As revealed on our podcast, the “Dirty Sheets,” on our latest DS Breaking News show (listen below. Duration: 11 mins 25 seconds), the Raw after WrestleMania is pencilled in to be the most memorable show of the entire weekend and could possibly outshine WrestleMania itself.
The RAW after WrestleMania is the most important and entertaining Raw of the year. Some people actually prefer the Raw after WrestleMania over WrestleMania itself. The reasons include good matches, surprise debuts, returns, and of course, the rabid crowd.
The show features the best crowd that we see in the entire year. With their chants, the crowd can make or break a segment. Superstars generally have to think on their feet and react to the chants.
The RAW after WrestleMania crowd generally consists of seasoned WWE fans, as opposed to a large portion of newer fans and kids, who generally turn up for most other RAW broadcasts.
Several sources we have spoken to this week have told us that the Raw after WrestleMania is lining up to be even bigger than previous post-WrestleMania Raws. This is because Raw is currently set to potentially feature a retirement, debuts, heel turns, title changes and several major angles, including a segment with Brock Lesnar.
I will reveal the specifics on the Dirty Sheets in the coming weeks and via my articles here on Sportskeeda once the plans become more concrete.
Writers are currently pushing for some booking plans to fill TV time on the road to WrestleMania, however, Vince McMahon currently has everything pencilled in for the Raw after WrestleMania.
Former WWE writer, Brian Mann (@BrianMaxMann on Twitter) has seemingly heard similar information, as he recently posted a cryptic tweet saying:
WrestleMania is only 6 weeks away. Several major Superstars look like they could be left out in the cold with 16 matches already on the projected card, but it is quite likely that many matches will change to multi-man matches nearer to the event, as WWE like to get as many talents as possible onto the WrestleMania card.
This will water down the importance of the non-main event matches at WrestleMania. However, Raw does not suffer from the necessity to shoe-horn talent onto the show, therefore, it opens the door for Raw to be a more of a story-focused and interesting show.
The projected card for WrestleMania 33 currently looks like this:
WWE Universal Title Match: Goldberg (Champion) vs Brock Lesnar
WWE Title Match: Bray Wyatt (Champion) vs Randy Orton
The Undertaker vs Roman Reigns
Triple H vs Seth Rollins
AJ Styles vs Shane McMahon
Kevin Owens vs Chris Jericho
John Cena & Nikki Bella vs Miz & Maryse
Vacant US Title Ladder Match: Sami Zayn vs Samoa Joe vs Rusev vs Cesaro vs Sheamus vs Kofi Kingston
WWE Intercontinental Title Match: Dean Ambrose vs Baron Corbin
Big Show vs Shaq
WWE Raw Women’s Title Match: Charlotte vs Nia Jax vs Bayley vs Sasha Banks
The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
WWE RAW Tag Team Title match: Gallows & Anderson vs Enzo & Cass
WWE Smackdown Women’s Title Match: Naomi vs Alexa Bliss vs Mickie James vs Becky Lynch
WWE Smackdown Tag Team Title Match: American Alpha Vs The Usos
Cruiserweight Title Match: Neville vs Austin Aries
WrestleMania 33 will be a good show. I am expecting 6-7 title changes looking at the current card, along with several matches that will deliver in the ring. Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker will be one of the most engaging matches, as none of the crowd will want to see Roman Reigns win.
The night after WrestleMania looks poised to open the door to a whole host of new directions for Raw. Some of the developments we could possibly see include:
- No more Goldberg or The Undertaker- The return of Finn Balor (who should be ready to return in 2 weeks, so he could easily be added to WrestleMania)- The heel turn of Sasha Banks on Bayley- The debut of Shinsuke Nakamura- An angle with Owens and Jericho, to write Jericho off TV- Brock Lesnar as Champion, with a new challenger stepping up- A rematch between Cass & Enzo vs Gallows & Anderson
Some of the above have already been pencilled in, however, as I stated earlier, I will touch on those in the coming weeks once things are more concrete. The segments above would already easily get us up to 3 hours if we include 2-3 filler matches.
It certainly does seem like the Raw after Mania this year can’t fail to be anything but excellent, and would likely be a much better Raw than last year’s post-WrestleMania effort.
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