WrestleMania 33 was the thirty-third annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and WWE Network event produced by WWE. It took place on April 2, 2017, at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. WrestleMania 33 was a joint-promotion event for the Raw and SmackDown brands, the first since WrestleMania XXVII in 2011 as the brand split ended that year, but was reintroduced in July 2016.
Thirteen matches were contested at the event, including three on the pre-show. For the first time since WrestleMania 29 in 2013, two world championships were contested: Raw's Universal Championship and SmackDown's WWE Championship; it marked the first time that the Universal Championship, SmackDown Women's Championship, and new Cruiserweight Championship were defended at WrestleMania. In the main event, Roman Reigns defeated The Undertaker in a No Holds Barred match, giving Undertaker his second loss at WrestleMania. In addition, Brock Lesnar defeated Goldberg to become the Universal Champion, thus becoming the first wrestler to win both the WWE Championship and Universal Championship, and Randy Orton defeated Bray Wyatt to win his ninth WWE Championship. The event also marked the surprise return of The Hardy Boyz, who won the Raw Tag Team Championship. It was also the first WrestleMania to be on the air past midnight Eastern time.
WWE claimed an attendance of 75,245 for WrestleMania 33. This number has been disputed, as The A.V. Club wrote that it was "almost certainly a fake number" as WWE "has had a reputation for wildly inflating the attendance figure--as Vince McMahon once said on an investor's call, the fake number is for entertainment purposes", while wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer described it as "a total worked number even more than usual".
Video WrestleMania 33
Production
Background
WrestleMania is considered WWE's flagship event, having been described as the Super Bowl of sports entertainment. The event was the third to be held in the state of Florida, after 2008 (at the same venue) and 2012. Tickets went on sale on November 18, 2016, with individual tickets costing $38 to $2,130. On October 31, 2016, traveling packages with accommodation ranging from $950 to $5,900 per person were sold. A two-hour pre-show preceded the main show, with the second hour broadcast simultaneously on USA Network. On February 20, 2017, The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) of WWE's Raw brand were confirmed to be the hosts of WrestleMania 33.
The four official theme songs for the event were "Greenlight" (by Pitbull feat. Flo Rida and LunchMoney Lewis), "Like a Champion" (by Danger Twins), "Flame" (by Tinashe), and "Am I Savage?" (by Metallica). At the event, Pitbull performed "Options" with Stephen Marley before performing "Greenlight" with Flo Rida and LunchMoney Lewis. American singer Tinashe performed "America the Beautiful" to kick off WrestleMania 33. The pre-show was broadcast on the WWE Network, WWE.com, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, and YouTube, with USA Network joining the live coverage for the second hour.
Beginning at WrestleMania 32, a match between Big Show and NBA star Shaquille O'Neal had been teased from various media outlets, including WWE. Shaq was a surprise entrant in the 2016 André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal where he and Big Show faced off, but the other participants eliminated both of them. In July at the 2016 ESPY Awards on the red carpet, Show and Shaq had another brief confrontation. A match was proposed for WrestleMania 33, which Shaq accepted. In January 2017, the two began calling each other out on social media, posting workout videos of themselves preparing for the potential match. Big Show then began to doubt Shaq's commitment to the match. By the end of February, Shaq said that it looked like the match was not going to happen, but he would still train just in case. The following week, Shaq said that discussions were back on between him and WWE. However, Big Show's announcement as a participant in the 2017 André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal indicated that the match was off. According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the match was canceled due to monetary reasons, as both parties could not agree on a deal. Big Show said that he really wanted to do the match, especially since this would probably be his last WrestleMania and blamed Shaq's weight as a reason for why Shaq backed out.
According to wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer in January 2017, a WrestleMania 33 match between The Undertaker and John Cena was scrapped as Vince McMahon had "a different vision for the show and [was] thinking [about the] longterm picture not short-term."
Since 2014, WWE has attempted to establish Roman Reigns as their top babyface and the next 'face of the company', but a significant portion of fans rejected Reigns in this role, taking issue with his perceived special treatment, real-life demeanor, wrestling moveset, speaking skills and character presentation. This resulted in Reigns being booed while he wrestled in the main events of WrestleMania 31 and WrestleMania 32. Reigns was even voted as 2016's "Most Hated Wrestler of the Year" by Pro Wrestling Illustrated readers, a first for a heroic character since the award was devised in 1972. In response to the negative reception, Reigns said that there is "possible jealousy" from fans regarding his "major success". In March 2017 before WrestleMania 33, wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer reported that WWE's long term plans ("which obviously could change") leading to WrestleMania 34 was to "once again build for a year and have the big coronation" for Reigns, who would still be a heroic character "between now and then" and beat Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship "to fully replace John Cena as the lead babyface of the company", while the "idea" for Lesnar's role "for years now" was "to become a monster, be unbeatable, run through everybody, and then lose to Roman Reigns".
Storylines
The card consisted of thirteen matches, including three on the pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines and had results predetermined by WWE on the Raw and SmackDown brands. Storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw, SmackDown Live, and 205 Live, the latter of which is cruiserweight-exclusive.
At the Royal Rumble, Randy Orton won his second Royal Rumble match, earning himself a world championship match at WrestleMania 33 for his brand's WWE Championship. At Elimination Chamber, Bray Wyatt won the Elimination Chamber match to become the new WWE Champion, and retained the title on the following SmackDown. As a devoted Wyatt Family member, Orton relinquished his championship opportunity. SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan then scheduled a battle royal to determine Wyatt's challenger; it ended in a draw when both AJ Styles and Luke Harper went over the top rope simultaneously. Styles then defeated Harper the following week to earn the title match, but at the conclusion of the episode, Orton appeared at the Wyatt Family compound, where Wyatt Family's matriarch Sister Abigail was buried. Orton declared that he had only joined The Wyatt Family to destroy them from the inside (Orton joined the Wyatts in October 2016 after failing to defeat them in several matches) and set the compound ablaze, causing Wyatt to have a mental breakdown. As Orton had restated his intentions to challenge Wyatt for the WWE Championship, Bryan and SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon decided that Orton would face Styles to decisively determine Wyatt's challenger; Orton defeated Styles. On the March 14 episode, Orton was interrupted by Wyatt, who claimed to now have the powers of Sister Abigail as he covered himself in her ashes. The following week, Harper warned Orton about Wyatt's new "powers" and Orton was attacked backstage by followers of Wyatt, who performed a ritual on Orton. On the final SmackDown before WrestleMania, after Wyatt defeated Harper, Orton appeared on the TitanTron and claimed to have destroyed the powers of Sister Abigail.
At WrestleMania XX in 2004, Goldberg defeated Brock Lesnar in their first match against each other. Both left the company after the event, but Lesnar returned in 2012. After twelve years, Goldberg returned in 2016 and immediately began a feud with Lesnar, thanks in part due to the WWE 2K17 video game, which featured Lesnar on the cover and Goldberg as the pre-order bonus. This culminated in a match at Survivor Series, in which Goldberg humiliated Lesnar by defeating him in one minute and twenty-six seconds. Both then competed in the Royal Rumble match. Lesnar entered at number twenty-six and dispatched of several other wrestlers before Goldberg came out at number twenty-eight and once again humiliated Lesnar by quickly eliminating him from the match (Goldberg was eliminated soon after by The Undertaker). The next night on Raw, Lesnar and Paul Heyman appeared and challenged Goldberg to one final match at WrestleMania 33. Goldberg accepted Lesnar's challenge and also challenged Kevin Owens for the Universal Championship at Fastlane. Lesnar and Heyman said that if Goldberg won the title, Lesnar would challenge him for it at WrestleMania. At Fastlane, Goldberg defeated Owens, thus turning his match against Lesnar into a match for the Universal Championship. The next night on Raw, Lesnar confronted Goldberg and offered to shake his hand to congratulate him, but Goldberg refused. Heyman then exclaimed that at WrestleMania, Goldberg would be "Brock's bitch" and Lesnar attacked Goldberg with an F-5. The following week, Lesnar and Heyman gloated about Lesnar giving an F-5 to Goldberg and Heyman said that Lesnar would have the "greatest comeback in sports entertainment history" at WrestleMania. On the final Raw before WrestleMania, Goldberg and Lesnar had one last confrontation where Goldberg executed a spear on Lesnar.
In 2014, The Shield (Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns) were involved in a rivalry with Evolution (Triple H, Randy Orton, and Batista). After multiple losses to The Shield, Batista left the WWE, thus disbanding Evolution. Triple H then revealed his "Plan B": Rollins joined Triple H's Authority and attacked his teammates, thus turning heel. Rollins was the forefront of The Authority and won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship (later renamed WWE Championship) at WrestleMania 31, but was forced to vacate the title in November 2015 due to injury. He returned in mid-2016, was drafted to Raw, and unsuccessfully faced Finn Bálor for the WWE Universal Championship at SummerSlam. After Bálor vacated the title due to injury, Rollins qualified for a fatal four-way elimination match for the vacant title. During the match, a returning Triple H (last seen at WrestleMania 32) aided Rollins in eliminating Reigns, but then turned on Rollins by attacking him with a Pedigree, costing Rollins the match. The incident went unaddressed until December, when Rollins called out Triple H. On the January 23, 2017 episode of Raw, in the climax of Rollins' match against Sami Zayn, Triple H's music played, which distracted Rollins, causing him to lose his Royal Rumble spot. At NXT TakeOver: San Antonio, Rollins appeared and challenged Triple H to a match. Triple H came out, had Rollins escorted from the building by security, and called Rollins out on the January 30 episode of Raw. As Rollins came out, he was attacked by NXT call-up Samoa Joe; his attack on Rollins re-injured Rollins' knee. Rollins was estimated to be out of action for up to eight weeks. A few weeks later, Rollins addressed the status of his injury and said that it was unlikely that he would be at WrestleMania 33. Triple H came out with Joe and taunted Rollins, who then declared that he would be at WrestleMania. Triple H said that Rollins was ignorant for going against doctors advice. Triple H then got into an altercation with Raw General Manager Mick Foley, resulting in Foley being fired, after which, Rollins came down and attacked Triple H. However, Triple H recovered and attacked Rollins' knee. Triple H then challenged Rollins to a non-sanctioned match, which would forbid Rollins from suing the WWE if he were to get injured again, and Rollins accepted.
At the Royal Rumble, The Undertaker competed in the Royal Rumble match, entering at number twenty-nine, and was eliminated by the number thirty entrant, Roman Reigns. In the ensuing stare down, Reigns exclaimed: "This is my yard now!", a claim Undertaker had made for many years. On the March 6 episode of Raw, Braun Strowman, who had lost to Reigns at Fastlane, called out Reigns, but instead, The Undertaker appeared and stared down Strowman until Strowman left the ring. Reigns then came out and reiterated that WWE was his yard now. After a stare down, The Undertaker attacked Reigns with a chokeslam. A match between the two at WrestleMania 33 was confirmed the following week. Later on Raw, The Undertaker's gong sounded during Reigns' match against Jinder Mahal; Reigns was distracted, but nevertheless defeated Mahal. When Reigns called out The Undertaker after the match, Shawn Michaels came out instead to give Reigns advice about The Undertaker. Reigns said that he appreciated the advice, but said that he would retire The Undertaker just as Undertaker had retired Michaels at WrestleMania XXVI. The following week, during Reigns' rematch with Strowman, The Undertaker attacked Strowman with a chokeslam, but was surprised by Reigns with a spear. When Reigns had left, Undertaker sat up and taunted Reigns with his throat slash gesture. On the final Raw before WrestleMania, The Undertaker stated that the graveyard would be Reigns' yard after WrestleMania.
At the Royal Rumble, AJ Styles lost the WWE Championship to John Cena. Styles was immediately entered into the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match at the namesake pay-per-view, but SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon also promised Styles that he would get a one-on-one rematch for the title if he did not win the title back in the chamber match. At the event, Bray Wyatt eliminated both Cena and Styles to win the championship. Cena then immediately invoked his rematch clause, but Styles intervened, stating he should get his first. SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan then scheduled a triple threat match for the WWE Championship, where Wyatt retained. Randy Orton then refused his right as the Royal Rumble winner to face Wyatt for the title at WrestleMania 33, so Bryan scheduled a battle royal to determine a new number one-contender. Styles was entered into the battle royal, which ended in a draw between him and Luke Harper. The two faced each other in a number one contender's match the following week. Styles pinned Harper, but the referee did not see Harper's foot on the rope. Shane came out and restarted the match, which angered Styles, even though he would defeat Harper once again. At the conclusion of the show, Orton reclaimed his right to face Wyatt at WrestleMania. Bryan and Shane decided that Styles would have to compete in another number one contender's match, this time against Orton, who won. After the show, an angered Styles got into a heated argument backstage with Shane. The following week, an irate Styles said that he was tired of Bryan and Shane. He said because of them, he did not have a match at WrestleMania, but Orton, who committed arson, did. Later backstage, Styles attacked Shane and threw him through a car window. Styles was subsequently (kayfabe) fired by Bryan, but at the end of the show, an injured Shane challenged Styles to a match at WrestleMania, which Styles accepted. At the end of the following week's episode, Shane called out Styles and the two brawled, which ended with Shane performing a Leap of Faith on Styles through the broadcast table. The following week, the two had a contract signing to make the match official.
In mid-2016, Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens began teaming and assisting each other. Jericho played a part in Owens winning the vacant WWE Universal Championship, which ultimately led to them becoming best friends. Jericho assisted Owens in retaining his title in various defenses, and the two were made co-captains of Team Raw's men's team at Survivor Series, but ultimately lost to Team SmackDown. On the following Raw, tensions were high as Jericho was going to blame Owens, but they agreed that it was Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns' fault for the team's loss. The following week, Reigns challenged Owens for the Universal title, but questioned Owens' ability to win a match without Jericho. Owens declared that he did not need Jericho, and the match was scheduled for Roadblock: End of the Line. At the event, Jericho seemingly turned on Owens by attacking him, which was revealed to be Jericho's plan so that Owens would win and retain the title. The two then challenged Reigns for his United States Championship in the following weeks and Jericho ultimately won the title, and Owens assisted Jericho in his title defenses. After Owens retained his title at the Royal Rumble, Jericho accepted Goldberg's challenge on Owens' behalf for the Universal Championship at Fastlane, which was made official to the dismay of Owens. Jericho then held a "Festival of Friendship" for Owens, who turned on Jericho and brutally attacked him. In retaliation, Jericho cost Owens his Universal Championship match at Fastlane. The following night on Raw, Jericho said he screwed Owens for betraying him and demanded to know why Owens had betrayed him. Owens said that they were never actually friends and that he only used Jericho who became useless after Jericho accepted Goldberg's challenge. Jericho then challenged Owens to a match at WrestleMania 33, which Owens accepted only if it were for the United States Championship, and Jericho agreed. Owens said he wanted to take Jericho's title since Jericho had cost him his. On the March 20 episode, on the Highlight Reel, Owens attacked Jericho from behind and destroyed "The List of Jericho". The following week, Owens faced Sami Zayn in a no disqualification match where if Zayn lost, he would be fired. During the match, Samoa Joe, who had been feuding with Zayn, attempted to interfere and help Owens win, but Jericho appeared, stopped Joe, and helped Zayn win. Jericho then brought out a new list and added Owens' name to it.
At Elimination Chamber, Nikki Bella and Natalya had a backstage confrontation that lead to Natalya shoving Nikki into Maryse. Later that night, The Miz attempted to eliminate John Cena from the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match only for Miz to get eliminated by Cena. On the February 21 episode of SmackDown, Nikki and Natalya's Falls Count Anywhere match led to the backstage area, where Natalya again shoved Nikki into Maryse, who retaliated by attacking Nikki with a lead pipe, thus costing her the match. In that episode's main event, the same incident between Cena and Miz happened in the WWE Championship number one contender's battle royal, but this time, Miz returned and caused Cena's elimination. Cena was then the guest on Miz TV where Miz criticized Cena for being a hypocrite, as Cena was basically doing the same thing that he himself had criticized The Rock for doing: leaving the WWE and going to Hollywood. Miz said that despite his hard work, he does not get the same opportunities as Cena, and he eliminated Cena to prevent him from going to WrestleMania 33. Cena criticized Miz for copying other people's gimmicks and moves, which caused Maryse to slap Cena for insulting her husband. Nikki then came out and Maryse and Miz retreated. The following week, The Miz and Maryse attacked Cena and Nikki after the latter two's match against James Ellsworth and Carmella. The Miz and Maryse continued their insults against Cena and Nikki the next week. SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan then decided that since he himself could not fight The Miz, who had been insulting him for several months, both The Miz and Maryse would face Cena and Nikki at WrestleMania; Maryse's last match was in 2011. The Miz and Maryse then made fun of Cena and Nikki's reality show Total Bellas by impersonating them in "unaired footage". On the final SmackDown before WrestleMania, more "unaired footage" from Total Bellas was shown, and the two teams traded more insults with each other.
At Roadblock: End of the Line, Charlotte Flair defeated Sasha Banks to win her record fourth Raw Women's Championship, ending their long feud and, as per a post-event stipulation, as long as one of them were champion, the other could not challenge for the title. Charlotte then began a feud with Bayley, which resulted in a championship match at the Royal Rumble, where Charlotte retained. Also during this time, Banks entered into a feud with Nia Jax, who defeated Banks on the Royal Rumble pre-show. The next night on Raw, Bayley pinned Charlotte in a six-person mixed tag team match, thus granting her a rematch for the title on the February 13 episode of Raw, where she defeated Charlotte to become the new Raw Women's Champion, thanks to help from Banks. The following week, Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon asked Bayley to relinquish her title due to Banks's interference, but Bayley refused and Charlotte invoked her championship rematch for Fastlane, which saw Bayley retain after Banks, who had just defeated Jax earlier that night, again interfered. The following night on Raw, Banks declared that she and Bayley should face off for the title at WrestleMania 33. Charlotte came out and demanded that she should have a rematch due to Banks's interference. Raw General Manager Mick Foley then scheduled Charlotte to face Banks in which the winner would challenge Bayley for the title at WrestleMania. However, Stephanie decided to keep Charlotte in the championship match, but allowed Banks the opportunity to be added if she could defeat Bayley that night, which she did. The following week, Nia Jax was also given the opportunity to challenge for the championship if she could defeat Bayley. However, Jax lost the match by disqualification, but the following week, she defeated Bayley in a rematch that was no disqualification, earning her a spot in the championship match at WrestleMania. The following week prior to Raw, the match was turned into a fatal four-way elimination match. On Raw, Bayley and Banks teamed up and defeated Charlotte and Jax. After the match, Jax laid out her three WrestleMania opponents.
On the Royal Rumble pre-show, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson defeated Cesaro and Sheamus to win the Raw Tag Team Championship. Cesaro and Sheamus invoked their rematch, but lost due to interference from Enzo Amore and Big Cass. On the February 20 episode of Raw, Enzo and Cass defeated Cesaro and Sheamus to receive a tag title at Fastlane, where Gallows and Anderson retained. A rematch occurred the following night on Raw where Cesaro and Sheamus got involved, costing Enzo and Cass the titles. Later on, Raw General Manager Mick Foley scheduled Cesaro and Sheamus to face Enzo and Cass on the next episode, with the winners going on to challenge Gallows and Anderson for the titles at WrestleMania 33. However, during that match, Gallows and Anderson attacked both teams, causing a double disqualification. Foley then scheduled Gallows and Anderson to defend the titles against both teams at WrestleMania in a triple threat match. The following week, Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon fired Foley and in opposition to his decision due to his relationship with Cesaro and Sheamus, she scheduled them to face Gallows, Anderson, Enzo, and Cass in a two-on-four handicap match with the stipulation being that if Cesaro and Sheamus were to lose, they would be out of the WrestleMania match, but Cesaro and Sheamus retained their spot in the triple threat match. Backstage the following week, Gallows and Anderson attacked Cesaro and Sheamus with a ladder. In the ring, Gallows and Anderson attempted to attack Enzo and Cass, but Cesaro and Sheamus retaliated and attacked them with a ladder. All three teams brawled and Gallows and Anderson were the last standing. The WrestleMania match was then turned into a triple threat ladder match for the Raw Tag Team Championship.
At Elimination Chamber, Naomi defeated Alexa Bliss to win the SmackDown Women's Championship, but a legit injury forced her to relinquish the title. Bliss then insisted that since Naomi could not face her for a rematch, she should be awarded the title. Instead, SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan scheduled her to face Becky Lynch for the vacant title, which Bliss won. On the March 7 episode of SmackDown, Becky, Natalya, and even Bliss's ally Mickie James all demanded to challenge for the championship at WrestleMania. Bryan decided that Bliss would have the chance to prove her claim of being "the greatest female on the roster" as she would be defending the title against all available female SmackDown wrestlers at WrestleMania, much to the dismay of Bliss. In a subsequent tag team match pitting Bliss and James against Lynch and Natalya, both Natalya and Lynch turned against their respective partners. On the March 21 episode, Natalya interfered in a match between Lynch and Carmella. In the ensuing brawl also involving James and Bliss, Bliss remained the last woman standing. On the final SmackDown before WrestleMania, Naomi returned, attacked all women, and confirmed that she would be in the match at WrestleMania, making it a six-pack challenge.
At Elimination Chamber during the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match, as Baron Corbin had a stare down with The Miz, Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose eliminated Corbin with a rollup pin. An enraged Corbin attacked Ambrose and executed the End of Days on him before he left the chamber, which allowed Miz to eliminate Ambrose. On the following SmackDown, Ambrose wanted to exact revenge on Corbin, however, he was attacked by Corbin just as Ambrose made his entrance for his match against James Ellsworth. Ambrose and Corbin then participated in the WWE Championship number one contender's battle royal, where Ambrose eliminated Corbin. Corbin again attacked Ambrose with the End of Days and Ambrose was eventually eliminated from the match. Ambrose called out Corbin over the next couple of weeks. Corbin attacked Ambrose backstage and proclaimed his desire to take the Intercontinental Championship from Ambrose. On the March 14 episode, Corbin formally challenged Ambrose for the title at WrestleMania 33. The following week during Corbin's match against Randy Orton, Ambrose caused a distraction and cost Corbin his match, before accepting Corbin's challenge and executed Dirty Deeds on him. The match was moved to the pre-show.
At Fastlane, Neville retained the WWE Cruiserweight Championship by defeating Gentleman Jack Gallagher. The following night on Raw, Neville again retained his championship against Rich Swann in Swann's rematch from the Royal Rumble. After the match, Neville said there was no one left in the cruiserweight division that could compete with him. Austin Aries, who had been out of action due to injury, disagreed and attacked Neville, insinuating his desire to challenge for the title. On the March 13 episode of Raw, it was revealed that a fatal five-way elimination match between Aries, T.J. Perkins, Tony Nese, Akira Tozawa, and The Brian Kendrick was scheduled for the following night on 205 Live to determine the number one contender for Neville at WrestleMania 33, which was won by Aries, and scheduled for the WrestleMania pre-show. The two traded barbs over the next couple of weeks and on the final 205 Live before WrestleMania, Neville attacked Aries and retreated before Aries could counterattack.
On the March 7 episode of SmackDown, Mojo Rawley became the first wrestler to announce his participation in the 4th annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Afterwards on Talking Smack, Apollo Crews announced that he would be in the match. On the March 13 episode of Raw, after plans for a potential match with Shaquille O'Neal fell through, it was revealed that Big Show would be part of the battle royal. The following week, SmackDown's Curt Hawkins confirmed his participation. On the March 27 episode of Raw, Braun Strowman, The Golden Truth (Goldust and R-Truth), The Shining Stars (Epico and Primo), Curtis Axel, Bo Dallas, and Jinder Mahal were confirmed for the battle royal. Later in the night, Sami Zayn defeated Kevin Owens in a no disqualification match to qualify for the battle royal. It was then confirmed that the match was scheduled for the pre-show. On the March 28 episode of SmackDown, Heath Slater, Rhyno, American Alpha (Chad Gable and Jason Jordan), Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango), Dolph Ziggler, and SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso) were confirmed for the match. On March 30, Mark Henry was confirmed for the battle royal, as well as NXT's Tian Bing, who was WWE's first Chinese recruit. On April 1, NXT's Killian Dain was added to the match.
Maps WrestleMania 33
Event
Pre-show
Three matches were contested on the two-hour long pre-show.
In the first match, Neville defended the WWE Cruiserweight Championship against Austin Aries. In the climax, as Aries applied the Last Chancery on Neville, Neville poked Aries' eyes to escape and performed a Red Arrow on Aries to retain the title.
Next, 33 wrestlers competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, including previously unannounced participants Kalisto, Sin Cara, Luke Harper, Titus O'Neil, The Vaudevillains (Simon Gotch and Aiden English) and The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor). In the climax, Jinder Mahal taunted New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, who was sitting at ringside. This prompted Gronkowski to enter the ring and shove Mahal. Mojo Rawley then eliminated Mahal to win the match.
Finally, Dean Ambrose defended the Intercontinental Championship against Baron Corbin. In the end, Corbin attempted the End of Days on Ambrose, who countered and performed Dirty Deeds on Corbin to retain the title.
Preliminary matches
The actual pay-per-view opened with the hosts, The New Day, who were dressed as characters inspired by Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood, a sponsor of the event. They made their entrance and hyped the live crowd for the event.
In the first match, AJ Styles faced Shane McMahon. During the match, Styles attempted a springboard 450° splash on Shane, who countered into a triangle choke on Styles, who then countered into a one-armed Styles Clash on Shane for a near-fall. After the referee was knocked down, Styles attempted a Coast-to-Coast on Shane, who countered by attacking Styles with a trash can. Shane then performed a Coast-to-Coast into a trash can on Styles for a near-fall. Shane attempted a Leap of Faith through an announce table on Styles, who moved and Shane fell through the announce table. As Styles attempted a Phenomenal Forearm, Shane countered into a float-over DDT on Styles. Shane attempted a shooting star press, but Styles avoided and performed a Phenomenal Forearm on Shane to win the match.
Next, Chris Jericho defended the United States Championship against Kevin Owens. Owens attempted a pop-up powerbomb on Jericho, who countered and performed a Lionsault on Owens for a near-fall. Owens applied the Walls of Jericho on Jericho, who escaped. Owens performed a pop-up powerbomb on Jericho for a near-fall. As Owens attempted a second pop-up powerbomb on Jericho, Jericho countered into a Codebreaker on Owens, who touched the ring ropes with one finger to void the pinfall at a two count. In the end, Owens performed a powerbomb on Jericho onto the ring apron and pinned him to win his first United States Championship.
After that, Bayley defended the Raw Women's Championship against Charlotte Flair, Nia Jax and Sasha Banks in a fatal four-way elimination match. Bayley, Flair and Banks performed a triple powerbomb on Jax and all three pinned Jax to eliminate her. Banks applied the Bank Statement on Flair, who escaped and caused Banks to collide with an exposed turnbuckle, after which Flair pinned Banks to eliminate her. In the end, Flair collided with the exposed turnbuckle, allowing Bayley to perform a diving elbow drop on Flair to retain the title.
In the fourth match, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson were originally scheduled to defend the Raw Tag Team Championship against Cesaro and Sheamus and Enzo Amore and Big Cass in a triple threat ladder match. Before the match, hosts The New Day announced that the returning Hardy Boyz (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) would also be involved in the match. In the end, Matt performed a Twist of Fate off a ladder on Anderson and Jeff performed a Swanton Bomb off a ladder through a bridged ladder on Cesaro and Sheamus. Matt then retrieved the title belts to win the championship for the first time as a team; individually, the first time for Jeff and the second time for Matt.
Later, John Cena and Nikki Bella faced The Miz and Maryse in a mixed tag team match with Al Roker serving as the special guest ring announcer. In the end, as Bella and Maryese were the legal wrestlers, Cena and Bella performed Five Knuckle Shuffles on Miz and Maryse. Cena performed an Attitude Adjustment on Miz whilst Bella performed a Rack Attack 2.0 on Maryse. Cena and Bella pinned both Miz and Maryse to win the match. After the match, Cena proposed to Nikki, who accepted.
Next, Seth Rollins then faced Triple H in a non-sanctioned match. During the match, Rollins attempted a Pedigree on Triple H, who countered into a DDT on Rollins onto an announce table. Triple H targeted Rollins' leg, applying an inverted figure-four leglock on Rollins, who rolled out of the ring to escape the hold. Triple H retrieved his signature sledgehammer, only for Rollins to perform an enzuigiri on Triple H. As Rollins retrieved the sledgehammer, Stephanie McMahon snatched the weapon away from Rollins. This allowed Triple H to perform a Pedigree on Rollins for a near-fall. As Triple H attempted a Pedigree on Rollins from the top rope, Rollins countered and performed a Phoenix Splash on Triple H for a near-fall. After trading counters, Rollins performed a superkick on Triple H, who bumped into Stephanie, causing her to fall through a table. Rollins then performed a Pedigree on Triple H to win the match.
Next, Bray Wyatt defended the WWE Championship against Randy Orton. At the beginning of the match, Orton attempted an RKO on Wyatt, who rolled out of the ring. During the match, Wyatt played mind games on Orton by having large images of different insects appear on the ring canvas. Outside of the ring, Wyatt performed Sister Abigail on Orton into the barricade. Orton then performed an RKO on Wyatt and scored a near-fall. Wyatt performed Sister Abigail on Orton for a near-fall. Orton then performed another RKO on Wyatt to win his ninth WWE Championship and his first at WrestleMania.
After that, Goldberg defended the Universal Championship against Brock Lesnar. Lesnar performed three German suplexes on Goldberg, who quickly recovered and performed two spears on Lesnar, who then rolled out of the ring. Goldberg then performed a spear on Lesnar through the barricade into the timekeepers area. Goldberg got Lesnar back into the ring and attempted a Jackhammer, but Lesnar countered and attempted an F-5 on Goldberg, who also countered and performed another spear, followed by a Jackhammer on Lesnar, who became the first man to kick-out of the spear-Jackhammer combo. Goldberg attempted a fifth spear, but Lesnar avoided Goldberg and performed seven more German suplexes on him. Lesnar then performed an F-5 on Goldberg to win his first Universal Championship and gave Goldberg his first clean singles loss of his career. This win also made Lesnar the first wrestler to win both the WWE Championship and Universal Championship.
In the penultimate match, Alexa Bliss defended the SmackDown Women's Championship against Becky Lynch, Naomi, Mickie James, Natalya, and Carmella in a six-pack challenge. The end came when Naomi forced Bliss to submit to the Slay-o-Mission to win her second SmackDown Women's Championship, tying the record.
Main event
In the main event, the match between The Undertaker and Roman Reigns was revealed to be a No Holds Barred match. Jim Ross returned as a guest commentator. During the match, Undertaker performed a chokeslam on Reigns through an announce table, who then performed a spear on Undertaker through another announce table. Undertaker performed a Last Ride for a near-fall. Reigns performed two Superman punches on Undertaker, who performed a chokeslam on Reigns onto a chair for a near-fall. Undertaker performed a Tombstone Piledriver on Reigns for a near-fall. Reigns executed another spear, but Undertaker applied Hell's Gate, with Reigns managing to escape. Reigns attacked Undertaker with a chair and performed two spears--both scored near-falls. Undertaker attempted his signature sit-up, but suddenly collapsed. After another spear, Reigns pinned Undertaker to win the match and become the second person to defeat Undertaker at WrestleMania after Brock Lesnar ended the Streak at WrestleMania XXX. After the match, The Undertaker symbolically left his gloves, coat and hat in the center of the ring, hinting that this was possibly his last match. In a very rare moment, Undertaker broke character and kissed his wife Michelle McCool, who was seated in the front row. Undertaker walked to the center of the entrance ramp, looked at the crowd and raised his arm as he was lowered below the stage to the sound of his music and his signature gong sounded three times as the show ended. In the arena, the main stage lighting (not the crowd's lighting) was left off for the remainder of the evening and Undertaker's clothes were left in the ring as the production crew cleaned up, only taking his clothing articles when it was time to disassemble the ring.
Reception
WrestleMania 33 received mixed reviews from critics. Matt Geradi and Kevin Pang of The A.V. Club co-reviewed WrestleMania. Pang criticized the event for being "long and exhausting to watch at home", with "nothing that would win match-of-the-year in a 2017 poll" and "minimum" surprises. Geradi felt that the event exceeded his expectations and "the storytelling was on point all night", but it was a "tremendously front-loaded show". Yet Geradi and Pang agreed that everything "didn't matter" as WrestleMania "was about one story--the end of The Undertaker"; both reviewers agreed that the main event was "sad", with Pang also describing it as "ugly". Although "Shawn Michaels' sympathy and expressiveness" made Ric Flair's retirement at WrestleMania "moving and memorable", Geradi chided Reigns for having "barely mustered an ounce of anything other than disbelief and exasperation" as it "was business as usual for The Big Dog". For the other matches, Pang wrote that Aries-Neville fulfilled expectations as the "best technical match" with an "especially killer" finish, while Gerardi described Jericho-Owens as "really solidly worked with some clever, unique spots, and the in-ring story with all the counters was great stuff".
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter described WrestleMania 33 as a "a long but extremely newsworthy show" finished off with the "retirement" ceremony for the Undertaker, whose match was "as good as could be expected as they went long". Meltzer described that though the crowd was tired at the finish of the main event, WWE "did clearly turn down the sound" and "then they hit the pyro". For the Universal title match, Meltzer wrote that it "was what was expected" and the "match was pretty much perfect considering how late it was", with the live audience "going nuts through all of this". For McMahon-Styles, Meltzer commented that the "match had its moments that were spectacular", and that the "story was that Shane was the real striker and got the better of that". For Ambrose-Corbin, Meltzer felt it was "certainly a lot less than you'd think for a WrestleMania match", while the Raw women's match was "too short for an elimination match", and the Raw tag team title match "wasn't as good as what [sic] most WrestleMania ladder matches but the crowd went completely nuts for the Hardys". Although WWE "may have turned down the crowd noise" for Cena's proposal, Meltzer felt the proposal was "really great". Lastly, Meltzer said that Rawley winning the battle royal was "largely for the mainstream coverage of Rob Gronkowski".
Jack de Menezes of The Independent wrote that WrestleMania 33 was "an emotional night for fans", especially due to the "brutal ending" of the Undertaker's career. With Reigns' "disappointing, error-strewn display ... compared to some of the other eye-catching displays at WrestleMania", de Menezes questioned if the "obvious passing of the torch by the WWE" was "the right decision". For the other memorable moments of the night, de Menezes described the return of The Hardy Boyz as "incredible and triumphant", the Orton-Wyatt match as a "creepy and disturbing affair", Naomi recapturing the SmackDown women's title as "a homecoming to remember", McMahon-Styles as a match "filled with highlight moments" and Cena's proposal as "unthinkable".
Luis Paez-Pumar of Rolling Stone described WrestleMania as "two-faced as a Gemini"--the first half "was a brisk hybrid of styles and matches that made you think that WWE knew what it was doing all along with this lackluster build", but once Triple H appeared, the rest of the event "was a slog of plodding wrestling, brief matches and boos". Paez-Pumar described that The Undertaker as "should have retired when the Streak was broken", but "lived on to pass the rub on to Reigns in the sloppiest, saddest manner possible". Paez-Pumar proclaimed that "WWE has no idea how to handle Bray Wyatt", writing that Orton "definitely did not need the title" and ridiculing Wyatt's conjuring of "projected video screen grossness" as "the dumbest crap". Paez-Pumar called for "fresh blood or new ideas" in both women's divisions and for Triple H to retire given that he "has not put on a good Mania match" since 2005 or 2006 once WrestleMania XXX was discounted. For the positives, Goldberg-Lesnar was a "revitalizing adrenaline shot to the spine", Cena's proposal was "magic in a way that no other entertainment can match", The New Day "were excellent hosts; funny when called upon and out of the way when not", while "a stale-ass tag team division just became the most must-see part of Raw" due to the return of the Hardys. The match between Orton and Wyatt was voted by The Wrestling Observer Newsletter as the Worst Match of the Year.
Aftermath
There had been much speculation that Undertaker had competed in his final match. While it was not confirmed on air, the WWE online merchandise store released a commemorative photo plaque showing a photo of Undertaker's gear that he left in the ring, with the description stating that he had ended his in-ring career. In addition, Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer reported that Undertaker would be getting surgeries for his injuries, specifically a hip replacement surgery that Undertaker held off due to his commitments with WWE. The following year at WrestleMania 34, however, Undertaker returned and defeated John Cena.
Although John Cena had proposed to Nikki Bella at the event with plans to wed the following year, on April 15, 2018, Nikki announced on her Instagram account that she and Cena had ended their six-year long relationship.
Raw
On the post-WrestleMania 33 Raw the following night, the show opened with "Undertaker" and "Roman sucks" chants from the live audience, which was interrupted by Roman Reigns. After the crowd blasted Reigns with torrid boos and several minutes of hostile chants, Reigns left after only stating, "This is my yard now!" A lot of the crowd hostility arised from the speculation that WrestleMania 33 was The Undertaker's last match, as well as the long running fan opposition to Reigns. After that segment, WWE commentators labelled the post-WrestleMania 33 crowd as "non-traditional WWE fans" who may cheer for those they normally boo and boo those they normally cheer "all in the name of fun". This echoed similar comments a year prior for the post-WrestleMania 32 crowd, which The A.V. Club described as WWE's "aggressive" and condescending "disclaimers" meant to shame the hardcore audience.
Later, new Universal Champion Brock Lesnar's advocate, Paul Heyman, declared that Goldberg would not be seen again and teased a match between Lesnar and Roman Reigns. Braun Strowman came out and declared that after he himself was done with Reigns, who he had been feuding with prior to WrestleMania, he would be coming for Lesnar and his title. After the show, on Raw Talk, Goldberg stated that his WrestleMania match may have been his last, but hinted that he could return. The following week, Strowman brutally attacked Reigns during a backstage interview and overturned the ambulance that Reigns was in. Afterwards, Reigns was taken to the hospital in another ambulance. A match between the two was scheduled for Payback. Lesnar would hold on to the title for the remainder of the year. At WrestleMania 34, Lesnar and Reigns had a match for the title after it was teased by Heyman over a year ago.
Also on the post-Wrestlemania Raw, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon explained that his daughter, Stephanie, would be off television for a while due to her crashing through a table at WrestleMania, and then introduced 2017 WWE Hall of Fame inductee Kurt Angle as the new Raw General Manager. He also announced that there would be a Superstar Shake-up the following week between Raw and SmackDown, a talent trade between the two brands.
Chris Jericho was granted a rematch for the United States Championship against Kevin Owens at Payback. He was then attacked backstage by Owens and Samoa Joe. Jericho was subsequently replaced in a tag team match by the returning Finn Bálor. On the April 11 episode of SmackDown, the Superstar Shake-up moved Owens to SmackDown, but it was decided that if Jericho won the United States Championship at Payback, he would also move to SmackDown. Also, Seth Rollins resumed his rivalry with Samoa Joe and the two were scheduled to fight at Payback.
Also on the post-Wrestlemania Raw, The Hardy Boyz retained their Raw Tag Team Championship against Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, while Cesaro and Sheamus earned a title shot at Payback by defeating Enzo Amore and Big Cass. The New Day issued an open challenge, which was answered by NXT's The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder) in their main roster debut. The Revival defeated and continued to beat down New Day, injuring Kofi Kingston's ankle. The following week, The New Day (Big E and Xavier Woods) lost a rematch against Revival and were moved to SmackDown as part of the Superstar Shake-up.
In the women's division, Raw Women's Champion Bayley, Sasha Banks, and Dana Brooke defeated Charlotte Flair, Nia Jax, and the returning Emma. The following week, Sasha was about to challenge Bayley to a title match when she was interrupted by Alexa Bliss and Mickie James, who moved over from SmackDown as a result of the Superstar Shake-up; Charlotte was moved to the SmackDown brand. Alexa subsequently earned a title match at Payback by winning a fatal four-way match.
In the cruiserweight division on the post-WrestleMania 205 Live, Austin Aries earned another title shot by winning a fatal four-way match, and it was scheduled for Payback.
SmackDown
On the post-WrestleMania SmackDown, Bray Wyatt challenged the newly-crowned WWE Champion Randy Orton to a "House of Horrors" non-title match, which Orton accepted. In the ensuing brawl, Luke Harper and the returning Erick Rowan came out to help Orton and Wyatt, respectively. Subsequently, Orton and Harper defeated Wyatt and Rowan. Wyatt was moved to Raw the following week and his rematch with Orton was scheduled for the Raw-exclusive pay-per-view, Payback.
Also on the post-WrestleMania SmackDown, SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon addressed the Superstar Shake-Up. His WrestleMania opponent, AJ Styles, interrupted him, saying that he wanted to stay on SmackDown, and then shook Shane's hand out of respect. The following week, Styles was confirmed to stay on SmackDown and he defeated Baron Corbin and Sami Zayn, who had moved over from Raw, to become the number one contender for the United States Championship at Backlash.
In a non-title rematch, Baron Corbin defeated Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose in a Street Fight. This would be their last encounter as Ambrose, with the championship, moved to the Raw brand as a result of the Superstar Shake-up.
The Miz and Maryse continued their impersonation of John Cena and Nikki Bella. They claimed credit for Cena proposing to Nikki and mocked the newly-engaged couple, as they were taking a break from WWE post-WrestleMania. As they were leaving the ring, they were interrupted by the main roster debut of Shinsuke Nakamura. The Miz and Maryse were then moved to Raw, where they resumed their rivalry with Dean Ambrose. Jinder Mahal moved to SmackDown, where he continued his feud with Mojo Rawley and Rob Gronkowski. Rawley defeated Mahal following interference by Gronkowski. Both Mahal and Rawley then participated in a six-pack challenge, which Mahal won to become the #1 contender for the WWE Championship at Backlash.
In the women's division, Alexa Bliss lost her rematch for the SmackDown Women's Championship against Naomi. The following week, Alexa and Mickie James moved to Raw as a result of the Superstar Shake-up. Charlotte Flair, who moved over from Raw, defeated Naomi in a non-title match to become the number one contender.
Results
References
External links
- WrestleMania Official Website
Source of article : Wikipedia
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