Preview and Predictions for WrestleMania 33 tonight in Orlando

Preview and Predictions for WrestleMania 33

Preview and predictions for WrestleMania 33
Preview and Predictions for WrestleMania 33
April 2, 2017
By: Roy Nemer of Wrestleview.com

Super Bowl weekend. UEFA Champions League final. These are just some of the events that you look forward to as a sports fan.

If you’re a WWE or just a wrestling fan, you get the added bonus of WrestleMania. The season finale of a year long show. This year saw the return of the brand extension between Raw and Smackdown Live.

Both have had their ups and downs regarding the build up to this year’s WrestleMania, but in recent years they always seem to surprise us with something. This year’s show boasts a whopping 11 matches, plus two on the Kickoff Show.

And as has become the norm for the past few years, the show will start an hour early and if it’s like last year’s show, will run past Midnight eastern time. With that said, let’s run through the card for this year’s Ultimate Thrill Ride (I hate myself for writing that).

WWE RAW Tag Team Championships – Triple Threat Ladder Match
Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson (c’s) vs. Enzo Amore & Big Cass vs. Sheamus & Cesaro

I’m expecting this to kick off the show merely because it’s a ladder match and we seem to be getting that at every Wrestlemania lately. The good thing for the WWE is that regardless of who wins this match, with the proper booking, any of these three teams could be made to look like legit tough champions. But the key word in there is proper. I feel like it took some time to get any sense of direction going in the tag team division once the New Day dropped the titles but they appear to finally be on the right track. You can make a case for any of these three teams to get the win but I’ll go with Enzo and Big Cass capturing the titles.

Roy’s Pick and New Raw Tag Team champions: Enzo Amore and Big Cass

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
Dean Ambrose (c) vs. Baron Corbin

I nearly forgot that this was even on the show. I was covering SmackdownLive this past week and tweeted that despite there being an Intercontinental title match at Wrestlemania, neither of these two were on the show. The build up to this feud started off strong at the Elimination Chamber and the confrontations backstage and in the ring but the clsoer we got to the big show, the more steam it lost. I think we’ll get another title change and Baron Corbin gets his first big title run as Dean Ambrose loses for a second year in a row at Wrestlemania.

Roy’s Pick and new Intercontinental champion: Baron Corbin

WWE United States Championship Match
Chris Jericho (c) vs. Kevin Owens

First off, let me just start off by saying that the festival of friendship was the single greatest thing that the Raw booking team has done all year. Credit to Chris Jericho who has continued to reinvent himself and in my opinion has helped carry the red team all year. I can’t help but imagine how bland Owens’ title reign would have been without Jericho involved. In any case, talk has been going on that Jericho will go on tour after Wrestlemania and while I would love for him to retain (and would have even prefered for this match to be for the WWE Universal title and have Jericho win it), I can’t see it happening. I’d love for Jericho to win it merely because I think he deserves the win for having such a strong year but Owens would benefit much more from the win than Jericho. Have Owens hold the United States title until Summerslam because after a (in my opinion) less than strong Universal title reign, he can use the boost. My shout for match of the night.

Roy’s Pick and new United States champion: Kevin Owens

WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship Match
Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Mickie James vs. Becky Lynch vs. Natalya vs. Carmella vs. Naomi

The one which got demoted to the pre-show only to make it back on the main show. We got a preview of the match on SmackdownLive last Tuesday and we still don’t know the stipulation. Is it elimination? Is it all 6 women in at the same time? They just sort of threw all the women in there and said here’s your title match. I’m on the fence with either Alexa Bliss or Naomi, both of which I see feuding with each other after Wrestlemania. I’m going with the current champion, Alexa Bliss to retain.

Roy’s Pick and still Smackdown Women’s champion: Alexa Bliss

WWE RAW Women’s Championship – Fatal Four Way Elimination Match
Bayley (c) vs. Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax

I much prefer the idea of this match being an elimination match rather than a one fall wins, which was the case last year at Wrestlemania 32 in the triple threat match. We have the Braun Strowman of the women’s division Nia Jax who has been running through the entire division but her less than impressive mic skills (which were very evident on Raw this past Monday night) gives me the impression that she won’t be winning the title just yet. Sasha Banks for me has come off the weakest of the four heading into the show. Which leaves the current champion and the former champion. For me, Charlotte is easily the best performer/athlete in this division (granted I could have done without the booking team playing hot potatoe with the title) and I can’t see Bayley retaining for a few reasons. If they’re going to keep building Nia up, ultimately you’re going to have her feud with the champion. Charlotte for me is the one able to hold and drag Nia to a good match. I say they have Bayley drop the title and she goes on to feud with good friend Sasha while Charlotte is in a storyline with Nia.

Roy’s Pick and new Raw Women’s champion: Charlotte

Non-sanctioned Match
Triple H vs. Seth Rollins

I really wish this wasn’t on the show. I really do. They could have had this done and dusted at Survivor Series but had to wait until Wrestlemania. If they’re really playing on the fact that Seth is injured and can’t take a hit to the leg, logically speaking, this match should be shorter than Triple H’s entrance which let’s be honest, will be quiet long. Throw in the non-sanctioned factor and you can have Samoa Joe run out and help put an end to it quickly. However, on the other side of the coin, recent live events have had Finn Balor in a tag team match with Triple H being on the other side. After some interference from Samoa Joe and Finn Balor, I’m going with Seth Rollins getting the win.

Roy’s Pick: Seth Rollins

Shane McMahon vs. AJ Styles

What a great year AJ has had. One of the many reasons why I much prefer SmackdownLive over Raw. Like Jericho on Raw, AJ helped carry the blue brand. Styles is one of the only guys in the company that can have a good match with anybody. With that said, if there is one person who might be able to get a decent match out of Shane, it’s the phenomenal one. I liked the promo he cut on SmackdownLive this past week where he said that this match is unlike any other that Shane had previously been involved in. That is to say it’s a regular singles match. No Hell in Cell, no chairs, no ladders, nothing. And while I don’t doubt for a single second that we’re going to get a Shane McMahon bump, it makes me wonder if they should have went with a No DQ type of stipulation because there’s no way Shane has a legit shot against Styles who has (in my opinion) outperformed everyone on the Smackdown and possibly even Raw roster. Outside of the jump off the cell last year, his match against The Undertaker was extremely forgettable. Hopefully it’s not the case for this one.

Roy’s Pick: AJ Styles

John Cena and Nikki Bella vs. The Miz and Maryse

Before I get to the match itself, allow me to say that the Total Divas Bull**** skits were downright hilarious. It allowed them to grow The Miz character even more and give Maryse the character boost she needed without having to speak in front of a live audience. The build up to this one has probably been the best out of all the feuds on SmackdownLive. Cena rocked it with a hell of a promo last Tuesday. I like that they’ve kept the physical contact between these two teams to a minimum. I’m going with big match John and Nikki on this one with Cena proposing after the match.

Roy’s Pick: John Cena and Nikki Bella

The Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns

If the rumors are true, this one will end up closing the show. Let me just say that I am very biased when it comes to this as The Undertaker’s been my favorite character/wrestler since I was in diapers and I actually got angry when the streak came to an end. You can imagine what my reaction would be this Sunday if he doesn’t win. Regarding Roman Reigns, I’ve always been on the fence with him. I like the guy but sometimes too much is too much and that’s not a swipe at Reigns but rather creative. As for the match, if this goes on last, I’m expecting Reigns to get the win. If it does close the show, for the sake of all Wrestlemania main event’s, I hope it’s a clean finish. I hate it when PPV’s end the show with a controversial finish, even more-so for a Wrestlemania. This feud (along with the build up) felt like it was slapped together fairly quickly, sort of like an essay you write the day before the deadline. While it’s decent, it could have been better if more time was invested in it. Call it passing of the torch, call it what you want, I have Roman Reigns winning.

Roy’s Pick: Roman Reigns

WWE Universal Championship Match
Goldberg (c) vs. Brock Lesnar

I’m very intrigued to see how this one goes. On one hand, it may be too obvious that Lesnar is winning and they go with Goldberg as the winner. On the other hand, by doing that, Lesnar’s character (who will likely stick around longer than Goldberg) will be taking a massive hit. Regarding the actual bout, outside of an F5 by Brock Lesnar, I think I am right in saying Goldberg has yet to take a bump since coming back. And I don’t know if Goldberg can actually take a hit right now. I think we all have this one going very short. My guess is Goldberg does the spear, goes for the jackhammer and Lesnar somehow reverses it into an F5 and gets the win. No German suplexes or anything, straight up F5 and the win.

Roy’s Pick and new WWE Universal champion: Brock Lesnar

WWE Championship Match
Bray Wyatt (c) vs. Randy Orton

I’m a fan of the Bray Wyatt character, sort of a modern day Undertaker and I felt as if they missed the boat with him too many times. Which is why I have liked the way they have handled the Wyatt character since they threw Orton in with the Wyatt family. A wise decision to have a veteran like Orton to help in his character development because for me it was the boost he so desperately needed especially one that would catapulte him into main event status. This has been one of those psychological feuds more than a physical one which isn’t bad in my eyes. With that said, I’m not sure how well Wyatt can do in a singles title run without Orton being in there (similar to that of Kevin Owens with Chris Jericho on Raw). I sense Orton has one more solid title reign in him and while my gut feeling says Bray, my head says Orton.

Roy’s Pick and new WWE champion: Randy Orton

I have five title changes out of a possible six, but pretty sure it’ll be less than that.

Top to bottom, this WrestleMania has the potential to have WrestleMania “moments”, but in terms of the actual wrestling or matches themselves, not too positive about it. It’s another WrestleMania with a two hour pre-show and a four hour event (could be five hours), meaning WWE has to properly pace themselves with these matches or the crowd will burn out.

Leave a comment below or tweet us at @wrestleview and let us know what you guys think of the predictions. Make sure to check us out on Twitter for live thoughts during the event (as well as the Kickoff Show) and the results live here on Wrestleview.com.

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