Has WWE forgotten how to build long feuds for Wrestlemania?

Just something I threw together quickly last night and wondered if you could let me know what you think?

Looking back over the last few Wrestlemanias and how long the main feuds were built for, only reason I have done this is because for me personally 4 WM's stand out. WM23, Batista Vs The Undertaker and John Cena Vs Shawn Michaels for the 2 world titles. Undertaker decided he would face Batista a couple of weeks after the royal rumble if my memory serves me correctly. From this there was a world title set and the other was set within a week or 2 after with HBK beating Edge and Orton in a triple threat (incidently I thought Edge should have faced Orton in a singles match at WM rather than both in MITB as this was the breaking up of Rated RKO).

Cena and HBK would then move onto winning the tag team titles and 'having each others back' each making sure the other made it to Wrestlemania.

On Smackdown's side of things Batista Vs The Undertaker was about one upping the other. The main thing I enjoyed though in the build up to WM23 was No Way Out, John Cena & HBK Vs Batista & The Undertaker, and the invasions on each others shows by the pairs of opponents.

Wrestlemania 24 - WWE title match, Randy Orton Vs Triple H Vs John Cena

Mainly with Cena returning at the rumble and not being able to wait to have his title match, the feud kicked off right from the rumble till No Way Out, after which Triple H was added to the feud after winning the elimination chamber match. The defining features of this feud after the elimination chamber was Cena regaining a place in the world title match after Triple H being special guest ref for the match. Following which there was the triple threat takeover of Raw, where Orton, Cena and Triple H were each given a week of deciding their opponents fates on a Raw each. This kept each Raw interesting, especially with Triple H having Orton and Cena face the entire Raw roster.

Wrestlemania 25 - WWE title match, Randy Orton Vs Triple H

This all kicked off with Randy Orton's crusade against The McMahon family punting Vince, winning the Royal Rumble, facing Shane at No Way out and RKOing Steph infront of Triple H. For me this build up has been the best for WM in a long time. It's just a shame that Orton lost the WM match as he was on fire all the way up to the PPV and losing killed all his momentum.


Wrestlemania 26 - HBK Vs Undertaker

HBK desperate to get another shot at the streak, so it focused about HBK being determined to win the royal rumble, when this failed HBK ruined Taker's chances of a title match at WM by coming up through the bottom of the elimination chamber. To the point this match again like the ones listed above had a long build to it.

WM28:

Basically what i'm leading to is that WWE haven't had a proper lengthy build up to a feud since WM26 IMO. Rock Vs Cena, yes year long from when it was announced however the less said the better, and it didn't kick off until EC or so properly anyway. Punk Vs Jericho, should have started just after RR but didn't and ruined the build up.

WM27: Del Rio did nothing in his build up with Edge until attacking Edge after his EC match and Christian coming down for the save. Miz, beat Orton at RR due to interference and Jerry Lawler at EC.... joys. Not great build up for this PPV in hindsight, most of the attention seemed to be around The Rock hosting the event.

WM26: As said before hand HBK Vs Undertaker had build up. John Cena Vs Batista, only began after Batista beat Cena for the title at EC moments after Cena had won it himself. Chris Jericho Vs Edge, should have been a really good build up, but does anyone remember much that happened in the build up? Really...? In all honesty after HBK Vs Taker the match with the most effort in terms of length put into the build up was the Triple Threat implosion of Legacy so Orton Vs DiBiase Vs Rhodes as it started before EC with Both Orton and DiBiase being entered into the EC.

The only build up that stands out for me otherwise would be WM21 Batista Vs Triple H due to all the Evolution build up, however I focused on WM23 and after as 23 was the first WM I watched. So back to the main point, has the WWE forgotten how to build a lengthy feud going into WM? linking to a thread on here recently about the Elimination Chamber PPV, I feel it is starting to ruin the road to Wrestlemania. It now seems that the Royal Rumble is no longer the beginning of the road to Wrestlemania, well except for the winner. Even the title holders are no longer guaranteed their spot at WM after the RR. The Elimination Chamber is now becoming the road to WM meaning we no longer see long build ups to the PPV itself. We are now just 5 Raw's away from the PPV and while we can see matches that will happen the only confirmed matches are the two title matches. We will probably have CM Punk Vs Undertaker and Brock Lesner Vs Triple H, maybe even Kane Vs Bryan. But thats still 5 matches, any remaining matches will have 3 weeks build up tops.

Wrestlemania matches should be given longer build ups I would say a minimum of 5 weeks and the top matches should be dealt with by the EC PPV.

Ideally Royal Rumble winner John Cena should be going up against WWE Champion CM Punk, they've had a great rivalry and Punk's had the upperhand, they hadn't fought since July and Cena was on a redemption path, they should have closed the show - Cena finally overcoming Punk would have been the feel good factor for all the little kids, it could have ended the rivalry

That said, I've got no problem with it being Rock/Cena...I hated the fact Cena/Punk had to have a #1 contender match on RAW for WrestleMania...I don't care if it gits Cena's character, it shouldn't, it's pointless, it makes the whole concept of the Rumble redundent, why should fans bother to buy the Rumble in the future if they can just wait and see the real #1 contender match on RAW for free

Kay Fabe wrote:Ideally Royal Rumble winner John Cena should be going up against WWE Champion CM Punk, they've had a great rivalry and Punk's had the upperhand, they hadn't fought since July and Cena was on a redemption path, they should have closed the show - Cena finally overcoming Punk would have been the feel good factor for all the little kids, it could have ended the rivalry

That said, I've got no problem with it being Rock/Cena...I hated the fact Cena/Punk had to have a #1 contender match on RAW for WrestleMania...I don't care if it gits Cena's character, it shouldn't, it's pointless, it makes the whole concept of the Rumble redundent, why should fans bother to buy the Rumble in the future if they can just wait and see the real #1 contender match on RAW for free

Totally agree.

You should never be allowed to put your WM spot on the line after winning the rumble.

I agree with that as well, The only thing about it though is that I think they wanted to give Undertaker an extra week to decide if he was returning this year. Therefore they wanted Punk to have something to do for that week, they should have thought of something else but there you go, thats WWE booking for you.

And we got probably one of the best Raw matches ever from it as well.

Strange how Cena is in a lot of the matches considered the best see on Raw.... well since he started at any rate.

As much as i hate Cena, i think his matches with Punk have been a lot beeter than the matches that have involved the Rock. I really hope the Rock is working really hard for wrestlemania, as i have been really dissapointed.

Thats coming from a big Rock fan

the rock really has failed to impress since his return and would definitly have preferred a cena punk match at mania, but hey thats business i guess.

on the topic, the long feuds i agree, rather than starting after the rumble, they seemed to have actually started the road to wrestlemania after elemination chamber and although id prefer longer build ups, wwes new way seems to be workin as many are saying how interested they are in hhh lesnar, del rio swagger, and if taker punk happens.

personally besides the del rio swagger rivalry im not yet sold on any of the other matches especially rock cena 2 i really didnt enjoy last years so wont have my hopes up for this one.

nasisillmatic wrote:

Kay Fabe wrote:Ideally Royal Rumble winner John Cena should be going up against WWE Champion CM Punk, they've had a great rivalry and Punk's had the upperhand, they hadn't fought since July and Cena was on a redemption path, they should have closed the show - Cena finally overcoming Punk would have been the feel good factor for all the little kids, it could have ended the rivalry

That said, I've got no problem with it being Rock/Cena...I hated the fact Cena/Punk had to have a #1 contender match on RAW for WrestleMania...I don't care if it gits Cena's character, it shouldn't, it's pointless, it makes the whole concept of the Rumble redundent, why should fans bother to buy the Rumble in the future if they can just wait and see the real #1 contender match on RAW for free

Totally agree.

You should never be allowed to put your WM spot on the line after winning the rumble.

Added to the fact that Cena/Punk would be a massive draw and was given away for free on Raw!

It depends what exactly you mean by a build. If you mean face to face interaction and then reaction to matches being made, they are cutting it fine.

But the build to the main events have been going on for a long time. Cena's somewhat decline, including his loss to The Rock, and the resurgence of Cena alongside the fact The Rock has come and taken down the cocky heel with the long term title run.

Lesnar HHH has been building for a few weeks on Raw and has the history of last year

Even Punk v Taker has had some form of build, with Punk's actions, attitude and some clever words in his promos. The streak he had with the title has long been set up for him to take on Taker if you ask me, and whilst some question why we should believe he can do what HBK couldnt I would say kayfabe wise we have as much reason as any. Long reign with title, screwy finishes with The Rock and clear ability to go one on one with anyone. Theres more reasons I could see Punk taking it over Triple H or further back with Edge.

And we cant really bemoan WWE for the fact Cena v Punk on Monday was pretty much 'Mania main event quality, we should just enjoy it instead

Makaveli wrote:the rock really has failed to impress since his return and would definitly have preferred a cena punk match at mania, but hey thats business i guess.

on the topic, the long feuds i agree, rather than starting after the rumble, they seemed to have actually started the road to wrestlemania after elemination chamber and although id prefer longer build ups, wwes new way seems to be workin as many are saying how interested they are in hhh lesnar, del rio swagger, and if taker punk happens.

personally besides the del rio swagger rivalry im not yet sold on any of the other matches especially rock cena 2 i really didnt enjoy last years so wont have my hopes up for this one.

There was a time when people genuinely not knowing the likely result and seeing two mega stars going at it with nothing but there signature moves would be seen as incredible but here we are in the era where no one is happy no matter what.

Also Rock injured his hamstring during the match and finished it as per script.

i think the reason there hasnt been any strong build up for wrestlemania this year is mostly down to the company not knowing if undertaker would be fit which made wwe hold on rock cena 2 incase punk needed something to do so they could have made it a triple threat if needs be.

the smackdown title match i think the original plan wasnt to have swagger as no1 contender but they saw the reaction he got with his return with dutch mantel a.k.a zeb coulter and thought it would be a good logical storyline to have the pro-americans against the face mexican similar to jbl vs eddie guerrero.

the divas title match i think the company care as much as about this match as most people on this forum do about female wrestling.

bryan vs kane is being set up and i think it has gone as they planned

the other matches i cant think of at the moment

Barrett Vs Sheamus looks as if its in the works, but at the same time Sheamus appears to be against The Shield as well although Orton appears to be coming into that feud so it could could therefore be Orton, Ryback and Jericho Vs The Shield

Sheamus and Orton could do anything right now, I have no idea where its going. I keep thinking that Christian will be back before Mania too. Mark Henry must have something, Kofi too.

Rey has been pulled from advertised dates so Id imagine he wont be there, which probably means Sin Cara wont be.

I don't mind them giving away Cena vs Punk on tv because that isn't the money match right now. I will retract that statement if they try to sell a Cena-Punk PPV main event in the next six months though!

Plus, at least they advertised it a week in advance.

I totally agree that it was a mistake to put the title shot on the line in that way. It definitely diminishes the impact of the rumble stip. It's all part of the problem of them not planning in advance - if they knew they were building to the match two or three months ago they would have been able to create a logical storyline reason for it the match to happen.

crippledtart wrote:I totally agree that it was a mistake to put the title shot on the line in that way. It definitely diminishes the impact of the rumble stip. It's all part of the problem of them not planning in advance - if they knew they were building to the match two or three months ago they would have been able to create a logical storyline reason for it the match to happen.

If they desperately wanted that match on Raw to cover up for Rock being absent then it could still have happened as a match to see whether Punk could gain entry to the main event match. i.e. if Cena won it would be 1 v 1 and if Punk won it would be a triple threat... would have prevented the lustre of the Royal Rumble being diminished...

If they were going to put a title shot on the line, it should have been Swaggers as at least there would be a bit of will they/ wont they.

You would never find TNA doing anything like this....