When WrestleMania 32 was first announced for AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX, it was supposed to be the grandest wrestling show of all time. With a configuration that could support over 80,000 spectators, not only would the venue let WWE draw its legitimate largest crowd ever, but the company would be able to announce a kayfabe attendance of over 100,000. While the brand value of WrestleMania is a huge draw by itself, in order to achieve such a high number, nothing could be left to chance. The company immediately started crafting plans for a supercard to outdo all others, a lineup filled with dream matches and once-in-a-lifetime confrontations. Every big name from the past who was still capable of competing was contacted - even Shawn Michaels, who very publicly retired following a loss to The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVI. Michaels declined WWE's offer, but surely other superstars would come back for what could be their best payday ever. Today, there's barely a month left before the show of shows, and things have not come together as hoped. Not only have the former stars the company banked on been unwilling or unable to return for matches, but many of the active roster's top talents have been shelved with poorly-timed injuries. WWE has managed to put together a trio of main-event matches - Triple H versus Roman Reigns, Shane McMahon versus The Undertaker, and Dean Ambrose versus Brock Lesnar - but only after many adjustments. What about the WrestleMania 32 that could have been, though? What about WWE's Plan A, Plan B, and even Plan C? What about the matches that fell apart?
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
