Since 2010, WWE WrestleMania has had a part timer problem

Over the last decade, WWE WrestleMania has had a proven track record of relying too heavily on its part-timers for the main event as opposed to focusing on the future.

WWE’s inability (or rather their refusal) to create new stars has been well documented for some time now and is far from a new phenomenon.

What’s more alarming is how at least one part-time competitor (someone who doesn’t work a full-time schedule with the company) has competed in the main event of WrestleMania almost every year since 2010.

That speaks volumes to how WWE views its current crop of talent and how none of them are portrayed as true stars, at least not in the same way the wrestlers of yesteryear were and are.

WrestleMania should be and always has been the showcase of the immortals, but if most of the matches are designed to get over the old guard and not the talent of tomorrow, a major problem arises. That is the state of affairs in WWE today with Brock Lesnar and Goldberg the two top champions on Raw and SmackDown as we approach WrestleMania 36.

If there was ever a time for WWE to start creating new stars who would headline ‘Mania for years to come, it would have been after the instant classic between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker. What should have been the end of an area instead marked the beginning of a trend that would only become more infuriating as years passed.

As poorly received as WrestleMania 27 was by fans, it was one of the few installments in the past decade to not feature a part-timer in the main event… technically.

John Cena vs. The Miz, no matter how you slice it, was never going to be a WrestleMania-worthy main event. The Rock Bottom to Cena is what most people remember about that event more than anything else. While Miz vs. Cena was a battle of full-time Superstars on paper, it was the interference from a part-time Rock that defined that year’s ‘Mania main event.

The Rock vs. Cena in the main event of WrestleMania 28, however, was the definition of a dream match. That big fight feel made it memorable and encapsulated what WrestleMania is all about.

Their matchup will never be remembered as being a five-star mat classic, but it accomplished what it needed to and, more importantly, lived up to the hype. Had that been the last time WWE relied on a notable name from the past to sell people on WrestleMania, there would be no reason for this discussion to be had right now.

In typical WWE fashion, they just couldn’t help going back to that well the very next year with a rematch of their “Once in a Lifetime” encounter, and unsurprisingly, it fell flat.

To Rock’s credit, he did what he set out to do in putting over Cena before bowing out and quietly retiring from the ring. When WWE couldn’t call upon The Great One to center their WrestleMania events around anymore, they resorted to other options instead.

WWE’s fantasy of babyface Batista conquering Randy Orton for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of WrestleMania 30 is every bit as laughable now as it was in 2014.

Despite not being the original plan, WWE turned a negative into a positive by adding Daniel Bryan into the bout at ‘Mania and having him leave with the title following a tremendous Triple Threat match. Bryan’s victory seemed to signal the changing of a guard, until it didn’t due to injury.

Much like with WrestleMania 30, WWE called an audible with the WrestleMania 31 main event at the last minute and thankfully Lesnar vs. Reigns turned out to be a masterpiece of a match. The way WWE used Lesnar was brilliant, which of course meant they had to repeat that same formula another three times at WrestleMania in the years that followed.

The Big Dog doesn’t typically thrive in chase mode, so the decision to make Reigns vs. Triple H a championship main event at WrestleMania 32 was the wrong one. As an No Holds Barred bout in the undercard, it would have been infinitely more effective and entertaining.

Reigns defeated The Game in the end to reclaim the championship he should have never lost, but at what cost? Triple H did nothing to turn the audience against him that night, and as a result, Reigns had to close out the event to a chorus of boos despite never doing anything wrong.

That was entirely the fault of WWE Creative. As unnecessary as a WrestleMania main event involving Triple H in 2016 was, it arguably wasn’t as bad as Undertaker headlining the Show of Shows at 52 in 2017.

Although WWE very well could have gone with Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg for the Universal Championship as the main event of WrestleMania 33, what they went with instead (The Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns) was actually inferior from both an in-ring and storytelling standpoint.

This would have been excusable had Undertaker’s unforgettable sendoff at the end of the evening not been rendered irrelevant the following year when he returned from “retirement.” Worse yet, Reigns didn’t feel any more special coming off his victory over Undertaker than he did previously.

Meanwhile, Reigns vs. Lesnar for the Universal Championship had been in the works for WrestleMania 34 over one year. A rematch was always going to happen at some point, though it didn’t necessarily have to be on the grandest stage of them all.

If fans had been clamoring for this rematch, then it would have been perfectly acceptable for it to be positioned as the main event again. On the bright side, three full-time competitors closed out WrestleMania 35 in what was the first female main event in the history of WrestleMania.

Becky Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey had been the hottest feud in all of WWE for months and thus, there was no doubt that they belonged in the main event spot at the Show of Shows. Charlotte Flair being shoehorned into the match (making it a Triple Threat in the process) felt forced, but it hardly hindered fans’ excitement for the encounter.

One year removed from WWE seemingly ushering in an era of change with WrestleMania 35, we unfortunately find ourselves back at the drawing board. With one of the deepest talent rosters in company history, there is no reason for part-timers to continue taking center stage at WrestleMania.