There are only a couple of things that we know for sure about WrestleMania 33 at this point, and that is Goldberg will take on Lesnar for a third time and Big Show will do something with Shaq.
There are a number of rumored matches as well including a four way match for the Raw Women’s Title featuring Bayley, Sasha, Charlotte, and Nia Jax as well as an Intercontinental Title match with Dean Ambrose and Baron Corbin. Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens are expected to face off against each other and Braun Strowman is the likely candidate to win the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Roman Reigns vs. The Undertaker is also expected.
Recent reports indicate that AJ Styles is slated to have a match against Shane McMahon at WrestleMania 33 and next week’s Smackdown could mark the beginning of their feud. AJ Styles has been complaining about the fact that he has yet to receive a one on one rematch for the WWE Championship, and recently on Talking Smack he was confirmed for the upcoming battle royal to determine the new number 1 contender for Bray’s title.
John Cena and Nikki Bella are rumored to start a program with Miz and Maryse soon, and it would make sense that this is going to happen as the groundwork is being laid out for this match. Maryse got in the middle of Nikki and Nattie’s backstage bawl and ended up with makeup powder all over her (which I’m sure they’re going to say was thousands of dollars of makeup wasted) and Cena eliminated Miz from the chamber match.
Seth Rollins vs. Triple H is also slated for the Orlando event, but reports indicate that if Rollins doesn’t heal up in time, then Samoa Joe might take that spot. Bray Wyatt is slated to fight at the show of shows with his WWE Championship on the line, and his partner is rumored to be Randy Orton, Luke Harper and Randy Orton, or maybe a combination of anyone else they throw at him. At this point it doesn’t seem like plans for Orton to face Wyatt at Mania will be changing, but rumors are that they could always throw Harper in the mix.
Therefore, Bill Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar is the only match that we have confirmed.
That seems like a shaky build, but how does it line up with past Manias?
It wasn’t until Fastlane on February 21st last year that we even had a clear indication as to who would be challenging for the WWE Championship, and the next night Shane McMahon returned to the WWE and was booked for his match with Taker at WrestleMania 32. WWE also presented a WWE World Title match between Dean Ambrose and Triple H at Roadblock the following month so it was kind of up in the air at to who would be the champion going in to WrestleMania 32. Therefore, no matches were solidly booked by this time last year either.
At least we know that Goldberg/Lesnar III is taking place in Orlando.
In WrestleMania 31’s case, we knew a lot more at this point about the card than we do this year. Roman Reigns had won the Royal Rumble and Brock Lesnar was the ultimate part-time champion, therefore that match was booked at the Royal Rumble. We also knew that Sting was going to challenge Triple H. Although that match wasn’t totally confirmed until Sting appeared at Fastlane on February 22nd and pointed to the WrestleMania sign after confronting Triple H. Still, fans knew it was happening due to the months of build they had given the match.
The ladder match for Bad News Barrett’s Intercontinental Title wasn’t announced until February 26th, and at this point in 2017 at least we know who will probably be in the IC Title match, although it hasn’t been officially announced.
Bray Wyatt also waited until Fastlane to challenge The Undertaker for their match, therefore it happened in late February as well.
WrestleMania 30 had nothing on the table at this point as Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker wasn’t even made official until Taker interrupted Paul Heyman and Lesnar’s promo on the February 24th episode of Raw. Daniel Bryan had to go through an absolute gauntlet in order to get his name on the main event in New Orleans, and his inclusion wasn’t even officially confirmed until Bryan defeated Triple H during the actual show.
Overall, it’s hard to complain about WrestleMania 33, because at least we have a pretty good idea about what the card holds so far and this fits the norm. They aren’t able to book many matches months in advance as they did in Hulk Hogan’s heyday because there are so many pay-per-views and events on the Road to WrestleMania that could change plans.
Therefore, the rumored WrestleMania 33 card (in part) is as follows:
- Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar (only one that’s been confirmed so far)
- Big Show vs. Shaq
- AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon
- Seth Rollins vs. Triple H (maybe, if Seth heals up in time)
- Bray Wyatt vs. Whoever (Likely Orton, or Orton and Harper although nothing has been confirmed)
- Roman Reigns vs. The Undertaker
- Raw Women’s Championship Match with Bayley, Charlotte, Sasha Banks, and Nia Jax
- Intercontinental Title Match between Dean Ambrose and Baron Corbin
- Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho
- John Cena and Nikki Bella vs. Miz and Maryse
- Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal (Braun Stowman is most likely to win this one)
That’s eleven matches as of this writing, so it’s looking very good at this point and they still need to book a couple more matches to fill out the four or five hour show.
For instance, Naomi needs to work the show in some way, whether it is in a tag-match or otherwise simply because she’s an Orlando native and WWE loves good local press. Finn Balor has also stated that he is looking to return by WrestleMania 33, so he could easily be factored in during the midnight hour or have some other sort of impact on a previously booked angle. The tag titles on both brands are probably going to make an appearance as well as the United States Title (although Jericho very well could hold the belt until WrestleMania).
If you look at the WrestleMania 33 card, it is shaping up to be a strong one and its pretty much falling in line with previous year’s events. We are on the Road to WrestleMania and about to hit that “booking sweet spot” where WWE will confirm a few matches very soon.
Still Real To Us will keep you posted as always on all the news in the ring and behind the scenes, but in the meantime, stay awesome as we keep getting closer and closer to April 2nd.
