10 Lessons WWE Could Learn From Their Own History

This year’s WrestleMania had thirteen matches. In those thirteen matches, 71 wrestlers appeared, not including managers. By contrast, WrestleMania X-Seven, considered by many to be the best, had 52. Can anyone claim that those nineteen extra wrestlers improved anything?

Now, let's make something clear: we don't begrudge anyone their WrestleMania paycheck, but at the same time, not everyone deserves it. The World Cup isn't contested by the third and fourth best team and the player knocked out in the first round doesn't get to play the Wimbledon final. You earn the chance to compete, and wrestling should be no different. If by the time ‘Mania comes around you aren’t in that position, then you shouldn’t. It’s that simple.

Take the Raw Women’s Championship match. Can anyone make a serious argument for why it was a four-way rather than a one on one? Bayley vs. Charlotte was the story, and Sasha Banks and Nia Jax were tacked on so that they could appear. Both of those women are great wrestlers, but it hurt the show as it meant that instead of a great twelve-minute singles match, we got an alright twelve-minute four-way.

By filling up the card with people that don’t deserve to be there, WWE adds a hell of a lot of fluff to their shows. It turns them into long-winded affairs that honestly test the patience. Cut that out, and you suddenly have a product that is a lot more fun to watch.