What Happens After Wrestlemania 33?

To paraphrase a former writer of the WWE, the most important thing is not what you do to keep people watching until Wrestlemania, it’s what you do to keep them watching till after Mania.

The planning for the year can’t just be from Royal Rumble to Wrestlemania. It has to be from Royal Rumble to (in this case) the Raw Pay-Per-View Payback on April 30th,and the Smackdown PPV Backlash on May 21st. Which begs the question: what indeed may happen post-Mania on both the Red and Blue brands?

That being the case, here are some predictions/speculation/pure fantasy as to what may happen next:

 

The Post-Mania call ups

It would not be a post-Mania Raw or Smackdown without some NXT call-ups. If rumours are to be believed, then The King of Strong Style himself is destined for life on the Red show. Shinsuke Nakamura is a two-time NXT Champion and has been carrying the brand since Finn Balor was called up in the WWE Brand Split last year. Easily the most charismatic and electric performer in WWE right now, there’s not much left for him to accomplish on the Yellow brand, leading many to speculate he will lose at Takeover: Orlando against Bobby Roode.

Hopefully he will be placed in a top feud from the off, because WWE has a man here with all the qualities to be a major star. Whilst I doubt he’ll be facing off against Lesnar (who, let’s face it, is winning at Mania 33) anytime soon, I wouldn’t rule out seeing him in a United States Championship feud (likely with Kevin Owens, as rumours, and band tour dates, strongly imply Chris Jericho will be taking time off in May).

The Revival, along with Elias Samson, are likely to end up over on Smackdown, with the former surely to assert themselves in contention for the Smackdown Tag Team Championships.

The Smackdown tag division has hit a noticeable lull of late, and on the most recent SmackDown Live a portion of the audience were turning against top team American Alpha, in favour of the more defined Usos. Whilst I don’t expect them to debut as babyfaces, I suspect Revival can and will give the Smackdown tag team ranks the kick up the backside it needs.

 

The Rivalries

Whilst Lesnar is expected to commit to more dates this time around, we still don’t know what or when these will be. So post-Mania, who will step up to the Number One contenders spot?

You may think Roman Reigns is a likely contender, but I suspect they’ll save the Wrestlemania 31 rematch till at least SummerSlam, if not Mania 34, where Reigns is sure to finally avenge his loss.

One person who some may have forgotten about, however, is Finn Balor. Will McCormick of ‘Still Real To Us’ speculates that WWE officials may have plans to have Balor challenge for the Universal title soon, but please note this could be pure speculation. Do not forget though, that Finn never lost the championship, and was forced to relinquish it after suffering an injury in a match with Seth Rollins last year. I’d say he was due an opportunity to claim back what he never lost, as and when he returns.

A feud that may continue post-Mania, pending the outcome of the match, is Rollins and Triple H. They have a non-sanctioned match scheduled, as a way to get around Rollins’ leg injury. Given the unorthodox nature of the fight, neither Triple H nor Rollins need to play fair to win here, and we will likely see this brawl turn nasty.

What I wonder, though, is if Samoa Joe (who has not been announced for any other match on the Mania card) will be a difference maker here. He’s taken out Rollins once, and I see no reason for him not to try again. If The Game can’t beat Rollins here, it will surely drive him crazy that he couldn’t beat The Architect when he’s not at 100%.

Let’s say Rollins overcomes the odds and wins – we know Hunter probably won’t take that lying down. If we take in to account the fact he helped Owens win the Universal Championship last year, brought in Samoa Joe (who says as much that Triple H gave him a shot) and the varying amounts of internet chatter, in addition to these three teaming up at some WWE Live events in America, and what do we get?

Evolution 2.0.

Triple H, Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe could be a force to be reckoned with. There are some who speculate that WWE UK Tournament stand-out ‘The Bruiserweight’ Pete Dunne could also round out the group as a fourth member. Dunne earnt Hunter’s respect after the tournament, and was the man everyone was talking about, even though he lost the final match against eventual winner Tyler Bate.

Whilst some may say it bares too many similarities to the Evolution/Shield feud a few years ago, I think this has huge potential. If I were to draft a team for Evolution 2.0 to face, it would be the team they have been facing at the same live events I mentioned earlier:

Chris Jericho, Sami Zayn, Finn Balor and Seth Rollins (injury depending). If Seth couldn’t make it to the fight,this could also be a nice way to introduce Nakamura to the main roster.

The strong implication this year is that Roman Reigns will defeat The Undertaker. If Vince McMahon wishes to continue in his stubborn conquest to make the guy into The Guy, then this, unfortunately, has to happen, despite the fact that Reigns will be booed to the Moon and back.

The only saving grace here is that The Deadman’s streak doesn’t really mean anything anymore, after losing to Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 30. Taker even alluded to the fact that the Streak no longer defines him some time ago in a promo on Smackdown.

With The Phenom reportedly in a lot of pain these days and his career, at the age of 52, looking to be winding down, this could well be the last we see of Taker. Whilst Reigns would then be damn near untouchable, we may have to accept we’ll not see the once promised match-up of Cena vs Undertaker at Wrestlemania.

Even in victory, I still doubt this would mark the full heel turn many rabid fans would want from Reigns (aka the failed Cena 2.0 experiment). And yet we can expect more of the same 50/50 cheer-boo ratio so long as WWE continues to push him as a top guy.

Another question is what happens with Braun Strowman. He’s the odds on favourite to win the Andre the Giant Battle Royal, and it is hard to bet against him.

They’ve already teased that Strowman and Big Show will be the last two in the Battle Royal. If that is the case, I can see them carrying on this battle of the big men where Strowman can prove his dominance once and for all.

That being said, there hasn’t been a solid plan for Strowman for some weeks now, so if his monster push is to carry on, he will need to be in some big main event level matches sooner rather than later.

Having mentioned monster pushes, I briefly want to discuss Roman Reigns’ future here, Post-Mania and post-Taker. A win will surely propel him in to the title picture. But again, if WWE are looking to pull this particular trigger at the next Mania, then he will need to be in some significant filler-feuds to keep him away from the title picture.

WWE could learn a thing or too from The Usos recent heel turn if they are considering going all the way with Reigns this time.

But again, Reigns winning the Universal Championship is not a matter of if, it’s when.

Goldberg. All signs point to Goldberg finally being beaten by Lesnar at Wrestlemania 33, and WWE being, eventually, set on Reigns vs Lesnar 2.

Where Goldberg fits in remains to be seen, and word has it his contract is up after Mania. Despite the fact Goldberg has drawn in ratings during his return, where and what he might be doing after Mania 33 is hard to deduce. The logical conclusion suggests that ‘Berg will be disappearing for awhile in April and beyond.

As far as the Raw Women’s picture goes, it’s hard to rule out a Bayley/Sasha Banks feud, what with all the heel turns Banks has been teasing. Most likely this will be for the championship, but as long as Dana Brooke stays far away from the title scene, I’m fine with all of this.

Finally, the big question dangling over Raw is who will be next General Manager. WWE.com have suggested the likes of Kurt Angle, Stone Cold, Eric Bischoff and even the outspoken Jim Cornette.

The favourite would have to be the Olympic Gold Medallist, but expect this story thread to play a big part in the post-Mania Raw.

 

Smackdown

Over on Smackdown, we have an entirely different landscape.

The WWE Championship will be contested in the culmination of a long-term storyline between Randy Orton and current champion Bray Wyatt, who won the title in a dominant display at Elimination Chamber.

Wyatt needs to retain at Wrestlemania, and badly. If he loses, then it will really be indicative of the same stop-start booking issues he has suffered from since his debut in WWE.

There’s definitely more intrigue in seeing Bray Wyatt carry the title post-Mania, and some confidence from the more than competent Smackdown writing team could be a tremendous help. That being said, the bookies odds, as of this writing, do favour an Orton win at Mania.

If Orton does win, then naturally Wyatt will chase for the title. But, providing he doesn’t end up being drafted or swapped to Raw, I think there’s another name you have to add to the Championship mix – AJ Styles.

First off, AJ has to beat Shane McMahon at Wrestlemania. He needs to. The fact he is even selling McMahon’s hippity-hoppity rabbit jabs is bad enough.

A victorious AJ will be riding on high, and a man of his calibre and talent can not be kept absent from the title scene. And as much as the WWE Universe cheers him, right now the best option is to keep him as a heel.

Right now the Smackdown roster is sparse for bad guys, outside of The Miz and Wyatt. And down the line at Backlash, a Triple-Threat main event for the WWE Championship between Orton, Wyatt and Styles is money.

The next Smackdown conundrum is John Cena. Whilst I see him and Nikki Bella coming out of Mania 33 with the win, the question is whether he’ll be around after The Ultimate Thrill Ride.

Taking a look at his schedule outside WWE suggests otherwise. Let’s not forget Cena is making more and more of an impact in Hollywood, and is down to be working on two films right now. And for all intents and purposes he may well be tying the knot with Nikki Bella, in which case the couple could be absent for some time.

Smackdown without Cena will lead to an inevitable decline in ratings. But it offers an opportunity to build up new stars whilst Orton retains the status of top babyface on the Blue brand.

Outside of the main event scene, I think Baron Corbin will be in control of the Intercontinental Title picture, likely feuding with Ambrose for a few weeks as the Lunatic looks to win back the strap. Luke Harper could step up as a strong upper-mid card player here, and unless he goes back to war with Wyatt post-Mania, I wouldn’t rule out Harper looking to re-establish himself in the IC picture.

The Smackdown Women’s picture is a little bit scrappy at the moment, and it’s still not exactly clear what their Wrestlemania 33 match will entail. We know more or less any able bodied female superstar can take part.

With no clear person set to dethrone Alexa Bliss here, it leaves it up in the air somewhat as to who her next challenge could be. It could just as much be Becky Lynch again, as it could be Natalya or Carmella.

Messy booking of the division has made it difficult to root for any one member of the roster in particular. I wonder if we could see NXT’s Asuka make a surprise appearance at Wrestlemania, win the Championship and establish a new star and pecking order on Smackdown. Not to mention, Asuka has been working some WWE live events recently, which could add fuel to this fire.

There’s a lot to think about going in and out of Wrestlemania, and every year, regardless of the build it has, it is always one of the most exciting times to watch wrestling.

Do you think I’m right or wrong in this speculation? Let me know in the comments below.