What’s the story?
With two hours worth of analysis and three solid matches to fill the time, this year’s Kickoff show was a good watch. Two championship matches, the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, and a special appearance by Rob Gronkowski gave fans enough to chew on before Wrestlemania 33 began.
Sadly, it seems that those two hours have been omitted from the DVD version of the Ultimate Thrillride.
In case you didn’t know...
This year’s Wrestlemania, including the Kickoff, lasted about seven hours. There were highs and lows throughout, as one would expect. It’s impossible to keep a crowd’s full attention for almost a third of a day, but the Kickoff was thoroughly entertaining.
Neville and Austin Aries fought for the Cruiserweight title and Ambrose defended the IC title against Baron, two solid matches to open the show. And with a special appearance by Rob Gronkowski during the battle royal, we had a Mania feel before it even truly started.
The heart of the matter
Every year, WWE releases a special DVD of that year’s Wrestlemania, usually packed with extra content – the Hall of Fame and a few unique pre-Mania documentaries, among other things. However, this year’s Wrestlemania DVD will be shipped out without the Kickoff content.
Two whole hours have been shaved off the final product. It is important to mention, however, that this is not for the UK release, which will include the Kickoff. It seems that only those in the US will be will be without that extra content.
What’s next?
Those mostly affected by this are the competitors in the matches that were left on the cutting room floor. Aries, Neville, Ambrose, Baron and the Battle Royal participants will be missing a bit of extra publicity.
Aries and Neville, however, will get to continue their feud to the next Raw PPV, it seems, as the King of the Cruiserweights is still fending off the Greatest Man That Ever Lived. Dean has moved to Raw with the Intercontinental title still around his waist and Baron is on Smackdown Live causing havoc for whoever steps in his way.
Braun, who was the favourite to win the Battle Royal, was tossed out rather early but has been on a rampage since. He’s been tearing through Raw and has picked up a win over Roman Reigns. However, all that momentum might be gone as he has recently been injured.
Another competitor from this match that has made an impact since Mania is Jinder Mahal, who is currently the number one contender for the WWE Championship.
Author’s Take
Getting cut from the DVD isn’t ideal, clearly, but it won’t affect anyone too much. Most people that want to watch any content from WWE now use the network, anyway. It’s also possible that a lot of people would’ve skipped the kickoff part of the show.
Most fans tend to tune in and out or skip the entire pre-show altogether when it comes to WWE PPVs. The wrestlers that were left out of the DVDs will possibly miss a small pay day, but it won’t be enough to cause a fuss over.
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