7 Massive WWE Changes WresteMania 32 Highlighted

Once upon a time, WrestleMania and WWE, in general, was awash with young talent that was tearing up the wrestling world and doing things most of us didn't know were possible on television. In the 1980s, a young bass player by the name of Terry Boella was leapfrogging guys that had been doing the rounds for decades, and his youthful exuberance set the wrestling world on fire. Similarly, in the 1990s, the WWF constantly pushed young guys to the front of the company – initially out of necessity, and then out of pride, as their popularity exploded.

Yet, looking at Wrestlemania this year, you would be forgiven for thinking Eric Bischoff was involved. This was a card that featured Triple H in the main event, nearly two decades after he won his first title. It also heavily pushed a match between the Undertaker and Shane McMahon, who were hugely prominent figures in the last century. 

In between that we got the WWE Attitude trinity of Stone Cold, Mick Foley, and Shawn Michaels receiving one of the biggest pops of the night, Ric Flair deciding the woman's title bout, and of course, the Rock absolutely crushing Erick Rowan in typically entertaining Rock style. 

What's so strange is that none of it seemed all that desperate (well except the HHH/Roman Reigns fiasco). Most of those moments were genuinely entertaining and except Zack Ryder winning the ladder match, and the superb women's title bout, they were the best parts of the card. Twenty years ago people were desperate for the old timers to get out of the way and stop involving themselves in the big shows. Now we salivate when the oldies come and bury the young talent on the biggest stage of the year.

It seems to stand as a direct contradiction to the story that WWE tells about itself…but as long as the people love it, then that’s all that really matters.