The Wrestlemania 2016 Intercontinental Championship Match

Sami Zayn debuted not too long ago on the main roster and continued his rivalry with Kevin Owens, the Intercontinental Champion. It seemed you had a Wrestlemania match right there. A title was on the line. These two had a history together. Don't forget both are good in the ring. The WWE does not seem to be content with just that. They have tossed in a few more bodies. And a ladder. Kevin Owens must defend against Zayn, Dolph Ziggler, Zack Ryder, Sin Cara, The Miz, and Stardust in a ladder match.

I do not like this. They have just tossed in a bunch of random bodies. Even though the personal feud between Owens and Zayn can continue after Wrestlemania, the WWE is ruining a chance to have the rivalry lead to a big match at Wrestlemania on its own. A lot of these guys could have been shoved into the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. If the WWE wasn't happy with that, the United States Championship match could have been made into the multi-challenger midcard title match. A yearly multi-man Intercontinental Championship ladder match at Wrestlemania does not need to become a tradition. Moreover, I would question if you need this gimmick match this year at all. There is a Hell in a Cell match on the card. Ladders might come into play there, as well as chairs, tables, steel steps, kendo sticks, fire, and whatever else.

Zack Ryder is relevant again on the main roster. Are they serious? Or is he just an extra body? If they wanted to push him, they could just put him in the battle royal. Have him cut a promo on Raw about turning his career around by winning it. Whether they book him to win or not, he would still look relevant heading into Wrestlemania. I would say he would be more likely to win that battle royal than win the Intercontinental Championship.

Dolph Ziggler is also in this match. I was just talking about him yesterday. He was involved in this storyline about Stephanie McMahon trying to make life miserable for him. He goes from failing to defeat Triple H on Raw last week to earn any Wrestlemania match he wanted to ending up in a Wrestlemania title match this week. The WWE dropped the ball here. They could have gone somewhere with this storyline, even if the payoff didn't happen at Wrestlemania. Ziggler could have overcome Stephanie's obstacles and put himself in a match at Wrestlemania. I mentioned two unlikely possibilities yesterday, but there were still other ones that were possible. Or how about he didn't overcome the obstacles? No Ziggler for Wrestlemania? No, he would still get involved. He could interfere to help Shane win. He could interfere to screw Triple H. Or how about he turns heel and aligns with The Authority by screwing Shane or helping Triple H win? That would definitely be part of a huge push for him. As it stands right now, even though he is in a title match, this seems more mediocre than what potentially could have been with the storyline he had going.

I am not saying every match at Wrestlemania needs to be a singles match. The battle royal is fine. New Day vs. League of Nations is a good feud. Considering neither Sasha nor Becky looked more deserving than the other, both going after Charlotte for the title is an obvious choice. I even suggested Tag Team Turmoil to feature all these tag teams they have right now. But I do not feel this multi-man ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship was a good move. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn could have been good enough. If they want a ladder match so much, make that feud lead to a ladder match at Wrestlemania. Those two are no strangers to ladders.