Monday night’s episode of RAW included the announcement of a match we all expected for WrestleMania 32: a multi-man match for the Intercontinental title.
The specifics are that it will be a ladder match involving champion Kevin Owens and challengers Dolph Ziggler, Sami Zayn, The Miz, Stardust, Sin Cara and Zack Ryder. Yes, that's the same Zack Ryder that has been working almost exclusively as a tag team performer in NXT, now randomly getting a singles title shot at WrestleMania.
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Full disclosure, Ryder was rumored to have been a late substitute for an injured Neville, but that doesn't make it much better. If the last year has taught us anything, it’s that there should always be a plan B because injuries happen.
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Participant problems
This is not an attack on Zack Ryder. Truth be told, it's somewhat nice to see a guy who has made the most of every situation get a big match. But he, Sin Cara and even Stardust have little reason to be involved in the match. In fact, they're only in the story to begin with because Kevin Owens put them in a No. 1 contender’s match as a joke.
So in response to that, Stephanie McMahon put those three, plus the three men who had been booked as more logical contenders, into a ladder match with Owens. Her role in this also adds to the frustration, as she acted too busy to even focus on the WrestleMania scenario for one of the company’s most historically significant belts.
Two weeks before the “Showcase of the Immortals,” and the boss was booked to be too busy to care about a belt. I know that isn’t the reality, but even telling that story on-screen devalues what should be an important match for the WWE.
So that match, which could be a really cool continuation of a tradition started last year and another tribute to the epic showdown between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon at WrestleMania 10, was displayed as an afterthought.
Other options
Further, even though the roster was depleted by injuries, there were other options. Luke Harper was apparently injured in an inexplicably loaded dark match after RAW, but he was a key component to last year’s match alongside Ziggler, Stardust, Daniel Bryan, Dean Ambrose, Wade Barrett and R-Truth. He would've been a better choice than at least three of the men in the match.
The same could be said for Bray Wyatt, but he, too, has been injured.
Chris Jericho and AJ Styles would've been beyond logical choices. Instead of booking them for their fourth big singles match in the last six weeks or so, those two could've been booked into the Intercontinental scene with ease. In fact, Styles and Owens have squared off a couple times recently, and Jericho has won that belt more than anyone.
Then there are guys like Damien Sandow and Tyler Breeze. Both of those performers are beloved by fans but have been largely directionless for weeks. They would've made more sense than Ryder and Sin Cara.
The final possibility would've been an NXT call-up like Finn Balor, Samoa Joe or even Shinsuke Nakamura. Any of those three would've injected excitement into the match, even if the call-up was just for one night this time around.
What's left
The WWE writers and brass didn't choose any of those options, though, and they also didn't go with the even easier choice of leaving the match at four or five men.
Instead, they booked what could've been a monster matchup to look like an afterthought. What could've been a clash involving the current champion, established main roster stars, new blood and legends from across the globe, has instead become a four-man contest with three extra players.
In the next week, Zack Ryder and Sin Cara will get wins to fake legitimacy, as will Stardust probably. During the match, we'll get high-impact spots from Sin Cara, Stardust and Ziggler, and we may even get some innovation from Owens and Zayn.
But in the end, no one is leaving WrestleMania with the Intercontinental Championship besides Owens, Zayn or maybe Ziggler, unless there is a total surprise. Any intrigue in the match has been washed away by lazy booking, and that's becoming a tradition.
If, instead, the WWE wishes to make the Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match a tradition at WrestleMania, that's fine. Make it a collection of the seven most gifted competitors outside the main event, and build to it with qualifying matches, practice runs with the ladders on RAW and rivalries between the combatants. That would truly be a lasting tribute to the HBK-Ramon match that is commonly considered one of the greatest matches in WrestleMania history.
But give it the respect the belt deserves. Don't make the participants a thrown-together assortment of leftovers with no connection. And next time, at least make sure the boss is paying attention when the match comes together.
