Baseball has the world series. Weight lifting and bodybuilding has the Arnold Classic. Football has the Super Bowl. Soccer has the World Cup. College Basketball has the Final Four. Professional wrestling fans have Wrestlemania. Slated as “The Grandest Stage of Them All,” the once-a-year event places the cream of the crop, the tops of the proverbial ladder, and showcases the best of the best…if you will.
Since the first Wrestlemania took place on March 31st, 1985; the wrestling world has never been the same. It is the largest spectacle and most definitely where only the top guys in the sport come to play. For a wrestler, competing at Wrestlemania is a career defining moment. It’s like being the World Series MVP, a Nobel Peace Prize to a scientist, an Academy Award to an actor, or the reaffirming moment of being handed the Vince Lombardi trophy after a Super Bowl victory. This year’s Wrestlemania is slated to be just as grandiose. With at least 13 matches on the docket and hopefully a few surprises; wrestling’s greatest spectacle will truly be epic.
Wrestlemania 33 will be held this Sunday (April 2nd, 2017) in sunny Orlando, Florida at the Camping World Stadium (yes the Citrus Bowl). The kickoff show will begin at 5 p.m. ET and will have three matches.
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The first is the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal which will include the superstars from both Smackdown and Raw; Big Show, Braun Strowman, Sami Zayn, and many more are slated to perform. Samoa Joe is expected to make an appearance in the Memorial Battle Royal and I expect to see many a suplex occur.
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Neville (current champion) will take on Austin Aries for the Cruiserweight Championship.
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Alexa Bliss (current champion) will take on all Smackdown Divas who are able to compete.
The official Wrestlemania show will begin at 7 p.m. ET and will also feature wrestlers from both Smackdown and Raw. The show is packed, so expect the 4 hours to be utilized (plus some).
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From Raw, Luke Gallows/Karl Anderson (current Champions) will take on Enzo Amore & Big Cass and Cesaro & Sheamus in a Triple Threat Ladder match for the Tag Team Championship
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From Smackdown, Dean Ambrose (Current Champion) will take on Baron Corbin for the Intercontinental Championship.
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From Raw, current United States champion Chris Jericho will take on his former best friend Kevin Owens in what (even though I hate Chris Jericho) will be a great match.
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Also from Raw, current Women’s Champ Bayley will take on Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks and Nia Jax in a Fatal 4Way Elimination match for the Championship.
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The Face of the WWE John Cena & his real life girlfriend will take on The Miz and his real life wife Maryse in a mix tag match. This will be entertaining to say the least but I hope that it is over relatively quickly.
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In what would be match that I don’t quite want to see but will ultimately end up being one of the best (I am sure) is what will probably be a no disqualifications, falls count anywhere or no holds barred. The feud between boss and employee is reminiscent of Stone Cold’s long time feud with Vince; but Smackdown’s Shane McMahon – AJ Styles match will be an entertaining slobber-knocker for sure. The real “Face that Runs the Place” AJ Styles will (like always) put on a great show.
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In a non-sanctioned Raw match, the COO and Cerebral Assassin – Triple H will take on Seth Rollins. I dislike both of these wrestlers but I can’t deny the athleticism that will take place inside this vengeance filled match.
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Regretfully the WWE has wasted another opportunity for the Undertaker to take on a worthy opponent but alas he will face Roman Reigns. In what will be another failed attempt to ‘put him over’, Roman Reigns will ultimately beat the Undertaker causing us to hate him and the WWE’s writing team even more. The only good part of the match will be when the gong is hit and the lights go out.
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Follow the buzzards to the first of two headlining matches at this year’s Wrestlemania and find Smackdown’s Bray Wyatt (who is the current WWE Champion) facing his former Wyatt family member Randy Orton for not only the WWE Championship but for retribution for the Hell that he has caused in the weeks leading up to Wrestlemania.
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The second of two headlining matches at this year’s Wrestlemania will be Raw’s GOLDBERG defending his Universal Championship against “The Beast Incarnate” Brock Lesnar in what is heavily speculated to be a Goldberg sided match-up. I hope that we see Goldberg (despite his recent injury) upset Brock Lesnar. Hopefully this will lead to Lesnar taking an indefinite amount of time off from wrestling. Maybe taking up crocheting or finger-painting.
There are many rumors floating around about potential superstars that might show up to surprise us all. Vince McMahon, Stone Cold, The Rock, or even the formally shunned Hulk Hogan would make perfect additions to the already massive lineup. I’m sure that the Andre the Giant Royal Rumble would be a perfect fit for Kane who is slated to return to the WWE’s active roster after a stint in the political realm while Kelly Kelly who is also slated to return to the WWE in 2017 would more than likely show up during the ‘any diva than can wrestle’ Diva’s title match. Sting has admitted to wanting to have more match and what better time than as an interference in the Undertaker-Reigns match. RVD has shown interest in being “The Whole F’n Show” in the WWE once more and what better venue to surprise the fans than at Wrestlemania. But I am hoping that the Brothers Hardy will show up and DELETE DELETE DELETE. Ha ha. That would make the night spectacular for me but even if ANY of these scenarios don’t happen, the already stacked card is definitely worth its weight in championship wrestling gold.
Wrestlemania 33 lineup card by and accredited to the WWE, wwe.com
Featured Image: Wrestlemania 25 image by and accredited to Matt Brink from Nashville – Wrestlemania 28, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50030109
Wrestlemania at the Citrus Bowl image by and accredited to Dcd722 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3977340
Big Show image by and accredited to Krystal Bogner from Adelaide, Australia – Big Show, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50034961
Bray Wyatt June 2013 image by and accredited to Linestra – This file was derived from: Bray Wyatt.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47580050
Undertaker at Wrestlemania 25 image by and accredited to Ed Schipul from Houston, TX, USderivative work: Tabercil (talk) – Undertaker_at_Wrestlemania_25.jpg, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6487206
Hardy Boyz image by and accredited to Christian Korsager – originally posted to Flickr as WWE Raw Bremen, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4359775
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