WWE News: Scrapped ‘WrestleMania 33’ Match Set To Resume As Planned
For the most part, the WrestleMania 33 card is a very solid one, and WWE has created a decent level of anticipation for spectators to enjoy. Based on the WWE Fastlane results, the WWE Universal Championship match will now be newly-crowed champion Bill Goldberg against Brock Lesnar. While this is the third match between the two, and the second at a WrestleMania event, this will be the first time the Goldberg and Lesnar will compete against each other for a championship.
Although Goldberg is already up 2-0, the third match is being set up for Lesnar to make sure that Goldberg is not his Kryptonite, and that he can actually defeat him in a one-on-one match.
Also, based on the main event, the United States Championship picture has cleared up, as Chris Jericho made his return to distract Kevin Owens. As planned, the two will face each other at WrestleMania for the U.S. Championship, culminating their storyline which started off as best friends, but now has turned quite sour. This match has shaped up quite well and should be one of the best ones of the evening.
For sheer novelty and celebrity involvement, Big Show vs. Shaquille O’Neal has also been planned for WrestleMania. Somehow, Big Show is the resident jobber for celebrities at the big event, as he has failed to defeat both Akebono and Floyd Mayweather. Big Show and Shaq both have been hyping the match for months, with multiple pictures and videos of their physical transformations. In fact, it has been publicized that Big Show has lost 70 pounds ever since he has focused on his physique.
However, plans seemed to be scrapped after Shaq made it questionable during an episode of his podcast.
“It’s not gonna happen? That’s probably right. It’s not my fault. That’s all you need to know. It ain’t my fault. It doesn’t matter what [people] say. I’m just letting you know… it’s not totally off yet, but not looking good.”
Big Show responded to ESPN.
“He has to figure things out in his own camp. Maybe he is just too scared to show up because he’s too busy riding around singing karaoke with John Cena and going to Krispy Kreme and getting fatter every week.”
Big Show would go on to say that Shaq has to worry about his weight gain, and while Shaq is about 450 pounds now, he is at 379. On Shaq’s podcast, he stated that he still works out and that he looks better than the Big Show.
As of late, the talks are once again on the books for the match to occur, as Shaq confirmed on his latest podcast.
“I’ve talked to somebody high up in the organization, and we’re back talking again. I just want the people to know it had nothing to do with me. So, despite what you hear… Big Show, I ain’t never scared. You can cancel that.”
At Fastlane, Big Show competed against Rusev and ended the match in dominating fashion with multiple chokeslams and a knockout punch. Of course, this was to move the look of Big Show in a positive direction, making him more of a quality opponent for whoever he competes against.
When the match against Shaq became highly doubtful, there were discussions to possibly have a rematch with Braun Strowman from their bout on Raw, which was well-received by both the audience and spectators at home. Now, it looks like the match with Shaq is back on, and Strowman is left without an opponent at present.
On paper, a Big Show vs. Braun Strowman match would benefit more, with the purpose being to put Strowman over and make him look more like a dominant heel. Instead, WWE is choosing to go the celebrity route to draw mainstream attention. Business-wise, this does make sense.
[Featured Image by WWE]
