Hot Take: WWE Has a Major Problem at the Top of the Men's Card

While the hype of the upcoming march to WrestleMania 41 is justifiably huge right now, it overshadows one major problem in WWE that could come back to derail the whole thing.

The men's top title scene is a mess.

This primarily directs the spotlight on the World Heavyweight Championship and the elephant in the room: Gunther's middling title reign, booking, and list of competitors.

Look no further than Gunther's latest promo battle with Jey Uso, though those who missed it shouldn't feel overly obliged—not much happened:

And that's the problem. Gunther had a much more memorable reign as an Intercontinental champion. A big chunk of that was an ever-interesting, always-refreshing set of challengers.

Now, he's looking at a rematch with Uso on Saturday Night's Main Event. Uso can't escape guilt here, either. Their last match was yawn-worthy, and that's been true of almost everything Uso has done as a solo act.

While he's got a hype entrance and undoubtedly moves mega-merch numbers, he's very much still a tag-team wrestler in the ring and a charisma vacuum when the music goes off and he chats on the mic. The Bloodline story beckons him, to say the least.

It doesn't help that the results are super predictable at this point. Fans have, rightfully so, inked in Gunther as having a major WrestleMania match. They're not going to take the title off him so that Uso, of all people, can go have a title match at 'Mania against someone like CM Punk.

Right now, it just isn't all that interesting if Punk or Seth Rollins goes after Gunther and it's not all that appealing of a 'Mania match.

So...there's the other problem—whether it's John Cena, Punk, Rollins or somebody else, Gunther will be the heavy favorite to take a loss at 'Mania. But WWE also likely needs the Royal Rumble or Elimination Chamber to set up Cena getting a shot at Cody Rhodes for 'Mania.

This means WWE has backed itself into a corner.

It seems that WWE should probably remove Gunther from the title before WrestleMania. But if things clearly go that way, his impending loss will be super obvious, dramatically changing the Mania card.

Speaking of Rhodes, his title scene doesn't exactly escape blame, either. His entire title reign has essentially been the exact opposite of the story-driven narrative that powered Roman Reigns' run before it. It would be impossible to blame fans who are dramatically underwhelmed with Rhodes' current run by comparison.

Looking ahead to 'Mania, it also feels super obvious that Rhodes will take a loss. All signs seem to point toward an encounter with Cena, which would have fans knowing the result beforehand as the retirement tour starts in earnest. If it's Punk, there's probably a title change happening, too.

Though it is no fault of his own, Rhodes also has to deal with the specter of The Rock hanging over things. Corporate Dwayne Johnson showed up on the Netflix debut of Raw and seemed to write himself out of almost everything for 'Mania—but fans know how this goes with Rock by now and some last-second changes could spoil yet another Rhodes build before the biggest event of the year.

Gunther is more problematic, though, because it's trending toward a mostly forgettable show-opener title match that is just there because it needs to be.

Solutions aren't simple, either. But perhaps a very character-driven surprise—Chad Gable costing Gunther the title well before Mania—might work.

Overall, this is a massive shame for reasons that go beyond WrestleMania itself. This is the Triple H era of booking, with a foundation built on strong long-term storytelling and character work. Gunther seemed like the poster child for this era, set to establish himself as a main-event player for the next decade or so.

Cramming Gunther repeatedly into feuds with "and then the bell rings" guys and overall just booking him worse than his mid-card title run is quietly one of the bigger disappointments of the last few years.

This is pro wrestling, so there are ways to fix things like this. But the clock is ticking, and frankly, WWE hasn't shown any signs of making sure the top of the men's card is in a good spot, which sets up a possible flop at Mania.