Can Women Main Event WWE WrestleMania?

With the announcement of the first ever WWE women’s Royal Rumble set for January 2018, opinions are naturally flying everywhere about next steps. Obviously this women’s Royal Rumble is a HUGE deal and should be met with praise for the WWE and all those who contributed to the idea. However, with so many firsts this year, this begs the question: is WWE ready to pull the trigger on a women’s WrestleMania main event?

The Problem and The Reason

Looking at the big event ahead, I unfortunately do not see a women’s main event in the cards for this upcoming WrestleMania. Why? Because both female rosters are currently not ready for it creatively. Do I think they could ever be ready for it? Yes, but if things continue as they are now, we may never get to that point.

The reason it’s difficult to picture women main eventing WrestleMania in the near future is that the female competitors are simply not over enough with the crowd. This is the result of a lot of things: the lack of time they have on the show and the lack of blockbuster personalities and storytelling certainly do not help the case.

If you look at the main event of WrestleMania, it’s usually occupied by the hottest commodities in and outside of the WWE (based on Vince McMahon’s opinion, like it or not). The closest candidates to that caliber right now are Charlotte Flair, Asuka, Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss, but they are nowhere near that upper echelon yet. Given proper storytelling and booking over the next year though, anything is possible. If any woman becomes the top John Cena level star in the WWE, then of course they should be in the main event of WrestleMania; we’re just waiting for WWE to put enough weight behind these women to make that happen.

The Possibilities   

I mentioned above the women who I think could be built to main event a WrestleMania in the near future. What I did not mention though, are the possibilities of outside forces coming to WWE. Much like WrestleMania main events of the past, huge stars from around the world sometimes come to WWE to battle with the current generation’s best. A returning Trish Stratus or Lita could very well catapult the women’s match into the next level.

Similarly, though having no WWE history, a match involving Ronda Rousey also has that “larger than life” potential. Imagine Rousey, previously with an undefeated streak in UFC, taking on Asuka to try and end Asuka’s streak. That match is money. With WWE constantly alluding to a clash of the four horsewomen of WWE and MMA, that also has potential to make waves in WrestleMania. However, a multi-person match will likely not be a WrestleMania closer. Either Asuka or Charlotte should battle Rousey one on one for a proper WrestleMania finish.

Another idea for WWE would be to not rely on outside forces and actually focus on the women they have competing throughout the year. I’m partial to this option because it may bring something out in some of the female competitors. It will allow fans to invest in a personality and not just the face/name that these wrestlers present. Instead of seeing stagnant characters week after week in the women’s division, maybe we could get some much needed character development from some who desperately need it i.e Bayley who is literally just a 12 year old who is afraid of wacky sticks. If WWE can concentrate on the talent they have, then fans will concentrate on the feuds that the talent produce.

However, it’s not all on WWE to produce this magic. Even though some of the women are phenomenal in ring workers, most of them desperately need work on the mic. Though I love Sasha Banks and Bayley, I struggle to remember a time when I did not cringe at a promo either of them delivered.

The Vince McMahon Dilemma

Vince McMahon may be the biggest hurdle to jump on the road to a women’s WrestleMania main event. Vince knows who he wants to headline WrestleMania almost a year in advance; he may not be sure of what the actual match will be, but there is always a working idea set for next year’s grand spectacular. These days you can imagine every main event will be occupied by Roman Reigns, John Cena. Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker or HHH in some capacity. Why? Because those are the “big” names. Those names sell tickets, and it will be very difficult to convince the chairman otherwise.

The final ok needs to go through Vince McMahon, and he will not be able to green light a main event of the most important show of the year if people are not buying tickets for that exact match. We’ve seen in the past that Vince can get on board with angles and characters that have steam and get the fans tuning into RAW every week, but for him to recognize and promote a women’s angle as the biggest deal heading into WrestleMania is a longshot. He has his idea of a proper main event, and unless he has no unanimous choice to think otherwise, that main event will not involve the women’s division. Perhaps when HHH is in charge we will see a difference in the order of things, but as of now I cannot see Vince choosing say a Asuka vs. Charlotte champion vs. champion match over something like Rock vs. Cena III.

The Verdict

A lot more work has to be done in order to see women main event WrestleMania. I want it to happen, and I do believe it will at some point, there just needs to be a larger focus on the women to be a bigger part of the show week in and week out. There also needs to be more compelling storylines and mic work all around, and there needs to be a change in the perspectives of upper management. If two female stars can produce so much charisma and intrigue behind a match over all others, WWE will have to put it as the main event. However, due to poor booking and lack of development, that has not happened yet.

I very much expect WrestleMania 34 to end with Roman Reigns laughing directly into the camera as fireworks surround him as the absolute overlord star god man of WWE, but in the future we could very well see a different ending – one with the women of WWE showing us the immense amounts of talent they have.