WrestleMania 33 is less than twenty-four hours away, and it would still seem like many fans are dissatisfied with the match card. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise as it seems to happen every year, but this year, there may not be a reason to be upset, as this article aims to point out.
WrestleMania is known for its big matches, and they are obviously the selling points of every event. A couple of years ago, Triple H vs. Sting and Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns were the ‘big’ matches. They were the matches that went on posters and television advertisements.
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Last year, Triple H vs. Roman Reigns, Shane McMahon vs. The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar vs. Dean Ambrose were the big matches. This year, with the WWE having the advantage of having twice as many storylines running into the event due to the brand split, there is a staggering number of these matches.
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From the SmackDown brand, there is the WWE Championship match, which has had possibly the greatest build-up of any match on the card, which sees Bray Wyatt defend against Randy Orton. Very few fans, if any, have a problem with this match, so there’s no point elaborating.
However, the rest of the SmackDown card has received a mixed reception. AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon, pictured above, has had some excitement surrounding it considering the fact that Shane McMahon always tends to throw in everything including the kitchen sink and AJ Styles is a phenomenal (no pun intended) wrestler but his booking has been subject to criticism.
Why? Many feel that AJ Styles should be doing more at WrestleMania than facing Shane McMahon, and they possibly have a good reason to think so. Just a few months ago he was hot in the WWE Championship scene. But how is facing Shane McMahon a bad thing? Last year, The Undertaker was in the ring with Shane McMahon, so it wouldn’t appear to be something reserved for mid-carders.
This is Vince McMahon’s son and arguably one of the most popular wrestlers of all time, who now wrestles once a year. Being involved in that one match is an honour, not an insult.
The SmackDown Women’s Championship six-pack challenge, which has been moved into the main WrestleMania card, has turned a few cold shoulders with the fact that when there are a lot of women in a match, it tends to be a five-minute throwaway.
Look at WrestleMania XXX, for example. There were thirteen women in the Divas’ Championship match, and it went on for six minutes. However, it should be remembered that this is six women, not thirteen and that women’s wrestling has come a long way since then.
Expect this match to have a respectable length. Another complaint has been that there are too many wrestlers in a single match, but if it were a one-on-one match, the obvious reception would be “why aren’t the other women getting the opportunity?”. There is no pleasing everyone, but this match should be one to watch.
Perhaps the lowest tier matches on the SmackDown card are the Intercontinental Championship match between Baron Corbin and Dean Ambrose and a mixed tag team match between The Miz and Maryse, and John Cena and Nikki Bella.
Surprisingly, the latter has received universal positive approval – and with good reasoning, as the build-up has been great – but the former has had the problem of not being built up at all. This isn’t actually a complaint, it’s just a fact.
However, despite that, the match itself could be something great, considering the fact that one man is a dominant beast and the other is a deranged psychopath. That’s a formula for entertainment right there.
The majority of matches have come from the Raw brand, of course, considering their 3:2 ratio with the SmackDown roster. What’s interesting with Raw is that every match appears to be a selling point, and that’s a wonderful thing.
Even though Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens is heavily anticipated, the Women’s Championship match may just surprise us all, the Triple Threat Tag Team Championship Ladder match will most certainly do justice to the Ultimate Thrill Ride tagline, and Seth Rollins vs. Triple H has been everyone’s desired match for almost a year.
However, the two biggest matches on the card have been met with astounding levels of backlash, and this is where WrestleMania 33 loses the majority of its credibility.
Goldberg and Brock Lesnar have had questionable encounters in the past. It is still a mystery to many why WWE would choose to book this match – or, more appropriately, shove it down people’s throats – but it could actually surprise everyone.
WWE reportedly do not want this to be a squash match, as many have speculated, and considering how much Lesnar has evolved since WrestleMania XX, we could see something great. It may not be fair to write the match off before it actually happens, and the fact is, the two competitors are massive selling points for the WWE.
Perhaps the fact that this match has been so poorly anticipated will enable it to exceed everyone’s expectations.
Finally, the most polarising match on the WrestleMania 33 card is The Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns. The biggest fear that many fans have is that Reigns will be victorious, but regardless of that, it should be remembered that this is likely going to be a cracker of a match.
Regardless of what anyone says, Reigns can pull off some entertaining matches, and The Undertaker can still go at it. With rumours that this match could close the show, and that it might be The Undertaker’s last match, it should be looked forward to more than any other, regardless of who his opponent is.
On that note, considering the fact that this may have a ‘passing of the torch’ kind of feel, Roman Reigns may indeed be the perfect opponent for The Undertaker this year. There are, of course, two more matches on the card.
The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal will be fun because all Battle Royals are, and Austin Aries vs. Neville will tear the roof off the place. Everyone knows it will.
Having considered all that, the WrestleMania 33 card looks exceptional. There aren’t two or three big matches as usual, there are nine, with the rest of them not being bad booking decisions themselves.
This could be the best WrestleMania in recent memory, or dare it be said... all time. This may be a claim that either shocks or offends many fans, but it may just be a claim that is justified come ‘Mania.
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