BET.com Exclusive: Who Will Win Big at WrestleMania 33? Smoke DZA Has the Answers!
Smoke DZA enjoys watching WWE action almost as much as he enjoys slinging rhymes on the mic.
Tying his passions together, the Harlem MC is prepping the release of his Ringside 5 EP to coincide with the day of WrestleMania 33, which will go down Sunday night live from Orlando. It will be the fifth time that Smoke releases an EP from the series on the same day of WrestleMania, but his fans can expect some surprises with this installment.
"I tried my hand at making it a bit more creative than just rapping over wrestling entrance music," DZA told BET.com. "I think people will thoroughly enjoy it because I didn’t just base it off the [Superstars] I grew up on — I dibbled and dabbled into the new generation: AJ Styles, Enzo and Cass, The New Day, but I don’t want to give too much of it away."
This also marks the fifth WrestleMania that DZA will attend live.
"Last year was amazing because it was the first year I had those bomb-ass seats," he said about attending the event with fellow MC and WWE super fan Wale. "I got to go backstage and meet the guys and really have that celebrity kind of look at WrestleMania. This year should be the same because I made a lot of friends out there."
In celebration of his latest Ringside EP and WrestleMania itself, BET.com asked Smoke to give us his predictions for every match at WrestleMania 33. He did so with as much razor-sharp precision as he demonstrates, carving up instrumentals with hard-hitting bars in the booth.
Here are all of Smoke DZA's WrestleMania predictions ... and just wait until you read his hot take on The Undertaker-Roman Reigns.
WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match (Kickoff Match): Neville (c) vs. Austin Aries
“I’m going with Austin Aries because he came back off the injury and I really feel like they’re trying to get him over with the new WWE crowd. I think Austin Aries is going to get the win just because he has been over and I like what they did with him — what they kind of used to do with Macho Man and Roddy Piper, when they made them do commentary. It made people get used to them, so when they got back in the ring, they were kind of bigger than life. He’s a good talker, great worker and I think it will work out for him."
Winner: Austin Aries
SmackDown Women’s Championship Match (Kickoff Match) : Champion Alexa Bliss to defend against all-female SmackDown LIVE Superstars who are available to compete
“I like Alexa Bliss. She kind of came out of nowhere for me, but I like her because she’s like a natural heel [pro-wrestling term used to reference a villain]. She’s a pretty, sarcastic chick that you want to see get her ass whipped, but you really don’t know. But I’m going to go with Naomi. She never lost the strap, it’s in her hometown, Orlando, and I think that could be her WrestleMania moment even if she loses it on Tuesday [on SmackDown]."
Winner: Naomi
The Fourth Annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal (Kickoff Match): Featuring Big Show, Sami Zayn, Braun Strowman, Apollo Crews, and More Superstars
“I’m going with Braun Strowman just because he’s super hot right now and I think he’ll find a way to win because he doesn’t have a match and I think it’d take steam off him if he didn’t win. It would make sense for him to win this. He’ll probably eliminate Big Show and toss out a bunch of guys that people expect to win. Baron Corbin won last year, but I see Braun Strowman winning this year.”
Winner: Braun Strowman
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Intercontinental Championship Match: Dean Ambrose (c) vs. Baron Corbin
“I’m going with Corbin because right now I think they’re trying to give him that rocket launcher, that push. And the best way to get a push is to make him go over a former world champion and get a secondary title to see how that works for him. Plus, I’m starting to be a little warmer on Baron Corbin. At the beginning, I’m not going to lie, he wasn’t really bubbling like that. But now … he’s starting to grow on me. He probably would [whoop Conor McGregor’s ass]. I wouldn’t put that past him."
Winner: Baron Corbin
Raw Tag Team Championship Triple Threat Ladder Match : Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson (c) vs. Enzo Amore & Big Cass vs. Cesaro & Sheamus
"I’d like to see Enzo and Cass win it. Enzo is my homie, so I’d like to see him get his look off at WrestleMania. That would be huge. It took so long for the straps to be on Gallows and Anderson and I’m not sure if they’re ready to take it off them right this second. I could see them retaining the straps and then losing them in another pay-per-view or something.
"But Enzo is my guy, man! The funny s**t is I was aware of Enzo years ago, before he even got up to NXT. When another one of my homies was working there who’s back there now, Enzo used to hit me on Twitter, telling me that he was a future WWE superstar. I never knocked or discredit or just shun anyone’s dreams, especially if you’re already in the door. So, I kept tabs on him and now he’s Smack-talker Skywalker [laughing]. I’m very proud of him and his come up."
Winners: Gallows and Anderson
United States Championship Match: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Kevin Owens
“I think Jericho is going to win and maybe lose it down the line. I know his run with the company is going to be up soon. He’s about to go back on tour with [his band] Fozzy and s***. But I think he’ll pull it out in Mania. I just don’t really see him losing at Mania. I see him losing maybe somewhere else, but I don’t think he’ll lose at Mania … or maybe he will.
Kevin Owens has been my favorite wrestler for some time. Him and AJ Styles — those are my favorite guys to watch work. But I’ve really learned to appreciate Chris Jericho even more after his last run because this is probably my favorite Jericho character out of all of them because I think he’s the best wrestler to evolve when he comes back. He’s never been the same heel or he’s never been the same face [pro-wrestling term for fan-favorite hero]. He’s always coming back with a new trick. This whole list of Jericho and all this cool s**t that he’s with, I feel like it’s badd f***ing work and I personally don’t want to see it end. He doesn’t need the title to be over. He will drop it KO at some point, but I don’t know that it’s going to be at Mania, so I’m going to take Y2J."
Winner: Chris Jericho
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Shane McMahon vs. AJ Styles
"Shane has been topping all of his WrestleMania moments. Well, not even just WrestleMania — every moment. Even King of the Ring, when Kurt Angle belly to belly [suplexed] him through glass. I always thought that Shane was a worker. Will he do better than he did last year with The Undertaker? Absolutely because he’s wrestling the best wrestler in the world today that would make a f***ing paper bag look like Bruno Sammartino.
AJ can make anybody look good, so I see Shane probably having his best WrestleMania match. This is like equivalent to Shane fighting Shawn Michaels if that makes any sense because I feel like AJ is that good, like he’s the modern-day Shawn Michaels — if not better. I’m so upset at myself that I didn’t get into AJ earlier. I knew he was a good wrestler and he had a lot of moves that I hadn’t seen, I just couldn’t watch it TNA [Total Nonstop Action wrestling promotion] because I couldn’t f**k with TNA like that.
But now having him under McMahon’s roof and seeing him really flourish and really f***ing be AJ Styles … I think he’s 40-f***ing-years-old and I missed so much of his f***ing career. But now I’m like a super-duper ultimate AJ Styles fan. I see him helping Shane have a great match, but of course, AJ is going to win."
Winner: AJ Styles
Raw Women’s Championship Fatal 4-Way Elimination Match: Bayley (c) vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax
The women’s match last year was great, so I’m sure this one is going to be great. I’m going to take Charlotte and I always predict and see through everything they’re doing, so I kind of see them trying to make Charlotte like her dad [two-time WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair] — like a 16-time champion. So, I see her winning the title again. And not to mention, she’s a great wrestler. I love everybody in that match — Charlotte, Sasha, Bayley, Nia Jax, but I think Charlotte is going to win.
Winner: Charlotte Flair
Non-Sanctioned Match: Seth Rollins vs. Triple H
“Now, this is a weird match and I say it’s a weird match because you really don’t know where they’re going, but you kind of got an idea. I feel like I don’t know if they’re really working us with the Seth Rollins injury — if he’s really injured or he’s not. I feel like they worked us because I feel like he wouldn't be wrestling at Mania if he was actually hurt.
But with them teasing the f***ing stable with Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens with Triple H, I definitely could see Samoa Joe making a run-in being that he doesn’t have a WrestleMania match. Will Triple H let Seth win? Will he put him over? I could see that happening because Triple H is not a main guy, but I also see some type of screwy finish where Samoa Joe comes down and then Finn Balor comes down to help Seth. I see a bunch of run-ins. Ultimately, if they’re smart, they’ll let Seth win. WWE has done a lot of questionable things when it comes to s**t like that. But I want to say Seth will win."
Winner: Seth Rollins
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Power Couples Clash: John Cena & Nikki Bella vs. The Miz & Maryse
"That’s easy. You know Cena and the Bella are going to win. I don’t see it being a show-stealer, but I think it will have some good spots in there. I think the main angle is Cena proposing to Nikki, so I’m sure that will probably happen at Mania and that will be his WrestleMania moment. And it will be good for the Bellas and the show they have on VH1."
Winners: John Cena & Nikki Bella
WWE Championship Match: Bray Wyatt (c) vs. Randy Orton
"I’m going to take Bray Wyatt. I think he’s going to win, but again, WWE is so funny how they do certain things, so it could be Randy Orton."
Winner: Bray Wyatt
Universal Championship Match: Goldberg (c) vs. Brock Lesnar
"I think this is going to be more of a match than any of the others they had. I don’t think this is going to be an eight-second match. I do think Brock is going to win because it makes sense since he’s going to be here. But I don’t think it’s going to be on some quick s***."
Winner: Brock Lesnar
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The Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns
"Reigns needs to be and this is WWE's chance to make him a full-on heel, especially if you make him beat The Undertaker in his last match because I’m kind of sure that this is his last go-around.
If you really want someone to hate someone, then you f****** make him knock the hero off the high horse. I can definitely see Roman winning. I was just like the fans in not that I didn’t like him or his wrestling skills, but I didn’t like the fact that they were putting the jetpack on him when there were other people that could have got that push. I feel like they were trying to shove him down our throats.
But now, his ring work is really good, his mic work is really good, so I could see them making him a full-on heel and taking The Undertaker out. Or losing to The Undertaker and then f****** him up after the loss to really make him a heel."
Winner: Roman Reigns
Any Surprises?
"I think for sure, for sure they’re going to work Kurt Angle in. I think he’s going to be the new Monday Night Raw general manager. WWE likes to recreate history. I definitely see that with Kurt Angle. Definitely AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle will be a [future] WrestleMania match. They [fought] in TNA, but we never seen it under Vince’s roof. I see Kurt Angle vs. Brock again and Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe being other [future] WrestleMania matches, too."