Hot Take: It's Early, but WWE WrestleMania 38 Shaping Up to Be Just Another Show

There's still a ways to go, but WrestleMania 38 feels like it might just be the first-ever holding pattern WrestleMania. 

That's not necessarily a new idea, but it's one that's becoming truer and truer the closer WWE gets to the big two-night event from Arlington, Texas, that starts on April 2. 

Endless speculation has suggested that Roman Reigns' strong run as top dog on SmackDown will continue not just through this Mania but all the way up until WrestleMania 39, where the familial "Tribal Chief" storyline could conclude with a bout against The Rock in Inglewood, California, of all places. 

And the booking has backed that up to perfection. Reigns hasn't lost, and in the interim, Brock Lesnar has returned to dominate whatever, whenever. When Reigns pulled out of the Day 1 event due to COVID-19, Lesnar went and won the other brand's top title, derailing Big E. He then lost that title at Royal Rumble, before predictably winning the 30-man rumble to get things back on track for the headlining feud. 

WWE hasn't cared that this has been as predictable as it gets. The company knows what it wants, and what it wants is a Lensar-Reigns retread before a Rock return a year from now. 

In the process, the Raw men's main event scene is a disaster. Big E was unceremoniously dumped by...somebody in the rumble. Bobby Lashley beat Lesnar but looks weak because he needed help to win the title. 

Oh, and Lashley has to defend his title before 'Mania in an Elimination Chamber match against a hodgepodge of names...including Lesnar. There's a very real chance that Lesnar wins, just so WWE can do a title vs. title match at 'Mania, all other men's Superstars forgotten. 

And while Lesnar is doing that, Reigns will defend his title at Elimination Chamber against a yet-again-returning, 55-year-old Goldberg. 

It's a lot of predictable work for predictable outcomes. 

It's not as if things elsewhere have been much better. Ronda Rousey was brought back to make 'Mania feel bigger, but she'll feud with Charlotte Flair. Not only is that a feud fans have already seen at the cost of other women, it's blatantly a holding-pattern feud until Rousey can collide with Becky Lynch at the next 'Mania. As for Lynch, she'll spend the event fighting whichever poor soul wins the women's Elimination Chamber. 

There are no big announced outside names that WWE loves so much besides Lesnar and Rousey. This might be best exemplified by the sudden departure of Shane McMahon, who went out in a firestorm of speculation after the disaster of a men's rumble that featured him as one of the final three participants. 

Maybe Shane's messy departure was a sign WWE realized what it was trying to force into the top of the card with him are a bad way to go. But since the rumble, there hasn't been a ton to suggest WrestleMania 38 will be anything more than filler content. 

This barren outlook so close to the big event is likely to unfold as WWE tries to make another successful two-night event. It has to fill two nights of content that live up to the standard set by the 'Mania brand, not one. 

One has to wonder if WWE forces some of the storylines forward before they're fully cooked. Think, a Randy Orton-Riddle split or a family feud between Rey and Dominik Mysterio. There will be fun matches with must-see names like Sasha Banks and Bayley.

Even if this is a "meh" 'Mania that slots into other so-so events of its kind from past years, it'll still pop major numbers, whether that's via streaming, on social media or whatever else. It's WrestleMania...it's going to do numbers. 

But taking that for granted and not booking Superstars, feuds and storylines well in the months leading up to 'Mania and slapdashing it all together at the last second is misguided. 

There's still time for WWE to get it right and forge something that will excite fans. But the company's continued inability or refusal to build top stars has come back to hurt it badly here, as fans can see where the company will choose to go all-in on must-see material. 

And as of right now, WrestleMania 38 doesn't feel like it will sniff that sort of classification.