10 Worst WWE Roads To WWE WrestleMania
4. WrestleMania 31
Not for the first time, WWE's insistence on making a side attraction of the man its fanbase wanted to lead the way hampered anticipation for its biggest show of the year.
The 2015 Royal Rumble, if it were even possible, irked fans more even more than the previous year. Unlike 2014, Daniel Bryan did appear in it, but he was swiftly eliminated by Bray Wyatt as if he were a midcard talent. Sadly, he was. For reasons which only became clear months later, WWE were reluctant to build around his still-monumental star power. The finishing sequence of the Rumble match itself could not have been penned by even the most ardent Vince McMahon critic. It was so accurate that it transcended satire.
The Big Show and Kane, years past their sell-by date, lumbering emblems of the antiquated McMahon ideal, casually tossed the likes of Dean Ambrose and Dolph Ziggler out of the ring. It was a depressing visual metaphor for Vince's vision of what WWE should look like - i.e., the precise opposite of what his customers wanted.
Worse still, WWE again acknowledged the clamour for Bryan, which again threatened to engulf the long-term plan. But, at February's Fastlane, Reigns defeated him to retain his contendership.
Like many of the events listed here, 'Mania 31 was a success by all but the most cynical of metrics - but much of that was helped, ironically, by the tepid hype. It didn't so much set the world alight as it smashed low expectations.