REVIEW: More Than Just WrestleMania

As you might have heard, WrestleMania 38 is this weekend and that means things are picking up in a big way. WWE has its work cut out for them as they try to sell out AT&T Stadium two nights in a row, but there are some more things going on over the course of the weekend as well. That is what we are going to be looking at today, as WrestleMania Weekend is about a lot more than WrestleMania.

Next weekend will be called the biggest wrestling weekend of the year and that is the case for a lot of wrestling promotions that have nothing to do with WWE. In addition, several other promotions will be running events in and around Dallas, which is what we will be looking at this week. I’ll be avoiding WrestleMania and other major WWE shows (save for NXT, which is kind of its own thing) and non-wrestling events, which should leave us with more than enough material.

These are in no particular order.

WrestleCon SuperShow

In short, it’s the biggest independent wrestling show of the weekend with a series of top independent stars coming together for a standalone show. You’re going to get a little bit of everything out of this show and that is what makes it fun. You never know what kind of surprises you might get and there are going to be all kinds of gems throughout the night, up and down the card.

This year’s show will include a variety of names, including the Briscoes, Minoru Suzuki, the Rottweilers, Bandido, Jonathan Gresham and John Morrison. While some of the matches have been announced, there are going to be some not mentioned in advance. That makes for a heck of a way to spend the evening, and that is what makes the show so fun. It’s a mixed bag of stuff, so if you don’t like one match, you’ll probably like the next one.

Impact Multiverse Of Matches

Ok so the name is a bit different but tying something in with an upcoming Marvel movie is a good idea. This seems like another (mostly) stand alone show, though the X-Division Title being on the line in Ultimate X is a cool addition. Impact has been getting better as of late and it is nice to see them getting to have a showcase event like this with so many potential eyes watching.

What should make this work out is the lack of pressure. Impact does not have the best reputation when it comes to storylines but for the most part, this event is focusing on just letting the wrestlers get in the ring and show what they can do. That is where Impact can shine, as they have enough talented wrestlers to make almost any kind of a show work out. As a bonus, Impact is also presenting their old school comedy based show with an IPWF event. There’s nothing wrong with extra wrestling and the nice spin put on it should make things even better.

Zicky Dice’s Trouble In Paradise 2/USA vs. The World

This is a bit of cheating but they are both minor shows taking place under the WrestleCon banner so I might as well just put both of them here. These shows are not also not meant to be anything more than one off stand alone events and that is where they are allowed to have some more fun. Rather than having to tie them in with some longstanding story or anything like that, it is all about having some fun and doing whatever they feel like.

This is one of the more fun elements of WrestleCon as it kind of feels like a chef looking through the pantry and wondering what they feel like making today. You might get a lot of different things (Masha Slamovich vs. a bear has been announced) and odds are you are going to get something fun and with the lack of expectations, we should be in for some entertaining either way.

New Japan Lone Star Shootout

New Japan has taken some big hits thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic but they are still near the top of the wrestling world when it comes to quality. This is actually the American offshoot with New Japan Strong, but I can almost guarantee you that there will be some guest stars making a one off appearance on the show. There are already some matches announced and it looks like a nice mixture of veterans and newcomers.

This show is even going to have a bonus for the live crowd, as there will be a pair of matches that are only going to be seen by the fans in attendance. While that is hardly a revolutionary concept, it is the kind of thing that allows fans to get something extra while still feeling special. New Japan’s name means enough to sell the show, but announcing that you are getting something extra makes it even better.

AAA Invades WrestleCon

I have no idea if that is the official title but it sounds like a good one. This is of course the AAA promotion out of Mexico, meaning that we are going to get a rather different style than normally presented. The AAA show is going to be built around flying everywhere and going as insane as possible, which can make for quite the spectacle all night long. Some titles will be on the line too, meaning there is even the chance of some history.

Getting to see a show like this is what makes the weekend feel more special. AAA doesn’t come into the United States very often and it comes off like more of a special treat. This is a style that has certainly influenced modern wrestling and we should be in for something special with one lucha libre style match after another. Throw in Bandido vs. Flamita vs. Laredo Kid and how can this not work out?

NXT Stand & Deliver

While NXT has taken quite a few hits over the last several months, there is still more than enough name value to make something like this worth a try. At some point you have to put these wrestlers in front of people on a bigger stage and see how it works. As luck would have it, WWE has access to some of the bigger stages available and that will be on display here in the same arena as Monday Night Raw and SmackDown.

The show certainly feels like a Takeover, even if it isn’t (and shouldn’t be) one, making this seem like the biggest show since NXT relaunched. The card includes several title matches and it would be shocking to see all of the champions hang onto their belts. Let us have something historic to remember the show by and we should be in for a pretty nice WrestleMania afternoon.

Ring Of Honor Supercard Of Honor

Well this suddenly feels different. Supercard Of Honor has long since been scheduled as the relaunch of Ring Of Honor, but now Tony Khan has stepped in to buy the company. This is going to be the first event under his watch, meaning it should give us an idea of what to expect from the new Ring Of Honor. The show already looks good but now it means something to make it even bigger.

What matters here is the show suddenly feeling important. Supercard Of Honor always comes off as special because it is the biggest show of the year from what is normally the third biggest promotion, but now it is going to be a stepping stone to the company’s future. That makes the show into the most important non-WWE event of the weekend, which is a spot I don’t think many saw it as coming in.

I’m going to be lucky enough to be in town (or towns) for WrestleMania weekend and that is already enough to make it feel special. What makes it even better is getting to see everything that is available to see (and I’ll be in person for most of these), because this weekend has more than just WrestleMania. While that is going to be the centerpiece of the weekend (as it should be), there is a lot more just that and as a result, we should be in for a few pretty awesome days, with a lot more than just WrestleMania 38.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 60,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 6,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30 wrestling books

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