6 Ups & 7 Downs From WWE's Road To WrestleMania 36

1. ...And WWE's Attitude Towards Them

Roman Reigns Goldberg
WWE.com

Not that he or his staff of writers helped themselves.

Again, it's not WWE's fault that people were pulled from the show due to concerns, and it's definitely better that someone with the health history of Roman Reigns is safe at home with his family rather than working wrestling matches. The problem comes when analysing how WWE dealt with these issues on TV.

Rather than acknowledging news that had already broken online about Reigns, the company pretended that he'd still be working Goldberg for the Universal Title at 'Mania. On last week's episode of SmackDown, they ran a lengthy hype piece for the bout, and penned Triple H to predict a winner during an interview with Michael Cole.

Why? What was the point? That pretence was painful to anyone in the know, and it was sufficient enough that those who enjoyed the build will only end up more disappointed that the match isn't happening. Similarly, hyping a non-existent Triple Threat Ladder Match for the SmackDown Tag Titles was the kind of sh*t WCW and TNA were once lampooned for.

Advertisement
Contributor

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.