WrestleMania 33 takes place on Sunday, April 2nd. (WWE.com)
WrestleMania 33 is just days away, with the show getting started at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday, April 2nd. However, the WrestleMania festivities start before that, as there is a two-hour kickoff show beginning at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, which most fans will want to see. Traditionally, there are two or three matches that take place on the pre-show, at least one of which is a title match. So which matches are planned for the WrestleMania 33 pre-show?
As confirmed on Monday Night Raw this week, the WrestleMania 33 kickoff show will feature the match between Austin Aries and Neville for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. This match has been repeatedly promoted on both Monday Night Raw and 205 Live during the road to WrestleMania.
Also being featured on the kickoff show will be the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. This is the match in which various WWE superstars battle it out with the winner receiving the André the Giant Memorial Trophy.
The battle royal will consist of of Big Show, Braun Strowman, Goldust, R-Truth, Curtis Axel, Primo, Epico, Bo Dallas, Jinder Mahal, Curt Hawkins, Mojo Rawley, Apollo Crews, Sami Zayn, Fandango, Tyler Breeze, Rhyno, Heath Slater, Chad Gable, Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, and Dolph Ziggler.
The SmackDown Women’s Championship match between Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, Natalya, Becky Lynch, Naomi and Carmella was originally scheduled to be on the kickoff show. However, late in the week, the WWE apparently changed its mind, as the match stopped being listed as taking place on the kickoff show on the WWE app and website. On Twitter, Becky Lynch suggested that this move happened because of fan outcry, and she thanked the fans for speaking out.
You spoke up. You’re awesome. Thank you . #WrestleMania
However, some fans are still disappointed over the fact that the Cruiserweight Championship match is not airing during the actual WrestleMania 33, going along with the feeling they have had that the WWE does not properly book the Cruiserweights.
Last year, with the kickoff show counting as part of the ceremony, WrestleMania was nearly seven hours long. The pre-show is about two hours, and the main WrestleMania event was about 4 hours and 50 minutes.