50 Things You Learn Binge-Watching Every WWE WrestleMania
14. Shane McMahon Had 33’s Best Singles Match?!
If Rock vs. Rowan can be filed under most random 'Mania matches, then this one should go under the most unexpected tab. Build for AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon at 33 predictably painted the latter as a hard man nobody should mess with. That's a tedious presentation of Shane we've all had to suffer for too long, but he did reach into his bag of tricks and pull out a gift when it mattered most of all.
Get this: Shane vs. AJ opened the main card at 'Mania 33, and it's actually one of the best singles bouts on the entire card. Shockingly, it was a better watch than a so-so protege breakout between Seth Rollins and Triple H. Other singles like Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho struggled to get going, Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt proved to be a boring WWE Title effort, and The Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns was plain sad at times.
Only one other singles match came close to Shane vs. AJ. More on that shortly.
This was a surprising find. Yours truly was in attendance live for WrestleMania in 2017, and he doesn't remember being blown away by the main card's opener in person. WWE's cameras and the commentary helped turn this into a much better watch overall. Credit has to go to Styles for bringing his A-game, and to McMahon for doing his bit too.
No-one would've had this above Trips vs. Seth, KO vs. Jericho, Randy vs. Bray or even 'Taker vs. Roman before a ball was kicked. Who knew 'Mania 33's singles output peaked with the first match on the pay-per-view?!