WWE WrestleMania 33: Assessing The Potential Of All 14 Matches

Cause for optimism.

Triple H Seth Rollins WrestleMania 33
WWE

Sometimes there is just no way of knowing.

Most expected Sheamus to dethrone World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan in a competitive fifteen minute match at WrestleMania XXVIII. What we were presented with instead was an eighteen second squash - an insane career-making abomination of a paradox.

Few expected Brock Lesnar Vs. Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 31 to be as good as it was - fewer still predicted Seth Rollins' intra-match Money In The Bank cash in. Likewise, it's still difficult to comprehend that WWE put Chris Jericho over AJ Styles last year.

WrestleMania is the event at which storylines culminate with often mystifying results. Slightly easier to predict is match quality.

The setting and atmosphere of WrestleMania in the stadium era poses a challenge. The cavernous, open air backdrop often fails to serve WWE's overarching cinematic style, one played to the cameras. The slow, methodical war threatened by Brock Lesnar and Triple H at WrestleMania 29 lived down to its blah promotion. Ditto Triple H Vs. Randy Orton at 'Mania XXV.

Shawn Michaels was perfect for the modern 'Mania era because he was able to play to both audiences. When he mouthed "I'm sorry, I love you" upon retiring Ric Flair at 'Mania XXIV, the audience at home caught the body language - but his storytelling ability was so good throughout that he projected the emotion to everybody in the Citrus Bowl.

How will everybody fare in Orlando? At least one WrestleMania 33 performer will need to master the art, if his promised breakthrough performance is to go as planned. What of the rest?

14. Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal

Triple H Seth Rollins WrestleMania 33
WWE.com

The first iteration of the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal was a fantastic midcard attraction, predicated as it was on the emergence of crowd favourite Cesaro.

Cesaro entered a bravura performance, sliding under the ropes to avoid elimination at the hands of Goldust's big boot when both were stranded on the apron. He then uppercutted a springboarding Rey Mysterio out of the fray before emulating the main event of WrestleMania III in a great finishing sequence. It wasn't quite a one man show; the near-elimination of Kofi Kingston was quietly better than anything he managed in his more famous Royal Rumble moments. Cesaro launched Kingston clear out of the ring over the turnbuckle, only for him to catch the ring steps with his tip toes.

Without Kingston there to provide a "Holy Sh*t!" moment, or a Cesaro to anchor the action with his jaw-dropping offence, this year's match seems fated to follow the filler footsteps of WrestleManias 31 and 32 - matches positioned, respectively, in the pre-show and death spots. Fans have been conditioned to receive it as meaningless, given that no winner - even Cesaro - used it to do anything of note. Braun Strowman vs. the SmackDown tag team division is not that appealing a prospect.

If, as rumoured, WrestleMania 33's exists to reheat Strowman, it will strip the match of its one redeeming feature: unpredictability.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and surefire Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!