There was a lot of concern when WWE stacked the WrestleMania card and put two title matches on the kickoff show. Now it looks like they’re still moving things around only days before the big show.
As of Thursday evening, WWE.com is no longer listing the SmackDown Women’s Championship match as a kickoff show match. Instead, it is listed as part of the main WrestleMania card. This is incredible news for the women’s division and even better for the SmackDown show because they are already not represented by a SmackDown Tag Team Title Match on the main card. Now both female championships will be defended on actual WrestleMania pay-per-view.
Therefore, if you were planning on tuning into the kickoff show just to see Alexa Bliss defend her SmackDown women’s title, then you can wait until the main show. But we still suggest you watch the kickoff show because Neville vs Austin Aries might be one of the most solid matches of the night.
When word was announced that the SmackDown women would be on the preshow, there was more than a little resentment from the fanbase. Becky Lynch is the only one to comment on this change so far, and her response is very grateful to the fans for making their voices heard. The match is planned to be a “6 pack challenge” pitting Alexa Bliss to defend her SmackDown Women’s Title against Naomi, Becky Lynch, Carmella, Natalya, and Mickie James.
You spoke up. You're awesome. Thank you . #WrestleMania
— Rebecca Quin (@BeckyLynchWWE) March 31, 2017
There is no word as of this writing on if WWE will replace the empty kickoff show slot yet. But let’s hope they don’t plan on adding one. Because people are usually filing into the stadium for the kickoff show and putting three matches would mean they would have to start the matches earlier in the kickoff show, therefore fewer fans would get to see them live.
After all, it adds a lot to a match if there are fans in attendance. Last year’s Mania had some problems of people getting to their seats in time to watch even the first couple matches on the main card, so this is a very wise move on WWE’s part to shake things up.
[…] [This match has apparently been moved to the main show] […]
[…] recently in regards to how the WrestleMania card will be stacked this year. They recently moved the SmackDown Women’s Title match from being a kickoff show contest to a main card encounter and new reports are even more late […]
This means they lost their balls and aren’t having the Hardy’s vs The Uso’s at Mania, that blows.
Jeff Hardy said earlier today that their contract with ROH runs into summertime, which means it wasn’t happening anyway.