10 Signs That Point To WWE WrestleMania 34 Being AWESOME
Restoring a bad reputation.
WrestleMania has eaten itself in recent years.
Once a meticulously-plotted studio album, in which the coronation of a new star represented the breakout hit single, 'Mania in the stadium era more resembles the Greatest Hits of an ageing band whose best years were behind them. WWE simply played the same old songs - but, since this era yielded the best of the Undertaker's Streak and unequivocally confirmed Shawn Michaels' status as Mr. WrestleMania, perhaps Best Of is the more fitting metaphor. There was a reason behind the part-timer era: for a time, the part-timers handily surpassed their full-time counterparts.
WrestleMania 33 raised those dubious stakes in becoming an overlong mix tape borderline unlistenable in one sitting. It was exhausting; so many matches nominally merited feature attraction status that it didn't resemble a card in the traditional sense - more a loose collection of long matches promoted in sequence.
The outlook for 'Mania 34, both rumoured and telegraphed, is encouraging. Just one of the rumoured mega matches warrants the almost self-conscious epic length, and it's one to truly anticipate; Triple H is pegged for a match that cannot viably reach his trademark epic duration; and, most reassuringly of all, we might luck into an actual undercard, as opposed to an overstuffed card in which everything is as long in the tooth as Kevin Dunn...
10. The Location
Drawing on personal experience, having attended WrestleMania XXX, New Orleans is a belting place in itself to visit and as host for such a celebration.
Pop-up jazz bands provide a 24/7 soundtrack in a city bustling with life; there are more music and dive bars than there are people; the French Quarter is a compact, buzzing hub not daunting or exhausting at all to trek through; those put off by the broad bro intensity of Bourbon Street can veer in the immediate direction of Frenchmen Street for an altogether more cultural and authentic NOLA experience; the venue itself, the New Orleans Superdome, exists right on the lip of activity. There is no need to arrange transportation; you need only drunkenly stumble from one bar and into your seat.
The venue itself is similarly conducive to a bloody good time. Often, the open-air environment breeds nightmare tales of oppressive weather and obstructed views, with the pillars that mitigate rainfall dampening the enthusiasm of those unlucky enough to sit directly behind them. Everybody in the Superdome is guaranteed a decent seat, at the very least - I sat in the upper tier, and could still make out the jubilation etched on Daniel Bryan's face - and the roof allows that enthusiasm to reverberate loudly around the gigantic walls. The Superdome provides the infectious atmosphere of an arena and the spectacular vista of a stadium.
The show would have to threaten disaster to quieten a drunken crowd - and, happily...