What’s the story?
On the latest episode of Monday Night Raw, WWE announced that Neville and Austin Aries will battle for the Cruiserweight Championship on the WrestleMania 33 kickoff show.
This marks the first time the Cruiserweight Championship will be defended on a pre-show since the belt’s creation last year.
In case you didn’t know...
Before Aries was a competitor on 205 Live, he was a commentator on the Cruiserweight show 205 Live and the Cruiserweight commentator for their matches on Monday Night Raw.
The night after Fastlane 2017, Aries interviewed Neville after a match and the crowd began chanting for Aries after Neville declared that no Cruiserweight was on his level. After Neville disparaged him, Aries attacked the current Champion and set their feud in motion.
A few weeks later, Aries would then go on to defeat Akira Tozawa, The Brian Kendrick, TJ Perkins, and Tony Nese on 205 Live to become the number one contender for WrestleMania 33.
The heart of the matter
Many fans predicted that some of the championship matches would be added to the pre-show such as the SmackDown Women’s Championship match and the Raw Tag Team Championship match, as neither of those titles had a legitimate storyline worthy of being on the main card in their eyes.
Also read: WWE News: Brian Kendrick masqueraded as a security guard in the audience during 205 Live
However, many fans felt the match between Austin Aries and Neville was not only a match worthy of the main card of WrestleMania 33 but a potential candidate for being the match of the night.
This match being placed on the pre-show now puts into question the amount of time the championship match will be given as well as what matches will be on the main card.
What’s next?
Hearing that the match will be placed on the pre-show is a bit disheartening after everything Neville and Austin Aries have done to add life to the Cruiserweight Division, but the match between the Man that Gravity Forgot and The Greatest Man of the Planet could still be a show-stealing affair.
In fact, if Aries and Neville have a good enough match, they could end up stealing the show long before the main show even starts.
Author’s take
By moving the Cruiserweight match to the pre-show, the WWE may have done one more thing that the fans will not be pleased to hear.
Many fans have been vocal about the majority of the matches on the WrestleMania 33 card and moving this match to the pre-show will only increase fan hostility towards the biggest wrestling show of the year.
Hopefully, the other matches can deliver and live up to the hype and hopes of fans, but it’s doubtful that they will.
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