2 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Apr 3)

5. WrestleMania XXIV's Revealing Throwback

Ric Flair Shawn Michaels Wrestlemania 24
WWE.com

It does feel odd to whinge about awesome wrestling throwbacks, and yet here goes.

The WrestleMania XXIV corker between Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair remains one of the most emotional matches in WWE history. It was the end of Flair's in-ring career with the company, and Shawn's, "I'm sorry. I love you" remorse before Superkicking the lifeblood from Ric's run lives long in the memory.

There's just one fatal flaw in WWE's plan here: 'Mania 36 won't be anything like this. There won't be any fans, and there's unlikely to be a match as organically emotional as Flair vs. HBK. Revisiting a classic from 2008 exposed this year's (unavoidable) shortcomings - that's been the case with many of the throwbacks, but this somehow felt worse.

It hit home when watching that WrestleMania 36 will be sullied by a lack of atmosphere and stadium surroundings. WWE are clearly struggling to fill programming as is, but they shouldn't make fans yearn for a different event.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.