With the end of the year comes the beginning of the road to Wrestlemania season. The WWE is beginning to move the chess pieces in place to make their moves to Orlando for Wrestlemania 33. While a few matches have already been rumored to be “set in stone,” Daniel Bryan showed us at Wrestlemania 30 that it’s never too late for the WWE to throw an audible at the last minute.
Regardless of where the storylines are now, here are 5 Wrestlemania 33 matches that absolutely need to happen next May!
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Finn Balor vs AJ Styles
Ifย the rumors are true that AJ Styles mayย drop his WWE championship to a certain legend (keep reading to find out who) at the Royal Rumble, then the greatest wrestler alive will be in need of a Wrestlemania 33 program.ย
However, when surveying the Smackdown LIVE landscape, there’s not really a worthy babyface to step up and take that challenge. On, RAW, however, a dream match awaits with a retruning Finn Balor. These two former Bullet Club members could have an epic match, with the winner being crowned the one true leader of “The Club.”ย
Of course, this all hinges on the WWE being willing to rebuild The Club into an actual faction worthy of their repuation, and not just let Anderson and Gallowsย linger as a midcard tag team.ย
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Seth Rollins vs Triple H
The one Wrestlemania match I’dย feel safe betting on as set in stone. This program has been building ever since Triple H annointed Seth as his chosen one two years ago. When Trips interferred in the Universal championship bout anc handed Kevin Owens the championship, the wheels for a Rollins/HHH match began to roll.
On last night’s RAW, Seth called out The Game again. I expect Triple H to answer that call at the Royal Rumble, and set up what should be an epic student vs teacher match up between the two at Wrestlemania.
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Daniel Bryan vs The Miz
It’s no coincidence that Miz keeps using Daniel Bryan’s moves and taunting him in interviews on Talking Smack. What originally seemed like just a device to boost The Miz’s heel persona now seems like it might actually be heading to something greater.ย In wrestling, every great story should leadย to the ring.ย
One very obvious problemย is the fact that Bryan is retired and that it is completelyย due to WWE’s medical team not clearing Bryan for a return to the ring. However, Bryan has stated many times that he has been cleared to wrestler by outside doctors.ย
While his health may not allow him to wrestle even a partย time schedule anymore, it may be possible that he willย be cleared to wrestle one final match against one of the safest workers in the business, The Miz.ย
The match with his former NXT “teacher” would be a great payoff to a longstanding feud and a fitting way to properly end Daniel Bryan’sย career.ย
Roman Reigns vs Goldberg
The other Wrestlemania 33 match that seems set in stone is Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar round 3. However, I’d like to see the WWE go in a different direction. Roman Reigns has made it clear that he is looking to become a double WWE champion and the rumors are he will do just that at WWE Roadblock: Over The Line.ย
After vanquishing the Beast at Survivor Series, Goldberg made it known that he wanted one more championship run. With all of the dream match possibilities, it would be a shame to see Goldberg not get a chance to go one on one with a new era superstar when we’ve already seen him face Lesnar twice.
Goldbergย winning the Rumble and getting his shot at WWE Universal champ, Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania would be a much more unpredictable outcome than simply Lesnar getting his win back against the former WCW champion.ย
Spear vs Spear. Generation vs Generation. And if Roman turns heel in the process, well, we wouldn’t hate that either.ย
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John Cena vs The Undertaker: Career Match
The thought of this one just gives me goosebumps. Imagine John Cean looking to tie Ric Flair’s record for 16 World Championships at Wrestlemania. Now imagine the man holding that belt being the Deadman with a 22-1 record at Wrestlemania. OK, now imagine that same Deadman saying he didn’t want John Cena to EVER reach the coveted goal and making the match a career vs career stipulation.Even thoughย the ending of this one would probably be a no-brainer, the story and build up would be one of the greatest in wrestling history.ย
As we noted earlier, AJ Styles has been rumored to drop his WWE World championship to The Undertaker at the 2017 Royal Rumble. I expect that program to be put in motion tonight on Smackdown LIVE, taking place in Houston, TX.ย
It’s a miracle that the WWE has managed to keep these two apart for so long. Let’s not wait any longer for a payoff. As we saw with the potential Sting/Taker dream match, once you miss the boat, it never comes back. ย
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