WrestleMania 33 is only two weeks away, and speculation is already running wild over everything about the annual wrestling spectacular. Everything from guest appearances to match results are all being discussed and predicted all over the internet. One important detail that’s also being discussed is match order. This is an important issue because it determines the event’s flow.
Even though every match on the WrestleMania card is built up to be a big deal, some matches will naturally be billed as more important than others. Despite the fantastic promo work between Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho, we’re not likely to see that match anywhere the main event. Meanwhile, despite not being a full-time wrestler, Shane McMahon’s match against A.J. Styles will most certainly go on later during the show, because Vince McMahon views his son as a major draw and a big deal. So much for meritocracy in WWE.
There are also other things we can expect out of the match order for this show. In all likelihood, all the older and established stars will be in the final spots, while the newer talent is more likely to round up the lower card. Because if there’s one thing we’ve learned over the past year or so, it’s that there’s considerable hesitation among WWE’s power-brokers to give top billing to someone other than their chosen few or wrestlers over the age of 40.
With all of that said, here’s the match order we can expect at WrestleMania 33 (note: I am not separating the card between ‘pre-show’ and ‘main show’; this is simply the order of matches).
Match #1: WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Neville [c] vs. Austin Aries
It makes sense to open the biggest show of the year with a hot match filled with high spots and exciting cruiserweight action. You do not want the first match on the card to be something dull and forgetful, lest the fans don’t show enough interest. It would be unwise to have this be the first tone for the show.
To that end, it’s most likely that the cruiserweights will open the show. Aries and Neville are two of the best in the entire division, and with WrestleMania being the biggest show of the year, there’s a chance that they could be given a bit more freedom to do riskier stuff for this match.
Over the past few years, the opening match at WrestleMania has been the one with crazy spots and big moments that got the crowd excited. This year, that honour will belong to the cruiserweights.
Match #2: Intercontinental Championship Match: Dean Ambrose [c] vs. Baron Corbin
While the feud between Dean Ambrose & Baron Corbin has been exciting the SmackDown audience on a weekly basis, it isn’t likely to be one of the top draws for WrestleMania. As good as these two men have been, this is not a match that will get any higher billing than this. No disrespect to either man, but neither are the top-tier draw that the others on the card have proven themselves to be.
This will likely be more of a brawl than a technical wrestling match, but hopefully, it will have enough big spots to keep the crowd excited. This is very likely, given that, a) Ambrose still has a pretty large retinue of loyal fans, and b) Baron Corbin’s finisher is awesome.
Match #3: RAW Tag Team Championships: Gallows & Anderson [c] vs. Cesaro & Sheamus vs. Enzo & Cass
The next match on the card is likely to be the tag team match between three opposing teams. You have Gallows & Anderson, whom WWE have tried to re-build as a dominant force, but failed in doing because they fed them to Roman Reigns twice in recent weeks. You have Enzo & Cass, whose biggest asset appears to be their promo abilities. Finally, you have Cesaro & Sheamus, who are two great workers that deserve better.
There’s an expression in English that goes, ‘making chicken salad out of chickens**t’. That’s what these three teams will have to do at WrestleMania. Expect a lot of chaos and ‘wild’ tag team wrestling throughout this match, though unfortunately, they’re not likely to steal the show in any way. Unless, of course, they let Cesaro run wild and have him continue to show why he should be higher on the card.
Match #4: United States Championship Match: Chris Jericho [c] vs. Kevin Owens
As much as Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho do deserve better, we need to be realistic. With the other matches involving more prestigious titles, this match won’t be that high on the card. This is despite the fact that Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho have been carrying the RAW brand for months.
But WWE is WWE, and they seem more interested in making a show that caters to as many casual, uninvested fans on one night than rewarding the workhorses that carry the show year-round.
Despite it’s lower spot on the card, you can be sure this match will be aggressive and violent. There’s bad blood between these two men, and their rivalry will reach a fever pitch at WrestleMania 33. So this match will be the biggest match of the card thus far and is likely to be given the most time from the first three matches.
Match #5: SmackDown Women’s Championship Match
With a show featuring this many big matches, there is bound to be one match that people will either care less about or will use as a bathroom break. And as much as I don’t want it to be this way, odds are the SmackDown women’s match is going to fill that slot.
With three matches before it, including a high-profile match between Jericho and Owens, the fans will need a moment to either wind down, go to the bathroom, or get some food. With so many scheduled matches, it’s likely WWE will make this year’s WrestleMania into a marathon event just like they did last year. Because of that, fans will naturally need a break from the wrestling, and this match is likely to be the first one to give fans a reprieve.
Match #6: John Cena & Nikki Bella vs. The Miz & Maryse
Even though John Cena has ‘main-eventer’ written all over him, he won’t be anywhere near that spot this year. For reasons that have yet to be explained fully, Vince McMahon decided to forego the certified big money dream match in Cena vs. Undertaker and replaced it with an inter-gender tag team match centred on John Cena’s private life.
This match isn’t likely to be an instant classic by any means. As much as Miz has been doing fantastically with his realistic and generally fantastic promos, there’s no way the Miz & Maryse will be winning this match. WWE’s top brass is still obsessed with Cena, Nikki and everything related to their ‘reality programming’, which will translate into a guaranteed win for WWE’s so-called ‘power couple’.
This match will be located firmly in the middle of the card, and will in all likelihood end with Cena and Nikki winning, and then Cena proposing to Nikki.
Match #7: RAW Women’s Championship: Bayley [c] vs. Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax
WWE are trying desperately to convince the audience all four of these women are top-tier calibre. Too bad their booking has contradicted that in a major way.
Charlotte’s undefeated Streak ended abruptly and without proper justification. Bayley has been booked in a dumb way that overemphasises her childhood, causing the magic in her matches to dissipate. Sasha hasn’t done anything high-profile in months. Finally, Nia Jax has not improved much as a monster for her to be taken seriously enough on the roster.
This match won’t be the same kind of technical masterpiece we’ve seen in NXT or anything, but it still has the potential to be an exciting match filled with near-falls, double or triple-teams and alliances being created and broken throughout. Though it isn’t the singles match people wanted to see, it might still work well in the end.
Match #8: A.J. Styles vs. Shane McMahon
Styles deserves so much better than this. He has carried SmackDown for months, and his reward for doing so is a gimmick match with the boss’s son (because it’s Shane McMahon, so a great match isn’t likely to take place unless it’s some kind of ‘special’ match).
Whether it’s a Street Fight, a Cage Match, or some other kind of gimmick, this will be a match in which Shane will showcase how much tougher he is when compared to a fully-trained wrestler. It’s not likely to be a great match, but it is liable to be full of great spots and crazy weapons-based violence, which seems to be Shane’s forte.
Hopefully, WWE learned from their mistakes from last year & keeps this match around the 15-20 minute mark. Any singles match involving Shane McMahon should never go longer than that, no matter how gimmicked.
Match #9: WWE Championship Match: Bray Wyatt [c] vs. Randy Orton
Now we’re getting into the big main event matches.
Wyatt and Orton have done a great job of selling this match, and now the anticipation is growing with every passing week. Moreover, this is one of the few matches on the WrestleMania card with the result that’s much harder to predict. This one could go either way, as a victory for either Bray or Randy would make sense.
It wouldn’t be the first time a Rumble winner has lost at ‘Mania, and Bray’s title run so far has been excellent. He’s clearly destined to be a top guy on SmackDown in the future, so it would make sense for him to be booked strongly leaving WrestleMania, especially since he has looked bad in the past three.
At the same time, Vince is still very high on Randy because he has been a good worker and didn’t complain when Brock Lesnar smashed his head open the hard way at SummerSlam 2016. Because of that, Vince might decide to give Randy the win, even though his time at the top has clearly come and gone.
All in all, this is one match that could easily go either way, making it one of the most anticipated matches on the card.
Match #10: 2017 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Time for bathroom break #2.
In all seriousness, though, this elimination match isn’t likely to be a classic by any means, and its sole purpose is to act as a break in the intensity between the previous four matches and the final two.
This will be the spot in which the majority of remaining RAW and SmackDown superstars get their chance to be on the WrestleMania card to compete for a giant trophy that, thus far, has not been booked to be as prestigious as it should be. This will be the fourth WrestleMania to feature this annual match, and of the three previous winners, only Baron Corbin has been given anything remotely resembling a push for winning this.
This will probably be the shortest match on the card, barely going more than 15 minutes, including entrances. Twenty people will brawl, nineteen will be thrown over the top rope, and one man will win the trophy and hopefully use that momentum to get somewhere later during this calendar year.
Unless this match features a major surprise entry, use this match as a designated bathroom/food break.
Match #11: Seth Rollins vs. Triple H
By all indications, this match is still scheduled to take place, despite there still being concern over Seth’s injury status. There’s worry that if he takes any significant risks, he’ll injure himself severely in this match, which could ruin its quality in a big way. Worse, if Seth injured himself in this match, it’ll damage any momentum he’d get from winning this match.
This match will get such a high-profile spot on the WrestleMania card for two reasons. One, they’ve been building this match since August, particularly as this match was supposed to have taken place at least year’s event. And second, it’s Triple H; there’s no way Vince’s son-in-law and Stephanie’s husband will take any spot lower than this unless there are exceptional circumstances.
Since the point of this match is to give Seth Rollins his much-needed victory, expect this match to happen later on during the show. But don’t expect a lot if high-risk moves; they’re not going to want Rollins to wrestle and then hurt himself even worse immediately afterwards.
To that end, you can also expect interference from Samoa Joe and possibly Sami Zayn to try and add more drama to a match that risks being bogged down by a terrible injury.
Match #12: WWE Universal Championship Match: Goldberg [c] vs. Brock Lesnar
It would be genuinely shocking if this match went over ten minutes, including entrances. This match is not going to be closing the show because no fan wants their main event to be over and done with in less time than it takes to go from the bathroom to their seat. But this is still one of the biggest matches on the card, so it will be on at the end.
Also read: SK Exclusive: Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar will NOT Main Event WrestleMania 33
With WWE planning on pushing Brock to the moon as a bigger monster than he’s ever been, Lesnar will probably make short work of Goldberg, throw him around a few times, then hit the F-5 for the win. Lesnar wins, Goldberg’s unnecessary title win is ended, and WWE can go about setting their master plan in motion.
Match #13: Roman Reigns vs. The Undertaker
Vince McMahon is the only person on earth that wanted this match. He seems to think that the negative reaction Reigns got last year was bad. Now, Reigns will be going one-on-one against the mythical Undertaker and will be booed out of the arena for sure.
Reigns teased that he’ll be retiring the Undertaker at this year’s WrestleMania. If that is the plan, there’s no way any other match could follow this one. Shawn Michaels was known as ‘Mr. WrestleMania’ for years and his retirement match went on last. Now they’re probably doing the same with ‘Taker, and if he does indeed retire, it’s going to be a HUGE moment.
If Reigns becomes the man to retire the Undertaker, he’ll get booed loudly, that’s for sure. But more importantly, the Undertaker will finally be able to hang up his wrestling boots once and for all, because if there’s any person in WWE that has deserved a standing ovation and the opportunity to ride off into the sunset, it’s the Undertaker.
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