What’s the story?
WrestleMania weekend will be here in a few days and wrestling fans in Orlando, Florida will have their pick of events to attend.
The Orlando Sentinel took to Twitter to announce that there will be a total of 93 events taking place this week starting on Tuesday, March 28th and ending on Wednesday, April 5, 2017.
There will be several shows taking place ranging from independent wrestling promotions like EVOLVE and Ring of Honor, Q&As with legends like Sting and Ric Flair, concerts and other musical performances, and a variety of both wrestling and non-wrestling related activities as WrestleMania 33 approaches.
In case you didn’t know...
The WWE events that typically take place during WrestleMania weekend are WWE Fan Axess and the WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony on Friday, the NXT TakeOver special on Saturday, and WrestleMania on Sunday.
Aside from the NXT TakeOver special, which is relatively new, these events take place each and every year and garner hundreds of thousands of wrestling fans which also brings out other wrestling promotions and events.
There will also be other non-WWE wrestling shows from a variety of promotions such as Evolve, Wrestle Pro, Revolution Pro, What Culture Pro Wrestling, Ring of Honor and many more independent wrestling companies.
Also read: WWE Hall of Fame 2017: Live Stream, TV Telecast Info, Inductees, Schedule and Live Stream Details
This is a common occurrence for WrestleMania weekend as independent promotions come to wherever WrestleMania is hosted in order to get some wrestling fans to come out and enjoy what their promotions have to offer.
Many wrestling legends and former WWE officials will be in Orlando signing autographs, hosting parties, and doing a variety of Q&As with fans in attendance such as Jim Ross, Sting, Ric Flair, Kevin Nash, Bruce Prichard, The Hardy Boyz, and Hulk Hogan.
Other events include brunches, concerts, and several activities that are related to WrestleMania 33.
The heart of the matter
While WWE events taking place are common occurrences for the WrestleMania weekend, a lot of wrestling-related events will leave fans with nearly hundreds of different choices to pick from.
Aside from seeing the sites of Orlando, Florida wrestling fans and residences will have a lot of options to keep themselves entertained for WrestleMania weekend. The following is the list official events taking place over the next couple of days.
Tuesday, March 28
- Pro Wrestling 2.0 Legend and Heroes – 7 PM
Wednesday, March 29
- Atomic Wrestling Entertainment: Rock N Brawl – 5 PM- Punk Pro Wrestling – 8 PM- Late Night Sleaze Talk with Joey Ryan – 11:30 PM
Thursday, March 30
- Seminar with Robbie E – 11 AM- Seminar with Marty Janetty – 1:30 PM- WrestleCon Kickoff Pary with Ric Flair, Jim Ross, and Sting – 4 PM- Art of Wrestling Podcast with Colt Cobana and Larry Zybysko – 4 PM- Seminar with Nick Dinsmore – 5:30 PM- WWE WrestleMania Axxess – 6 PM- Full Throttle Pro Wrestling – 6:30 PM- Walemania: A Performance from Wale and MLW Radio Podcast – 7 PM- Fighting Evolution Wrestling Survive Live – 8 PM- Evolve 80 – 8 PM- Wrestle Pro – 8:30 PM- Midnight : Joey Janela’s Spring Break – 11 PM
Friday, March 31
- Wrestlecon Session One – 9 AM- PROGRESS Wrestling – 12 PM- Evolve 81 – 4 PM- Revolution Pro – 4 PM- WWE AXXESS – 5 PM- WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony – 7:30 PM- Chikara – 8 PM- WrestleCon Supershow – 8:30 PM- Bruce Prichard’s Something to Wrestle With – 11 PM- Kaiju Big Battle – 11:55 PM
Saturday, April 1
- WWE AXXESS – 8 AM- WrestleCon Session Two – 9 AM- Shimmer – 12 PM- WWE AXXESS– 1 PM- What Culture Pro Wrestling: State of Emergency – 1:30 PM- Ringside with Jim Ross and special guest Tony Schiavone – 2 PM- WrestleCon One Night with The Kliq – 2:45 PM- Chikara – 4 PM- WrestleCon Women's Supershow – 4 PM- Ring of Honor Supercard of Honor 11 – 6 PM- WWE Axxess 6 PM- NXT TakeOver: Orlando – 8 PM- World Wrestling Network Supershow – 8 PM- Combat Zone Wrestling: Best of the Best – 8:30 PM- Beyond Wrestling – 11:55 PM
Sunday, April 2
- WWE AXXESS – 8 AM- WrestleCon Mania Moments Brunch – 10 AM- Word Wrestling News #BrokenTailgate Party featuring The Hardy Family – 10AM- Ringside with Jim Ross featuring Jim Cornette and Bruce Prichard- WrestleMania 33 Kickoff - 5 P.M. EST/2 P.M- WrestleMania 33 – 7 PM EST/4 PM PST
After Sunday, the WWE will go back to their regularly scheduled shows such as Monday Night Raw on April 3, SmackDown LIVE and 205 Live on April 4, and NXT on April 5.
What’s next?
The first event takes place on Tuesday, March 28 as Pro Wrestling 2.0 hosts their Legends and Heroes show at 7 PM.
As the week progresses, events will be starting earlier and earlier as more wrestling shows, Q&As, and other events ride the wave of fans filing in for WrestleMania 33. The city of Orlando will likely see a huge economic boost considering that the WrestleMania Weekend for WrestleMania 24 in 2008 had brought in $55 million according to the WWE.
Expect to see similar activities take place next year when WrestleMania returns to New Orleans.
Author’s Take
The fans coming for WrestleMania 33 will have a lot of different events and activities to enjoy as the week progresses. Even if fans aren’t looking forward to WrestleMania anymore, there would still be a lot of fun to be had in Orlando.
Many fans who are watching at home probably won't get to feel the hype and excitement as those in Orlando, but the energy and liveliness they project will have a direct outcome on how fans at home perceive the event.
The WWE is set to make a lot of money regardless of what happens at any of their shows. The only question now is, will fans walk away from WrestleMania satisfied or will they view it as a show that didn’t deliver on its claim of being the Ultimate Thrill Ride?
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