WrestleMania 33 was the 33rd annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on April 2, 2017, at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, and was the third WrestleMania held at the state of Florida after XXIV (at the same venue) and XXVIII. The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) served as the hosts of the event.
Wrestlemania 33 | |||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | |||||||||||||||||||||
The Official Wrestlemania 33 poster
| |||||||||||||||||||||
Pay-per-view chronology | |||||||||||||||||||||
Wrestlemania 32 | Wrestlemania 33 | Wrestlemania 34 | |||||||||||||||||||
Wrestlemania 33 chronology | |||||||||||||||||||||
Fastlane 2017 | Wrestlemania 33 | Payback 2017 |
Thirteen matches were contested at the event, including three on the Kickoff pre-show. it marked the first time that the RAW Women's Championship, the Smackdown Women's Championship, the Cruiserweight Championship, the RAW Tag Team Championships, and the Smackdown Tag Team Championships were contested in the event. It would also be the finale time the RAW and Smackdown Tag Titles would appear on PPV as the Belts would be rebranded as the WWE World Tag Team Championships and the WWE Tag Team Championships respectively.
In the main event and the main match for Smackdown, John Cena defeated AJ Styles to win the WWE Championship. This would be Cena's 16th World title win, tying Ric Flair for the most world title reigns in Professional Wrestling. In the main match for the Raw brand, the 2017 Royal Rumble Winner, Shinsuke Nakamura won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship for the first time in his career. The event also marked the surprise return of The Hardy Boyz (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy), who won the Raw Tag Team Championship. It was also the first WrestleMania to be on the air past midnight Eastern time.
Reception towards the event was mixed, Praise was pointed towards the previously mentioned main event, even gaining a 5-star rating from Dave Meltzer. Alongside that, the Lesnar v Nakamura encounter was also well-received. Which got getting a star rating from Meltzer, ambit a 4 Star rating.
Production[]
Background[]
WrestleMania is considered WWE's flagship pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network event, having first been held in 1985. It was the company's first pay-per-view produced and was also WWE's first major event available via livestreaming when the company launched that broadcasting outlet in February 2014. It is the longest-running professional wrestling event in history and is held annually between mid-March to mid-April. It was the first of WWE's original four pay-per-views, which includes Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, referred to as the "Big Four". The event has been described as the Super Bowl of sports entertainment. Much like the Super Bowl, cities bid for the right to host the year's edition of WrestleMania. Announced on March 8, 2016, WrestleMania 33 was scheduled to be held on April 2, 2017, at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The event featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions, following the reintroduction of the brand split in July 2016. It's the first Wrestlemania to feature to feature the RAW Women's Championship, SmackDown Women's Championship and new WWE Cruiserweight Championship.
The event was the third to be held in the state of Florida, after XXIV (at the same venue) and XXVIII. Tickets went on sale on November 18, 2016, with individual tickets costing $38 to $2,130. On October 31, 2016, traveling packages with accommodation ranging from $950 to $5,900 per person were sold. A two-hour Kickoff pre-show preceded the main show, with the second hour broadcast simultaneously on USA Network. On February 20, 2017, The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) of WWE's Raw brand were confirmed to be the hosts of WrestleMania 33.
The four official theme songs for the event were "Greenlight" (by Pitbull feat. Flo Rida and LunchMoney Lewis), "Like a Champion" (by Danger Twins), "Flame" (by Tinashe), and "Am I Savage?" (by Metallica). At the event, Pitbull performed "Options" with Stephen Marley before performing "Greenlight" with Flo Rida and LunchMoney Lewis. American singer Tinashe performed "America the Beautiful" to kick off WrestleMania 33. The pre-show was broadcast on the WWE Network, WWE.com, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, and YouTube, with USA Network joining the live coverage for the second hour.
Storylines[]
The event comprised thirteen matches, including three on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw, SmackDown Live, and the cruiserweight-exclusive 205 Live.
Main Event[]
After winning a Elimination Chamber match to win a Number 1 Contenders shot against the WWE Championship, John Cena would begin his feud with the then WWE Champion, AJ Styles.
World Heavyweight Championship Match[]
After lastly eliminating the returning Finn Balor, who entered at entrant #20, Shinsuke Nakamura, who made his debut in the match, would win the 2017 Royal Rumble after starting the match at Entrant #2. After a few weeks of teasing and a mini feud with Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Randy Orton, he would choose Brock Lesnar as his opponent at Wrestlemania. Wanting to bring back prestige to the title after believing Lesnar has brought sacrilege and shame to the title.
Undercard Matches[]
Pre-Show Matches[]
Event[]
Pre-Show[]
Preliminary Matches[]
Main Event[]
Reception[]
WrestleMania 33 received mixed reviews from critics.
Jack de Menezes of The Independent wrote that WrestleMania 33 was "an emotional night for fans"
Aftermath[]
RAW[]
Smackdown[]
205 Live[]
Results[]
No. | Results | Stipulations | Times |
---|---|---|---|
1p | Hideo Itami won by last eliminating Jinder Mahal | Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royale | 14:05 |
2p | American Alpha defeated The Usos (c) | Tag Team match for the Smackdown Tag Team Championships | 10:55 |
3p | Neville (c) defeated Austin Aries via Submission | Singles match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship | 19:00 |
4 | Bayley defeated Charlotte (c) Becky Lynch, and Sasha Banks via Pinfall | Fatal 4 Way match for the RAW Women's Championship | 20:35 |
5 | Seth Rollins defeated Triple H (With Stephanie McMahon) via Pinfall | Singles Match | 11:22 |
6 | Kevin Owens defeated Chris Jericho via Pinfall | No Holds Barred Match | 16:20 |
7 | Randy Orton defeated Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper via Pinfall | Triple Threat Match | 13:04 |
8 | "Demon" Finn Balor defeated Dean Ambrose (c) | Non-Sanctioned Match for the WWE United States | 25:30 |
9 | Naomi defeated Alexa Bliss (c) via Pinfall | Singles Match for the Smackdown Women's Championship | 10:12 |
10 | Roman Reigns defeated The Rock | Singles Match | 18:19 |
11 | Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Brock Lesnar via Pinfall | Singles Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship | 8:04 |
12 | The Hardy Boyz defeated Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, The Bar (Sheamus and Cesaro), Enzo Amore and Big Cass | Fatal 4 Way Ladder Match for the RAW Tag Team Championships | 11:05 |
13 | John Cena defeated AJ Styles (c) | Singles Match for the WWE Championship | 23:00 |
- Order of elimination: Primo, Kalisto, Simon Gotch, Heath Slater, Elias Samson, Goldust, Konnor, Big Show, Viktor, Braun Strowman, Curt Hawkins, R-Truth, Rhyno, Aiden English, Curtis Axel, Gran Metalik, Harv Sihra, Gurv Sihra, Tyler Breeze, Fandango, Sin Cara, Mark Henry, Tian Bing, Epico, Bo Dallas, Apollo Crews, Dolph Ziggler, Mojo Rawley, Titus O'Neil, Sami Zayn, Killian Dain, Big E, Jinder Mahal.