Observer Reports Of 'Key Changes' To Mania 33 Plans

This week's Wrestling Observer Newsletter, that was published a short time ago, is reporting that there have been 'key changes' made to the WrestleMania card.

The newsletter's writer, Dave Meltzer, notes that the matches that were already locked in - HHH .vs. Seth Rollins, Shaquille O'Neal .vs. Big Show and Bill Goldberg .vs. Brock Lesnar - remain that way.

If you recall, I published a post last week where I acknowledged the report that Vince McMahon still hadn't locked in The Undertaker .vs. John Cena and there was a slight chance the direction could end up going the way of Undertaker versus Roman Reigns. There was no reference to either match in this week's issue other than to state that The Undertaker is definitely on the card.

Other than the three inked in bouts, everything else is now 'up for grabs' according to the article.

It's hard to decipher whether this is good or bad news for the Kevin Owens versus Chris Jericho match that I had hoped would be for the Universal Championship.

After Monday's episode of Raw, when Jericho announced he would be in the Royal Rumble match and Owens voiced his concern that the pair could end up facing each other in the Mania main event, I began to doubt that the match would be for Raw's championship. This resulted in me moving Chris Jericho down my list of potential Rumble winners.

What should also be worth watching is Randy Orton's odds to win the Royal Rumble. They have been on the descent this week. I reasoned that this may have been due to speculation that I've read across the Internet that Orton .vs. AJ Styles is rumoured for WrestleMania.

I still believe John Cena will claim the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble, so the Orton Rumble victory doesn't make sense to me. However, with the 'key changes' being made, there may be an explanation - albeit flimsy - as to why Orton's price has been on the decline.

For what it's worth, the best price for a Randy Orton Rumble victory can be found at 6/1 on Ladbrokes' WWE Betting Page. He was 8/1 at the start of the week. But, like I noted above, it doesn't make any sense for him to win the Royal Rumble if Cena is WWE Champion. Also, Orton might be back to a feud with the Wyatts by then.

Another bout that wasn't locked in was the Raw Women's Championship match. The editor wrote that a multiple-person fixture was on the table last week, but now another idea could replace that (this wasn't in the Observer, but my gut is telling me this might have something to do with Ronda Rousey).

With the Royal Rumble now in a little over three weeks, Dave Meltzer expects the other important matches to be locked in within the next fortnight.