PARKS’S TAKE: WWE has lost its creative touch on the European swing of the Road to WrestleMania

While WWE’s European tour has no doubt been successful from a financial standpoint, creatively, the company has struggled to capitalize on the momentum of a fantastic Elimination Chamber show. Since then, as the Road to WrestleMania has continued, it seems like WWE has lost their way a bit in building matches slated for that show into something compelling.

Starting with the biggest match and likely night two main event, John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes has been bogged down by a gaping plot hole in the story with the lack of follow-up on Rock’s involvement at Elimination Chamber. John Cena’s first promo as a heel was hit-or-miss, which didn’t help, either. Gunther’s promise to make Jey Uso’s life miserable every week leading up to WrestleMania had some promise, but Gunther himself has lost some shine even as Jey’s part of the story – overcoming all of his doubters – has stood relatively strong.

WWE has managed to take two of its most likable females, Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley, and make them relatively unlikable at times the last few weeks. Especially Ripley, who lost her championship to Iyo Sky through no fault but her own (getting needlessly distracted by Belair at ringside) and hasn’t dealt well with that loss. On the Smackdown women’s side, Charlotte Flair and Tiffany Stratton seem to be having a contest about who can cut the worst promos in the lead-up to their Mania match.

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How much Roman Reigns will be around the next few weeks may dictate, in part, how hot the Reigns vs. Seth Rollins vs. C.M. Punk match will be come April 19. Punk and Rollins are still hitting their promos out of the park. WWE needs to scale back on the pull-apart brawls as it’s becoming overdone even as it’s a guaranteed crowd pop.

All is not lost, though, as there are more than three weeks until the big weekend, and expect WWE’s focus to sharpen as we close in on that date. Over the last few episodes of Raw and Smackdown, however, it hasn’t felt like WWE is hitting on all cylinders like we come to expect this time of year.