WrestleMania 33 is less than two weeks away and with most of the card in place already, the next couple weeks on Raw and SmackDown LIVE should be very interesting.
With an already loaded match card, the next few weeks will be instrumental in the set-up of the matches and will hopefully get the WWE Universe excited for its biggest event of the year.
While there are no stipulations for any of the scheduled matches so far, one would have to assume that they’d be coming in the next few weeks. So let’s take a look at some of the matches that may have a stipulation added to them over the next couple weeks leading up to “The Ultimate Thrill Ride”, WrestleMania 33.
#1 Neville (Champion) vs. Austin Aries for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship (Ladder Match)
Neville has absolutely dominated the Cruiserweight division since returning at Roadblock: End of the Line back in December, and nobody has been able to slow him down, until “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived” made it known that he was coming for him.
Aries had also been out of action for a while, much like Neville, but had been the third man on the commentary team for 205 Live, along with Corey Graves and Mauro Ranallo, during his in-ring absence.
However, a few weeks ago during an interview with “The King of the Cruiserweights” himself, A-Double made it clear that he was coming for Neville and the WWE Cruiserweight title.
Also read: 5 Possible roles for Luke Harper at Wrestlemania 33
This match has been a dream match for most fans ever since Aries debuted in NXT. Many of us didn’t know if Aries would ever make it to the main roster, but are pleased that he has found a spot with the Cruiserweights and has quickly become the most over Cruiserweight Superstar on the roster.
Not that this match needs an added stipulation, but if they really want this match to steal the show, then it should be a ladder match.
The brutality they can display during the match while using the ladder and the potential of witnessing a Red Arrow from Neville or a 450 Splash from Aries off the top of the ladder is too good to pass up.
#2 Shane McMahon vs. AJ Styles (Loser Leaves SmackDown)
While most fans aren’t necessarily thrilled with AJ’s second WrestleMania match being against Shane McMahon and feel like he deserves to be in the main event, there’s no denying that WWE has made this a very personal and heated feud that could benefit Styles tremendously moving forward after Mania.
After jumping through several hoops for the past month, AJ Styles finally lost his opportunity to main event WrestleMania 33 by losing to Randy Orton a few weeks ago.
After the match, Styles blamed Shane for him not main eventing the biggest show of the year and repeatedly claimed that his treatment from SD management wasn’t fair. However, the following week on SmackDown LIVE is when this feud reached its boiling point.
“The Phenomenal One” attacked Shane as he arrived at the building, beating him senseless and throwing him through a car window.
Before the episode went off-air, McMahon walked out on the entrance ramp groggily and light-headed and stated: “AJ Styles said he doesn’t have an opponent at WrestleMania... well he does now.”
To get the most out of this feud, and to possibly move AJ from SmackDown Live to Raw, this match needs an added stipulation that the loser must leave SmackDown.
This would benefit Styles, as him winning would result in McMahon not being able to control him on SmackDown anymore, and Shane, by moving his biggest headache to a different show.
Also, Styles could win the match and somehow still end up on Raw. Remember, this is the same company that gave Shane control of Raw after he lost the right to control Raw when he lost to The Undertaker at last year’s Mania.
#3 Dean Ambrose (Champion) vs. Baron Corbin for Intercontinental Championship (Street Fight)
Over the past couple of weeks, Dean Ambrose and Baron Corbin have been attempting to tear each other apart after each one cost the other their chance at the WWE Title at Elimination Chamber.
Even though the match has yet to be made official, these two seem destined for a brutal and intense one-on-one matchup with Ambrose’s Intercontinental Championship on the line.
After last year’s debacle of a street fight between Brock Lesnar and Dean Ambrose, WWE could try to remedy the situation by putting Ambrose in another street fight, this time against a man that won’t be limited because of other obligations like Lesnar was.
These two seem to have a decent chemistry with each other given the short amount of time they’ve been working together, and a match where Ambrose is allowed to unleash his inner lunatic and Corbin is able to show a different side of himself is more than ideal.
Not only would this match be a slobberknocker for the Intercontinental Title, but it could also be the match that steals the show in Orlando.
#4 Chris Jericho (Champion) vs. Kevin Owens for WWE United States Championship (Cage Match)
In what is likely to be the most intense and personal match at WrestleMania 33, these two former “best friends” will square off for Jericho’s United States Title.
For months, Owens and Jericho were the best of friends, each helping the other pick up victories in their matches and doing promos that left us fans wanting more.
However, when Jericho tried to show the entire world the extent of his friendship with Owens during his “Festival of Friendship”, Owens brutally attacked Y2J, beating him senseless, throwing him through a TV screen, and powerbombing him onto the apron sadistically.
A couple of weeks later at Fastlane, however, Jericho would return and cost Kevin Owens his WWE Universal Title, distracting him long enough for Goldberg to Spear and Jackhammer the champ for the win.
The next night on Raw, the two agreed to a WrestleMania 33 match for Jericho’s U.S. Title.
Given the bad blood between the two former friends, if the company wanted to add a stipulation to this match, it should be to make it a cage match.
Given that Ambrose-Corbin may be a street fight, they would need to add a stipulation to the match where the two can beat the heck out of each other but make it different than a street fight style of match, and a cage match is perfect for the two men formerly known together as JeriKO.
#5 Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns (Retirement Match)
In another dream match scenario, “The Big Dog” Roman Reigns is scheduled to take on one of the greatest Superstars ever and one of the best WrestleMania performers the company has ever seen, The Undertaker.
This feud, to some extent, began at Royal Rumble this past year when Reigns surprisingly entered the Rumble at entrant thirty and eliminated “The Deadman” from the match that he had been dominating.
After an intense staredown that saw Roman scream “This is my yard now!” at Taker, many fans have been expecting for this match to take place for months now.
It’s no secret that Taker’s time in WWE is winding down, and WWE should take full advantage of this situation by having Roman Reigns be the one to retire The Undertaker at WrestleMania 33.
Not only should they have “The Big Dog” retire “The Deadman”, but they should also take advantage of what will surely be a raucous and boisterous Mania crowd who will be sure to boo Reigns if he beats Taker, by finally turning Roman heel and unleashing a dastardly attack on Taker after the match.
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