The polarizing build of WWE WrestleMania 42

I was watching NXT Stand and Deliver, which is a great show, by the way, and during the ad breaks I tend to go on Facebook to check stuff and send some feedback about the show to my favorite wrestling group. But all I’m seeing outside of the group are bloggers, fans, and so-called reporters complaining about the Pat McAfee situation, which is the newest thing the IWC has decided to complain about.

I’m not writing this column to tell people what to think, to change their opinions on what WWE is doing, or to defend the company—because, quite frankly, there are some things I really don’t like in the build toward Mania—but I’m also very tired of all the negativity toward the product. I know negativity sells a lot more than positivity, but that’s never going to be me. I’d rather be objective about wrestling than dwell in negativity, because life is too short to watch things you don’t like just to complain about them.

So on that note, let’s talk about the polarizing build to WrestleMania.

The first thing that fans in the IWC need to understand is that WWE never catered to us for a few reasons. First, because they know how fickle we are and that we’ll always turn on them as soon as they give us what we want. Second, they know that even if we always complain, we’re still going to pay to see their product live and subscribe to every streaming service to watch it, because it’s in the IWC DNA to continue watching a product we don’t like just to complain about it afterward. So why would WWE change anything for the IWC?

WWE isn’t booking for the minority like AEW does. It goes after the biggest part of the fanbase, which is families and casual fans, which makes sense because fans in that group aren’t going to complain as much—they’re just there to be entertained by the product and not overanalyze it like we in the IWC do.

So Mania this year seems to be booked to please this fanbase, while also trying to attract more casuals who might be on the fence about going to see the show live in Vegas. Let’s face it, politics have played a big factor in the lower-than-expected ticket sales, as fewer international fans decided to take the trip this year compared to last year. So WWE is packing the show with as many big names as they can find to sell as many tickets as possible.

This brings me to a few programs on SmackDown that have received the most hate from the IWC.

First, the Zayn vs. Trick match at Mania. The main complaint about this match is that Zayn took Carmelo’s Mania spot. I get it—Carmelo gave us a few months of great matches, and it’s awful that he won’t get his Mania moment this year. But at the same time, if the plan is to give the rub to Trick and cement him as a top guy in WWE, who’s the bigger star to do this: Zayn or Hayes? The answer is simple: Sami Zayn. That’s why Zayn got put in that position. Plus, if we let the story play out instead of complaining, we can see that this is the start of a much-needed character change for Zayn, which is really interesting. Hayes will get to renew his feud with Trick after Mania, which will be awesome. At least for me, this is really interesting, and I’m glad they didn’t change their plans just to please the IWC.

Second, I want to talk about a program I’m not as keen on: the Rhea Ripley vs. Jade Cargill match. At first, I was really looking forward to this match, as it was a dream scenario for me. But when they started building this feud, the train went off the rails fast. Initially, everything seemed fine—it was your typical good-guy vs. bad-guy storyline—but then it started to get convoluted. Adding Michin and B-Fab to Cargill’s entourage never made sense and just took the whole thing down for me. The bright side is that other programs have taken so much heat from the IWC that this one went under the radar.

Finally, let’s look at the SmackDown main event: Orton vs. Cody, especially what happened last night with McAfee being revealed as the guy calling Orton. Again, it’s all about perspective. The IWC wanted someone like Ric Flair or The Rock—or any legend in wrestling—and that’s why they hate the McAfee involvement. For me, while I wasn’t a huge fan of it at first, I actually understand the thinking behind the move. You’re not going to get The Rock this year to be the guy to make a top star turn heel. Even though Orton is a bigger face now than he was before the turn, Flair still seems tied up with AEW, even if they don’t use him. So who’s the biggest name you can get to attract casual fans after those two? Pat McAfee. More fans outside of wrestling know who he is, which means he can get some of those fans to watch Mania just because of his involvement. Plus, it gave us a great Cody promo that this program really needed—it was the first time that what Cody said felt real and not scripted, which brought more heat to the program. From that aspect, WWE made the right move by including McAfee, as it made the feud more interesting and elevated the drama, making me want to see this match even more, just to watch Cody take on both McAfee and Orton.

In the end, nothing against those who don’t like what WWE is doing with the build to Mania, but for me, I think they did better than they have in the last few years. They stopped listening to fans on social media, stuck to the plan they had, and gave the majority of the WWE fanbase what they want: an entertaining product. I’ll leave you with this: the in-ring stuff alone isn’t enough to attract normal fans. What normal fans want are strong stories and promos, and if those work well, the matches will connect a lot more with the audience.

So to those in the IWC who just love to complain about WWE and hate the build to Mania because WWE isn’t catering to their tastes, maybe it’s a good time to jump off the train and support another product you like more. Life is too short to waste time on something you don’t enjoy, especially a company like WWE that only cares about how much money they can make. The best way to get them to change is to hit them where it hurts—in the wallet. The more fans who stop spending money on the product, the better the odds WWE will make changes in creative.