the Undertaker will look for his unprecedented 23rd victory at WrestleMania vs. Shane in a Hell in a Cell Match.

 

So in order to get the power Shane desires, he will have face a monster who’s ran roughshod over WWE for 25 years at the event he has dominated in the match for which he’s famous. Really stacking the odds there, Vince. So how could he pull this off? Well, I’m expecting massive interference, tons of weapons, major bumps and Shane doing something insane. We’re in Cowboys Stadium. Will he try to jump off of the world’s largest jumbotron? Who’s to say? But all I know is I love Shane-O-Mac and I can’t wait to see what happens in what could be the Undertaker’s last WrestleMania match.

Will the Women’s Match Steal the Show?

There’s been a rise in the prominence of female sports the last couple years. Ronda Rousey and the UFC women’s division are a clear parallel to the ladies of WWE. Beyond that, we’ve seen the dominance and popularity of Serena Williams and the US Women’s Soccer team, to name a few others. In WWE, the women are still somewhat-degradingly referred to as “Divas.” Their championship title is a fucking pink butterfly. In spite of the way they are positioned, the Women of WWE have been making major strides for themselves as in-ring performers. For years the female talent on WWE programming was merely used as eye-candy, regardless of any athletic prowess. The “Divas Revolution,” as it was later branded, has seen these ladies look to change that marginalization. WWE’s developmental system NXT is where they really have gotten to shine.

 

Charlotte, Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch and Bayley were dubbed the Four Horsewomen of NXT and have largely been responsible for this shift in focus to women’s wrestling. Finally, the women were being given time to have real storylines and matches that were 10 to 20 minutes in length that could electrify the crowd. The two Bayley and Sasha Banks title fights were arguably the best two WWE matches of 2015, no exaggeration. WWE noticed what they had going on in NXT, and with their fans clamoring for the women to get more time — #GiveDivasAChance — they decided to remake their “Divas Division” in this same way. In July, Charlotte, Sasha and Becky were promoted to the main roster. This Sunday, they will have a Triple Threat Match for the championship in front of 100,000 people. Life comes at you fast. But boy, have they earned it. Bayley, to her own credit, is the NXT Women’s Champion and arguably the most popular performer, male or female, on that red-hot NXT brand. She defends her title in Dallas on Friday vs. Japanese badass Asuka at the NXT TakeOver special on the WWE Network. Her call-up is coming soon, don’t you worry.

As for Sunday’s match, this matchup has been building for a long time, obviously dating back to their days in NXT. Charlotte is the reigning Divas champion and Ric Flair’s daughter. She is a freak athlete to the women’s division much in the same way a young Brock Lesnar was to the men — somehow bigger, faster, stronger and more explosive than everyone else. She’s also a douchebag. With her entitled attitude and willingness to ride her dad’s coattails — see, I told you Shane was an aberration — her character is loathsome. Let alone that she has her leather-skinned, liquored-up, wheelin’-dealin’ father helping her cheat to win all her matches. Becky Lynch was once Charlotte’s “best friend” and tag team partner until Charlotte betrayed her. A talented worker from Ireland, Becky has been cast really well as the plucky underdog of this division — fighting so valiantly to topple the despicable Charlotte, only to ultimately come up short. Will Sunday finally be her time? And then there’s Sasha Banks. Oh, Sasha. She’s the best. She’s the baddest. She’s the Boss. In real life she is Snoop Dogg’s cousin, but for her character, picture Kanye West in a 115-pound girl’s body. She is a 24 year-old firecracker. She will trash talk your ear off and then beat you down. None of these ladies like each other and they all know how to fight. Let’s do this.

 

The most encouraging bit of news surrounding this match has been circulating online this week. The end of the term “Diva” and that God-awful butterfly belt seems to be in the offing. We should soon see a “Women’s Championship” with a proper title belt. Thank God. In addition to this, it sounds like the ladies will be given around a whopping 20 minutes for their match, which is just utterly unprecedented. No women’s match at WrestleMania has ever cracked even half that. This honestly may be the match to which I’m most looking forward. I can’t wait.

Will Roman Reigns Get Booed Out of the Building?

 

After sharing lots of optimism, it’s time for reality to come crashing down. This is the main event of the night, 14-time World Champion Triple defending the WWE Title against wrestling’s next megastar Roman Reigns. Why am I just now getting to this? Well, that’s because nobody really cares about this match. I exaggerate by saying “nobody,” of course, but I can tell you I certainly don’t care about this match. That is largely because Roman Reigns is a totally ineffectual character. He is a “megastar” in WWE’s eyes only, not to a large section of WWE’s fanbase. He has been positioned as the conquering underdog who, quite literally, takes on The Authority™. This isn’t really the best fit for Reigns, a beautiful, hulking specimen of a man whose family ties got him into WWE and who kind of seems like a prick. He looks and acts essentially like if The Rock was cast as Gaston in a live-action version of Beauty and the Beast. In storyline, he is being held down by management despite everyone knowing he deserves to be at the top of WWE. In actuality, management has doneeverything they can for two years to position him at the top of WWE despite much of the audience’s distaste for the supposed hero. Y’all should remember the Attitude Era in wrestling when the Rock and Stone Cold ran wild and WWF/E was brash and provocative. Well, today’s generation is often referred to as the Reality Era because of how, in the internet age, WWE has chosen to blend so many real life aspects of their performers’ lives into their storylines. CM Punk being a counterculture antihero fed up with the status quo, the real-life love triangle of Edge, Lita and Matt Hardy playing out onscreen, Daniel Bryan being the ultimate underdog who WWE never wanted as the face of the company — these are marquee examples of when real life became storyline. That said, despite all the ridiculousness in WWE — some of which we’ve touched on here — there is no more unrealistic storyline going today than the idea that WWE management is keeping Roman Reigns down.

Getting a reaction from the crowd in WWE is paramount. It’s the job of the babyface (good guy) to get cheers and the job of the heel (villain) to get boos. Sometimes a character like John Cena will split the crowd — the kids, ladies and casual fans will loyally and vocally support him, while the teens, men and hardcore fans will vociferously jeer him. Or maybe a certain heel is doing such a good job that segments of the audience start to cheer him because of his outstanding performance. That split works too. What doesn’t work, what is your worst case scenario, is a babyface going out there and being met with disdain and/or apathy. That is what Reigns’ brief time atop WWE has often looked like. His opponent Sunday may make for a rough pairing, considering he is pitted against mega-heel Triple H — an egotist who married the boss’s daughter and climbed up the corporate ladder (in real life), has been running the company against the fans’ wishes for three years (in storyline) and just gave himself the World Title as a 46 year-old part-time performer with a desk job (in both). Who the hell are we going to cheer for? There are some people who’ll cheer for any babyface WWE puts out there no matter how uninspiring they are. I also imagine Triple H, despite being a jackass on TV in the modern era, will get some nostalgia cheers in what is assuredly his last hurrah as champion. It’s the people who don’t feel like doing either that will be the problem. The crowd reaction for this main event could be a disaster, so much so that it’s possible they won’t even close the show with it.

Now none of this is to completely deride Reigns as a performer. He has massively improved his ringwork over these last couple years and I can easily see why WWE has been so infatuated with his potential. Reigns played college football at Georgia Tech and is what I’d describe as a Jadeveon Clowney level athlete — the speed and explosiveness at his size is remarkable. It’s just that the position he’s been put in by management and the writers has done him no favors. He is clearly miscast as the underdog. Rumors are swirling that he could be in for a heel turn come Sunday or the next night’s Raw. It would be a welcome change, and I believe he could excel in that role. Overall for ‘Mania, while I am excited for Shane-Taker, Ambrose-Lesnar and the women’s triad, this is a four-hour event with a two-hour pre-show and 11 matches in total. Everything beyond those top three matches leaves a lot to be desired. Alcohol and Gambling and a group of friends with which to watch may be a requirement for viewing, but the “Buddies, Beers n’ Bets” system has never failed me before. So it’ll be a fun night and WrestleMania often under-promises and over-delivers. Just the spectacle of the show and all they put into it provides such a big fight feel to everything. While it may be a slog for the first few hours, what really concerns me is how this main event will play out and where we will go from here. People forget that WWE in unlike any other sport or TV show — after WrestleMania Sunday, everything resets with essentially their opening day the next night , which is often the biggest RAW of the year. Nothing would be worse from a narrative perspective, in my eyes, than WrestleMania closing as conquering hero Roman Reigns stands on the turnbuckle holding his newly won championship high and proud as 100,000 fans go “meh.” But hey, in WWE’s defense, his cousin’s a movie star.