10 Very Bad WWE Ideas That Lasted For Years
8. One Night Seven Hour WrestleMania Shows
It's fine to admit this now, since WWE has taken on the suggestion to run two separate nights, but the objectively hideous seven-hour WrestleMania events were dismal failures that almost ruined the prestige of the one thing WWE had that was impervious to criticism - the one thing, fittingly, that was immortal.
You still weren't really allowed to say "You know what? F*ck this" because it was WrestleMania.
The draining run-time of the event meant that something was inevitably going to suffer. This, in the interest of fairness, has plagued one too many AEW pay-per-views too. A great five-hour show is possible - peak New Japan delivered several classic Wrestle Kingdom shows - but that's because Gedo sequenced the cards perfectly. He rarely promoted a match that went longer than the next. Everything built to the crescendo. Even Gedo at the height of his powers would fail to sustain interest over seven hours.
WrestleMania 33 peaked with Goldberg Vs. Brock Lesnar and the return of the Hardy Boyz; 34 with Ronda Rousey's debut; 35 with the wonderful conclusion to Kofimania. WrestleMania 32 didn't peak at all.
Too many main events played out to depressing silence and felt nothing like an epic, special match one year in the making.
WrestleMania became the obvious, grim byproduct of an era of greed - for content, for talent, for your time. With two-night shows established, and the roster gutted, it feels like the end. It was also the end for a lot of fans.
They were simply full.