Hello, one and all and welcome to the latest in a series of pieces regarding WrestleMania 33 week, which we here are Sportskeeda Wrestling were lucky to attend live in person. The festivities began in earnest on Thursday and lasted all the way through until the following Tuesday, at which point the thousands of wrestling fans that flew in from around the world began to make their journey home.
But we aren't here to talk about that. Instead, we want to focus on the positives at play here. This article will be centred around WrestleMania Axxess which took place from Thursday to Sunday and in case you aren't familiar with the concept, Axxess is pretty much a wrestling convention in which you get to meet Superstars, buy things from the Superstore and generally have a pretty awesome time.
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We only went to one of the sessions which was on Saturday morning, but in all honesty, we did most of the stuff we wanted to within those four hours. Obviously, people tend to complain about the long lines at Axxess from time to time, but if you get there early enough then the queuing really isn't that much of a problem.
So with all that being said, here are 10 observations from attending WrestleMania Axxess.
#1 Wrestling's Disneyland
From the moment you reach the front of the queue at Axxess, it feels like you're at wrestling's version of Disneyland. There's really nothing else that compares to it within the industry and whilst some may argue that WrestleCon provides you with a more hands on experience, it really doesn't hold a candle to the grandeur of WrestleMania Axxess.
Whether it's walking down the red carpet with entrance themes on a constant loop or walking around and seeing the memorabilia, WWE spare no expense year in and year out and it's yet another fun incentive that convinces fans to take the plunge and go to WrestleMania year in and year out.
Honestly, we can't even imagine how long it all takes to set up. From the highest of highs to the lowest of lows.
#2 Miscommunication
To tear down the fourth wall a bit here, I'll let you know that I'm a massive Sami Zayn fan. The guy is my favourite wrestler and upon checking the WWE app and website, I was gutted to learn that he'd be signing in the evening session as opposed to the morning one. Thankfully there was lots of other stuff to do, so I wasn't disheartened for too long.
Until that is, I turned a corner and saw that Sami Zayn was, in fact, signing after all. I was stunned that they'd randomly decided to change the scheduling on a whim and decided to race into the line, only to be told that the underdog from the underground was only signing for another 15 minutes.
Sort your communications out when it comes to these things, guys.
Woo, woo, woo - you know it.
#3 Delayed mic
In one corner of Axxess they have an NXT section where a number of Superstars feature in showcase matches throughout the weekend. It's a pretty cool concept and in addition to this, former Intercontinental Champion Zack Ryder was doing a live Q&A for the many fans in attendance.
With nobody else deciding to volunteer to ask a question, I took it upon myself to get involved with this portion of the festivities.
When I received the mic, however, I soon realised that there was a delay in what I was saying and when it was being broadcast for Zack to hear. Thankfully after a brief stumble I recovered, but it was a little bit odd that they hadn't sorted this issue out beforehand.
Still, I got the answer I was looking for, as Ryder stated he would be returning as a singles star as opposed to going back into a tag team with Mojo Rawley.
You've got to love the British.
#4 Gallagher is gold
One of the aforementioned showcase matches that took place during my session was a bout between Jack Gallagher and The Brian Kendrick and, as you can imagine - it was bloody brilliant. However, it wasn't the wrestling that stole the show, as both competitors decided to embrace the "ten" chants that had already begun to take over WrestleMania week (pun not intended).
Gallagher, Kendrick and even the referee took it in turns to run around the ring for nine counts, with the fans chanting ten after every single one, jumping for joy in the process. It pretty much turned Kendrick face for a period of five minutes and it was a whole lot of fun, proving once again just how great Gentleman Jack Gallagher is.
Ten tonnes of steel? Yup, I believe it.
#5 The Chamber is legit
After spending a few minutes walking around upon arriving at Axxess, I decided to queue up for the Elimination Chamber. You were able to step inside the structure and get a picture with whichever WWE Superstar was inside the ring, which for me was former SmackDown Live Tag Team Champion Rhyno.
Not the best when you consider that Daniel Bryan was there later in the day, but he was nice enough.
Anyway, when it came to the actual Chamber I decided to have a feel of the chain work itself - and it does seem pretty rock solid. Obviously, the pods are made of pretty weak stuff as we all know, but I was really impressed with how imposing the actual Chamber is once you're inside it. It's a nice little tidbit that never fails to impress at Axxess.
Pick an entrance, any entrance.
#6 New Day rock
One of the fun activities you can get involved with at Axxess is imitating the entrance of your favourite Superstar, complete with the ramp and titantron. Many people decided to do it over the course of the weekend, and it's fair to say that no matter how stale they may seem - The New Day are still as over as pretty much any other act on the card.
How do we know this? Because every few minutes you could hear their entrance ringing out around the Convention Center, with fans deciding to imitate New Day more so than any other male or female on the roster. It would've been great to see an actual wrestler pop up every now and again during the session, but that may have been a bit too much to ask.
Wait, where did it go?
#7 Bermuda triangle
Disclaimer: this entry is entirely my fault and I'm completely aware of that.
Now, with that being said, let's talk about the Bermuda triangle that is WrestleMania Axxess. After getting up at around 6 am to start what would prove to be an exceptionally long day of wrestling, I decided to tuck my Shinsuke Nakamura top that I was planning to wear for Takeover into the empty belt loop on my shorts.
Aside from feeling like a Jeff Hardy wannabe, everything was going pretty well, until I looked down with 20 minutes remaining of my Axxess session to see that the Shinsuke top had disappeared. That wouldn't have been all too surprising considering it was in a prime position to be stolen, but I'd literally checked up on in 15 seconds prior to discovering it was missing - and it was nowhere to be found around me. Fiends.
NXT deserves respect dammit!
#8 Respect the yellow ropes
As we touched on earlier in the post, a lot of the lines were quite long as the morning session of Axxess progressed, which was to be expected. After all, people wait all year round to meet these larger than life Superstars, so it's no surprise that they'd be happy to wait for hours on end to meet their favourites.
However, it turns out that the NXT faithful don't get much respect in this aspect as their queues were practically empty because of this. I decided to take advantage of that fact by meeting Billie Kay & Peyton Royce after a five-minute wait, and they couldn't have been more lovely. Who knows, maybe they'll even be champions on the main roster one day.
Rest. In. Peace.
#9 Taker's miniature graveyard
For years and years on end one of the main features of Axxess had been The Undertaker's graveyard, but after Brock Lesnar broke the streak at WrestleMania 30 it seemed to disappear. That isn't that surprising, considering that it wouldn't have made much sense for it to be there anymore, however it was still nice to see it make something of a return this time round in Orlando.
We got the opportunity to pose alongside the druids with the infamous urn which, ironically enough was quite heavy. You could also pose with a shovel, which probably would've seemed more appropriate if it was a Triple H section we were stood in but still. Either way after what happened just over 24 hours later, it was nice to remember him like this.
Now for a quick summary.
#10 So much potential
WrestleMania Axxess is an incredible experience and we definitely recommend that you try it out, but whilst we were there, it quickly became obvious that there was so much more they could do with it. Obviously, they already put in a great deal of effort, but there are so many cool features that they could implement if provided with the resources.
For example, they could have an International Section which commemorates Superstars from every nation that is being represented that weekend, there could be an UpUpDownDown gaming section where fans get to play games alongside their favourite wrestlers, and those are just a few of many potential surprises they could spring.
All in all, though - it was a great way to spend the Saturday morning of ‘Mania week.
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