WWE Legend Confirms Hall of Fame Scheduling Change for WrestleMania 36

Since WWE now has SmackDown live on Friday nights, this forces some scheduling changes during WrestleMania weekend regarding their list of events. Annually, the festivities start on Friday with either NXT TakeOver or the Hall of Fame, and SmackDown closing the WrestleMania weekend on Tuesdays.

Now, however, with SmackDown live on Fridays, another event has to move from this spot. For several years, WWE had the Hall of Fame on the Saturday before WrestleMania. When NXT TakeOver began to grow in popularity, it moved from Friday nights to Saturday nights, with the Hall of Fame shifting over to Friday nights.

According to the WrestleMania travel package information on the company website, the Hall of Fame will now be moved to Thursday night, with SmackDown live on Fridays, NXT TakeOver on Saturday, WrestleMania on Sunday, and Raw on Monday.

WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy Hart confirmed this scheduling change in a recent interview with WFLA.

“We got the Fan Axxess during the day, of course, but then on Thursday night, we’ve got the Hall of Fame. Friday night, we’ve got SmackDown, and then, of course, on Saturday night, you’ve got NXT. Sunday is going to be WrestleMania. How can I forget that?! I feel like an elephant’s sitting on my tongue. And then, of course, on Monday night, because we’ve got Raw on Monday night. So there’s something special for everybody.”

Over the past few years, NXT tapings have occurred on Wednesdays at the hosting city of WrestleMania. However, there will not be an event on Tuesday, and NXT is now live at Full Fail University every Wednesday. This would either indicate that the talent will take the day off on Tuesday and NXT travel back to Orlando, or tapings will be held while in Tampa, which would not make the following NXT episode live.

With NXT engaging in the Wednesday Night Wars with AEW, the most likely scenario is that WrestleMania weekend will end on Monday after Raw, and Wednesday will be business as usual at Full Sail; especially, since the NXT arena is only about 95 minutes away from the WrestleMania location.

Please credit any quotes used in this article to Chris Featherstone of Wrestling Rumors. Follow Chris Featherstone @chrisprolific and the Pancakes and Powerslams Show @cravewrestling. Subscribe to the Pancakes and Powerslams Show on the Crave Wrestling YouTube channel.