WrestleMania Is Going to Be Way Too Long Again

You know, because it worked so well last year. Earlier this week it was announced that “Wrestlemania XXXIII” will again be a seven hour show with the card pre-show starting at 5:00 EST. When you factor in the sheer size of the card (we’ll get to that in a second), there’s almost no way the show isn’t going to be going close to midnight. I know Wrestlemania is supposed to be something special but……DANG that’s a long show.

I was in AT&T Stadium for “Wrestlemania XXXII” and I’m going to be at Camping World Stadium for “Wrestlemania XXXIII”. As much as I love going to the show, the length is a major setback. There’s going to be some great wrestling and the culmination of the year’s biggest storylines but by the end of the night, there’s an inevitable burnout that’s going to drag things down.

It’s really the nature of the beast at this point. Wrestlemania has become such a big deal that almost everyone has to appear on the show, which becomes a problem when it extends the show so far. As I’m writing this, the following matches are official (or technically official):

Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton
Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar
Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens
Bayley vs. Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks
Gallows and Anderson vs. Enzo Amore/Big Cass or Sheamus/Cesaro
Alexa Bliss vs. Smackdown Women’s Division
Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

10-Man Battle Royal to face WWE Champion at WrestleMania: SmackDown LIVE, Feb. 21, 2017

Six of those are title matches and it’s not even considering what else is going to be added. In addition to those matches, you can pencil in:

Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns
Dean Ambrose vs. Baron Corbin
Neville vs. Austin Aries
John Cena/Nikki Bella vs. The Miz/Maryse
American Alpha vs. Usos
Seth Rollins vs. HHH
AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon

Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles - Winner to headline WrestleMania: SmackDown LIVE, March 7, 2017

And that’s also assuming Finn Balor doesn’t come back and get a singles match. You can also guarantee at least three New Day segments, the Hall of Fame presentations and, depending on negotiations, Big Show vs. Shaquille O’Neal. That’s a potential FIFTEEN MATCHES on the card, or one less than “Wrestlemania IV” with its sixteen. Even if WWE completely loses their minds and has Goldberg vs. Lesnar go two minutes, you can imagine how much is going to have to be crammed into this show to make it work.

Last year’s show had twelve matches (including the three on the pre-show). One of those was a six second “match” between the Rock and Erick Rowan, which was part of a nearly thirty minute Rock segment. Factoring in the LONG entrances and the matches getting more time because it’s Wrestlemania and this show could be one of the longest of all time.

So the question is simple: how do you save time? The first thing I would cut is the Raw Tag Team Titles. The belts mean next to nothing and if you really want the big pop, lets Amore and Big Cass win them the next night instead. I’m assuming that’s what they’re setting for at “Wrestlemania XXXIII” but it just doesn’t need to happen. Also get rid of Big Show vs. O’Neal (assuming it’s going to happen) as there’s not enough interest or time to get much out of it at this point. Other than that…..I guess the Smackdown Tag Team Titles and the Cruiserweight Title? There’s not a lot that can be removed other than those two.

Austin Aries attacks Neville: Raw, March 6, 2017

No matter how you look at it, this show is going to be long and that length is going to bring it down a lot. There comes a point where there’s just too much going on and that’s where we are now. It’s really hard to keep getting fired up for an entrance when you’ve literally seen over twenty five of them in one night. WWE needs to understand that sometimes less is more and for reasons unclear, that issue is getting worse every year.

 

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