WWE WrestleMania 33: Top 5 Best kickoff show matches in event's history
As of this writing, a dozen matches are set to take place at WrestleMania 33, which is more than any other edition of the event in many years. In fact, more bouts could be added with a little under two weeks remaining until the epic event.
Of course, some of those matches are bound to be added to the two-hour Kickoff show at some point between now and then. There isn't nearly enough time for the main card to host all 12 matches, and sometimes bouts being relegated to the pre-show can be a blessing in disguise.
In fact, it was at WrestleMania 28 five years ago that WWE instituted the pre-shows for their pay-per-views, and a handful of them have featured some fun matchups. Let's look at the top five best WrestleMania matches to take place on the Kickoff show since 2012.
#5 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal (WrestleMania 31)
Of the three Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royals that have occurred thus far, only one of them was on the Kickoff show, and that was at WrestleMania 31. It was originally slated for the main card but was bumped at the last second.
It wasn't too much stronger than the year before, but there were a few cool stories involved in the match, such as NXT’s Hideo Itami having a one-off and Damien Mizdow finally turning on The Miz after so many months of taking abuse from him.
The crowd went nuts for Mizdow as he eliminated Miz from the matchup, making Big Show's eventual victory all the more puzzling. At the very least, Big Show is this generation's Andre the Giant, so him winning wasn't too illogical.