The 5 People Who Can Fix the WrestleMania XXX Main Event

As The Masked Man said, the WWE has already shown that they are aware of our feelings toward Batista, and by extension toward the current WrestleMania XXX main event. Five weeks from the event, there are plenty of course corrections they can plot, some more corrective than others.

Many speculate that the Undertaker-Brock Lesnar match will end the show, making it the de facto main event by virtue of its high stakes. Although, the stakes feel considerably lower here than they have in the past 4 years. I have no doubt that the two will work a great match, but having Lesnar be the man to finally break The Streak doesn’t make much sense. The most valuable thing The Streak brings to the WWE is mileage. It makes no sense to end it as long as there is even a 1% chance The Undertaker can return for another year, and when that 1% is gone, they will want a full time roster-type to break it. As far as superstar pushes go, ending The Streak is in many ways more important and lasting that any title reign. A Lesnar win is certainly not “best for business”, WWE angle-wise or in real life.

That said, simply moving Orton-Batista out of the final slot doesn’t fix the problem at the top of the card. Fans have come to expect an Undertaker match at WrestleMania, in addition to at least one other main-event quality match (which in some cases still isn’t the title match) (see Rock-Cena I). While it’s likely too late for inclusion of The Rock to fix this particular main event (because “schedules”), here are five people who can fix the WrestleMania XXX main event:

Shawn Michaels

In one of the least dramatic course corrections the WWE can take, The Authority could announce a special guest referee for the Orton-Batista match at any point. This would seem like a great idea for multiple reasons: they could hype a mystery referee announcement from 8pm until 10:55pm on an upcoming Raw, or they could even make fans tune into the WWE Network exclusive Raw post show to find out who the main event special referee is going to be.

Secondly, beside the fact that HBK has served as “special referee-fix all” in the past, it would create intrigue surrounding Triple H’s allegiances and who he sees as “the face of the WWE” going forward. If nothing else, we’d know that they’ve added at least one Superkick to the main event, the recipient would be the only question.

Roman Reigns

The Shield is the biggest collective absentee from the WrestleMania XXX card at this point. Some may submit that Sheamus is a higher profile superstar, but The Shield (especially Reigns since the Royal Rumble) have had arguably a bigger impact on the current crop of WWE storylines and character arcs than anyone else in 2013-14. Roman Reigns proved two things at the Royal Rumble – that he looks at home in the ring with the top tier superstars, and that he has a measurable affect on the crowd.

The WWE Universe spent the better part of that pay per view and every Raw thereafter tweeting and talking about Roman Reigns – just because he doesn’t have a “YES” chant, doesn’t mean he isn’t one of the next big superstars. WWE ringside announcers have already annointed him “a future WrestleMania main eventer” (along with Bray Wyatt), so why not main event this WrestleMania? Reigns’ inclusion will generate just enough smark buzz to redeem the main event, even if he has no ultimate effect on the outcome.

Alberto Del Rio

Batista’s feud with Alberto Del Rio has been a poorly recieved slow squash. Del Rio has been nothing but an inefectual stepping stone for the returning star, but he could still have a positive effect on the WrestleMania XXX main event. By injuring Batista backstage or ringside, he could create some uncertainty regarding the main event.

WWE could tease the fact that Batista “may not be medically cleared” for the match, which would open the door for a multitude of storyline scenarios. Even if Batista ultimately ended up competing in the main event, if nothing else it would generate some type of pre-match buzz over what will seem like a very long 5 weeks if nothing is done to modify this match.

Daniel Bryan

This one is the most obvious choice, and the one many fans are calling for. It’s been long speculated that Daniel Bryan’s meteoric rise will result in his inclusion in the WrestleMania main event. Keep this in mind though: for many of us, Daniel Bryan is so fun to root for because he hasn’t been included in things like the WrestleMania main event yet.

In some ways, the Yes Movement began at 2012’s post-WrestleMania 28 Raw when the fans expressed their discontent at Bryan and Sheamus’ 18-second squash match by chanting “YES” and “Dan-iel Bry-an” all night. I’ll admit, I am fearful that if Bryan is inserted in the main event it gives us fans too much of what we want. Bryan himself has said that each crowd only has so many “YES”s in them, and on nights that he comes down that ramp multiple times, the energy tends to dissipate with each appearance. Not only would this be a possibility at Mania, but it would render his match against Triple H, which I think could steal the show, anti-climactic. WrestleMania is not the place to risk YES fatigue.

CM Punk

Tonight’s WWE Raw comes to you live from Chicago, Ill., home of CM Punk. Could Punk’s now-famous workplace walk-off have been a work all along? Or is it possible that it was legit, but Vince McMahon has since dangled a blank check toward Punk, in exchange for one saved WrestleMania main event?

CM Punk’s inclusion in the match could certainly save the entire pay-per-view for many fans, and if nothing more it would make the Road to WrestleMania a lot more interesting. Just imagine the pipe bombs after Punk’s January walkout followed by his 35 days of Twitter silence (not that we’re counting). They could even give WrestleMania XXX host Hulk Hogan credit for “bringing CM Punk back”, an ultimate grand babyface gesture.