For wrestling fans, it goes without saying that WrestleMania season is one of the biggest times of the year for the industry. WWE is on the march to its tentpole annual event while plenty of other big events take places in the weeks and month before and after WrestleMania. AEW has their pay-per-views Revolution and Dynasty in that period, New Japan has shows like Wrestling Dontaku and the CMLL co-promoted Fantastica Mania tours in Mexico and Japan, and no shortage of big shows across the independents.
WrestleMania, however, does remain on a pedestal all its own.
It is what makes the build, both on-screen and behind the scenes, feel so lifeless. As March 22, 2026, names like Iyo Sky, Gunther, Charlotte Flair, Drew McIntyre, and Bayley are not on the announced card and it isn’t entirely clear how they would even get on the card. According to Dave Meltzer, this is largely thanks to plans being changed multiple times since before the Royal Rumble in response to slower than expected ticket sales. The allegedly original main event was going to be Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns 3 before plans shifted and it ultimately became Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton and CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns.
Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio that he thought this has been “the most second-guessed show,” he’d ever seen, “in the history of Mania.”
And, unfortunately, this may very well become the norm going forward.
DISCLAIMER
Now before going further, I want to be upfront – I have not actively watched WWE since late 2021/early 2022. Before the Janel Grant lawsuit or who could WWE sell to, the show had just stopped being for me in the way AEW did for me on national TV. I still follow it somewhat thanks to clips and review shows, but I do not actively watch the product.
I am saying this to make it clear I am not writing this with any malicious intent. Yes, I have my feelings on certain things, like the Saudi Arabia deal, but that is not applicable to what I am discussing. I am only speaking on how WWE’s creative efforts appear as an outside observer and the worrying signs for the future I could have missed if I was still watching regularly.
If anything, what I am going to suggest has more in common with Hollywood and the state of some studios’ creative teams.
“Corporatized” WrestleMania
WrestleMania 42 is the first WrestleMania since the TKO merger to appear to be a truly “corporatized” WrestleMania, at least as it relates to the card and build.
Vince McMahon had overseen the booking and overall creative direction of every WrestleMania from the first show through WrestleMania 39. After his second resignation from WWE in January 2024, the question became what does WWE creative look like without Vince McMahon involved in any capacity.
WrestleMania 40 in 2024 and WrestleMania 41 in 2025 appeared to suggest things would be fine. Business was the hottest it had been since the Attitude Era as WWE’s global reach only grew. It helped that 40 had the benefit of focusing most of its attention on the climax of The Bloodline storyline and 41 being Cena’s final WrestleMania and as a heel, no less, after a surprise heel turn the month before at Elimination Chamber.
The rest of both shows’ cards appeared to just fall in to place as it had in previous years.
It hasn’t been the case heading in to WrestleMania 42.
As mentioned earlier, reports suggest there has been plenty of second-guessing around the show’s card that’s been made worse by WWE’s reaction to WrestleMania’s ticket sales. The show got a notable bump in sales thanks to a surprise sale on March 16, or 3/16, for 3:16 Day in honor of ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, but remains roughly 10 to 12% behind where WrestleMania 41 was at the same time in 2025.
There seems to be a growing malaise with WWE’s product at the start of 2026 as it seems to be cooling off after a hot two or three years. Triple H, in particular, has been the focus of fan frustrations including getting loudly booed at multiple WWE post-shows such as the Royal Rumble.
It all seems to have cascaded down into a WrestleMania 42 build that, from the outside, appears both overcomplicated and somewhat uninspired. It reads as the kind of creative decisions akin to a summer blockbuster made “by committee” where the film’s development and final result, like the WrestleMania 42 build, is overcomplicated and uninspired.
It feels like the first truly “corporatized” WrestleMania where, like in other major businesses, things are going well as long as metrics keep going up. Now that those metrics aren’t going up at the same speed or, in some cases, even going down, it seems as though snap decisions are being made about where to take the WrestleMania card every few days with no signs of it being finalized despite the show being roughly four weeks out from the time of writing.
And this, unfortunately, is a future that could become the norm for WWE and WrestleMania going forward.
For all that Vince McMahon could be criticized for, and there is plenty, it was also clear the grip he had on the WrestleMania card. He would still make last-minute changes due to anything from his own whims to legitimate injuries just before the show, but it at least felt like WrestleMania had a clear direction every time.
The TKO merger changed that as now McMahon and many of WWE’s top brass now found themselves having to answer to those above them in the corporate ladder. McMahon’s second resignation ahead of the Janel Grant lawsuit being filed also meant WWE’s creative would be under someone else’s direct control for the first time since McMahon bought the promotion from his father in 1982. That person would be Triple H, though The Rock’s surprise return and announcement he was a new, prominent member of the TKO’s Board of Directors has left a cloud over Triple H’s head as the two did not get along during the Attitude Era.
The two appear to have buried the hatchet, though no shortage of fans have voiced their suspicions that there is still serious animosity there.
All this only gets exacerbated by ballooning ticket prices and the general cost being a WWE viewer now entails due to how spread out their TV shows are across streaming and cable services. It reeks of the big corporate mindset where if the company isn’t growing, its dying.
Once everything is boiled down, you are left with a true “by committee” WrestleMania build where board members and business metrics are more than ever having a direct impact.
It is something fans may have to get used to now that WWE is a subsidiary instead of its own entity. There are more “cooks in the kitchen” at WWE now than ever before as a result of the TKO merger, especially when it comes WrestleMania which is understandable given its standing as a marquee annual event. When cities are bidding on it the way they do for the Super Bowl, plenty of people are going to want a hand in making it as big as possible.
It also means more voices and factors taken in to account, which can lead to snap decisions like the ones reported on during the WrestleMania 42 build. Where matches are thrown out before being announced and inter-department communication begins to suffer, such as the reported frustrations from WWE’s graphics team over WrestleMania 42’s unclear direction and poor messaging from other department.
This is the reality of corporate world and one that WWE fans may have to get used to going forward when it comes to WrestleMania season.
Minimum Wage Nerd 