WWE WrestleMania 41 is built heavily around one of the biggest matches in pro wrestling history: John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes. But the rest of the card is suffering as a result of WWE’s laser focus on its blockbuster WWE Championship match.
Over the past two-plus years, WWE has excelled with strong storytelling across Raw and SmackDown. However, the company’s creative mojo has been noticeably absent throughout 2025, when SmackDown in particular has failed to consistently create compelling programming.
The timing of WWE’s booking slump couldn’t be worse, either. WrestleMania 41 is less than one month away, and a number of key stars are either completely directionless or wrapped up in underwhelming storylines. There have, of course, been some bright spots, like the rise of Jey Uso, Iyo Sky’s ascension and the drama involving Jade Cargill and Naomi.
But by and large, the lead-up to WrestleMania 41 isn’t delivering the goods the way it should. Here are five ways WWE is dropping the ball with its booking ahead of WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas.
Drew McIntyre Vs. Damian Priest
Even Drew McIntyre himself has expressed disappointment in his WrestleMania storyline, and indeed, it’s hard to describe a title-less midcard match against Damian Priest as anything less than a monumental letdown.
Though this match hasn’t officially been confirmed for WrestleMania 41, it’s blatantly obvious that’s where it’s headed, just as it’s clear that McIntyre deserves better. The Scottish superstar has been arguably WWE’s best all-around performers over the past few years, and yet, he finds himself in a rehashed feud en route to WrestleMania 41.
McIntyre and Priest have been crossing paths here and there since even before WrestleMania 40 last year, and though that would seemingly create a heated and intense rivalry, it certainly hasn’t felt like one. McIntyre, perhaps WWE’s No. 1 full-time heel, should be showcased in a more high-profile bout than one with Priest, who’s been over-pushed for the past year.
Much like AJ Styles vs. Logan Paul on Raw, there isn’t much of a reason to care about McIntyre vs. Priest, with no real heat built up or reason for fans to be emotionally invested.
The Midcard Championship Mess
WWE just flip-flopped the United States title back onto LA Knight on SmackDown. Meanwhile, Raw’s Bron Breakker appeared to be feuding with Styles before transitioning to a brief rivalry with Finn Balor and then being called out by Penta on last week’s Raw.
Translation: WWE’s midcard title scene is a mess. Given the frequent adjustments to Breakker’s direction, it seems that WWE has been making changes on the fly and only recently settled on Penta as Breakker’s likeliest WrestleMania opponent. The good thing is, Breakker and Penta are massively over with the crowd and should deliver a very entertaining IC title match, so the situation could certainly be worse.
In fact, the women’s midcard title picture is undoubtedly just that. Lyra Valkyria has never gotten a chance to shine as the Women’s Intercontinental Champion while Women’s US Champion Chelsea Green, despite consistently great performances, hasn’t really gotten a fair shake, either. That was an obvious concern when the women’s midcard titles were first created, and fans’ worst fears are coming to fruition.
The women’s midcard belts are held by two great performers, as are the men’s. But in all cases, the four titleholders are heading into WrestleMania 41 either without a storyline or with one that has been thrown together at the last minute.
WWE’s Two Forgotten Tag Team Divisions
WWE has three main roster tag team divisions, and the only one with even a modicum of momentum is the SmackDown tag team division.
The blue brand has a deep and talented tag team division that is frequently highlighted on Friday nights, which is why it was such a head-scratcher when WWE delivered such a big title change on SmackDown two weeks ago instead of holding off until WrestleMania 41. It was just nine days ago that The Street Profits defeated DIY in what was a memorable moment that could have been saved for “The Grandest Stage of Them All.”
Instead, it’s now unclear where SmackDown’s tag team division is headed, but at least that’s more than WWE can say about Raw’s division. On Monday nights, the World Tag Team Champions The War Raiders aren’t getting much in the way of long-term storytelling while the Women’s Tag Team Championship is virtually always forgotten about.
Even with Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez holding the titles, the focus in the women’s division is anywhere and everywhere but on building up legitimate tag teams.
Roman Reigns, Rhea Ripley And The Overreliance On Triple Threats
Generally speaking, singles feuds are much more intriguing than three-way rivalries, especially come WrestleMania 41.
For whatever reason, though, WWE has decided to build toward not one but two triple threat matches for some of the biggest names in the company: CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns as well as Sky vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Bianca Belair. WWE WrestleMania 41 takes place over the course of two nights, seemingly giving WWE ample opportunity to create intriguing singles feuds.
Instead, the creative team is shoehorning a third party into what had previously been singles rivalries. Had WWE just went with Rollins vs. Punk or Rollins vs. Reigns, it would lead to a more focused card that could have shifted the odd man out into a compelling singles rivalry of his own. Say, for example, if WWE went with Punk vs. Rollins again, it could have transitioned Reigns into a feud with someone like Jacob Fatu.
The same is also true of the trio of Belair, Sky and Ripley, which could benefit greatly from more intentional booking. Belair vs. Ripley or Ripley vs. Sky would make more sense, especially given that the latter would allow Belair to give her attention to her more pressing storyline with Naomi and Cargill.
It’s as if WWE didn’t think about Belair’s storyline with Naomi and Cargill when she won the Royal Rumble and is now trying to make up for it. But the unfortunate result is that Belair feels out of place, further proving why triple threat matches just aren’t as appealing as singles bout.
Sami Zayn Absent From WrestleMania Card
Where in the world is Sami Zayn?
In-storyline, he was written off TV following a heinous attack by Kevin Owens at Elimination Chamber. In reality, however, he’s heading toward WrestleMania 41 without a clear match on the show, which is mind-boggling considering that Zayn has been one of WWE’s most important on-screen performers for the past few years.
Consider what he’s done at the past two WrestleManias. At WrestleMania 40, he ended Gunther’s historic Intercontinental reign and undefeated streak. At WrestleMania 39, he and Owens defeated the Usos to become tag team champions in arguably the greatest WrestleMania main event of all-time.
Now? Zayn’s best bet at getting on the WrestleMania card might be a non-wrestling role in the grudge match between Owens and Randy Orton. Another option would be a wildly disappointing singles match with Karrion Kross. Unless WWE pulls something special out of its pocket, Zayn, who denied reports that he asked for time off, has no clear WrestleMania 41 match waiting.
And that’s a massive disappointment given what Zayn has meant and continues to mean to WWE to this day.