WWE WrestleMania 33 preview: Miz and Maryse vs John Cena and Nikki Bella
By Adam Stocker
Real life couples The Miz and Maryse face John Cena and Nikki Bella in a mixed tag match at WrestleMania 33.
In the main event of WrestleMania 27, The Miz defeated John Cena to retain his WWE championship with the help of The Rock. Six years later, The Miz and Cena meet again at WrestleMania. However, this time they will be joined in the ring with their significant others. The Miz and his wife, former Divas champion Maryse, face Cena and his longtime girlfriend, former Divas champion Nikki Bella in a mixed tag match.
How did we get here?
The feud unofficially began on Aug. 23 when The Miz cut the defining promo of his career. The Miz appeared on Talking Smack after SmackDown Live and responded to General Manager Daniel Bryan’s criticism of The Miz wrestling like a coward. For over two minutes, a very passionate Miz attacked Bryan, calling him a coward and saw Bryan walk off the set before the segment ended.
With Bryan unable to get medical clearance to compete, he instead made life difficult for The Miz. Over the next four months, Bryan forced The Miz to defend his Intercontinental title in matches The Miz deemed unfair. The Miz eventually lost his title Jan. 3 and decided to enter the Royal Rumble.
After a long hiatus, Cena returned and was given a title shot at the Rumble against AJ Styles. The Miz criticized Bryan and Cena, accusing the GM of gifting his sister-in -aw’s boyfriend a title match. Cena recaptured the title from Styles and the feud between The Miz was officially underway.
Elimination Chamber:
At the Elimination Chamber, The Miz was one of four men vying for Cena’s title inside of the chamber. The Miz attempted to eliminate Cena, only to have Cena eliminate him, furthering his anger towards Cena. Bray Wyatt eventually walked away from the match as WWE Champion.
At Elimination Chamber, Maryse and Nikki Bella had their first interaction as Natalya threw Nikki into Maryse. On the Feb. 21 edition of SmackDown Live, Natalya and Nikki would be involved in a falls count anywhere match. For the second time in less than two weeks, Nikki was thrown into Maryse. This time Maryse retaliated and attacked Nikki with a pipe, costing her the match.
Following the Elimination Chamber, Cena and The Miz were in a Battle Royal to determine who would face Wyatt at WrestleMania for the WWE Championship after Randy Orton initially turned down his opportunity to face Wyatt. Again Cena would eliminate The Miz, costing him a chance at the title. After being eliminated, The Miz returned and eliminated Cena from the match.
The road to WrestleMania:
The following week, The Miz invited Cena onto Miz TV and confronted him, calling him a manipulator, a hypocrite and undeserving of all the opportunities Cena has received. Cena responded only to have Maryse slap him. The slap brought Nikki running out to the ring to call out The Miz and Maryse who had run for safety.
In the following weeks, The Miz and Maryse attacked Cena and Nikki following their match and ran the couple down for receiving favorable treatment, undeserved opportunities and not being married. The Miz and Maryse attacked Cena for making Nikki sign a contract and refusing to propose. Week after week, Maryse showed Nikki the ring she would never receive. On the March 14 edition of SmackDown Live Bryan officially made the WrestleMania match between the two couples. The following week, The Miz and Maryse produced two fantastic parodies of Cena and Nikki.
The Miz playing Cena was excellent, as he continually teased a proposal only to get the hopes up of Nikki. The couple also took shots at Cena’s robotic made for TV image and the idea that he can further Nikki’s career.
What to expect:
Fans should not expect the four competitors to have a show-stealing match. The WrestleMania 33 card already has 12 matches booked. The mixed tag match between Cena and Nikki and The Miz and Maryse is going to be one of the shorter matches on the card.
Maryse has not had a match since 2011, and will likely have some ring rust. Since she has been inactive for so long, do not expect much in-ring action between Nikki and Maryse. Cena and the Miz will be responsible for the majority of the in-ring time.
Cena and The Miz should have a good but unspectacular match. Do not expect to see many high spots in this match. With so many bigger matches on the card, expect those matches to have more spectacular action.
The Miz and Maryse will attempt to cheat in order to beat Cena and Nikki. The best way to get around Maryse’s ring rust is to have her cheat at some point during the match. During The Miz’s Intercontinental Championship run, Maryse interfered on multiple occasions to help The Miz retain his championship. At WrestleMania, Maryse will again attempt to cheat to help The Miz defeat Cena. Maryse’s interference will either lead to the finish or a dramatic kick out at two.
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Predicted winners:
After Nikki prevents Maryse from cheating, Cena is able to hit the AA on The Miz and locks in the STF. The Miz will struggle and attempt to get to the bottom rope. Eventually, The Miz will tap out and Cena and Nikki will be the winners.
The big question that will need to be answered is does Cena propose to Nikki after the match? The Miz and Maryse have been teasing Cena and Nikki for so long about never getting a ring, it would make sense that this is the time Cena finally proposes. A potential Cena and Nikki engagement would be a feel good moment for the fans and would be one of the more memorable moments from WrestleMania 33.
A potential Cena-Nikki engagement would rival WrestleMania 7 when Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth got back together after Savage lost a retirement match to The Ultimate Warrior.