First and foremost, let’s take our hats off to each and every member of the WWE roster that put their bodies and lives on the line for the sake of our entertainment on the Grandest Stage of Them All. Thank you WWE and most importantly- Thank you Taker!
WrestleMania 33 was everything that last year’s WrestleMania was advertised to be and so much more. Where 2016’s Mania failed to deliver, this year’s Show of Shows was full of home-run swings with a few minor misses here and there.
Now, although the conclusion of the event was a bit hard to digest for professional wrestling fans the world over, and understandably so, that shouldn’t take away from the fact that WrestleMania 33 was one of the best editions of the biggest annual event in sports entertainment over the past few years.
Every matchup right from Neville vs. Austin Aries to the penultimate SmackDown Women’s Championship matchup delivered (Excuse me for not including the Taker-Reigns main event in the discussion- I’m still mad about Roman Reigns beating the Phenom).
Whether it was Stephanie McMahon proving to be every bit of the queen she is in her OG ring entrance or Kevin Owens making an insane save in a high stakes championship bout, this year’s Showcase of the Immortals had more than its fair share of straight-up gangster moments and Holy S***! Segments, featuring veterans like Triple H wowing the fans by outdoing his WrestleMania 30 entrance as well as uber-heels like The Miz making waves (literally) in the WWE Universe at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. Here are some of the wildest, thug life moments from last night’s Mania-
#10 Kevin Owens’ one-finger save:
Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho put on a hell of a match for the United States Championship- a fight that saw both competitors land their signature moves on each other more than a couple of times.
Toward the end of the matchup, KO got a 2-count on Y2J after nailing him with a pop-up powerbomb, a move that he’d attempt again only to be countered with the Codebreaker. Jericho had him in all kinds of trouble and had all but secured a pinfall victory when Owens pulled out an insane split-second rope break by placing his index finger on the rope.
The former WWE Universal Champion then closed out the bout after he successfully delivered a powerbomb to his opponent on the ring apron and pinned him inside the ring for the 1-2-3.
#9 Coast To Coast:
The biggest question heading into Mania was ‘From where would Shane McMahon jump off this year?’ Will it be the ring post…nah…too easy. The WrestleMania 33 jumbotron? The giant ring prop above the actual ring at Mania?
Well, after his death-defying stunt at last year’s WrestleMania when he jumped off the Hell in a Cell cage against The Undertaker, it felt as though Shane O’Mac couldn’t top that act this year. Fortunately, he proved us wrong once again, only this time his performance saw him school AJ Styles in some Coast To Coast lessons.
Granted that it wasn’t as dangerous as the Hell in a Cell jump, but who doesn’t love seeing Mr McMahon’s bats*** crazy son deliver some good ‘ole flying stuff on the Grandest Stage of Them All. He tried a Shooting Star Press against Styles for God’s sake!
He jumped from the top rope crashing through the announcer’s table, but AJ smartly evaded his high-risk attack. Nevertheless, that didn’t faze Shane one bit as he flung himself from one corner, or should I say Coast, of the ring to another, slamming a dropkick against a propped-up trash can, breaking Styles’ face in half.
McMahon lost the match to his technically superior opponent but to fly through the air with complete disregard of one’s body that too at his age, is nothing short of spectacular. Never change Shane!
#8 Chris Jericho’s List Scarf:
Chris Jericho walked into WrestleMania 33 as the WWE United States Champion and walked out bruised and battered, courtesy his friend-turned-foe Kevin Owens. Nevertheless, as the saying goes- ‘Winning and losing is all part of the game’- The biggest talking point to have come out of this matchup was Y2J’s all-bling attire.
Now mind you, it’s nothing new for the connoisseur of the List of Jericho, but honest question to all you fashion savvy fans out there- How many people can successfully pull off a glittering scarf like Y2J?
The answer- NONE! This is the gift of Jericho- Drink it in Maaan!!!
#7 Power Biker Couple:
When Triple H made his entrance back at WrestleMania 30 against Daniel Bryan, I completely marked out and never would’ve thought he’d be able to outdo what was his coolest WrestleMania entrance ever.
Well, The King of Kings proved me wrong today when he entered his match against Seth Rollins on a gigantic customised chopper, accompanied by a police convoy that preceded him on the ramp. The cherry on top was Stephanie McMahon who looked every bit the queen that she is, donning leather-based gear just like her husband.
Everything about the entrance right from the convoy to the customised bike was awesome. And if that didn’t hype you up, I don’t know what will. Mad props to the WWE for chalking out one of the most legendary entrances of all time and a big shout out to Triple H and Stephanie for having the swagger to pull it off. The McMahons sure do know how to handle the spotlight.
#6 Charlotte Flair The Nature Girl:
Charlotte Flair truly is one of the best athletes, male or female, to have ever graced the squared circle. Mind you, I’m not merely singing her praises due to her surname, no Sir! Charlotte is her own woman and if anything, dare I say, she is well on her way to outdoing her father Ric Flair, as far as athleticism, and aerial manoeuvres are concerned.
The former Raw Women’s Champion came up short in her bid to dethrone Bayley as the Queen of the red brand, however, if you were to choose the best performer at this year’s Mania from a pure technical wrestling perspective, Charlotte’s name would most definitely top said list.
The Nature Girl pulled off one of the most insane moves of the event when she flung herself off the top rope for a Corkscrew Moonsault landing on her 3 opponents outside the ring. All hail Queen Charlotte!
#5 Bah Gawd he broke him in half:
WrestleMania 33 saw good ‘ole Jim Ross return to the commentary booth to call the main-event of the evening that coincidentally saw a performer, a Beast at that, as JR would say ‘broken in half’…well, almost! The Universal championship matchup started with Goldberg no-selling the initial suplexes and landing a devastating spear.
Also read: Ranking all the matches from WWE WrestleMania 33
This segment was both awesome and hilarious at the same time, with Brock Lesnar screaming in ecstasy after he drew first blood by delivering a series of suplexes on Goldberg. Lesnar turned around all amped-up, and the WCW legend landed a huge spear sending him crashing to the mat.
In what is his best performance since he’s made his comeback to the squared circle, Goldberg landed spear-after-spear on The Beast Incarnate and impressed the WWE Universe in spite of ending up on the losing side at WrestleMania 33.
#4 The Beast Incarnate leaps 10 feet in the air:
When the Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg trilogy matchup was announced as one of the marquee bouts on the Mania card, pro-wrestling fans and pundits deemed that the aforementioned matchup would be a dud. Well, all you fans and armchair experts out there should consider yourselves lucky that the two behemoths involved in the bout proved y’all wrong.
After getting hit by a series of German Suplexes right out of the bat, Goldberg blindsided an overconfident Lesnar with a couple of monstrous spears inside the ring that were followed by a thunderous spear right through the barricades outside the ring. The match resumed inside the ring with Lesnar getting hit with a Jackhammer but miraculously kicking out. The King of the Jackhammer proceeded to stalk The Beast, hoping to land another spear when lo and behold!
The near-300 pound Brock Lesnar leapt up into the air, dodging the incoming spear and sending Goldberg crashing into the ring-post. The Beast Incarnate would go on to suplex and F-5 his rival into oblivion, becoming the new WWE Universal Champion in the process.
As a longtime fan of professional wrestling and combat sports, my question to you guys is how can a guy of Brock’s size be as nimble as he is? The answer to that seems to be unknown. It's something that’s time-and-again befuddled experts and fans not only from the world of professional wrestling but also Mixed Martial Arts.
#3 The Miz starts a Yes! Wave:
John Cena and Nikki Bella vs. The Miz and Maryse has been one of the hottest storylines to emerge on the Road to WrestleMania; and on the night when it all mattered, Cena and Bella emerged as the victors.
Now by no means does that imply the A-List couple aka the Mizanins didn’t have their time to shine in front of 75,000+ pro-wrestling maniacs. In fact, The Miz dominated the early phase of the matchup, using his trademark aggression and classic heel-mannerisms to control The Leader of the Cenation on the mat.
As Cena lay on the mat, beaten and dazed, Miz spent more than a fair amount of time mocking Cena and Nikki’s real-life brother-in-law and SmackDown’s General Manager Daniel Bryan. What stood out the most about this moment was that the raucous crowd in Orlando, Florida joined forces with the A-Lister to diss John Cena.
The Miz and Maryse started a full-blown Yes! Chant that led to the crowd forming a wave reminiscent of Daniel Bryan’s WrestleMania 30 victory a few years back. Only this time, the Yes! Wave was intended to mock Cena. Bravo Mizanins! You guys truly are the ‘It Couple’.
#2 Paul Heyman trolls the announcer again:
Paul Heyman is without a doubt the greatest mouthpiece in professional wrestling today, and he proved it yet again at WrestleMania 33 when he trolled the ring announcer for his client’s matchup once again.
As is customary with all championship matchups, the ring announcer formally introduces the challenger and champion after the aforementioned competitors enter the ring. WWE ring announcer JoJo Offerman was just doing her job before the WWE Universal Championship fight when Paul Heyman stole the mic from her and proceeded to introduce his client in the most ‘Heyman’ way possible- billing his client from Minneapolis, Minnesota Suplex City…Baaarrrockkk Lessnnaarrr!!!
Troll Heyman- 1; WWE ring announcers-0.
#1 The Broken Hardys Delete the Raw tag teams:
The Raw tag team champions Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows were scheduled to defend their belts against the teams of Enzo and Cass as well as Cesaro and Sheamus in a Triple-Threat Ladder match. Just when we thought we had another run-of-the-mill tag-team filler match on our hands, The New Day interrupted, declaring that it was now officially a Fatal-4 Way Match.
A few seconds later, a familiar entrance music revved through the jam-packed stadium and just like that Team Extreme was back. Matt and Jeff Hardy received a hero’s welcome from the WWE Universe, with Delete! chants ringing through the bleachers.
A few Twist of Fates and a death-defying Swanton Bomb later, the Broken Hardys were the new Raw tag-team champs. Now considering the fact that they’d just participated in a ladder match against The Young Bucks a couple of days back and were coming off their Hardy Tailgate Party a few hours prior to WrestleMania, this accomplishment is nothing short of awesome.
Chants of Deletion galore! MeekMahon and the man with 3 Hs beware, the Broken Brilliance has descended upon the WWE!
Send us news tips at [email protected]
Bayley gives us a HUGE update on a top Superstar's upcoming return RIGHT HERE.
