The Real Problem With WrestleMania Builds Right Now

WrestleMania is supposed to feel inevitable.

Not predictable, but earned. Like everything that happens on that stage had to happen as the weeks leading up to it left no other option. Right now, it doesn‘t feel like that. It feels assembled.

Across this year’s card, there isn’t one single issue dragging things down. It’s something more consistent than that - a pattern. Matches aren’t being built, they’re being forced into place.

And once you notice it, it’s hard to ignore.

Take Cody Rhodes vs Randy Orton. On paper, it’s one of the strongest matches WWE can make. There’s history, credibility and a built-in story that doesn’t need dressing up. So naturally, it’s been dressed up.

Instead of leaning into that simplicity, the build has become increasingly convoluted with outside involvement, unclear motivations and logical gaps. The kind of additions that don’t deepen the story, but distract from it. A match that should feel personal instead feels overproduced.

The same pattern shows up elsewhere, just in different forms.

The Women’s Tag Title picture hasn’t been built through rivalry or momentum, but through repetition - the same DQ finishes, the same recycled story beats, all leading toward a multi-person match that feels like like a culmination and more like a workaround. It’s not escalation. It’s stalling.

Then there’s Rhea Ripley vs Jade Cargill. A feud that somehow contains too many ideas and none of them fully formed. It started with a vague physical comparison. Shifted into a blurred work/shoot dynamic on social media. Then pivoted again into a faction forming around Jade, with little explanation. Individually, any of these could work. Together, they don’t connect.

The result is a story that feels less like a progression and more like a series of disconnected drafts.

The Intercontinental Championship ladder match might be the clearest example of the issue.
Qualifiers that don’t function as qualifiers. Participants added without justification. Others disappearing entirely from the build.

Granted that Rey Mysterio is a legend of the business, but when he can simply ask to be included in this match and be granted entry, it tells you everything about the structure - or lack of it. Nothing feels earned, because nothing has to be.

Even matches that should carry natural weight feel oddly hollow.
Becky Lynch vs AJ Lee has history, presence and star power but lacks one crucial thing: momentum.

If AJ had been positioned as an active, dominant champion throughout the build, the outcome would feel uncertain. Instead, the match feels like a transition, not a contest. When a WrestleMania match feels like a foregone conclusion, something has gone wrong long before the bell rings.

Elsewhere, it’s not even about over-complication. It’s about absence.
Liv Morgan vs Stephanie Vaquer has barely been given room to exist. The dynamic hasn’t evolved beyond repeated backstage attacks, leaving the match without shape or stakes.

It’s not underdeveloped. It’s barely developed at all.

And then there are the moments where WWE seems to actively undercut its own ideas.

Finn Bálor bringing back the Demon should feel like a turning point. Something saved, something protected. Instead, it’s been announced. Telegraphed. Stripped of the very surprise that would have made it special.

Even the more high-profile programs aren’t immune.
Gunther’s attack on Seth Rollins came without clear motivation, leaving the feud to retroactively justify itself. There are hints of a larger story (potential ties to Paul Heyman, implications involving Brock Lesnar) but right now, they’re just that. Hints. Hints don’t carry WrestleMania matches on their own.

To be clear, not everything is broken.

CM Punk vs Roman Reigns has had moments of magic.

Oba Femi vs Brock Lesnar is one of the most exciting builds in recent memory.

Drew McIntyre vs Jacob Fatu has had intensity and direction - but even there, it feels like the peak may have arrived too early, leaving the remaining weeks to fill time rather than build tension.

And maybe that’s the real issue.

Most of the matches don’t feel like they‘ve had a build designed to peak at WrestleMania. It feels like they’ve all had a series of moments that have already peaked, with the show itself expected to carry the rest.

When matches are: overcomplicated instead of focused, assembled instead of earned, and announced instead of revealed, you don’t get anticipation.
You get acceptance.

WrestleMania shouldn’t be something you accept. It should feel like something you’ve been pulled toward for weeks. Something that couldn’t have happened any other way. Right now, too much of this card feels like it could have been anything.

Which, for a show built on inevitability, is probably the biggest problem of all.