Wrestlemania 35 is less than a month away and I think that WWE’s main goal should be to put on a show that makes their fans happy.
Now it might sound pretty obvious that an entertainment company would want their fans to be happy after the biggest show of the year, but this has not been the case in the past four years.
The last four main events of Wrestlemania have not received many favourable reviews from wrestling fans. This had a lot to do with the negative reaction to Roman Reigns, who was in all four of the matches.
It’s not that the matches were bad in the technical sense, but since there was a feeling that WWE wasn’t giving the fans the main event they wanted, it wasn’t received well.
This sense that WWE is listening to the fans isn’t exclusive to Wrestlemania. In fact, when ratings were hitting all-time low numbers near the end of 2018, WWE actually acknowledged it on Monday Night Raw, when the McMahon family declared that they would start listening to the WWE fans.
The segment appeared to be an attempt to salvage ratings, since WWE wants to be in a good position when they start airing on Fox in October. Fox will not settle for low ratings and would likely cancel the show quickly if it feels the show isn’t living up to the $1.025 billion price tag.
The best way to improve viewership and fan morale is to have an excellent Wrestlemania. Here are the top three things that WWE should do to make this year’s Wrestlemania the best show possible.
3. Seth Rollins beats Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship
One of the biggest complaints fans have had about WWE is that the Universal Champion, Brock Lesnar, is barely on television. Lesnar’s contract sees him working very few dates for the company, so he usually only pops up when he has a match to promote.
Lesnar held the Universal Title for 504 days after winning it at Wrestlemania on April 2, 2017. Lesnar finally lost the title to Roman Reigns last year in August. Despite not being fond of Reigns at the time, WWE fans were still happy that the company’s top title would finally be seen every week.
Unfortunately, Reigns was forced to vacate the title after being told that his leukemia had returned after 11 years.
WWE decided to put the title back on Lesnar in November. This upset a lot of fans who felt that WWE was taking a step back instead of another wrestler who performs on a full-time basis.
That brings us to Wrestlemania, where Lesnar is defending his title against Seth Rollins. Rollins is an incredible competitor whose matches were consistently the best part of Raw throughout 2018.
If WWE is serious about listening to its fans, Rollins must beat Lesnar for the Universal Championship at Wrestlemania.
In the buildup to this match, Rollins has promised on multiple occasions to defeat Lesnar, so if he fails at Wrestlemania, he will be seen as a liar and a failure, which is not a good look for a fan favourite.
If WWE wants to improve its television ratings, it’s not a good idea to have the guy who is regularly on shows look like a failure and lose against someone who only shows up once every three months.
A Rollins win could be the refresh that Raw needs to keep ratings up after Wrestlemania and heading into October.
2. Kofi Kingston wins the WWE Championship
Kofi Kingston is probably WWE’s most popular male superstar right now. His sudden popularity only just started on the Feb. 12 edition of Smackdown Live when Kingston lasted over an hour in a gauntlet match. Kingston didn’t win the match, but he received a standing ovation after he was eliminated.
Less than a week later, Kingston was unsuccessful in the Elimination Chamber match. Despite losing again, Kingston received another ovation and fans started voicing their desire to see him challenge for the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania.
Since nobody saw this coming, WWE already had a different match planned for the WWE Champion Daniel Bryan at Wrestlemania, so it decided to have Kingston challenge for the title at the WWE Fastlane pay-per-view instead.
It now looks like WWE has changed their plans, because on Feb. 26 Kingston was replaced in that match by Kevin Owens.
At first glance this might look like WWE ignoring what their fans want, but I think it’s the complete opposite.
If Kingston isn’t wrestling for the WWE Championship at Fastlane, that opens it up for him to wrestle for the title at Wrestlemania.
If I’m correct and Kingston wins the WWE Championship, it would be another big moment where fans would feel that they are getting what they want from WWE.
1. Becky Lynch wins the first ever women’s Wrestlemania main event
Becky Lynch has arguably been the most popular WWE star since last summer and it’s clear that WWE fans want her to make history at Wrestlemania.
Judging from what has been said on WWE television in the past few weeks, this year’s Wrestlemania will have a women’s match in the main event for the first time ever. It looks like that match will be Ronda Rousey defending the Raw Women’s Championship against Lynch, as well as Charlotte Flair.
Only a few years ago, a women’s match main eventing a Wrestlemania was unthinkable, but with Lynch’s popularity and Rousey’s mainstream appeal, it is the most anticipated match on the show.
If this match goes on last, as expected, it’s extremely important that WWE gives the fans what they want and you’d have to be living under a rock for the last six months to not know that what they want is to see Becky Lynch holding up the Raw Women’s Championship.
The thing that has soured fans on Wrestlemanias in the past has been a disappointing main event, so this match could make or break the show. Even if WWE does the previous two things above, Lynch losing could be enough for many to give this show a thumbs down.
WWE told their fans that they are going to start listening to them and now they have a chance to do just that at this year’s Wrestlemania.
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