10 Signs That Point To WWE WrestleMania 34 Being AWESOME
5. The Recent Peace Treaty
In the late summer of 2017, WWE challenged the thinning patience of its core fanbase by continuing, unabated, with the panned Jinder Mahal push. It felt as if, more than ever, the company had responded to unanimous complaint by pressing fingers firmly into ears.
The abject reaction to the billed match between Mahal and Brock Lesnar finally compelled WWE to see the obvious: Mahal, as WWE Champion, was inexplicable at best, disastrous at worst. He soon dropped the title he should never have been in contention for to AJ Styles, yielding both a Survivor Series dream match and a palette-cleansing run with the gold. Then, at Sunday's Royal Rumble pay-per-view, Shinsuke Nakamura triumphed in what was a triumphant creative decision. The olive branch extended, Vince McMahon has acknowledged that he cannot do as he and he alone pleases. For now.
The post-WrestleMania season creates scope for further experimentation, with the knowledge that we - the guys who write, read about and are otherwise married to pro wrestling - are sticking around then, now, and forever. Ahead of WrestleMania, however, McMahon is servicing both the mainstream-curious and the in-it-for-life crowd, promising a 'Mania for both everybody and for the ages.
He's throwing "us" a bone, realistically - but it's more than he has bothered to do over the last three years.