WWE WrestleMania 32: Is Vince McMahon Panicking?

WrestleMania 32 is just one month away and we still aren’t sure about the main event.

Traditionally at this point on the Road to WrestleMania, we would have at least a handful of confirmed matches being pushed and advertised on RAW, SmackDown, Twitter and WWE.com. These matches should be the result of dedicated emotional investment, long-running feuds that will finally have their resolution or championship dreams becoming a reality. Instead, we have more questions than answers and only some of them are kayfabe. Why did The Undertaker agree to fight Shane? Why was Roman Reigns absent from RAW this past Monday night? Do you want me to believe his beat down was so traumatic that he just couldn’t bear to show his face in Nashville? Why is Triple H granting a title match this close to WrestleMania? It seems to me that the WWE – and Vince in particular – is panicking.

Let’s take a look at the confirmed matches for WrestleMania 32. The Undertaker vs. Shane McMahon. And, we’re done.

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We can’t mention Triple H vs. Reigns or Dean Ambrose vs. Brock Lesnar because thanks to the somewhat strange actions that opened and closed Monday’s RAW, neither of those matches may happen. Booking in the WWE has been puzzling in the build-up to the Grandaddy of Them All to say the least. Remember when all signs pointed to The Wyatt Family feuding with Lesnar? That was fun. Remember when Kevin Owens had great momentum when he won back the IC belt and AJ Styles looked like the perfect new challenge? Good times. Those intriguing storylines were abandoned with nothing to take their place.

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I have said for weeks that Triple H vs. Reigns would be the worst match ever. More specifically, I recently called it a lose/lose for Reigns and still stand by that statement. So when Triple H and Ambrose squared off on RAW, I was genuinely excited at the prospect of Ambrose becoming WWE World Heavyweight Champion thereby facing Reigns at WrestleMania 32. This is much more compelling for several reasons and gives fans a match with an uncertain outcome. Whether or not we will actually see this come to fruition is uncertain because the WWE decided to ruin what could have been a strong moment for Ambrose by having Triple H squash another superstar (yet again) to close out RAW (yet again). Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

The goal is to elicit the exact opposite fan reaction to Triple H that they got during last week’s beat down of Reigns. The fans were cheering the despicable actions of the heel and in his infinite wisdom, Vince decided that Ambrose should be the next sacrificial lamb used to vilify Triple H. The problem is that now you have taken two of your top stars in back-to-back weeks and made them look like helpless weaklings compared to the King of Kings. Yes, the circumstances were somewhat different in that Ambrose was already in a severely weakened condition when Trips went Jack Torrance on him but why not have Ambrose use the low blow? It was good enough for Lesnar.

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The biggest show of the year, and quite possibly Vince’s career, is a month away and there are plenty of tickets yet to be sold. If Vince wants to break the all-time attendance record, drastic measures have to be taken and he needs to give people a reason to fork over their cash and travel to Dallas. Over the next 30 days, my fear is that matches and feuds will be created haphazardly to fill a 4-plus hour-long show. What frustrates me the most is that it didn’t have to be this way. The WWE had more than enough opportunities to create interesting matches with exciting possibilities. They simply failed.

It seems clear that Vince knows people aren’t buying into Triple H vs. Roman Reigns as the main event and it won’t surprise me when this changes. Ambrose will get his shot at the title on Saturday, Mar. 12th at WWE Roadblock. Fans will salivate at the chance to see Ambrose vs. Reigns, even if they’re fairly certain that Reigns will still emerge victorious.