IWE WrestleMania 33

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Current revision as of 03:54, 4 April 2017

WrestleMania 33 is the ongoing thirty-third annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by IWE. In addition to standard PPV outlets, it will be broadcast simultaneously on the IWE Network. It takes place on April 2, 2017 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida.

WrestleMania 33 is a joint-promotion event for the Raw and SmackDown brands, the first since WrestleMania XXVII in 2011 as the brand split ended that year, but was reintroduced in July 2016. Thirteen matches are scheduled for the card, including two on the pre-show. This will be the first WrestleMania since WrestleMania 29 in 2013 to include two world championships: Raw's IWE Universal Championship, defended for the first time at WrestleMania, and SmackDown's IWE Championship. Goldberg will defend the IWE Universal Championship against Rob Lesnar and Bray Wyatt will defend the IWE Championship against Kevin Orton.

[edit] Production

[edit] Background

WrestleMania is considered IWE's flagship event, having been described as the Super Bowl of sports entertainment. The event will be the second WrestleMania to be held at the Camping World Stadium, which previously hosted WrestleMania XXIV in 2008 under the venue's previous name of Orlando Citrus Bowl, and the third to be held in the state of Florida, the second being WrestleMania XXVIII in 2012. 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. New subscribers to the IWE Network could watch the event at no additional cost. A two-hour pre-show will precede 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 IWE's Raw brand were confirmed to be the hosts of WrestleMania 33.

The four official theme songs for the event are "Greenlight" (by Pitbull feat. Flo Rida and LunchMoney Lewis), "Like a Champion" (by Danger Twins), "Flame" (by Tinashe), and "Am I Savage?" (by Metallica). Pitbull, Flo Rida, and LunchMoney Lewis will be performing "Greenlight" at the event, and Pitbull will also perform "Options" with Stephen Marley. American singer Tinashe will be performing "America the Beautiful", kicking off WrestleMania 33.

Beginning at WrestleMania 32, a match between [Big Show and NBA star Shaquille O'Neal had been teased from various media outlets, including IWE. Shaq was a surprise entrant in the 2016 André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal where he and Big Show faced off, but the other participants eliminated both of them. In July at the 2016 ESPY Awards on the red carpet, Big Show and Shaq had another brief confrontation. A match was proposed for WrestleMania 33, which Shaq accepted. In January 2017, the two began calling each other out on social media, posting workout videos of themselves preparing for the potential match. Big Show then began to doubt Shaq's commitment to the match. By the end of February, Shaq said that it looked like the match was not going to happen, but he would still train just in case. The following week, Shaq said that discussions were back on between him and IWE. However, Big Show's announcement as a participant in the 2017 André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal indicated that the match was off. According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the match was canceled due to monetary reasons; both parties could not agree on a deal. Big Show said that he really wanted to do the match, especially since this would probably be his last WrestleMania, and blamed Shaq's weight as a reason for why Shaq backed out.

[edit] Storylines

The professional wrestling matches at WrestleMania 33 will feature professional wrestlers performing as characters in scripted events pre-determined by the hosting promotion, IWE on the Raw and SmackDown brands. Storylines between the characters played out on IWE's primary television programs, Raw and SmackDown Live.

The winner of the Royal Rumble match traditionally earns a world championship match in the main event of WrestleMania. This year, it was for either Raw's IWE Universal Championship or SmackDown's IWE Championship. Kevin Orton won the 2017 match, the second time in his career, and stated his intent to challenge for his brand's IWE Championship at WrestleMania 33. On the January 31 episode of SmackDown Live, Orton warned IWE Champion Dustin Simpson, who had just won the championship from KJ Styles at the Royal Rumble, that if he manages to retain the title at Elimination Chamber on February 12, he will be taking the title from him at WrestleMania. The Wyatt Family (Orton and Bray Wyatt) then faced Simpson and former Wyatt Family member Luke Harper where Orton pinned Cena. Orton defeated Harper at Elimination Chamber, and then Wyatt won the Elimination Chamber match to become the new IWE Champion. After Wyatt's win, Orton came out on the stage and the two Wyatt Family members had a brief stare down before Wyatt continued his celebration. The following episode of SmackDown, Simpson invoked his rematch clause. Styles, however, said that he was still owed a one-on-one rematch from the Royal Rumble. Bryan then scheduled a triple threat between Simpson, Styles, and Wyatt for the title. As Wyatt made his entrance, he was attacked by Harper, but despite this, Wyatt retained. After the match, Orton came out and said that although he has a guaranteed title match at WrestleMania, he refuses to face Wyatt. Afterwards on Talking Smack, Bryan scheduled a battle royal for the following week to determine a new number one contender for Wyatt at WrestleMania. Styles, who complained that he had not gotten his promised one-one-one rematch, was the first confirmed entrant. The other nine entrants were confirmed the following week: Dustin Simpson, Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose, The Miz, Luke Harper, Baron Corbin, Dolph Ziggler, Mojo Rawley, Apollo Crews, and Kalisto. The match came down to Harper and Styles, but ended in a draw when both men went over the top rope and their feet hit the floor at the same time. Daniel Bryan announced that the number one contender will be determined on the next episode in a match between Harper and Styles, in which Styles won. At the conclusion of the show, Wyatt was about to deliver his invocation, but was interrupted by Orton, who appeared on the titantron and was at Wyatt's "kingdom" where Sister Abigail was buried. Orton then declared that he was no longer Wyatt's servant and burned Wyatt's kingdom to the ground and said he was coming for the IWE Championship at WrestleMania. Due to this confusion, Daniel Bryan and SmackDown Commissioner Shane Matteson decided that Orton would face Styles on the March 7 episode of SmackDown to determine the decisive number one contender for Wyatt, in which Orton defeated Styles. On the March 14 episode, Orton was interrupted by Wyatt, who claimed to now have the powers of Sister Abigail as he covered himself in her ashes. The following week, Harper warned Orton about Wyatt's new "powers", but said he would take out Wyatt on the next episode. Later, Orton was attacked backstage by followers of Wyatt, and Wyatt performed a ritual on Orton. On the final SmackDown before WrestleMania, after Wyatt defeated Harper, Orton appeared on the TitanTron and claimed to have destroyed the powers of Sister Abigail.

At WrestleMania XX in 2004, Goldberg defeated Rob Lesnar in their first match against each other. Both left the company after the event, but Lesnar returned in 2012. After twelve years, Goldberg returned in 2016 and immediately began a feud with Lesnar, thanks in part due to the IWE 2K17 video game, which featured Lesnar on the cover and Goldberg as the pre-order bonus. This culminated in a match at Survivor Series, in which Goldberg humiliated Lesnar by defeating him in one minute and twenty-six seconds. Both then competed in the Royal Rumble match; Lesnar entered at number twenty-six and dispatched of several other wrestlers before Goldberg came out at number twenty-eight and once again humiliated Lesnar by quickly eliminating him from the match; Goldberg was soon after eliminated by The Undertaker. The following night on Raw, Lesnar and Paul Heyman appeared and challenged Goldberg to one final match at WrestleMania 33. On the following Raw, Goldberg accepted Lesnar's challenge to officially set up the match. Before their match, Goldberg will be facing IWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens for the championship at Fastlane on March 5. On the February 20 episode of Raw, Lesnar and Heyman said in an interview with Michael Cole that if Goldberg wins the Universal Championship at Fastlane, Lesnar will challenge him for the title at WrestleMania, as that would be another thing for Lesnar to conquer. Goldberg appeared the next week and promised that he would defeat Owens and be the Universal Champion going into WrestleMania against Lesnar. At Fastlane, Goldberg kept his promise and defeated Owens to become the Universal Champion, thus turning his WrestleMania match against Lesnar into a Universal Championship match. Immediately after on Raw Talk, Heyman said that if Lesnar doesn't defeat Goldberg, it could be the end of Lesnar. The next night on Raw, Lesnar confronted Goldberg and offered to shake his hand to congratulate him. Goldberg refused and Heyman said that at WrestleMania, Goldberg would be "Brock's bitch" and Lesnar attacked Goldberg with an F-5. The following week, Lesnar and Heyman gloated about Lesnar giving an F-5 to Goldberg and Heyman said tha Lesnar would have the "greatest comeback in sports entertainment history" at WrestleMania. On the final Raw before WrestleMania, Goldberg and Lesnar had one last confrontation where Goldberg executed a spear on Lesnar.

In 2014, The Shield (Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns) were involved in a rivalry with Evolution (Triple K, Kevin Orton, and Batista). After The Shield defeated Evolution in back-to-back pay-per-view matches at Extreme Rules and Payback, Batista out of anger left Evolution and IWE, which disbanded Evolution. Triple K then revealed his "plan B": Seth Rollins. Rollins attacked his former Shield brothers and joined Triple K in The Authority, turning heel. Rollins would be the forefront of The Authority for over a year: he won the then-IWE World Heavyweight Championship (now IWE Championship) at WrestleMania 31, but was forced to vacate the title in November 2015 due to injury. Rollins returned in mid-2016 and was |drafted to the Raw brand. He faced Finn Bálor for the inaugural IWE Universal Championship at SummerSlam, but came up short. After Bálor was forced to vacate the title due to injury, On the August 29 episode of Raw, Rollins faced Big Cass, Kevin Owens, and Roman Reigns for the title, in which a returning Triple K, who had not been seen since WrestleMania 32, helped Rollins to eliminate Reigns, but then turned on Rollins by giving him a Pedigree, allowing Owens to win the championship. The incident was only passively mentioned the following week, but went unaddressed by Rollins until the December 5 episode of Raw, where Rollins called out Triple K. He continued his antagonizing of Triple K on the December 26 episode, calling him a coward to Raw Commissioner and Triple K's wife, Kaila Matteson. On the January 23, 2017 episode of Raw, during Rollins' match with Sami Zayn, Triple K's music played, distracting Rollins and allowing Zayn to win Rollins' spot in the Royal Rumble match. Because Triple K runs NXT, Rollins appeared at NXT TakeOver: San Antonio and challenged Triple K to a match. Triple K came out and signaled for security. Rollins fought back but was taken away. In a follow up interview, Triple K said that there is a difference between the Triple K that created NXT and Triple K the wrestler, before seemingly accepting the challenge. On the January 30 episode of Raw, Stephanie confronted Rollins about his appearance at TakeOver. Rollins said he would stop at nothing to get to Triple K before Kaila revealed that Triple K would be there later that night. Triple K showed up, talked about how Rollins disappointed him, before calling Rollins out. As Rollins made his way to the ring, he was attacked by NXT call-up Samoa Simpson, who made his main roster debut. Simpson's attack on Rollins re-injured the same knee that had sidelined him for six months. Rollins followed up with a series of Tweets, stating that he will stop at nothing until he defeats Triple K. It was then reported that Rollins would be out of action for up to eight weeks. Rollins appeared on the February 27 episode of Raw to address the status of his injury. Rollins blamed himself for being in this situation because he should have known that Triple K would turn on him. He then said it looks unlikely that he would be at WrestleMania 33. Triple K came out with Simpson on hand, and told Rollins not to come to WrestleMania, because if he does, he will end him. Rollins then declared that he would be at WrestleMania, even if it was the last thing he did. The next week, videos of Rollins' rehabilitation were shown. Triple K responded and said that Rollins is ignorant for going against doctors advice and trying to compete at WrestleMania. The next week, Triple K got into an altercation with General Manager Jon Foley, after which Rollins came down, dropped his crutch, and attacked Triple K. However, Triple K recovered and attacked Rollins' knee. On the March 20 episode, Foley was fired as Raw General Manager for his actions, and Rollins' physical therapist Kevin Wilk said that Rollins should not compete at WrestleMania. Triple K later challenged Rollins to a non-sanctioned match, which would forbid Rollins from suing the IWE if he were to get injured again. The following week, Rollins signed the contract, thus making the match official, and he brawled with Triple K.

At the Royal Rumble, The Undertaker was a competitor in the titular Royal Rumble match. Roman Reigns, who lost his Universal Championship match earlier that night, entered the match at number thirty and eventually eliminated Undertaker from the match. The two had a stare down and Reigns claimed that the ring was his yard now; for many years, Undertaker had claimed that the ring was his yard. On the March 6 episode of Raw, Braun Strowman, who lost to Reigns at Fastlane, called Reigns out and stated that Reigns got lucky, however, The Undertaker came out instead. The Undertaker stared down Strowman until Strowman left the ring. As The Undertaker was about to leave, Reigns eventually came out and confronted him. Reigns claimed that Strowman had called him out and again claimed that the ring was his yard now. The two had a stare down and both looked up to the WrestleMania sign. The Undertaker then attacked Reigns with a chokeslam. A match between the two at WrestleMania 33 was confirmed the following week. Later on Raw during Reigns' match against Jinder Mahal, The Undertaker's gong sounded, which caused a minor distraction for Reigns, however, Reigns defeated Mahal. After the match, Reigns called out Undertaker, however, Shawn Michaels came out instead and warned Reigns about The Undertaker and that he needed to focus. Reigns said that he appreciated the advice, but said that he would retire The Undertaker just as Undertaker retired Michaels at WrestleMania XXVI. The following week, during Reigns' Fastlane rematch with Strowman, The Undertaker appeared and attacked Strowman with a chokeslam. As Undertaker turned his attention to Reigns, Reigns attacked Undertaker with a spear. After Reigns left the ring, Undertaker sat up and taunted Reigns with his throat slash gesture. On the final Raw before WrestleMania, The Undertaker delivered a promo, stating that the graveyard would be Reigns' yard after WrestleMania.

At the Royal Rumble, KJ Styles lost the IWE Championship to Dustin Simpson. Styles was immediately entered into the IWE Championship Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, but SmackDown Commissioner Shane Matteson also promised Styles that he would get a one-on-one rematch for the title if he did not win the title back at the pay-per-view. At Elimination Chamber, Bray Wyatt eliminated both Simpson and Styles to win the championship. Simpson then immediately invoked his rematch clause, but Styles intervened, stating he should get his first. SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan then scheduled a triple threat match for the IWE Championship, where Wyatt retained. Kevin Orton then refused his right as the Royal Rumble winner to face Wyatt for the title at WrestleMania 33, so Bryan scheduled a 10-man battle royal to determine a new number one-contender. Styles was entered into the battle royal, which ended in a draw between him and Luke Harper. The two faced each other in a number one contender's match the following week. Styles pinned Harper, but the referee did not see Harper's foot on the rope. Shane came out and restarted the match, which angered Styles, however, he would defeat Harper once again. At the conclusion of the show, Orton reclaimed his right to face Wyatt at WrestleMania. Shane and Bryan decided that Styles would have to compete in another number one contender's match, this time against Orton, who won. After the show, an angered Styles got into a heated argument backstage with Shane. The following week, an irate Styles said that he was tired of Bryan and Shane. He said because of them, he did not have a match at WrestleMania, but Orton, who committed arson, did. Later backstage, Styles attacked Shane and threw him through a car window; Styles was subsequently (kayfabe) fired by Bryan. However, at the end of the show, an injured Shane challenged Styles to a match at WrestleMania,<ref name="Smackdown03142017"/> which Styles accepted. At the end of the following week's episode, Shane called out Styles and the two brawled, which ended with Shane performing a Leap of Faith on Styles through the broadcast table. The following week, the two had a contract signing to make the match official and the two traded barbs.

In mid-2016, Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens began teaming and assisting each other. Jericho played a part in Owens winning the vacant IWE Universal Championship, as Jericho interfered in Owens' match against Neville, which allowed Owens to qualify for the fatal four-way match for the vacant title on the August 29 episode of Raw. The pairing of the two ultimately led to them becoming best friends. On Jericho's Highlight Reel on the September 12 episode of Raw, Sami Zayn, a former friend of Owens, questioned the friendship, but Jericho defended Owens, and soon after began "The List of Jericho", adding people's names to it who he deemed were "stupid idiots". Jericho assisted Owens in retaining the Universal title against Seth Rollins at Clash of Champions, and again at Hell in a Cell. Owens and Jericho were then made co-captains of Team Raw's men's team at Survivor Series. They ultimately lost to Team SmackDown, but during the match, Owens used Jericho's list to attack KJ Styles, who was about to eliminate Jericho. On the following episode of Raw, tensions were high as Jericho was about to blame Owens for using the list as a weapon. Owens defended himself, stating that he was trying to protect Jericho. The two then agreed that it was Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins' fault for the team's loss. Rollins then faced Owens for the Universal title in which Jericho was banned from ringside, but Jericho still interfered in the guise of a masked fan. The following week, Reigns challenged Owens for the Universal title, but questioned his ability to win a match without Jericho. Owens declared that he did not need Jericho, and the match was scheduled for Roadblock: End of the Line, where Jericho also faced Rollins. At the event, Jericho lost to Rollins due to Owens' failure in assisting him, and later, Jericho attacked Owens with the Codebreaker, giving Owens the win in his match by disqualification. Jericho then revealed that it was his plan so that Owens would win and retain the title. The two then challenged Reigns for his United States Championship in the following weeks, leading to a handicap match, where Owens and Jericho both faced Reigns in which Jericho won the title. Reigns received a rematch for the title, but lost due to interference from Owens. At the Royal Rumble, Reigns had a rematch for the Universal title, where Jericho was suspended above the ring inside of a shark cage. Despite this, Owens retained due to interference from Braun Strowman. On the February 6 episode of Raw, Goldberg interrupted Jericho and Owens' promo and Goldberg challenged Owens for the Universal Championship at Fastlane. Jericho accepted on behalf of Owens, which was made official to the dismay of Owens. The following week, Jericho held a "Festival of Friendship" for Owens to show his appreciation. Owens presented his own gift to Jericho in the form of a new list. Jericho gladly accepted until he saw his own name on the list, which was revealed to be the "List of KO", and Owens brutally attacked Jericho, who was taken to a medical facility. At Fastlane, just as the bell rung for Owens' match against Goldberg, Jericho's music played and he appeared on the stage, causing a distraction for Owens, which cost him the match and his Universal Championship. The following night on Raw, Jericho said that he screwed Owens for betraying him and then called Owens out, demanding an answer as to why Owens betrayed him. Owens said that they were never actually friends, and that he only used Jericho. He said that he attacked Jericho because Jericho became useless to him after Jericho accepted Goldberg's challenge on his behalf. Jericho then challenged Owens to a match at WrestleMania, which Owens accepted only if it were for the United States Championship, and Jericho agreed. Owens said he would eventually get a rematch for the Universal title, but he first wanted to take the United States title from Jericho as Jericho took his title from him. On the March 20 episode, on Jericho's Highlight Reel, Jericho revealed the "real" Kevin Owens, who attacked Jericho from behind and destroyed "The List of Jericho". The following week, Owens faced Sami Zayn in a Professional wrestling match types#No Holds Barred match|no disqualification match]] where if Zayn lost, he would be fired. During the match, Samoa Joe, who had been feuding with Zayn, attempted to interfere and help Owens win, but Jericho appeared, stopped Joe, and helped Zayn win. Jericho then brought out a new list and added Owens' name to it.

At Elimination Chamber during the IWE Championship Elimination Chamber match, as Baron Corbin had a stare down with The Miz, Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose eliminated Corbin with a rollup pin. An enraged Corbin attacked Ambrose and executed the End of Days on him before he left the chamber; Miz subsequently eliminated Ambrose. On the following SmackDown, Ambrose wanted to exact revenge on Corbin, however, he was attacked by Corbin just as Ambrose made his entrance for his match against James Ellsworth. Ambrose and Corbin then participated in the IWE Championship number one contender's battle royal, where Ambrose eliminated Corbin. Corbin again attacked Ambrose with the End of Days and Ambrose was eventually eliminated from the match. Ambrose called out Corbin over the next couple of weeks. Corbin attacked Ambrose backstage and proclaimed his desire to take the Intercontinental Championship from Ambrose. On the March 14 episode, Corbin formally challenged Ambrose for the title at WrestleMania 33. The following week during Corbin's match against Randy Orton, Ambrose caused a distraction and cost Corbin his match. He then accepted Corbin's challenge and executed Dirty Deeds on him.

At Elimination Chamber on February 12, Nikki Bella and Natalya had a backstage confrontation that lead to Natalya shoving Nikki into Maryse and accidentally covering Maryse in make-up powder. Later that night, The Miz attempted to eliminate Dustin Simpson from the Elimination Chamber match, but Simpson ended up eliminating Miz. On the February 21 episode of SmackDown, Nikki and Natalya's Falls Count Anywhere match led to the backstage area, where Natalya again shoved Nikki into Maryse. Maryse retaliated by hitting Nikki with a curtain rod, costing Nikki her match. In that episode's main event, The Miz attempted to eliminate Simpson from the IWE Championship number one contender's battle royal, but instead got eliminated by Simpson. The Miz returned later in the match and caused Simpson's elimination, despite already being eliminated from the match, and mocked Simpson with Simpson's "you can't see me" taunt. On the following episode, Simpson was the guest on Miz TV where Miz criticized Simpson for being a hypocrite, as Simpson had went off on The Rock for leaving the IWE and going to Hollywood, and now Simpson was essentially doing the same thing. Miz said that he works as hard if not harder than Simpson, yet he does not get the opportunities that Simpson does. Miz then said that he came back and eliminated Simpson from the battle royal because he wanted to be the one to prevent Simpson from being in the main event of WrestleMania 33, and wanted Simpson to know what he felt when Simpson defeated him for the IWE Championship back in 2011. Miz also said that Simpson manipulates everyone to get what he wants. Simpson retorted that if that was the case, then he would be standing in the ring with The Undertaker. He then criticized Miz for copying other people's gimmicks and moves, which caused Maryse to slap Simpson for insulting her husband. Nikki then came out and Maryse and Miz retreated. The following week, The Miz and Maryse attacked Simpson and Nikki after the latter two's match against James Ellsworth and Carmella. The Miz said he was tired of Simpson's lies and said his relationship with Nikki was also a lie. Afterwards, on Talking Smack, The Miz and Maryse said that Nikki was in her current position because of her relationship with Simpson, and that Nikki was jealous of them because Simpson will not marry Nikki. The following week, Miz and Maryse continued their insults against Cena and Nikki, and the two came out and chased Miz and Maryse out of the ring. SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan then came out and said that since he could not fight The Miz, who had been insulting him for months, both The Miz and Maryse would face Simpson and Nikki at WrestleMania; Maryse's last match was in 2011. The Miz and Maryse then made fun of Simpson and Nikki's reality show Total Bellas by impersonating them in "unaired footage". On March 27, Simpson was a guest host on NBC Today and revealed weatherman Al Roker as the guest ring announcer for the match. On the final SmackDown before WrestleMania, more "unaired footage" from Total Bella was shown. The Miz and Maryse then threw more insults at Simpson and Nikki, including Simpson not wanting to have kids. Simpson retaliated and asked how many kids Miz and Maryse had. Simpson said that although he takes time off to make movies, he comes back to the IWE when he is done, just as The Miz and other superstars have done before. Simpson called Maryse a waste of a paycheck as she does not do much on the show and that she was only back in the IWE because Miz begged for it. Simpson then said that he and Nikki would destroy Miz and Maryse at WrestleMania.

At Roadblock: End of the Line, Charlotte Flair defeated Sasha Banks to win her record fourth Raw Women's Championship, ending their long feud, and as per a post-event stipulation, as long as one of them were champion, the other could not challenge for the title. Flair then began a feud with Bayley, resulting in a championship match at the Royal Rumble, where Flair retained the title. The next night on Raw, Bayley pinned Flair in a tag team match, thus granting her a rematch for the title on the February 13 episode of Raw, where she defeated Flair to become the new Raw Women's Champion, thanks to help from Banks. The following week, Raw Commissioner Kaila Matteson confronted Bayley, telling her that she had to relinquish her title due to Banks interfering in the match, but Bayley refused. Flair then came out and invoked her championship rematch for Fastlane, which saw Bayley retain after Banks interfered, which subsequently ended Flair's undefeated streak in singles matches at pay-per-views. The following night on Raw, Banks said that her and Bayley should face off for the title at WrestleMania 33 as it was a dream of theirs to face each other at the event. Flair came out and demanded that she should have a rematch due to Banks' interference and said that Banks was only pretending to be Bayley's friend and that she interfered due to the Roadblock stipulation. Raw General Manager Jon Foley then announced that Flair and Banks would face off in which the winner would challenge Bayley for the title at WrestleMania. However, Stephanie changed those plans. She kept Flair in the championship match at WrestleMania, but allowed Banks the opportunity to be added to the match if she could defeat Bayley that night. Banks defeated Bayley to make the Raw Women's Championship match a triple threat match at WrestleMania. The following week, Sasha defeated Charlotte's ally Dana Brooke, who Charlotte had ordered to take out Sasha. Charlotte then disassociated herself from Dana, who attacked Charlotte. Later, Bayley defeated Jax by disqualification after Jax continued to beat Bayley in the corner beyond the referee's five count. Stephanie then gave Jax a rematch the following week in a no disqualification match where if Jax won, she would be added to the championship match at WrestleMania. Jax defeated Bayley and turned the Raw Women's Championship match into a fatal four-way. The following week prior to Raw, the match was turned into a fatal four-way elimination match. On Raw, Bayley and Sasha teamed up and defeated Charlotte and Jax, after which, Jax laid out her three WrestleMania opponents.

On the Royal Rumble pre-show, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson defeated Cesaro and Sheamus to win the Raw Tag Team Championship. Cesaro and Sheamus invoked their rematch, but lost due to interference from Enzo Amore and Big Cass. On the February 20 episode of Raw, Enzo and Cass defeated Cesaro and Sheamus to receive a tag title match against Gallows and Anderson at Fastlane, where Gallows and Anderson retained the titles. A rematch occurred the following night on Raw, where Cesaro and Sheamus got involved, costing Enzo and Cass the titles. Later on, Raw General Manager Mick Foley announced that Cesaro and Sheamus would face Enzo and Cass on the March 13 episode of Raw and the winners would go on to challenge Gallows and Anderson for the titles at WrestleMania 33. However, during that match, Gallows and Anderson attacked both teams, causing a double-disqualification. Foley then scheduled Gallows and Anderson to defend the tag titles against both teams at WrestleMania in a triple threat match. The following week, Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon fired Foley and in opposition to his decision due to his relationship with Cesaro and Sheamus, she scheduled them to face Gallows, Anderson, Enzo, and Cass in a two-on-four handicap match with the stipulation being that if Cesaro and Sheamus were to lose, they would be out of the WrestleMania match; Cesaro and Sheamus retained their spot in the triple threat match.Backstage the following week, Gallows and Anderson attacked Cesaro and Sheamus with a ladder. In the ring, Gallows and Anderson attempted to attack Enzo and Cass, but Cesaro and Sheamus retaliated and attacked them with a ladder. All three teams brawled and Gallows and Anderson were the last standing. The WrestleMania match was then turned into a triple threat ladder match for the Raw Tag Team Championship.

At Elimination Chamber, Naomi defeated Alexa Bliss to win the SmackDown Women's Championship, but due to injury, she had to relinquish the title on the February 21 episode of SmackDown as she was not able to defend the title within 30 days. Bliss then demanded that the title be awarded to her since Naomi could not face her for a rematch. SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan instead had Bliss face Becky Lynch for the vacant title, in which Bliss won. The following week, Natalya hinted that she wanted to face Bliss for the title. On the March 7 episode of SmackDown, Bliss, who claimed to be the greatest female wrestler on the SmackDown roster, said that her WrestleMania 33 opponent would not be Naomi due to her injury, that it would not be Nikki Bella for similar reasons, and that it would not be Lynch, who she had beaten several times already. Lynch then came out and said she would become SmackDown Women's Champion at WrestleMania. Natalya then came out and said she would face Bliss for the title, to which Bliss said no to Natalya's surprise. Bliss' ally Mickie James then said she would be the one to face Bliss for the title at WrestleMania to Bliss' surprise. Bryan then came out and said that since Bliss is apparently the greatest female wrestler on the roster, she would have the chance to prove it as she would be defending the title against all available female wrestlers on the SmackDown roster at WrestleMania, much to the dismay of Bliss. Bliss and James then teamed up and defeated Lynch and Natalya, and James turned on Bliss after the match. The following week, Lynch defeated Natalya, but after the match, both were attacked by Carmella, who claimed that she would be the next SmackDown Women's Champion. Later, James defeated Bliss. On the March 21 episode, Natalya interfered in Lynch and Carmella's match. James then came out followed by Bliss and all the women brawled until Bliss was the last standing. On the final SmackDown before WrestleMania, Carmella defeated Becky Lynch after James and Bliss came out. This turned into a tag match where Bliss and Carmella defeated James and Lynch. Naomi made her return and attacked all women, including Natalya who came out. Naomi then confirmed that she would be in the SmackDown Women's Championship match at WrestleMania, making it a six-pack challenge.

At Fastlane, Neville retained the IWE Cruiserweight Championship by defeating Gentleman Jack Gallagher. On the March 13 episode of Raw, it was revealed that a Fatal 5-Way Elimination match between T.J. Perkins, Tony Nese, Austin Aries, Akira Tozawa, and The Brian Kendrick was scheduled for the following night on 205 Live to determine the number one contender for Neville at WrestleMania 33, which was won by Aries, and the match was scheduled for the pre-show. The two traded barbs over the next couple of weeks and on the final 205 Live before WrestleMania, Neville attacked Aries and retreated before Aries could counterattack.

On the March 7 episode of SmackDown, Mojo Rawley became the first wrestler to announce his participation in the 4th annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Afterwards on Talking Smack, Apollo Crews announced that he would be in the match. On the March 13 episode of Raw, after plans for a potential match with Shaquille O'Neal fell through, it was revealed that Big Show would be part of the battle royal. The following week, SmackDown's Curt Hawkins confirmed his participation. On the March 27 episode of Raw, Braun Strowman, the Golden Truth (Goldust and R-Truth), The Shining Stars (Primo and Epico), Curtis Axel, Bo Dallas, and Jinder Mahal were confirmed for the battle royal. Later in the night, Sami Zayn defeated Kevin Owens in a no disqualification match to qualify for the battle royal. It was then confirmed that the match was scheduled for the pre-show. On the March 28 episode of SmackDown, Heath Slater, Rhyno, American Alpha (Chad Gable and Jason Jordan), Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango), Dolph Ziggler, and SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso) were confirmed for the match. On March 30, Mark Henry was confirmed for the battle royal, as well as NXT's Tian Bing, who was IWE's first Chinese recruit. On April 1, NXT's Killian Dain was added to the match.

[edit] Results

[edit] See also

• List of IWE Network events
• List of IWE pay-per-view events

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Template:IWE WrestleMania Venues