Looking ahead after Wrestlemania 29

Looking ahead after Wrestlemania 29

While Wrestlemania 29's overall quality is questionable, the show pretty much lived and died on past storylines. Rock/Cena was mostly a rehash of their last match, Triple H/Brock was mostly a clone of the Cena/Brock match and usual Triple H squashes and Punk/Undertaker was mostly the same stuff that we always get, which is fine, but it never really hit the next level. While these matches were decent to good, the big problem coming out of this show is where does WWE go next? I've been trying to think of this, and I have nothing.

There's basically no obvious challengers coming out of this show. The Rock, Brock, Triple H and Undertaker are all famous names but for the most part, they aren't going to be around for the rest of the year. Unfortunately, the show was built around them so this means that the rest of the year is going to have to be built around others. Who are the others? I don't know.

The next challenger for Cena is tough to call in particular. I have no idea who is left. The only possibility of a fresh challenger that I can think of is Ryback, but he lost and has little steam. Matches with Ziggler, Jericho, CM Punk or other main eventers have been done to death and back and I think it will be a hard sell. At the moment, I can't think of a regular full time roster member that I would want to see go against him and that is a huge problem.

Things aren't much better on the Smackdown side of things. The Alberto Del Rio vs Jack Swagger feud was dead from the start and has nothing interesting to it at all. However, there aren't any better options elsewhere for fresh opponents for Alberto. Probably the freshest option is Mark Henry and even though a lot of people like him, I don't and I can't see any of their matches being decent. Ryback, again, could be an option but he just lost and his stock is rather low. Dolph Ziggler could be an option too, but he lost as well and his stock has constantly dropped since TLC. Sheamus, Orton and Big Show are all there, but those feuds have been done to death as well.

Looking around elsewhere on the show, The Shield are probably going to have some issues coming up as well. I guess they could do another match with Sheamus and Orton but a third person would have to be created for that team and unless they want to rehash Ryback, I don't know who that person is.

CM Punk is another problem since like all of the other full-time roster members, he lost as well. However, his loss wasn't as bad since it was to Taker. Still though, he's going to need a fresh direction. With who? I don't know. I think he would have some choices on the Smackdown side of things but on the Raw side, there's nothing. On the Smackdown side, there would be possibilities of Alberto/Punk, Sheamus/Punk, Ziggler/Punk and maybe Orton/Punk. Ziggler/Punk could be interesting and I wouldn't mind Alberto/Punk or Sheamus/Punk.

Ryback is another issue since he also lost. It's pretty much heel turn or nothing for him at the moment minus a possible Big Show/Ryback match, which nobody wants to see.

Dolph Ziggler is worth almost nothing at the moment. Supposedly there are big plans for him but something is going to have to happen and fast. He looked like a midcarder and he's been losing like a midcarder. Sure he can always cash in the briefcase but with his lack of momentum, a title run isn't going to help him.

Jack Swagger is another person with some big issues ahead. He's not over, he's not that good and his storyline sucks. I have no idea what you do with him minus more continued forcing him down people's throats.

Big Show is going to have something going on with Sheamus and Orton, possibly some kind of threeway feud, but I can't say I find any of those options really intriguing.

While Fandango didn't do that great of a job at Mania, he's going to need a continued push. I could see WWE skyrocketing him to fight with Cena, and maybe it could work, but he needs more time.

Chris Jericho is always going to be option and honestly, his loss probably didn't hurt him that much.

Team Hell No, did win, but they are clearly on their last legs. The storyline has run its course, but I suppose they could keep it going. I'm not sure what can be done with them from here. They could do more stuff with Zig/Big but those matches will only harm Zig. The Shield is a possibility, but we've already done that and it would bring them down.

Going down to the undercard and there are a bunch of problems there as well, mostly because the undercards came across as worthless for the most part.

Miz controversially main evented Wrestlemania two years ago and couldn't even make the card this year.  I'm sure his spot, whatever it is worth, is safe.

Wade Barrett must have upset someone because he's been on a record demise since his re-debut. Triple H nutshotting him confirmed it. His stock is probably at an all-time low and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

Antonio Cesaro may be the US champion but he wasn't even mentioned on Wrestlemania and while he may be the complete package, WWE doesn't believe in him. Even though he could be a main eventer, he's going to be in the midcard for a while.

Overall, WWE has some problems coming out of Wrestlemania and will surely be trying to fix them ASAP. Big changes are going to have to be made because Wrestlemania ended up doing more harm than good long term.