WrestleMania 41: 5 reasons why it failed to impress

WrestleMania 41, unlike WrestleMania XL and other terrific events in the past, could not hit it out of the park. A lot of factors which could have gone well otherwise, did not. There were many things that were responsible for the show to not live up to the expectations. While some of them were unfortunate, others could have been worked upon, especially by the creative team.

The show did have some amazing matches, which led to the fans getting entertained. But since a PLE like WrestleMania spans for 2 nights with a lot of matches and segments, the quality of the show must be high on an overall scale to ensure the fans are invested. WWE wasn't able to get all pieces right, as there were more misses than hits in Las Vegas.

Also Read: WWE WrestleMania 41, Night 1: Complete List of Winners & Match Results

5 reasons why WrestleMania 41 failed to impress

Lack of buildup

The buildup for many matches was not up to the mark. Especially for the world title matches, it seemed like something lacked that could not get the best from the wrestlers. If not for Gunther's attack on Jimmy Uso, the feud between Jey Uso and the Ring General lacked substance. Similarly, the buildup for Tiffany Stratton vs Charlotte Flair wasn't great either.

In non-title matches, the match between Jade Cargill and Naomi had a good buildup. The buildup for the match between Drew McIntyre and Damian Priest was good too. Apart from them, a majority of matches did not have a good buildup. It did not help the fans to get invested into a story they wanted to witness in the show of all shows.

Average execution of matches

A majority of matches from both nights did not live up to the expectations. The matches which were highly praised by the fans were LA Knight vs Jacob Fatu for the US Championship, Seth Rollins vs CM Punk vs Roman Reigns, Iyo Sky vs Bianca Belair vs Rhea Ripley, and the Fatal 4-way match for the IC Championship.

On the other hand, high profile matches like Cody Rhodes vs John Cena and Gunther vs Jey Uso received poor reviews from the fans. The match between Randy Orton and Joe Hendry received mixed opinions, and so were the matches like Drew McIntyre vs Damian Priest, Tiffany Stratton vs Charlotte Flair, El Grande Americano vs Rey Fenix, and the Tag Team title matches. 

Lack of excitement

It seemed like the fans were not highly excited to watch WrestleMania 41 like they did with previous WrestleManias. Many were criticial of the buildup for the world title matches featuring top merch sellers of the company like Jey Uso, Cody Rhodes, and John Cena. In fact, their matches disappointed the fans the most at WrestleMania.

Despite Cena's heel turn, the show did not peaked the interest of the fans as much as it should have. The buildup for the Main Event of Night 2 lacked spice, unlike WrestleMania XL. The way the show of all shows was promoted with the weird occasions of releasing tickets meant the fans did not care much about the event.

Injuries of key wrestlers 

Injuries are a part and parcel of Wrestling. However, injuries just a few days before the event could be fatal. There were three wrestlers who had a match at Mania and missed out due to injuries. The biggest of them was Kevin Owens, who had to face Randy Orton, a match that could've well turned out to be the best of the lot from both nights.

Likewise, on WWE Smackdown before Mania, Rey Mysterio got injured, which led to him being replaced by Rey Fenix. If Mysterio wrestled instead of Fenix, the result could have been different, which could've well led to revealing who El Grande Americano actually is. Bayley got injured and was replaced by Becky Lynch who made a grand return at Mania.

The absence of The Rock

The Rock not showing up after Elimination Chamber probably made the biggest difference for Mania. The Final Boss carried WrestleMania XL on his back by elevating Cody Rhodes for over a month in their feud. If he would have showed up before WrestleMania 41, things could have spiced up more between Cody and Cena before their big match.

The whole point of Cena's heel turn depended on The Rock's signals. However, the relationship between the duo was not established well enough before or even during Mania. The re-shoots of Moana 2 meant the Great One could not show up. It was probably the biggest reason behind WrestleMania 41 not delivering as per the expectations of the fans.