It's safe to say that this year's WrestleMania has been approached with a great deal of pessimism, especially in contrast with last year. There is a distinct lack of enthusiasm for many matches on the card; the main event is saddled with a superstar many deem not ready for his push, the Undertaker's customary show-stealing encounter is without the mystique of the streak, and there are fears over whether Sting can still go. Of course everything could go off without a hitch, but more often than not, if something in wrestling looks as though it's going to suck, it'll suck. With the added pressure of the boisterous crowd WrestleMania attracts, the weight of global expectation, and a social media era in which booking decisions are scrutinised more heavily than ever before; fears that 'Mania 31 could be a horrorshow are entirely justified. It would be a sad return to form for the WWE, who seemed to be ushering in a new era of fan-driven booking decisions after Daniel Bryan's triumph in 2014. Much of that promise has dissipated over the previous 12 months, and WrestleMania could be the stage on which the hope is snuffed out for good. Here are seven key figures around which the potential failure of the event could be blamed, ranked in terms of their influence over the quality of the show as a whole.
