10 Problems Nobody Wants To Admit About WrestleMania 33
7. Lacklustre Build
Some of WrestleMania 33’s matches have benefited from a lengthy build. Seth Rollins vs. Triple H has been boiling over since August, Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens since they first became best friends, and Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton since just after SummerSlam. The rest of the card feels very hastily thrown together, however, and many bouts just haven’t had the build they needed.
The SmackDown’s Women’s Title match is a chaotic mess, the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal feels as skippable as ever, and Roman Reigns and The Undertaker have only had a handful of interactions since the Royal Rumble. Meanwhile, Baron Corbin vs. Dean Ambrose, Shane McMahon vs. AJ Styles, and John Cena/Nikki Bella vs. The Miz/Maryse have only started heating up in the past couple of weeks.
This year’s card just doesn’t feel like the culmination of 12 months’ worth of storytelling. The circumstances behind these matches feel thin, flimsy and underdeveloped. As always, short-termism has consumed WWE’s booking practices, and even longer-built matches like Orton vs. Wyatt have hit a number of creative missteps along the way. WrestleMania 33 is a show of exhibition matches, not legitimate payoffs.