WWE’s Best MacGuffins for WrestleMania 33

In WWE, a well-written and satisfying storyline is the difference between a good feud and a great one.

In the world of sports entertainment, the art of storytelling can sometimes be overlooked in favor of big muscles and beautiful faces performing incredible feats of athleticism and strength. Every now and then we should stop and ask ourselves, “why is this happening?” Why are these two men fighting? What do these two women have to gain from facing each other? What makes this match worth watching?

The term “MacGuffin” describes a plot device used by writers to identify the object of desire or motivation that drives the heroes or villains in a story. It can be a physical obsession (the briefcase in Pulp Fiction) or a compulsive need that drives a character’s actions (the desire for revenge in The Count of Monte Cristo). In 1939, film director Alfred Hitchcock explained his view of a MacGuffin to a crowd at Columbia University:

"It might be a Scottish name, taken from a story about two men on a train. One man says, “What’s that package up there in the baggage rack?” And the other answers, “Oh, that’s a MacGuffin”. The first one asks, “What’s a MacGuffin?” “Well,” the other man says, “it’s an apparatus for trapping lions in the Scottish Highlands.” The first man says, “But there are no lions in the Scottish Highlands,” and the other one answers, “Well then, that’s no MacGuffin!” So you see that a MacGuffin is actually nothing at all."

Hitchcock was saying that the MacGuffin in his films was rarely what it appeared to be at first, thus always keeping his audience guessing as to where the story will go. Championship belts normally serve the role as MacGuffins for WWE superstars fighting to achieve success. What makes some storylines stand out from others is how a feud can sometimes be intensified with other motivations that make the journey even more compelling.

The tale of JeriKO from RAW has all the elements of a good story. We have been given drama, action, intrigue, betrayal and at WrestleMania 33, we may even see vengeance. Once best friends, now torn apart by the pressures and power of success. Kevin Owens has lost his Universal Title to Goldberg while Jericho still holds his United States Championship. This belt is more of a footnote in the story as it doesn’t serve as the MacGuffin for either man. Owens is fueled by jealousy and Jericho is driven by revenge. The result for fans is that we can cheer for both men because we know this match will be full of passion and promises to be one of the best on the card.

Randy Orton’s SmackDown journey from Bray Wyatt’s willing servant to the seed of his destruction has given us the best moment in WWE since Seth Rollins betrayed The Shield back in 2014. Watching Orton set Wyatt’s house ablaze before striking his signature pose gave us a chance to mark out like teenagers once more. This story is compelling because Orton’s involvement with the Wyatt Family seems to have been a long con going back to October 2016, his plan being to earn Bray’s trust so that he can find his weakness and ultimately exploit it. His plan had already found success as this deception allowed him and Bray to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship earlier this year. Whether or not The Viper assumed Bray would one day hold the WWE Championship is inconsequential but ultimately gave the story the MacGuffin it needed for Orton to turn on his former master.

Related Story: WrestleMania 33: Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton Set

In stark contrast to most of the other matches set for WrestleMania 33, these two stand out as the only ones that have told an effective and complete story while also developing deep emotional investments from both the performers and the fans. I’ll let casual fans pop for Goldberg and Lesnar while these four men steal the show.