The end of the wrestling calendar is just under a month away, and we already have the majority of the WrestleMania card planned out. It includes the very best of Raw and SmackDown, and it is sure to be a show to remember. Whether you’re looking forward to the matches or not, there can be no doubt that the calibre of athletes involved in the Granddaddy of Them All should put on an incredibly entertaining show one way or another.
Once again, two part-time athletes will be taking centre stage as they battle for the WWE Universal Championship. Goldberg and Brock Lesnar may draw the ire of the Internet Wrestling Community, but they can draw a massive crowd which is what’s needed. A lot of the crop from NXT are still developing to the point where they can carry a WrestleMania main event, but they are not quite there at this juncture.
That being said, having looked down the card for the upcoming event, some superstars on there should be in a much better position than they are. If WWE is guilty of one crime, it’s under-utilising superstars that could turn the show from great to spectacular.
We’re going to take a look at 5 Superstars that could be put into a much better position on the card than they’re currently occupying. I would try to adopt the Power of Positivity, but I feel that is a little easier said than done, which brings me to my first slide…
#5 The New Day
The New Day began with a gimmick that really did have trouble getting over. People thought they sucked and one might argue that they were right. However, they took the momentum the crowd were giving them and ran with it. They eventually turned face and are the three most entertaining guys on the Raw roster.
Last year saw their historic tag-team title reign come to an end. They held the belts for the longest time in WWE history, smashing Demolition’s record of 478 days with 483. For me, they could have held on to them for even longer. The teams that have captured them since have not been the most captivating when it comes to making the championship mean something.
It makes me sad to think that the best tag-team in WWE have been chosen to host WrestleMania. That is criminal! I know they will be incredibly entertaining and make the most of the opportunity they’ve been given with some great backstage skits and other sketches but they should be wrestling, there is no arguing against that.
The Raw Tag-Team Championship is a triple threat match already so adding New Day in there wouldn’t be too bad. However, it could be argued that there are not enough singles matches on the card nowadays as the roster is that deep that everyone deserves a spot. You may also say that New Day deserve to take a step back from the Championship scene and hosting the event is the perfect compromise. And I would agree with you, but then we’d both be wrong.
Hopefully, they will be added last minute to a match, be it impromptu or made on the pre-show.
#4 The Miz
Awesome. That is the perfect description for The Miz this year. There is no one here that could say they weren’t engrossed by the interview he did on Talking Smack last year where he put himself on the map and made the Intercontinental Championship the belt to go after.
With Maryse by his side, the Miz has remained relevant whether he’s had the title or not. Some wrestlers need a belt to keep them in the forefront of people’s minds, but The Miz is not one of them. Even though he lost the gold to Ambrose, it hasn’t slowed him down, and he is still producing some of the best promotional work I’ve ever seen from him.
Most recently, he has called out John Cena, blurring the lines of kayfabe as he references real backstage issues and attacks Cena personally. However, it seems that Nikki Bella and Maryse are also looking to get involved. Maryse even cut a promo the other day on SmackDown Live.
Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to go down the road of saying that the women don’t deserve to be at the event, that couldn’t be further from the truth, but this is not the way I would have liked things to have gone down. A mixed tag match pitting The Miz and Maryse against John Cena and Nikki Bella is a waste of two good singles matches.
I believe the Miz is under-utilised due to the simple fact that he has become a main-event contender. He should be at least challenging for a belt or going over Cena at WrestleMania 33. It’s a bit scary that he has been put in a mixed tag match as it suggests that WWE is struggling for a direction for The Miz.
Here’s hoping he makes the most of this match and can begin to challenge for the WWE Championship later this year.
#3 The Big Show
The Big Show was supposed to be facing Shaquille O Neal at WrestleMania 33. In my opinion, WWE was wrong to set this expectation, then pull it off the table 2 months before it is about to go down. I mean, we’ve been waiting a year for this match for crying out loud!
Big Show has come out and said that he does not think he has that long left in his active wrestling career. This could be the big man’s last WrestleMania. He is extremely loyal to the company, and he has had some absolutely diabolical matches at the event in the past or been tossed into a throwaway match that no-one remembers.
He has also been on the losing end more often than not. He’s also not had the greatest character development over the last 15 years, so I think Big Show deserved a good WrestleMania opponent this year.
Also read: SK Exclusive: Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar may not be the main event of WrestleMania 33
He put a lot of effort into getting back in shape for the event. He has lost the boulder belly and is now sporting abs. He is arguably in the best shape of his life. It’s a shame that Shaquille has not offered the same courtesy and will no longer be appearing to face the Big Show. Furthermore, Big Show has proved he still has a lot to give now he is in shape.
He recently faced Braun Strowman in a match I thought would be awful and I’ve never been happier to be proved wrong. It only made me more excited to see what Big Show would do with the NBA star but the kibosh has well and firmly been put on that match, and Big Show has been brought into the Andre the Giant Battle Royal.
I’m not taking anything away from the grandeur of this match, and Big Show is a good fit for it, but I believe WWE could have found the newly ripped giant something a bit more deserving.
#2 John Cena
John Cena is a 16-time World Champion and is going into the biggest event of the year fighting in a missed tag match with his current girlfriend, Nikki Bella. I know that wrestlers can’t last forever at the top, and I’m guiltier than anyone of becoming bored with Cena’s character but is this the way to go?
I mentioned earlier in the article that The Miz and John Cena would be much better off facing each other one on one. Despite Cena’s recent delving into the entertainment world, he is still a top talent and a top draw for kids around the world. They wear his merchandise religiously and buy into the ‘Never Give Up’ attitude and mantra.
It’s likely that Cena will be seen less and less on weekly TV as he becomes everything he once fought against – a Hollywood personality. I don’t hold that against him, he deserves it all for the work he has put in, and I think he is a great comedic actor.
I just wish Cena had a better role at this year’s WrestleMania. I feel he could do a lot more for Miz if it were a singles match. Cena has put over some of the biggest stars this year, most recently, Bray Wyatt. The matches he has had with AJ Styles have been unbelievable. In 15 years, Cena has not missed a step.
This could be a great way to reignite the feud that Miz and Cena had back when Miz was the WWE Champion. The Miz wasn’t quite ready to be WWE Champion, and the match fell a bit flat at WrestleMania XXVII. Another singles match could quite easily redeem this effort from 6 years ago.
Cena still has many years of great matches left in him, and though we may see less of him in future, I hope he has a bit more of an impact on next year’s proceedings.
#1 AJ Styles
That’s right; AJ Styles has been given the short end of the stick at this year’s event. After having such an impressive year including a lengthy WWE Championship run, AJ Styles has undoubtedly been the face of SmackDown and one of the main reasons people have been tuning in every week.
As he lost the title to John Cena, AJ Styles lost a lot of momentum. Granted, the match he had with John Cena was nothing less than five stars, and I don’t have a problem with him losing. The problem is, AJ has seemed to lack something following his Championship loss.
He has become embroiled in a feud with Shane McMahon as he has failed several times to gain his spot at WrestleMania since Randy Orton’s betrayal of Bray Wyatt. After the Royal Rumble, it seemed Orton would stick with Bray, and we’d see AJ Styles fight for the WWE Championship against the Eater of Worlds. However, Orton turned face and beat AJ Styles in a new #1 contenders match, booking his place at the Showcase of the Immortals.
AJ Styles has since used his time on Talking Smack to place the blame on the SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon. Having smashed Shane’s face through a car window last Tuesday on SmackDown Live, AJ Styles was fired by Daniel Bryan, but Shane reversed the decision and announced a match between himself and the Phenomenal One at WrestleMania 33.
AJ Styles deserves better than this. I’d feel much better about this if it was at a minor pay-per-view. Shane McMahon is a spot monkey, and that will likely take the attention from AJ Styles at the event. What makes this worse are the recent reports that Brock Lesnar was supposed to face Shane but flatly refused to do so. It seems like they placed Shane with one of the best wrestlers to try and get the best out of him if he has to perform at WrestleMania.
AJ Styles should be in the main event, especially given his run throughout the year. It feels like he is taking a step back here. He lost at last year’s event to Chris Jericho, so I expected him to pick up the win at this year’s event. They will likely be quite low on the card too. Better luck next year AJ.
Who else will be held back?
Aside from the talent I have mentioned, there are still some superstars who don’t even have a match but may well do by the time the event comes to pass. People like the Dean Ambrose and Baron Corbin are likely to end up in a gimmick match, but they could be left off altogether.
Despite the fact that the talents mentioned are being criminally under-utilised in this year’s event, I remain hopeful that they will make the best of the situation they have been given. They are all top talents that have just been a bit unlucky with their placement on the roster as WrestleMania has come around.
Shows like this need matches lower down the card, so I guess they do serve a purpose but the quality that WWE has put there to prop up the main event and the mid-card is unbelievable. If we look at it from a positive mindset, this amount of talent being thrown away in the lower matches not only shows the depth the WWE roster now has compared to a few years ago but should also result in not one match being ‘missable’.
Have I missed anyone out? Do you agree with my choices? Let me know in the comments section below!
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