WWE WrestleMania 34: Matches, Tournaments Announced for Axxess

WWE WrestleMania 34 may be the main attraction of the weekend. But the annual Axxess festival is also shaping up to be must-see.

WWE WrestleMania 34 is less than a week away. But even closer is the start of the annual Axxess festival. A big part of every WrestleMania weekend, Axxess is an interactive fan convention type of thing. Last year, there were stations where fans could do their own ring entrance, or cut a promo. There’s also memorabilia on display, and the typical meet and greet with various WWE Superstars and Legends.

A major part of Axxess every year is always the ring, with various matches taking place over the course of the four day event. Usually, NXT talent is the main focus, with some lower card main roster talent stepping in once in a while. Last year, performers from PROGRESS Wrestling also took part. The shock of seeing Jimmy Havoc in a WWE ring still hasn’t quite worn off.

But aside from announcing the talent who will appear on a given day or session of Axxess, the actual matches taking place are most often a surprise. With so much going on at the festival, many fans don’t hang out by the ring the whole time, and will come and go as they please. This year, WWE has announced not only talent who will be competing, not only matches taking place, but tournaments to be held over the weekend.

What are the tournaments? Well, there’s a United Kingdom Championship Invitational, an NXT North American Championship Invitational, an NXT Tag Team Championship Invitational, and an NXT Women’s Invitational. The winners of the first three get their shots at the respective championships on Day Four of Axxess. Yes, the NXT North American Championship will be defended mere hours after it is first won. Could one of the three championships change hands in what amounts to a house show match?

Per WWE’s announcement, Lio Rush, Buddy Murphy, Dan Matha, Drew Gulak, Lince Dorado, Raul Mendoza, Mark Andrews, and Zack Gibson are participating in the UK Title Tournament. Fabian Aichner, Jason Kincaid, Akira Tozawa, Kona Reeves, Chris Dijak, Ariya Daivari, Hideo Itami, and Wolfgang are the field for the North American Invitational.

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In the Tag Team brackets are Moustache Mountain, Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss, Street Profits, Cezar Bononi & Adrian Jaoude, SAnitY, Forgotten Sons, TM61, and Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch. The Women’s Invitational features Nikki Cross, Aliyah, Kairi Sane, Bianca Belair, Dakota Kai, Lacey Evans, Candice LeRae, and Peyton Royce. While no prize has been announced for the winner of the Women’s Tournament, my guess would be either a shot at the NXT Women’s Championship at a later date, or a spot in the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal.

Besides the tournament action, WWE also announced that competitors from PROGRESS and EVOLVE would also be participating at Axxess this year. Throughout the weekend, both promotions will present matches for various championships. The big one is on Thursday night – WWN Champion Keith Lee will defend against Kassius Ohno, and if that doesn’t make you excited, you should see a doctor because you may be clinically dead.

Not enough for you? On Saturday during the evening session, Ohno will face off against WALTER. It’s a HOSS FIGHT weekend at Axxess, folks, and I hope beyond hope that the WWE Network cameras are there to show some of this action to those of us who couldn’t get to NOLA.

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What do you think about the idea of Axxess hosting meaningful matches? I, for one, am all for it.