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RADICAN'S Tales From The Pulpit: WWE's lack of long-term planning for WrestleMania could catch up to them this year Mar 17, 2009 - 2:21:47 PM
I'm truly down on WWE's creative direction right now after watching all of the big feuds play out on Raw last night as the build to WWE's biggest show of the year winds down. The sense of intrigue and anticipation for WrestleMania has been lost during the last two weeks on Raw and Smackdown.
The storylines for the two biggest matches on the card, John Cena vs. Edge vs. Big Show for the WWE Championship and Triple H vs. Randy Orton for the World Championship, have clearly been thrown together at the last minute with the creative team going week by week as they try to bring both storylines to a head on the go-home editions of Raw and Smackdown prior to WrestleMania.
WWE booked themselves into a corner by pairing Cena and Edge together. We've seen that match so many times that creative decide adding Big Show would spice things up. The entire Vicky-Big Show-Edge love triangle is like putting another coating of crap on something that already didn't smell all that great in the first place.
Usually when WWE builds up big matches at WrestleMania, the onus is put on getting fans excited to see two (or three) wrestlers face off in the ring to settle an issue. That isn't happening this year, as not only is the Cena-Edge-Show match built around issues that have nothing to do with what's going on in the ring, but the Triple H-Orton feud has been botched as well.
I was really digging the Triple H- Orton set up initially, but the last two weeks that came to a crashing halt. I got excited at the possibilities of the mind games Orton could play with Triple H leading into WrestleMania with the two of them agreeing not to touch, but that ended quickly. Heck, Triple H already staged a home invasion and got away with it, so what more could he possibly do in the ring at WrestleMania?
The only big match build that's been enjoyable has been the build for the HBK-Taker dream match. The build has been simple, yet effective. I really enjoyed Michaels running away from Taker after the match last night knowing he would do his signature pose at the top of the ramp, which HBK used to his advantage to set Taker up for a surprise superkick. It's the classic game of who can get the best of each other heading into WrestleMania that is a tried and true formula.
Out of all of the things that disappoint me the most, it's Chris Jericho's legends storyline that has really illustrated WWE's lack of a long-term vision for their flagship PPV. Creative was banking on Mickey Rourke appearing to take on Jericho at WrestleMania, so when that didn't pan out, their backup plan was for Jericho to take on three legends in a handicap match. Who is the heel in this scenario anyway?
Ric Flair's involvement is nothing short of a downer because everyone wants to see him kick Jericho's ass in a singles match, but instead, he'll be a bystander on the outside, so essentially Jericho will be fighting three guys in the ring and one on the outside. This is no knock against Flair, but his presence in the angle is just plain frustrating for viewers to watch unfold on television.
WrestleMania still has potential to be a really good show from an in-ring standpoint, but the excitement leading into the show just isn't there yet this year. WWE still has time to right the ship, but this show lacks the pageantry and anticipation usually expected for WrestleMania. The poor build could translate into a lower than desired buyrate for WWE in these tough economic times.
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