10 Mistakes WWE Made With WrestleMania 33

Bugs! Bugs!!!

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WWE

WrestleMania 33 is in the books, and for the most part, it was a pleasant surprise. Though prior to the show, it looked like it was going to suffer from an over-reliance on part-time and past-their-prime stars, lack any standout matches, and run too long, it turned out that the company and the wrestlers made the absolute best of the cards they were dealt. Rather than another underwhelming show in the vein of WrestleMania 32, this year, the grandest stage of them all felt worthy of the title.

Still, the card was far from perfect. Though fans will forever remember the night of The Undertaker's last ride, Brock Lesnar's rout of Goldberg, and the return of The Hardy Boyz, it's not like anyone who watched Wrestle Kingdom 11 is having trouble deciding which was the better show. Like every event that WWE runs, there was stuff that would have been better off being left out or done differently - and most of it wouldn't have even been that difficult to change.

Again, it was a really good show - but people can always learn from their errors, despite WWE's stubborn refusal to do so over the years.

10. Mojo Rising

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WWE.com

Originally, WWE was planning on promoting Shaquille O'Neal versus The Big Show at WrestleMania 33, a bout that was sure to get the show featured in mainstream media outlets. That match ultimately fell apart due to money issues, but WWE wasn't ready to give up on getting clips of the show on ESPN.

Instead of Shaq, they reached out to Rob Gronkowski. Gronk played a role in the WrestleMania kickoff show, helping his former teammate Mojo Rawley win the Andre battle royal. It worked, in the sense that it got the much-sought-after coverage - but did it really do anything for WWE in the long run?

Mojo is a fun babyface, but he hasn't shown any of the potential that a future main-event star should. Meanwhile, Braun Strowman - who's been booked as a monster and has improved greatly - was tossed out, as was Sami Zayn. Either of those men could have been given a win that would have served as the impetus for a real push, but instead, the whole match was wasted for a media op.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried. *Best Crowd of the Year, 2013