7 Top WWE Superstars who were demoted to kickoff shows

Anybody who watches WWE pay-per-views will know that kickoff shows are simply designed to get more people interested in the main PPV.

The pre-PPV broadcast, which usually lasts for one hour, became a regular feature following WrestleMania XXVIII, where Epico & Primo successfully defended their WWE Tag Team titles in a Triple Threat match against The Usos and Justin Gabriel & Tyson Kidd before the main show began.

Since then, at least one match has taken place before almost every WWE PPV, with the least meaningful match on the card usually being selected for that spot.

At WWE Payback 2020, for example, the kickoff show featured just one match – Liv Morgan & Ruby Riott vs. Billie Kay & Peyton Royce – but the big update in that rivalry was saved for the next episode of WWE RAW when The IIconics were forced to separate.

Now, even though the kickoff show usually includes relatively meaningless matches with little-to-no storyline developments, there have been a few occasions over the years when high-profile names have been forced to compete before the main PPV.

In this article, let’s take a look at seven of the biggest names who essentially performed as a warm-up act for their fellow Superstars.

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#7 Braun Strowman competed on WWE kickoff shows

Braun Strowman was destined to be a main-eventer after separating from The Wyatt Family, so it came as a surprise when his monster push as a singles competitor in 2016-17 led to him competing in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the WrestleMania 33 kickoff show.

The Monster Among Men faced WWE’s biggest full-time Superstar at the time, Roman Reigns, in singles matches at the PPVs before and after WrestleMania 33 – WWE Fastlane and WWE Payback – which made it even more bizarre that he was not given a featured spot on the ‘Mania card.

Two years later, Strowman had firmly cemented his status as one of the top Superstars on the WWE roster when WrestleMania 35 came around. However, once again, he was booked as a participant in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the kickoff show.

The former Wyatt Family member won the Battle Royal at WrestleMania 35, but it was still strange to see a proven main-eventer in the kickoff show at WWE’s annual extravaganza.

#6 Daniel Bryan competed on WWE kickoff shows

One of the lowest moments of Daniel Bryan’s WWE career came when he was told on the week of his United States Championship match against Sheamus at WrestleMania XXVII that they were going to be on the kickoff show.

Speaking on NotSam Wrestling in 2015, Bryan recalled how he also had another bad experience with Sheamus at WrestleMania XXVIII, which is why he was reluctant to go along with Vince McMahon’s original idea of facing the Irishman again at WrestleMania XXX.

“We had already had two bad WrestleMania moments together, and not because we did bad, but they were just bad circumstances. The pre-show… the 18-second match… then, yeah, I was just like, ‘Do you know what? The last thing the WrestleMania crowd wants to see is me and Sheamus.’”

As it turned out, CM Punk's exit from WWE resulted in major changes being made to the WrestleMania XXX card, with Bryan defeating Triple H in the opening match of the main PPV before going on to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a Triple Threat match against Randy Orton and Batista in the main event.

It would have been unthinkable after Bryan’s career-defining victory that he would ever compete on a PPV kickoff show ever again, but that is exactly where he found himself at WWE Money in the Bank 2019.

The Planet’s Champion teamed with Erick Rowan in a losing effort against The Usos, with Bryan even taking the pinfall in the match.

#5 Kevin Owens competed on WWE kickoff shows

Kevin Owens competed in WWE main events and a kickoff show in 2017

Much like Daniel Bryan, who competed in a kickoff show tag team match in the same year that he lost the WWE Championship, Kevin Owens teamed with Sami Zayn to defeat Breezango in a meaningless match on the Survivor Series 2017 kickoff show.

At the start of the year, Owens was arguably the top heel in WWE after he betrayed his long-time friend, Chris Jericho, during their Festival of Friendship segment on RAW.

Even though Owens went on to lose the Universal Championship to Goldberg at Fastlane, he still remained a regular presence on WWE television for the rest of 2017, especially when he began feuding with Shane McMahon.

In fact, on the same night that he competed on the Survivor Series kickoff show, the former Universal Champion attacked McMahon in the Team RAW vs. Team SmackDown main event.

Owens' only other kickoff show match came when he defeated Murphy before the WWE Extreme Rules 2020 pay-per-view.

#4 Finn Balor competed on one WWE kickoff show

Finn Balor lost to Shinsuke Nakamura

Finn Balor disappeared from WWE’s main roster and ultimately ended up returning to NXT after losing to “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt at WWE SummerSlam 2019.

One month before that event, the Irishman’s underwhelming Intercontinental Championship reign came to an end against Shinsuke Nakamura on the WWE Extreme Rules 2019 kickoff show.

Balor’s reign with the title began three months earlier at WrestleMania 35, where he defeated Bobby Lashley to become a two-time Intercontinental Champion.

Unfortunately, he hardly appeared on WWE television during his second reign as Intercontinental Champion, with his only televised title matches coming against Elias (The Shield’s Final Chapter) and Andrade (WWE Super ShowDown).

Nakamura had participated in three kickoff show matches prior to his victory over Balor, so it was not uncommon to see the Japanese Superstar in matches on the pre-PPV broadcast during this time.

Balor, however, was positioned earlier in the year as one of WWE’s top babyfaces – he even faced Brock Lesnar at the 2019 Royal Rumble – so it was very surprising to see him lose a kickoff show match that was only announced on the day of the show.

#1 All three Shield members competed on WWE kickoff shows

When you consider that Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins’ original run as The Shield only lasted for 19 months, it is interesting to look back and see that all three Superstars were booked in WWE pay-per-view kickoff matches midway through their time together as a faction.

In July 2013, Reigns and Rollins retained the WWE Tag Team titles against The Usos at WWE Money in the Bank in a match that is arguably the greatest kickoff show match of all time.

One month later, the Tag Team Champions were left off the WWE SummerSlam card entirely, while Ambrose retained the United States Championship on the kickoff show against Rob Van Dam after losing the match via disqualification.

All three men went on to become WWE World Champions – Reigns and Rollins in 2015, and Ambrose in 2016 – and it looked as though none of them would ever have to participate in a kickoff show match ever again.

That was, of course, until Ambrose was demoted to the kickoff show at the last minute at WrestleMania 33, where he retained the Intercontinental Championship against Baron Corbin.

The SmackDown Women’s Championship six-pack challenge was originally due to take place on the kickoff show, but WWE switched that match with Ambrose vs. Corbin due to backlash from fans on social media.