{"id":16578,"date":"2018-04-02T18:04:55","date_gmt":"2018-04-02T22:04:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=16578"},"modified":"2018-04-02T18:05:48","modified_gmt":"2018-04-02T22:05:48","slug":"wrestlemania-axxess-features-tournaments-plus-progress-and-evolve-involvement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2018\/04\/02\/wrestlemania-axxess-features-tournaments-plus-progress-and-evolve-involvement\/","title":{"rendered":"WrestleMania Axxess Features Tournaments, Plus PROGRESS and EVOLVE Involvement"},"content":{"rendered":"

The WWE announced<\/a> some of the names and concepts for this week’s WrestleMania Axxess<\/strong> and not only does it involve some Invitational Tournaments, but it’s showcase matches will also feature WWE Superstars squaring off against talent from both the UK’s PROGRESS<\/strong> and US indie EVOLVE<\/strong>. Both indie promotions will also feature championship matches, with their champions defending their titles at WWE’s fan fest on WrestleMania weekend. Here’s a run down of what’s going down.\u00a0NOTE:\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Times DO NOT indicate the time of the match, but rather the time of the Axxess Session’s start.<\/em><\/p>\n

WWE UK CHAMPIONSHIP INVITATIONAL<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"
Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Starting on WrestleMania Axxess opening night, the UK Championship invitational features NXT’s Lio Rush<\/strong> and Raul Mendoza<\/strong>, Performance Center\/NXT Live Event’s Dan Matha<\/strong>, and 205 Live<\/strong><\/em>‘s Buddy Murphy, Drew Gulak<\/strong>, and Lince Dorado<\/strong>. Rounding out the participants is WWE UK star Mark Andrews<\/strong> (also of PROGRESS) and PROGRESS’ Zack Gibson<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Thursday April 5, 6pm<\/strong><\/span>
\nRound One: Lio Rush vs. Buddy Murphy
\nRound One: Dan Matha vs. Drew Gulak<\/p>\n

Friday April 6, 5pm<\/strong><\/span>
\nRound One: Lince Dorado vs. Raul Mendoza
\nRound One: Mark Andrews vs. Zack Gibson (PROGRESS)<\/p>\n

Saturday April 7<\/strong><\/span>
\nSemi-Finals, 8am & 1pm
\nFinals, 6pm<\/p>\n

Sunday April 8, 8am<\/strong><\/span>
\nWWE UK Championship Match: Pete Dunne (c) vs. Winner<\/p>\n

NXT NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP INVITATIONAL<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"
Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While the inaugural NXT North American champion<\/a> won’t be crowned until Saturday at NXT Takeover: New Orleans<\/strong><\/em>, the tourney for the first challenger kicks off on Thursday night, with NXT’s Fabian Aichne<\/strong>r facing Live Event regulars Kona Reeves<\/strong> and Christopher (Donovan) Dijak<\/strong><\/a> (formerly of ROH and EVOLVE), 205 Live<\/em>‘s Hideo Itami, Ariya Daivari<\/strong> and Akira Tozawa<\/strong>, the UK’s Wolfgang<\/strong> (from ICW and WWE’s UK division), plus EVOLVE’s Jason Kincaid<\/strong>. The winner will face the new North American champion on Sunday at WrestleMania Axxess before WrestleMania 34<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Thursday April 5, 6pm<\/strong><\/span>
\nRound One: Fabian Aichner vs. Jason Kincaid (EVOLVE)
\nRound One: Akira Tozawa vs. Kona Reeves<\/p>\n

Friday April 6, 5pm<\/strong><\/span>
\nRound One: Chris (Donovan) Dijak vs. Ariya Daivari
\nRound One: Hideo Itami vs. Wolfgang<\/p>\n

Saturday April 7<\/strong><\/span>
\nSemi Finals, 8am
\nFinals, 1pm<\/p>\n

Sunday April 8, 8am<\/strong><\/span>
\nNXT North American Championship Match: Champion (to be crowned at NXT Takeover) vs. Winner of Invitational<\/p>\n

NXT TAG TEAM INVITATIONAL<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Tag Team tourney kicks off on Thursday with Moustache Mountain<\/strong> getting a second chance after having to withdraw from the Dusty Rhodes Classic<\/strong> due to injury. They’ll join NXT’s Sabbatelli & Moss, SaNiTy, TM61, Forgotten Sons, Martin Stone & Oney Lorcan<\/strong> and NXT Live Event regulars Cezar Bononi & Adrian Jaoude<\/strong><\/a>. The winner faces whomever walks out of Takeover as NXT Tag Team Champions.<\/p>\n

Thursday April 5, 6pm<\/strong><\/span>
\nRound One: Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate) vs. Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss
\nRound One: Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) vs. Cezar Bononi & Adrian Jaoude<\/p>\n

Friday April 6, 5pm<\/strong><\/span>
\nRound One: SaNitY (Eric Young & Alexander Wolfe) vs. Forgotten Sons (Blake Wesley & Steve Cutler)
\nRound Two: TM61 (Nick Miller & Shane Thorne) vs. Martin Stone & Oney Lorcan<\/p>\n

Saturday April 7<\/strong><\/span>
\nSemi Finals, 8am
\nFinals, 6pm<\/p>\n

Sunday April 8<\/strong><\/span>
\nNXT Tag Team Championship Match: NXT Tag Champions (following Takeover) vs. Winner<\/p>\n

NXT WOMEN’S INVITATIONAL<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"
Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The only Invitational that doesn’t have a Championship match as it’s finale, it features all NXT women, and kicks off on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Thursday April 5, 6pm<\/strong><\/span>
\nRound One: Nikki Cross vs. Aliyah
\nRound One: Kairi Sane vs. Bianca BelAir<\/p>\n

Friday April 6, 5pm<\/strong><\/span>
\nRound One: Dakota Kai vs. Lacey Evans
\nRound One: Candice LeRae vs. Peyton Royce<\/p>\n

Saturday April 7<\/strong><\/span>
\nSemi Finals, Semi Finals
\nFinals, 6pm<\/p>\n

EVOLVE MATCHES<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Photo: WWN<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

EVOLVE has its presence with some big matches at WrestleMania Axxess, including Keith Lee<\/strong> defending his WWN Championship twice, first against Kassius Ohno<\/strong> on Thursday night and then again on Sunday (should he still be champion). Doom Patrol (Chris Dickinson & Jaka)<\/strong> will be defending their EVOLVE Tag Team titles on Saturday against an unnamed set of challengers (assuming Doom Patrol is still champions by Saturday).<\/p>\n

WWN Championship Match<\/strong>: Keith Lee (c) vs. Kassius Ohno, Thursday April 5. 6pm<\/p>\n

EVOLVE Tag Team Championship Match<\/strong>: Doom Patrol (Chris Dickinson & Jaka) vs. TBA, Saturday April 7, 1pm<\/p>\n

WWN Championship Match<\/strong>: Keith Lee (or Kassius Ohno) vs. TBA, Sunday April 8, 8am<\/p>\n

EVOLVE talent will also be featured in other showcase matches.<\/p>\n

PROGRESS MATCHES<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"
Photo: PROGRESS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

PROGRESS also joins the fray at WrestleMania Axxess, starting with Germany’s WALTER also facing Ohno, but on Saturday prior to NXT Takeover: New Orleans<\/em>. On Sunday, they’re featuring three Championship matches, as Toni Storm, Travis Banks<\/strong> and Grizzled Young Veterans<\/strong> (assuming all three are still champions by Sunday morning) defend against yet to be announced opponents.<\/p>\n

WALTER vs. Kassius Ohno, Saturday April 7, 6pm<\/p>\n

PROGRESS Women’s Championship Match<\/strong>: Toni Storm (c) vs. TBA, Sunday April 8, 8am<\/p>\n

PROGRESS World Championship Match:<\/strong> Travis Banks (c) vs. TBA, Sunday April 8, 8am<\/p>\n

PROGRESS Tag Team Championship Match:<\/strong> Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake) (c) vs. TBA,\u00a0Sunday April 8, 8am<\/p>\n

PROGRESS talent will also be featured in other showcase matches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The WWE announced some of the names and concepts for this week’s WrestleMania Axxess and not only does it involve some Invitational Tournaments, but it’s showcase matches will also feature WWE Superstars squaring off against talent from both the UK’s PROGRESS and US indie EVOLVE. Both indie promotions will also feature championship matches, with their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":649,"featured_media":16579,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11,2,13,6,20,3],"tags":[136,1248,388,270,475,2457],"class_list":["post-16578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-evolve","category-featured","category-international","category-north-america","category-progress","category-wwe-universe","tag-evolve","tag-walter","tag-kassius-ohno","tag-keith-lee","tag-progress","tag-wrestlemania-axxess"],"modified_by":"Jamie Greer","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/649"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}