10 Things Nobody Has Told You About WWE WrestleMania

6. Great Wrestling Doesn't Always Get Over On The Grandest Stage

Triple H Roman Reigns
WWE.com

Almost every year, a strange, recurring phenomenon unfolds at WrestleMania, particularly in this ongoing stadium-sized era: great wrestling matches on paper fail to get over.

That, or a match with ****1/2 potential very quietly creeps, just about, over the *** line. These matches, examples of which follow, aren't necessarily duds - but for whatever reason, the WrestleMania workrate special fails more often than not.

Chris Jericho Vs. Edge from WrestleMania XXVI was very good without approaching great. Two years later, Jericho had another weirdly flat match with CM Punk, which was also very well-worked but failed to generate a monstrous reaction. AJ Styles Vs. Edge and AJ Styles Vs. Shinsuke Nakamura were worse, considerably so. Not every intricate, technical match loses the crowd, whose reaction evaporates with no roof to contain what little sound is generated. Daniel Bryan Vs. Kofi Kingston at 'Mania 35 was a special match with a furnace of an atmosphere. But the list is too long relative to the talent involved.

So what's the problem?

Why does this happen every other year?

Is it a case of failing to work a match in line with the expectations of the audience? Is it as simple as WWE's agents making the more dynamic wrestlers slow it down for the benefit of a casual audience?

Watching a half-speed version of a counter-driven scientific match doesn't work; as ever in wrestling, only high-octane excitement or deep emotional stakes get over.

The strange halfway point between the two has failed WWE too often.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!