10 Biggest WrestleMania 33 Missed Opportunities
The Ultimate Thrill Ride could have been so much more.
For the most part, WrestleMania 33 was an enjoyable professional wrestling marathon, and a clear step up from the previous year's offering. Brock Lesnar's dominance, the Hardy Boyz' return, and exciting bouts like Shane McMahon vs. AJ Styles ensured that while the Ultimate Thrill Ride won't go down as one of the best Manias of all-time, it definitely stands among the most memorable.
While the show ended as a net positive, however, it was far from perfect. The night was peppered with low points, particularly during the lacklustre second half, and while some of them were unavoidable (like The Undertaker's injury-hampered performance), others came as a direct result of decisions made by WWE and the performers themselves.
Had certain opportunities been taken, WM33 had a shot at being an all-time classic. Instead, it was a show characterised by massive highs and staggering lows, with very little in between.
The most frustrating thing is that WWE missed countless chances to create memorable moments, and alleviate some of the biggest problems on a PPV that could (and should) have been so much more...
10. Wasting Braun Strowman
After building him up to perfection, WWE have done a poor job booking Braun Strowman since his Fastlane loss to Roman Reigns. It looked like he was set to become a dominant main eventer at the start of the year, but he has since been portrayed as a meek brawler who backs down from fight after fight, and WWE really screwed him over at WrestleMania 33.
All signs pointed towards Strowman winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, and while he looked dominant during his brief spell in the match, he was eliminated after just a couple of minutes. Sure, it took a boatload of wrestlers to throw him out, but it made Braun look like a goof, and removed the opportunity to give him a rebound victory following the disappointing Reigns feud.
The Battle Royal doesn’t usually have much bearing on a wrestler’s push, but it was still disappointing the see the monster eliminated so quickly. WWE will likely find another way to rebuild Braun, but it should have started with his first WrestleMania moment. Instead, we were “treated” to a Rob Gronkowski-assisted Mojo Rawley victory in one of the show’s most cringeworthy moments.