WWE fans like to think that we’re smarter than our predecessors from 30 years ago. We think we know what is going on behind the scenes because we can read about backstage news online. Now that kayfabe is dead, we know all the insider wrestling terms that the wrestlers give away on their podcasts. We know what a “work” is and what “shoot” means. We’d rather not cheer for the “babyface” or the “heel” based on their on-screen persona, we’d like to choose who we like and cheer or boo depending on how we think the WWE is using him. We want to feel like we’re on the inside and we know what is going on.
Well, I have news for all of you. We are, indeed, a bunch of “marks” during this WrestleMania season. The WWE is giving us all sorts of “reality” storylines and promos to make us think that the setup behind WrestleMania matches is based in reality. In fact, nothing can be further from the case. The WWE creative team is working us all on the way to WrestleMania, both with true-style angles, and completely over-the-top ridiculousness, and the fans are eating it all up!
Take a look at the yet-to-be-announced John Cena vs. Undertaker match. The Undertaker has yet to make an appearance during WrestleMania season at all. But John Cena has been selling a story line that has brought him from Raw to Smackdown in a futile effort to have a match at WrestleMania, all the while hinting that he should wrestle The Undertaker. Finally, he called out The Dead Man on Raw one night and pretended that “they would cut off his mic because they told him the match wouldn’t happen”. Guess what? Whoever “they” is, wrote every line he spoke that night. It was a total work, and an extremely effective one. What probably would have been a dull match is now very highly anticipated.
Contrast the Cena/Undertaker angle with the Cesaro and Sheamus vs. Braun Strowman and his yet-to-be-announced tag-team partner storyline. How ridiculous is Braun Strowman? He’s strong enough to pull down lighting rigs, flip ambulances, flip tractor trailers, and turn the entire Raw stage upside down. Kurt Angle announced a tag-team Battle Royal to determine #1 contendership for the Raw Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania, and Brawn Strowman inserted himself into the match by shouting at the referee, and he proceeded to win it without a partner. From a reality standpoint, this guy is totally ridiculous. Yet Strowman is the hottest guy on the roster right now, getting more and more popular every day. We love it!
How about Daniel Bryan? Who saw that coming? Out of nowhere, the guy we thought was forced into retirement as a result of brain damage, was medically cleared to wrestle. He started off Smackdown the day the story broke with a heart-felt promo about how grateful he was that his family and fans supported him while he was in retirement and he was so happy to be back. That was as real as it gets on the WWE microphone. How does the show end? By him taking a worked beating at the hands of Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens and leaving the arena on a stretcher. Starting with a shoot and ending with a work, we got the best storyline on Smackdown all WrestleMania season!
Finally, there is the Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar WrestleMania rematch that pretty much nobody wants to see. This match was rumored as far back as WrestleMania 33, so there wasn’t much suspense leading up to Reigns’ clinching of the spot at Elimination Chamber. As usual, Roman Reigns can be counted on to be a boring dud on the microphone, and the WWE needed to find a new angle to use to sell this rerun of a match. Somebody in WWE creative noticed that the WWE and UFC were both in Las Vegas on the same weekend, and that Brock Lesnar was photographed with Dana White on The Strip, while he didn’t attend the WWE show. They got the brilliant idea to tell Brock to no-show Raw and have Roman Reigns cut a shoot-style promo saying that Reigns was abusing his part-time status by not showing up to Raw, and that we should take Roman’s side because he “shows up for work every day”. As if that would somehow make him a good wrestler for a change.
At first, the wrestling rumor sites ate it up, and published stories that it appeared to be true that Lesnar really did no-show Raw due to some sort of altercation or disagreement with WWE brass. The WWE faithful ate it up. “How dare he disrespect us? He really is like they say, he doesn’t care about the business he only cares about himself and money! Screw him!!!” Suddenly, Roman Reigns sounded somewhat interesting, not because he did anything noteworthy or good, but because people really started to hate Lesnar because he didn’t come to Raw.
The lines between reality and fantasy began to blur and crack the following week when Lesnar no-showed Raw again. After the third week, it was apparent the storyline was a complete work when Lesnar no-showed for a third time. The WWE took the unusual step of having the cameras follow Reigns into the “Gorilla Position” behind the entrance ramp curtain to confront Vince McMahon about the situation. Doesn’t get any more “real” than that, right?
Well, none of the above was “real”. The Lesnar storyline was a work. All of it is a work. We’re all marks and we are eating it up headed into WrestleMania 34. In today’s wrestling landscape, the WWE has found a way to transform itself from “good guy vs. bad guy” to reality-based angles, and it is working very well right now.
It is the best time of the year to be a wrestling fan and I couldn’t be more excited for WrestleMania week. Watch this space for expert analysis for all important WrestleMania matches and storylines. I’m looking for your feedback, too, so stay in touch.
By the way, how cool was that Matt Hardy vs. Bray Wyatt Ultimate Deletion match on Raw two weeks ago? Why don’t they do more stuff like that more often? And what does it mean for WrestleMania?
The North Jersey Nonconformist 
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