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WWE’s WrestleMania 33 Poster: Overreacting to and Justifying the Photo

By Rob Wolkenbrod

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The WWE poster party of hot takes is continuing with WrestleMania 33’s official graphic, so let’s see what’s justified and what isn’t.

The WrestleMania 33 poster was officially revealed on Wednesday. Much like the Royal Rumble’s, it drew plenty of scrutiny for the placement of AJ Styles, the then-WWE Champion. He was near the back of the image.

There’s a few things that will jump off the screen at first glance:

  • Undertaker, Goldberg and Brock Lesnar are at the forefront
  • Behind them are Shane McMahon, Triple H, John Cena and Roman Reigns
  • WWE Champion Bray Wyatt is partially hidden a few rows back
  • AJ Styles is peaking out behind Randy Orton

Let’s get to the obvious first — there are six part-timers out of the seven WWE Superstars seen in the front of the photo. The only one who isn’t is Roman Reigns.

Must Read: Ranking All 31 WM Main Events

Of course, this will lead to the complaints of “Well, what about everyone who’s a full-time WWE talent?” It’s a legitimate one too, because those six part-timers are rarely seen in the ring, with the exception of John Cena during his two or three-month stays. Here’s how it breaks down:

  • Goldberg has wrestled a total of 107 seconds in singles matches
  • Brock Lesnar has wrestled three TV matches since WrestleMania 32
  • McMahon has competed in one match since WrestleMania 32
  • Undertaker and Triple H last competed at WrestleMania 32

So when you place them in front of the consistent, in-ring talent like Kevin Owens, AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt and others, it’s going to draw well-deserved ire. Like Sami Zayn said in an interview with the Sun:

"“Selfishly, of course part of me thinks, ‘Hey, get the hell out of here, this is our show, we work here every week’. It would be stupid to ignore that.”"

The ones who show up every week to put their bodies through the pain and hard work should get the spotlight. It’s a reward for the thousands of miles in traveling, getting those hotel rooms and not being able to see their families.

However, this is a business and WrestleMania is a marketing campaign that’s bigger than any show WWE has to sell all year. This is WrestleMania, the Show of Shows, the Grandest Stage of Them All! Tens of thousands show up in attendance and even your usual non-WWE viewer will tune in just because it’s WrestleMania.

So if you’re WWE, you’re trying to bring in those new faces with people they may be familiar with. That’s when you have to ask this question — will the mainstream viewer know who Kevin Owens is? What about AJ Styles? Randy Orton? Maybe Seth Rollins?

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The answer, potentially, is no.

Every one of those front seven Superstars have mainstream attractiveness. From Lesnar’s UFC background, Goldberg WCW and football history, Undertaker being a name fans have resonated with since 1990, the McMahon name, Cena’s positioning in the company and rising Hollywood stardom and Triple H being a household wrestling name for 20 years and a WWE executive. Reigns doesn’t have mainstream appeal, but was manufactured into the next “Guy,” has main evented the past two WrestleMania events and will keep his spot until he’s done. He has also been at the center of WWE promotional material in advertisements and in the media.

These well-known names will sell those fans, even if they’re mostly of yesteryear. Is that due WWE not making other top stars over the years? Sure, I’d agree with that. There have been countless opportunities to push someone to the very top, but WWE has made clear who stands at the top in two different eras since 2005. It’s a decision they’re seemingly okay with, as long as these top names remain around to sell the show. Time will eventually run out for this, something that has a “to be determined” expiration date.

Is it really hard to argue with the placement of these Superstars, though? They’re either in big matches, have been in this spot before or, again, the mainstream talents. The case could be made for Orton up there because of his main event spot since 2004; he’s just not a mainstream star.

On the other side of things, if you’re looking at this poster in terms of match importance, then there’s a BIG problem here. It’s something almost indefensible — where’s the main event?

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If Orton vs. Wyatt is the main event of WrestleMania 33, much like WWE has forcibly stated since the Royal Rumble (it was first that the WWE Championship would headline), then these two HAVE to be in the front of the photo. It’s your No. 1 match of the biggest show of the year for what’s been billed as the top title — not the Universal belt, which Goldberg and Lesnar are fighting for.

However, if you’re trying to get people to watch because of Goldberg, Lesnar, Cena, Undertaker, McMahon, Triple H and Reigns, then maybe those new fans who watch the entire show will stick around for the main event. They’ll wonder “Who is Bray Wyatt?” and “Who is Randy Orton?” while watching. If they enjoy what they see, then we may have new fans of these non-headline-making top talents.

This is all different from your standard brand split PPV — drastically, actually. These shows are being sold to the 2.5-3.1 million fans that watch Raw and SmackDown every week, and aren’t likely going to draw in someone on the mainstream level. Will someone who only watches WWE when the biggest names are around view Roadblock, No Mercy, Battleground or Payback? Maybe not. So WWE can throw someone like Dean Ambrose on Backlash’s poster and call it a day without any hysteria.

Next: WM 33 Card Projecitons 8.0 After Fastlane

There’s plenty being made about a poster, which can be justified and argued against and make for a fun debate. Will this image mean anything when WrestleMania 33 starts at 5:00 p.m. ET on April 2?

No.