10 Things I Hate About WrestleMania

The Road To WrestleMania used to be a downhill plunge... now it's more of an uphill struggle.

By Jack Morrell / June 24, 2016

WWE

WrestleMania is, incredibly, now about to hit its thirty-second instalment as WWEs biggest, most grandiose event of the year. And if its WWEs biggest, then its the professional wrestling industrys biggest, too.

In the old days, the company had the so-called Big Four pay-per-views - Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series - rising head and shoulders above the smaller events broadcast every month. Nowadays, though, WrestleMania doesnt even belong in the same ballpark as the other three.

The Show Of Shows is an industry all in itself. Practically every promotion, person and pro wrestling patron with ties to the business will descend upon Dallas this week to snap up all the available hotel space and fill the citys social calendar to bursting with wrestling-related events.

WrestleMania brings in so much revenue that the effect has been compared to civic regeneration: an independent study indicated that New Orleans benefited from WrestleMania XXX to the tune of 142 million dollars. Cities compete with one another for the opportunity to be chosen as the next years hosts.

Its a big deal, is what Im saying - an institution, a brand that is probably equal to WWEs own, if not greater, and could conceivably outlive the organisation that spawned it. And, like all institutions, it has its critics not least those who remember back when it was just a huge wrestling show, not a 'cultural phenomenon' or an edifice.

With that in mind, here are the 10 Things I Hate About WrestleMania.