KEY POINTS

  • WWE is rumored to be in a rush to replace Shane McMahon for WrestleMania 38
  • Former champions AJ Styles and Finn Balor could feasibly take his spot at the event
  •  McMahon's release may also lead to having more women's matches at WrestleMania

The recent issues surrounding the men’s Royal Rumble match involving Shane McMahon have reportedly reached a fever pitch as the company is struggling to deal with the fallout that impacts the upcoming WrestleMania 38 card.

“Source states the spot Shane McMahon was going to have on the WrestleMania card was to be positioned near the top. Therefore, WWE now needs a new ‘major attraction’ matchup outside of the titles. This goes [without] saying, but the WM card is still in complete flux. It’s quite amazing,” well-known industry informant WrestleVotes tweeted.

It was reported early in the week that McMahon was allegedly ‘let go’ from WWE after making a surprise return at the Royal Rumble event on January 29 due to his over involvement with the men’s match and booking himself to look strong.

The latest installment of WWE’s biggest show in its calendar remains bare, aside from the supposed title-versus-title matches featuring the men’s and women’s Royal Rumble match winners in Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey.

With McMahon out of the spotlight, there are a few options that WWE can turn to in order to beef up the yearly spectacle.

Reports surfaced over the past week that the Randy Orton–Riddle tandem of RK-Bro was supposed to split up at SummerSlam in order to build up the latter as one of the company’s feature attractions in coming years.

However, that plan was also scrapped as members of the creative team believe that if the split were to happen, it should be at WrestleMania and should be for the WWE Championship.

Having Orton and Riddle feud over the title would be a nice change of pace for the former Raw Tag Team Champions, but it would lead to a thinning of an already depleted tag team division.

The promotion currently has top-level superstars like AJ Styles and Finn Balor that they could put in a storyline ahead of WrestleMania as their lone meeting in the squared-circle was back in October 2017 at the TLC event.

While WWE shies away from direct mentions of other pro wrestling companies, the organization can have both superstars allude to its time with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and its joint history with the famed Bullet Club faction.

Aside from the men’s division, they currently have women’s stars like Liv Morgan, Nikki A.S.H., Rhea Ripley, Shayna Baszler and Shotzi, among others, that they could put together in a meaningful program.

Ripley and Nikki A.S.H. are currently in a feud with each other. However, it is highly unlikely that it will reach WrestleMania as Ripley was a former women’s titleholder, while the latter was involved in mid-card storylines.

Baszler has been floundering on the main roster since being called up in February 2020 and putting her in a program with a strong competitor like Ripley or Morgan should be enough to regain fan interest in her work.

Whether pro wrestling fans acknowledge it or not, McMahon is still capable of drawing attention thanks to his previous body of work that features high-flying spots that have made him a must-watch attraction in special rules matches.

However, WWE is still stacked with talent across the board that have barely been utilized to its maximum potential and could rely on them to put up entertaining matches on the two-night spectacle this April.

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