10 Reasons WrestleMania 33 Could Have Been The Best Ever

2. The Royal Rumble Win Could Have Gone To A Future Star

We’ve mentioned a couple of alternate John Cena matches so far, but another great opponent for him would have been Samoa Joe. Having The Samoan Submission Machine debuting at The Royal Rumble and facing off against Cena would have been infinitely more interesting than the tired Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt feud.

At one point, Joe vs. Cena was rumored behind the scenes for 'Mania, but they went in a different, worse direction. Part of that plan was making the bizarre decision to have Orton win the Royal Rumble. The problem is 'The Viper' basically peaked as a character about a decade ago. There’s no upside to him anymore. Randy will never, ever, become a bigger star in wrestling. Joe, on the other hand, would have got people talking. He would have immediately made a huge impact on SmackDown, and the company could have delivered a dream match by having him face Cena.

The Royal Rumble brand has been damaged the past couple of years, because WWE keeps making terrible choices on who should win it. Joe would have satisfied the hardcore fans, and at least made casual fans curious to what he was all about. Otherwise, Nakamura of Finn Bálor (if healthy) winning the match and having a ton of momentum behind them would have made 'Mania feel more special as well. But the honor went to Randy. Always Randy. A match between him and Bray Wyatt (which is a whole other can of worms booking wise) would have been fine without the title.

Basically, when you have to resort to burning a woman’s corpse to get heat, your storyline sucks.