Every major feud in the WWE, all year long, hovers around the possibility of a WrestleMania spot. Many angles and booking decisions don't make it to Mania while only a select few stick around for the show of shows.
As WrestleMania gets closer, it gets clearer as to who Vince and his writers would want to see at the event. It's no longer a conspiracy theory to claim that Vince and company don't pay a whole lot of heed to fan reactions. A little more apathy than required, one could say.
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WWE in 2015-2016 was at a point where only a drastic change could give existing fans a reason to stick around. After Shane McMahon returned before last year's WrestleMania (another desperate yet successful stunt by Vinny Mac), people sensed a visible change in the air that had been missing since the last couple of years. The WWE Universe was again reaching a point where they could not take John Cena anymore.
It goes without saying that Roman Reigns being shoved down our throats instead of Cena wasn't exactly the change people needed.
However, things had started to improve post the brand-split. 2017 came around and the critics began to feel that good wrestling and storylines were back full time in the WWE. Sure, there's still a lot of under-utilized talent on the roster, but it's much less in number than pre brand-split.
But all of that goes down the drain each year at WrestleMania. It's almost as if Vince has a directive for Triple H and Stephanie that they can control Raw and SmackDown, but only Vince will control WrestleMania. Nothing else can justify why Roman Reigns has been given the biggest match of WrestleMania against The Undertaker.
The thing about Roman fighting The Undertaker at WrestleMania is that at this point in his career, The Undertaker can't have a forgettable match. This could easily be his last WrestleMania ever, and to ride into the sunset after having been beaten by Roman Reigns – not Kevin Owens or even Brock Lesnar (in a final standoff) – would be underwhelming for the most legendary career in wrestling.
WWE has screwed up in the past with horrible booking decisions. This one, I believe, is worse than all of them.
On that note, here are five horrible booking decisions that were still better than Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker at WrestleMania.
#1 Vince McMahon winning the ECW title from Bobby Lashley
Another one of those instances where Vince McMahon's vision got the better of him. What was supposed to be the reincarnation of Mr. McMahon's character ended up becoming a lost memory that fans avoid thinking about.
The thing with this booking decision is that the WWE may have underestimated the hostility of the fans at that point. Not a lot of people forgave WWE for pulling that stunt. This essentially culminated in Bobby Lashley quitting the WWE, and Vince was criticised for doing so little to make him stay.
That the WWE managed to sail past that had a lot to do with the fact that it was the ECW title and not the WWE title, which was already in jeopardy at the time.
Also read: 5 Reasons Roman Reigns is pushed despite all the hatred
Also, the hated performer among the two of them was Vince McMahon, a multi-talented billionaire with the best mic skills on the planet. The hated performer at this year's WrestleMania is Roman Reigns, who's been given way too much of a push for his own loss.
But that's not our concern here, really. Our primary concern with Roman facing The Phenom is the potential of a mediocre and forgettable match at pretty much the end of The Undertaker's career.
#2 Nexus Loses to Team Cena at SummerSlam 2010
Nexus is arguably one of the most dominant heel factions of all time in the WWE. Their build up as the anti-Cena division of the WWE that never got an opportunity was incredibly over with the audiences.
The Nexus was booked brilliantly in the first few months of the faction's existence. Just when people thought Nexus had lost, CM Punk became a part of it to defeat John Cena. Things couldn't have been better.
WWE could have been a different playground today had Nexus not been buried by Super-Cena at SummerSlam 2010.
On Chris Jericho's podcast "Talk is Jericho", Edge revealed that both Jericho and Edge wanted the Nexus to win but Cena refused. It's instances like these that have turned people hostile to Cena's influence on the WWE.
But then again, that was Nexus, a bunch of promising upcoming talent who had a lot to prove. Here, we have The Undertaker, a legend who's at the brink of retirement. Even if we assume Roman is as good as Cena at selling out venues, it still doesn't eliminate the possibility of an underwhelming match.
This is especially since The Undertaker is now slightly weak and fragile in the ring. He deserves an opponent who would make him look strong, something that Shane O'Mac successfully pulled off last year.
#3 Twice in a lifetime
Yes, the much anticipated "once in a lifetime" WrestleMania match between John Cena and The Rock that actually took place at two consecutive WrestleManias was also better than Roman vs Taker, for the simple reason that The Rock and Cena are such massive personalities that even their flaws as wrestlers are overshadowed.
Unless Roman goes extreme and upstages his previous performances, Taker's last WrestleMania match (possibly) is looking to be included in future lists of horrible booking decisions by the WWE.
Vince McMahon desperately wants Roman to have the kind of star power that Cena or The Rock possess.
#4 Ending the streak
I'm of the opinion that The Undertaker could have been the exception in the industry. The streak that was so protected and over with the audiences for almost a quarter of a century, was ended at a pretty vulnerable point in his career.
Personally, I think Taker should've have retired with an unbroken streak. But since the impact of Taker's loss at WrestleMania at the hands of Brock Lesnar was so great, people can't forget it no matter what.
That's one of the reasons why potentially last WrestleMania match of The Undertaker's career should have Brock Lesnar as his opponent. The Undertaker has had 15 years of rivalry with Brock Lesnar and his rivalry with Roman Reigns is barely a couple of months old.
And to be quite honest, this doesn't even look like a rivalry as much as this looks like an angle being crammed into our minds.
#5 Roman Reigns vs Triple H at WrestleMania 32
When I say Roman Reigns could make Undertaker's last WrestleMania match forgettable, I have Roman Reigns' match against Triple-H at last year's WrestleMania to back me up.
Throughout the year, Roman and Hunter were going off against each other in and out of the ring to eventually meet at WrestleMania, only to make a match that most fans can't even recall.
The Undertaker has given a lot to this industry and has pushed a lot of guys over himself. That's why we believe he could have had a better opponent than Roman Reigns.
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