The 10 WrestleMania Week Matches We’re Most Excited For
Images courtesy of WrestleCon and Revolution Pro Wrestling
WrestleMania brawls its way through New Orleans this Sunday, returning to the home of Mardi Gras for the second time in only four years with a massive show at the Merdedes-Benz Superdome. WWE’s biggest event of the year looks more promising than usual (Daniel Bryan’s return alone makes it a must-watch), but many of the most exciting wrestling matches this week won’t be at the Superdome. WrestleMania might be WWE’s party, but the days leading up to WrestleMania have become pro wrestling’s own version of Mardi Gras, with dozens of promotions from around the world hosting shows at venues throughout WrestleMania’s host city. Over the next six days some of the biggest stars in the business today will square up in matches throughout the Big Easy, often wrestling multiple matches a day for different promotions for four days in a row. (When I went to Orlando for last year’s WrestleMania festivities, I felt like I was on a first-name basis with Michael Elgin and Sami Callihan after seeing them wrestle about five times each in two days.)
It can be overwhelming keeping track of all these shows, so much so that many other sites that cover wrestling have stepped in to keep a central storehouse of show info for the week. Instead of duplicating that effort and listing every show, or even just highlighting the shows that seem most worth watching, I’m going to focus specifically on matches today, and tell you what I’d be most excited to see if I were headed to New Orleans this week. Many of these shows will be streaming on the internet in some capacity, from the WWE Network to services like WWN Live and Ring of Honor’s Honor Club.
All times listed are New Orleans local time. So if you aren’t living in Central Time add or subtract as necessary to get your local start time.
Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi) vs. Chuck Taylor & ?
WrestleCon Supershow
Thursday April 5
9:30 PM CT
The Sugar Mill
At one point this was scheduled to be a true dream match. Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi, who have the most poignant relationship in wrestling today, were supposed to face the tag team known as the Best Friends, Chuck Taylor and his longtime partner Beretta. Beretta tore a muscle during a match with Taylor in February, though, and can’t perform at this show. Taylor’s new partner is a mystery, but in a sense it doesn’t even matter. People would go to this show no matter who the Golden Lovers were wrestling, because they’re one of the biggest acts in the world and there aren’t a lot of opportunities to catch them live in America. Omega and Ibushi are two of the very best wrestlers in the world today, and Taylor, a great athlete and one of the most creative minds in the business, isn’t too far behind. Whoever the fourth man is, this should still be a highlight of the whole week.
Jeff Cobb vs. Minoru Suzuki
Rev Pro Wrestling
Friday April 6
4 PM CT
The Sugar Mill
Minoru Suzuki might be pushing 50, but he’s still one of the most intimidating men in wrestling. Despite being a true heel in New Japan, his catch wrestling expertise and no-nonsense demeanor have endeared him to legions of fans around the world. He’s starting wrestling for the British promotion Revolution Pro, where he’s a current tag team champion with his New Japan stablemate (and fellow catch wrestling genius) Zack Sabre Jr. At Rev Pro’s show this weekend Suzuki will be facing Jeff Cobb, the powerful suplex machine and former Olympic wrestler who worked as Matanza Cueto in Lucha Underground and has become one of the biggest stars on the independent circuit today. If you enjoy crisp grappling peppered with brutal power moves and submissions—or, in other words, if you enjoy pro wrestling—there’s a great chance you’ll dig this match.
Matt Riddle vs. Daisuke Sekimoto
Evolve 103
Friday April 6
4 PM CT
Pontchartrain Convention Center
Big Japan and All Japan star Daisuke Sekimoto is one of the best wrestlers in the world, and he’ll get to prove it to today’s American audience in his first US appearances in seven years. He’ll be going up against two of the best on Friday, starting with Matt Riddle at Evolve’s second show of the week. If you somehow aren’t familiar with Riddle yet, imagine a Greek statue of a man with the innate charisma of Kerry Von Erich, the stoner bro vibes of Rob Van Dam, and a legitimate background as an amateur wrestler and UFC fighter. The term “strong style” gets tossed around so much that it’s kind of lost its meaning, but Sekimoto is a true practitioner of the art, and Riddle should have no problem hanging with him.
Keith Lee vs. Daisuke Sekimoto
WWN Supershow: Mercury Rising
Friday April 6
8 PM CT
Pontchartrain Convention Center
Sekimoto’s second match on Friday will be against the current WWN Champion, Keith Lee, who won the title from Riddle back in October. Lee was perhaps the biggest breakout star of 2017, and between his unparalleled combination of size and acrobatic ability (and a healthy dose of charisma), the sky’s the limit for where he can go in this business. (In fact he’ll be wrestling against Kassius Ohno at WWE’s WrestleMania Axxess fan event, which only stokes persistent rumors that he’s in negotiations with WWE.) Lee and Sekimoto should be a brutal war between two legitimate hosses, one of whom can fly like a cruiserweight.