8 Biggest Disappointments Going Into WrestleMania 31
5. The Intercontinental Title Ladder Match
While a ladder match always makes for an entertaining spectacle, you've got to admit that this one feels like a mess. What began as a feud between Dean Ambrose and Bad News Barrett over the belt has gradually turned into a roster spanning fustercluck, with everyone from Cody Rhodes to K-Kwik involved. Superstars seemed to gatecrash their way into the storyline at random, playing some retarded version of capture-the-flag for weeks on end. It's walked a teetering tightrope between stupidly entertaining and just plain stupid. Honestly, has this done any of the participants any favours? It certainly hasn't for Barrett, who has been made to look weak and foolish repeatedly in the run-up to this match, and if you're trying to restore prestige to the much maligned Intercontinental Championship, it helps to not make your champion look like an idiot. And what about the challengers? Dolph Ziggler and Luke Harper have both held the belt over the course of the past year, and Ambrose was part of the feud to begin with, but why does R-Truth get to suddenly jump in out of nowhere? Why is Daniel Bryan taking a serious bump down the card to bolster this match? It only serves to make the match more cluttered than it already is. It also begs the question, why a ladder match? Given the "stealing the belt" angle that's taken place over the past month, would a championship scramble not have worked better? Give the match a fifteen minute time limit, allow as many pinfalls as possible, and whoever holds the belt at the end of the time limit would be the official champion. That quick slice of chaos would liven up the card nicely as a hearken back to the old days of the Attitude Era's Hardcore Championship. Plus, the eventual winner would look like he really earned his title by fending off six other men. But that would just be making the best of a bad situation by committing to a ludicrous idea. By all rights, the match should be one of the best of the night, considering the talent involved in it. It's just disappointing to see a ridiculous angle cobbled together and being taken seriously. If you want to bring back the old glory to the Intercontinental Championship, don't squabble over it like you're on the Benny Hill show.
Stephen Maher has been a rock star, a bouncer, a banker and a busker on various streets in various countries. He's hung out with Robert Plant, he was at Nelson Mandela's birthday and he's swapped stories with prostitutes and crack addicts. He once performed at a Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras by accident. These days, he passes the time by writing about music, wrestling, games and other forms of nerdery. And he rarely drinks the blood of the innocent.
