During the week surrounding WrestleMania, there are always a ton of shows that aim to take advantage of the influx of wrestling fans. This year sees a whole host of potentially superb matches taking place and I will try to get them all in one place for you. All start times are local time.
Thursday 5th April
Matt Riddle's Bloodsport (Start Time - 3pm)
This show features a mixture of wrestlers and MMA fighters and all matches take place in a ring with no ropes. There are no pinfalls and victory can only be attained by KO or submission. I have no idea how this show is going to play out but it looks interesting enough. Most of the matches look as though they will either be great or terrible. Also, it has Dan Severn.
Card:
Matt Riddle vs Minoru Suzuki
Nick Gage vs Timothy Thatcher
WALTER vs Filthy Tom Lawlor
Dan Severn vs Chris Dickinson
Eddie Kingston vs Tracy Williams
Dominic Garrini vs KTB
Masada vs Martin Stone
WildKat Sports (Start Time - 6pm)
I know basically nothing about Wildkat Sports but they are based in New Orleans and are run by Luke Hawx and Orlando Jordan. I watch a lot of wrestling but there are a bunch of people on this show that are outside of my pool of knowledge. I'm not sure what to expect from a company with that main event.
Card:
J Spade vs Bob Holly vs Billy Gunn vs Stevie Richards
Damien 666 & Bestia 666 vs Luke Hawx & PJ Hawx vs Roy Knight & Ricky Knight Jr (1st Ever Father/Son 3-Way Tag Match)
Danny Flamingo vs Matt Lancie
Ken Dixon vs Jonny Flex (WildKat Revolution Title)
Buku Dao & Sexy Chino vs Ryan Davidson & Shane Taylor
Steve Anthony vs Mr 450
Savannah Evans vs Rachel Ellering
Caleb Konley vs Mike Dell vs Barrett Brown
Evolve 102 (Start Time - 8pm)
Evolve are one of the pioneers of the Mania weekend supershows and they normally put on a bunch of great matches. They frequently bring over a couple of top-notch Japanese wrestlers too, as is the case this year. A couple of the matches have real potential to be outstanding on this show.
Card:
Zack Sabre Jr vs Matt Riddle (Evolve Title)
Daisuke Sekimoto & Munenori Sawa vs Ringkampf (WALTER & Timothy Thatcher)
AR Fox vs Will Ospreay
Austin Theory vs DJZ
Keith Lee vs Darby Allin
Chris Dickinson & Jaka vs The End vs Anthony Henry & James Drake vs Tracy Williams & Dom Garrini (Evolve Tag Titles, Scramble Match)
Wrestlecon Supershow (Start Time - 9.30pm)
The Wrestlecon Supershow has historically taken place towards the end of the weekend but they have wisely decided to put it in a less competitive time slot. They have only announced three matches as of writing, but they do look very interesting.
Card:
Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi) vs Chuck Taylor & TBA
Tomohiro Ishii vs Jeff Cobb
Joey Janela vs Penta El Zero M
Beyond Wrestling Lit Up (Start Time - 11.55pm)
Beyond Wrestling is running their Lit Up show that is featuring a number of intergender matches, some of which are very intriguing. I can't really go out of my way say that any of the matches will be great because the ceiling and floor are so far apart. There is an equal chance of success and failure.
Card:
Toni Storm vs Timothy Thatcher
Matt Riddle vs Deonna Purazzo
Joey Janela & Penelope Ford vs Orange Cassidy & Session Moth Martina
Joey Ryan & Laura James vs Rumblerees
Mia Yim vs Wheeler Yuta vs MJF vs Tessa Blanchard
Jimmy Havoc vs Jessicka Havok
Doom Patrol vs Twisted Sisterz
Friday 6th April
PROGRESS Chapter 66: Mardi Graps (Start Time - Noon)
PROGRESS has been putting on consistently great shows for the last few years and has expanded the number of Mania weekend shows to two. This first one features the signature match of PROGRESS, the Thunderbastard. It also features a couple of matches that could steal the show.
Card:
Travis Banks vs Shane Strickland (PROGRESS Title)
Grizzled Young Veterans vs Moustache Mountain (PROGRESS Tag Titles)
Matt Riddle vs Jimmy Havoc
Austin Theory vs Joey Janela vs Jeff Cobb vs Rickey Shane Page vs Chris Brookes vs Darby Allin vs MJF vs Parrow (Thunderbastard Match)
Pete Dunne vs Flash Morgan Webster vs Mark Andrews
Ringkampf vs Sexy Starr
Jinny & Mercedes Martinez vs Toni Storm & Shazza McKenzie
The Crash (Start Time - Noon)
The Crash is a lucha promotion based in Tijuana. They should bring something slightly different to Mania weekend. They have announced a few matches that definitely have the potential to stand out among the plethora of matches this week.
Card:
Austin Aries vs Penta El Zero M
Flamita vs Rey Fenix vs Rich Swann
Rey Horus vs Flip Gordon vs Laredo Kid
Bestia 666, Mr 450 & Garza Jr vs Damian 666, LA Park & Psicosis
Brian Cage vs Sami Callihan vs Daga vs Willie Mack
Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz vs Bandido & Black Boy vs oVe
Lacey Lane & Black Danger vs Christi Jaynes & Oraculo vs Joey Ryan & Barbie Hayden vs Diamante & Douglas James
Curt Stallion vs Matthew Palmer vs Amarok vs J. Spade vs Aeroboy vs Draztik Boy vs Angel Fashion vs Jason Cade
Evolve 103 (Start Time - 4pm)
This is the second Evolve show of the weekend and they have gone with an Evolve vs The World set up for this one. It also has the potential for a number of great matches, in particular, the main event.
Card:
Matt Riddle vs Daisuke Sekimoto
Darby Allin vs WALTER
Chris Dickinson vs Travis Banks
Jaka vs Munenori Sawa
Keith Lee vs Austin Theory
AR Fox vs DJZ vs Tracy Williams vs Jason Kincaid
Timothy Thatcher vs Dom Garrini
Revolution Pro Wrestling (Start Time - 4pm)
RevPro is probably my second favourite British company and they put on some really great shows, especially those that are in conjunction with New Japan. A couple of the matches here should definitely be top notch, with the main event having the potential to steal the whole weekend.
Card:
Zack Sabre Jr vs Tomohiro Ishii (British Heavyweight Title)
Martin Stone vs David Starr
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Juice Robinson vs Aussie Open
Minoru Suzuki vs Jeff Cobb
Kota Ibushi, Shane Strickland & Flip Gordon vs Will Ospreay, Rocky Romero & Chuckie T
Brian Cage vs Adam Brooks
WWN Supershow Mercury Rising (Start Time - 8pm)
This is usually the show where WWN Live puts all of its companies (Evolve, FIP, Shine, Style Battle) together and lets them put their best foot forward. They also have a history of 6-man tag matches. The top four matches on this show look amazing.
Card:
Keith Lee vs Daisuke Sekimoto (WWN Live Title)
Zack Sabre Jr vs Munenori Sawa (Evolve Title)
Chris Dickinson & Jaka vs Ringkampf (Timothy Thatcher & WALTER) (Evolve Tag Titles)
Will Ospreay vs Matt Riddle
Darby Allin, DJZ & Trey Miguel vs Travis Banks, Austin Theory & Zachary Wentz
LuFisto vs Holidead (Shine Title)
Impact Wrestling vs Lucha Underground (Start Time - 9pm)
This is a good idea for a show as it continues Impact's recent recovery and gets some eyes on Lucha Underground before Season 4 starts. There are a couple of weird issues of a wrestler working for both companies under different names but it shouldn't be an issue. The I Quit match is intriguing after the recent baseball bat incident.
Card:
Austin Aries & Fenix vs Alberto El Patron & Pentagon Dark
Jeremiah Crane vs Eddie Edwards (I Quit Match)
Dezmond Xavier, DJZ & Andrew Everett vs Aerostar, King Cuerno & Drago
LAX vs Killshot & The Mack (Impact Tag Titles)
Allie vs Taya Valkyrie (Knockouts Title)
Joey Janela's Spring Break 2 (Start Time - 11.55pm)
So, this will almost certainly be the craziest show that doesn't feature giant monsters (more on this later). Last year it had Marty Jannetty and Glacier on the show and they booked, and advertised, Earl Hebner as doing a ref bump run in. There is also this absolutely fucking spectacular match announcement video. The line up is full of matches I never knew I wanted, and I'm still not sure I do. Penta vs Gage is the match that I have the weirdest fascination with of the entire week.
Card:
Joey Janela vs Great Sasuke
Mike Quackenbush vs David Starr
WALTER vs Pierre Carl Ouellet
Penta El Zero M vs Nick Gage
Matt Riddle vs James Ellsworth
Clusterfuck 2
Saturday 7th April
Pro Wrestling Revolver Pancakes & Piledrivers (Start Time - 11am)
Last year's version of this show put on one of the wildest matches of the year, a 10-man ladder match that was 25 minutes of spots. It was spectacular. This year they have announced matches that are, on paper, less insane.
Card:
Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero M & Rey Fenix) vs Teddy Hart & Jack Evans
Colt Cabana & Marty DeRosa vs Joey Ryan & Session Moth Martina
Jessica Havok vs Meiko Satomura vs Kimber Lee
oVe vs Brian Cage, Joey Janela & AR Fox
ACH vs Trevor Lee (AAW Title)
Shane Strickland vs Jeff Cobb
PROGRESS Chapter 67: Bourbon Is Also A Biscuit (Start Time - Noon)
This is the second of the two PROGRESS shows. This one has a fantastic name and an even better main event. For me, WALTER and ZSJ are 1 and 2 in the wrestler of the year list.
Card:
WALTER vs Zack Sabre Jr
Will Ospreay vs Austin Theory
Chris Brookes vs Rey Horus
CZW Welcome To The Combat Zone (Start Time - 3pm)
The New Orleans Athletic Commission has banned blood on all of the shows taking part during Mania week and CZW appears to have responded by booking a bunch of really intriguing matches.
Card:
Jeff Cobb vs Joe Gacy
Will Ospreay vs Dezmond Xavier
Juice Robinson vs David Starr
Joey Ryan & Laura James vs Joey Janela & Penelope Ford
Rickey Shane Page vs Ethan Page
Zachary Wentz vs Adam Brooks vs Jason Cade vs Ace Romero
oVe vs Bandido & Flamita
Shimmer 100 (Start Time - 4pm)
Shimmer doesn't put on the greatest amount of shows (100 shows in 12 years) but they normally do some good stuff on the Mania shows, and the 100th show is a pretty good milestone.
Card:
Nicole Savoy vs Mercedes Martinez (Shimmer Title)
Shazza McKenzie vs Tessa Blanchard (Heart of Shimmer Title)
Nicole Matthews vs Toni Storm
Madison Eagles vs Deonna Purazzo
Leva Bates & Delilah Doom vs LuFisto & Hudson Envy (Shimmer Tag Titles)
Shotzi Blackheart vs Cheerleader Melissa
Britt Baker & Chelsea Green vs Charli Evans & Jessica Troy
ROH Supercard of Honor XII (Start Time - 7.30pm)
Ring of Honor has been bringing a show to Mania week for a number of years now and they are using their arrangement with New Japan to bring over a bunch of their talent. There are some really good looking matches here. Still running head to head with NXT though.
Card:
Kenny Omega vs Cody
Dalton Castle vs Marty Scurll (ROH Title)
SoCal Uncensored vs Young Bucks & Flip Gordon (Ladder Match)
Tomohiro Ishii vs Punishment Martinez
Kota Ibushi vs Hangman Page
The Briscoes vs Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jay Lethal (ROH Tag Titles)
Kenny King vs Silas Young (ROH TV Title, Last Man Standing Match)
Mayu Iwatani vs Kelly Klein (Women of Honor Semi-Final)
Tenille Dashwood vs Sumie Sakai (Women of Honor Semi-Final)
Mayu Iwatani vs Kelly Klein (Women of Honor Semi-Final)
Tenille Dashwood vs Sumie Sakai (Women of Honor Semi-Final)
Women of Honor Tournament Final
NXT TakeOver: New Orleans (Start Time - 8pm)
It's an NXT TakeOver show, it's going to be great. In fact, it has one of the strongest lineups I've seen. The real question is who will be getting called up after this show.
Card:
Andrade 'Cien' Almas vs Aleister Black (NXT Title)
Ember Moon vs Shayna Baszler (NXT Women's Title)
Undisputed Era vs Authors of Pain vs Roderick Strong & Pete Dunne (NXT Tag Titles)
Ricochet vs Velveteen Dream vs Lars Sullivan vs Adam Cole vs Killian Dain vs EC3 (NXT North American Title, Ladder Match)
Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa (Unsanctioned Match)
Style Battle Season 1 Finale (Start Time - 8pm)
This is the other show that is running at the same time as NXT. Style Battle ran a number of mini tournaments leading up to this show and will run another tournament here between all of the winners.
Card:
Keith Lee vs Nick Gage
Matt Riddle vs Dave Crist
Jason Kincaid vs Anthony Henry
Tracer X vs Darby Allin
Curt Matthews & Jared Wayne vs Matt Knicks & Stevie Fierce (Non-Tournament)
Kaiju Big Battel Live And Let Die (Start Time - 11.55pm)
Remember earlier when I mentioned giant monsters? Well, here they are. Kaiju Big Battel is ridiculous, in the best possible way, and that is why it takes place at midnight. The show has wrestlers dressed as monsters (hence the Kaiju part of the name) battling in a ring that contains a cardboard city. Here is a video that shows what I mean. I am actually briefly in the background of that video, it was a fun show.
House of Hardcore (Start Time - 1 Hour After NXT Finishes)
I would like to be more upbeat about this card but there is very little that piques my interest. Aries vs Cage could be very good though.
Card:
Swoggle vs Alex Reynolds (Twitch TV Title Semifinal)
Willie Mack vs Killer Kross (Twitch TV Title Semifinal)
Sami Callihan vs ??? vs ??? (Twitch TV Title Final)
Killer Elite Squad vs Billy Gunn & Tommy Dreamer (Street Fight)
Rock n' Roll Express & Mystery Partner vs The Squad
Austin Aries vs Brian Cage
Sunday 8th April
WrestleMania 34 (Start Time - 5pm)
This year's WrestleMania has some potential. Sure there are the typical part-timer matches and the incredibly predictable Reigns vs Lesnar, but there are also a few matches that should produce some great wrestling.
Card:
Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns (Universal Title)
AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura (WWE Title)
Kurt Angle & Ronda Rousey vs HHH & Stephanie McMahon
John Cena vs The Undertaker
Daniel Bryan & Shane McMahon vs Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
The Miz vs Seth Rollins vs Finn Balor (IC Title)
Randy Orton vs Bobby Roode vs Jinder Mahal (US Title)
Charlotte Flair vs Asuka (Smackdown Women's Title)
Alexa Bliss vs Nia Jax (Raw Women's Title)
The Bar vs Braun Strowman & TBA (Raw Tag Titles)
The Usos vs New Day vs Bludgeon Brothers (Smackdown Tag Titles)
Cedric Alexander vs Mustafa Ali (Cruiserweight Title)
Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Wrestlemania Women's Battle Royal
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