WrestleMania 38 was just less than a year ago, but much like everything in professional wrestling, a lot can change in just a short amount of time. For the most part, the two-night event was a success, with a lot of fun matches and moments.
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However, not everything on the show - even the best moments - has aged well. There are in fact a fair few things that don’t look as good a year later, whether that be due to hindsight, bad booking in recent months, or terrible press affecting those who were involved at WrestleMania 38 in some cases too.
10 Edge Forming The Judgment Day
Ahead of WrestleMania, Edge turned heel, though his character wasn’t overly enthralling. His match with AJ Styles underwhelmed, but it did see the start of his alliance with Damian Priest, which would mark the start of the Judgment Day faction.
This looked to be a great way for Edge to elevate others, though just a few months later there had been a coup, as Finn Balor took his spot, with the group turning against him. The moment of Priest and Edge aligning at WrestleMania meant nothing in the long run.
9 Focus On Gable Steveson
Following the Raw Tag Team Title match, Gable Steveson was given a big moment as he got the better of Chad Gable and stood tall with the likes of Randy Orton.
A whole year later, Steveson has had just one appearance on WWE television, even though there was a lot of hype around his name. WWE clearly wanted to spotlight him, but there was no follow up.
8 Charlotte Flair’s Shock Victory Over Ronda Rousey
WWE went with shock value at WrestleMania 38 by having Charlotte Flair surprisingly defeat Ronda Rousey. Just a month later, Rousey won the SmackDown Women’s Title, making the loss feel pointless. However, this bad booking set Rousey up for a poor year in the title picture, all leading to Flair winning the title back on an episode of SmackDown.
The championship has had a really terrible year, and it all began here with this baffling creative move.
7 Boring Babyface Bobby Lashley
WWE made the decision to turn Bobby Lashley babyface ahead of WrestleMania, pitting him as the underdog against Omos. This experiment has been a failure, as “good guy” Lashley didn’t work out too well.
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He has now returned to a more aggressive persona that saw him get suspended as part of a storyline, which suits him better. This match benefited no one in hindsight.
6 Lack Of Midcard Titles
WWE made the decision to leave both the Intercontinental and United States Title off WrestleMania last year in a controversial move. When looking at how well they’ve been booked since Triple H took control, it has made Vince McMahon look completely foolish.
The last few months have proven just how effective these two legendary championships can be, and it further ridicules the choice to leave Ricochet and Finn Balor, the respective midcard champions, off the card in 2022.
5 Rick Boogs Opening WrestleMania
The first match of WrestleMania 38 saw Rick Boogs and Shinsuke Nakamura challenge for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles. This was a slightly underwhelming encounter, especially since Boogs picked up a long-term injury.
Boogs has yet to be seen on WWE television again, with Nakamura hardly getting any spotlight too. Opening WrestleMania is usually a huge spot, but one year later, it is clear to see that this spot was wasted. Boogs was likely supposed to get highlighted in a major way, but things didn’t go to plan.
4 Sasha Banks & Naomi Win Women’s Tag Team Titles
When Sasha Banks & Naomi won the Women’s Tag Team Titles at WrestleMania, there was some hope of a resurgence for the gold. However, bad booking led to the pair walking out of Raw, getting suspended, and stripped of their belts.
The titles have yet to recover from this, and Banks has now firmly left the company, turning up in NJPW at the start of 2023. This was supposed to be a huge moment for the division, but it turned into a huge farce.
3 Sami Zayn Losing To A Celebrity
It must be noted that the match between Sami Zayn and Johnny Knoxville was a lot of fun, so the match itself hasn’t aged badly. What has aged poorly is the booking Zayn overall, who was booked here to lose to a celebrity.
Fast-forward to 2023 and he is the most over act in the company, and when looking at how talented he is, he should have been in a much higher spot.
2 Vince McMahon Getting The Spotlight
On Night 2 of WrestleMania, Vince McMahon stepped foot in the ring once again, taking on a tired Pat McAfee in a match. McMahon squashed his opponent in a truly abysmal bout, and then had a huge face-off with long-time rival Steve Austin.
Considering the year embroiled in controversy that Vince McMahon has had, having this much focus and spotlight feels very uncomfortable and should arguably not have happened. It was bad anyway, but everything that followed makes it even worse.
1 Undisputed WWE Universal Championship Unification
The main event of WrestleMania saw Roman Reigns defeat Brock Lesnar in a match which was billed as the biggest ever due to it unifying the WWE and Universal Titles. The match was basic but the night ended with Reigns looking unstoppable.
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The lack of two world champions has been felt on Raw and SmackDown, especially since Reigns transitioned to a part-time schedule. WWE booked itself into a corner, with there being a hesitance to have Reigns lose, but a real need to find a way to get one of the two belts from his shoulder to crown a full-time champion on one of the two brands.
