My appreciation of the WrestleMania 42 buildup + a positive take on TKO’s main criticism

So lately, all I’ve seen on social media and on wrestling sites is criticism about how high ticket prices are, how much WWE focuses too much on older guys, and how creative is boring. So I decided to write a column debunking those criticisms, and then I will write about my appreciation of this year’s Mania buildup.

So let’s start.

1. TKO is overpricing their tickets

Yes, they are overpricing tickets, but that’s the sports and entertainment industry as a whole, not just TKO. Do you think that the NFL isn’t overcharging fans for Super Bowl tickets? Yes, they are. Same with any other sport that has a strong fanbase.

I live in Montreal, and you can’t buy good seats for under $500.

In baseball, when the World Series came to Toronto, tickets started at $1,000 for nosebleed seats. But did baseball fans complain about ticket prices? No. They bought tickets and went to the show because they wanted to be at the event.

In entertainment, the best example you can have of this is Taylor Swift and the Eras Tour. This tour is the most profitable concert tour in the history of music. One of the main reasons for this was how expensive the tickets were. Yet she sold out every show she did on that tour, and the only complaints fans had were about how hard it was to get tickets.

Also, when you look at the comic con/convention circuit, the majority of celebrities overcharge for autographs, selfies, and pro photo ops. Yet fans are willing to pay those high amounts to get those autographs and selfies with them.

The point I’m making is simple: TKO is just doing what everybody else is doing, which is pricing their product based on how popular it is and adjusting prices as they go along to move leftover tickets, which is great business. In the end, just like in any form of sports or entertainment, they are in the business of making a profit. If fans are willing to pay those prices, why wouldn’t they take advantage of that?

2. WWE focuses too much on the older guys

Again, that’s been the business model of wrestling ever since the wrestling business has existed. Modern fans think that you can just pick a younger guy from the pack and make him a main-event-level star overnight. That’s not how the business works.

Unless you have a special look like Oba Femi right now, or great charisma like Trick Williams and Bron Breakker have, you’re not going to get over overnight. You need to let things grow organically.

Just look at how long guys like Flair, Hogan, Hart, Michaels, Austin, Cena, and Reigns took before getting over and becoming major stars in the business. It took them years, and once they got over, they mostly wrestled other stars that were on their level.

Just go back in time to the WWF years or even the WWWF years. Sammartino was the guy they focused on because he was the draw for the company. In the ’80s it was Hogan, in the ’90s it was Hart and Michaels, and later on Austin and Rock.

The point is, you have to use the draws you have right now and cater to what fans want to see. And by that, I don’t mean the vocal minority in the IWC, but the majority that are just happy to be entertained by the product. If matches like Reigns vs. Punk and Rhodes vs. Orton are what attract fans, then why wouldn’t they book those matches since it’s clearly what the majority wants to see?

3. WWE creative is boring

That’s the criticism that makes me laugh the most. If this were the case, why would WWE still be doing record business? Why would Raw still be in the top 10 most-watched products on Netflix? Why would SmackDown ratings still be at the same level they’ve been since moving to USA, which is around the same level that Raw was doing on the network? Why would ESPN still praise WWE for how well they are doing, to the point of actually giving them one hour on their main network for Mania Sunday?

That’s because for a lot of fans—again, not the vocal minority—they are actually enjoying the product.

I think that most fans who complain on social media about creative are fans who started watching during or after the Attitude Era. These are fans who want everything as quickly as possible and don’t want to let things breathe like how wrestling was booked before that era.

This is why there’s such a disconnect with some fans when it comes to WWE creative. Triple H and his team are booking like it was done back in the day, with a three-act structure. That means a slower-paced style of booking, and it can be boring for fans who haven’t experienced it in the past or who prefer the faster-paced, cluster-style booking that AEW is doing.

4. My appreciation of the Mania buildup

Personally, while I thought (as always) that the road to Mania started clunky, since Elimination Chamber I feel like WWE has been operating on all cylinders and has actually given fans a really strong buildup for all the major matches on the Mania card.

The Reigns vs. Punk feud has been done really well and shows how you can create anticipation for a match just with promo segments if you have guys who are great on the mic. Every week since this feud started, I’ve been more into it, and the more things escalate on TV, the more I want to see this match at Mania.

Cody vs. Orton: this is a match that fans have wanted to see for years, and the booking is pretty much how most fantasy bookers have envisioned it. The fact that they introduced a mystery person who’s seemingly in Orton’s ear is making this even more intriguing, and I’m interested in seeing the payoff.

Liv vs. Vaquer: this is a fresh feud, and again they did a really simple story—somebody who has been in the WWE system since her debut versus somebody from the indies who had to fight just to get an opportunity to sign with WWE. Vaquer has become a star in a very short period of time, and she is on the same level as Liv in my opinion as far as stardom is concerned. This should be a really strong title match at Mania.

Jade vs. Rhea: this is a program that, on paper, I was excited to see, as you have two powerhouses and, quite frankly, two mainstream stars who I felt could deliver on promos. Sadly, it hasn’t really delivered as I hoped. The addition of Michin and B-Fab to the story is taking me out of it even more, as they would need a really strong explanation to fill the plot hole their involvement has created. Still, I think it will be a good match, but the buildup is lacking.

Brock vs. Oba Femi: this feud has just started, and I now get why so many fans wanted to see this match. It won’t be a long match, but it doesn’t have to be. All it needs to be is a showcase for Femi to show why he’s this generation’s version of Lesnar, and that seems to be what Lesnar is willing to do. It will probably be a passing-of-the-torch moment.

When I look at some of the other matches that aren’t officially on the card but are being built, I also feel like they are doing a really great job slowly building anticipation for them. From the McIntyre vs. Fatu feud, which has been awesome, to the four-way for the women’s tag titles, which has been really well done, everything seems to be going great for WWE—and the majority of fans seem to agree.

So while there’s always going to be a minority of the fandom that will hate what WWE and TKO are doing, the majority will continue to enjoy the ride. And I feel like, despite all the setbacks WWE has had over the last few months—which led to some changes on the original Mania card—this is shaping up to be another great Mania.

Conclusion

So while there’s always going to be a minority of the fandom that will hate what WWE and TKO are doing, the majority will continue to enjoy the ride that WWE is giving us. And I feel like, despite all the setbacks over the last few months—which led to changes on the original Mania card—this is shaping up to be another great Mania.