5 ways WWE can make WrestleMania in 2023 their biggest ever
WrestleMania 38 is yet to take place, but there are reports suggesting WWE is already gearing up for Mania 39 next year from the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
In his Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported how WWE is planning to make WrestleMania 39 in 2023 "its biggest ever."
That in itself is an ambitious task to take upon considering the sheer magnitude of some of the past installments we've seen of The Show of Shows. WWE would need all the planning in the world to execute such a feat, and fortunately, the two big matches it has reportedly planned so far appear to be in the right direction.
The aforementioned report goes on to claim that the tentative idea for Mania next year includes the long-awaited showdown between Roman Reigns and The Rock and Ronda Rousey finally taking on Becky Lynch in a one-on-one setting.
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But how practical are these plans? And more importantly, are they good enough to propel WrestleMania 39 into a legendary status?
Dive in as we dissect the possible routes WWE might want to consider with its biggest stars way in advance for its biggest show of 2023 and possibly ever.
#5.One way WWE can make WrestleMania in 2023 their biggest ever: Becky Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey
It feels like an eternity since fans have been wanting a one-on-one showdown between The Baddest Woman On The Planet and the current WWE RAW Women's Champion. But in a traditional WWE manner, their much-anticipated encounter en route to WrestleMania 35 was marred by overbooked angles, over-exposure, and of course, Charlotte Flair's involvement.
WrestleMania 35 also marked the last time we saw of Rousey in WWE programming for nearly three years until her recent return to win this year's Women's Royal Rumble match.
And to no one's surprise, she felt the need to go after Charlotte Flair on SmackDown rather than the woman who handed Rousey her first WWE loss (controversially, might I add) to take her title.
Smart choice, Ronnie. Go for the gazpacho. twitter.com/wwe/status/148…
Flair is WWE royalty, so it's a no-brainer at this point to hope WWE can ever look past her when plotting its WrestleMania card in any given year. But as frustrating as it may sound, Rousey opting to go with Flair instead of Lynch this year could potentially be one of the better decisions the company has taken in a long while.
For starters, it leaves room for someone like Bianca Belair to challenge Big Time Becks for her RAW Women's Championship at The Grandest Stage of Them All. It is a story WWE has not-so-subtly been building towards ever since the latter returned from her maternity leave last year.
More importantly, it also lends Lynch and Rousey some time to breathe some life into their respective characters ahead of their inevitable showdown. Part of the reason their 2019 rivalry became so instantly iconic was because of the outpouring of fans' support that Lynch accumulated that year thanks to her "The Man" shtick.
Ever since returning last year, though, Lynch has taken up the mantle of a heel champion on RAW - something that, despite her ever-engaging character work, hasn't really surpassed her previous babyface role.
Rousey, meanwhile, hasn't fared well in her limited TV appearances yet either, sometimes coming across as a no-nonsense badass tweener and sometimes pretty dislikeable.
In a year's worth of build, WWE would be wise to keep the two women apart as much as possible and let the fan receptions dictate its course of action towards their clash.
Fighting the crowd cheers in favor of drawing cheap heat for Lynch, for example, won't do much good for what currently looks like the main event of WrestleMania 39.