WrestleMania 39 Week has officially arrived, meaning thousands of fans are heading to Los Angeles, California for WWE’s two-night event this weekend at SoFi Stadium. But WrestleMania Week has evolved into much more than just WWE’s events, as promotions from all over the world will be running shows in LA from Thursday through Sunday. Companies like Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor and Game-Changer Wrestling have spent months building up their LA shows and a quick look at the full schedule reveals the entire weekend is packed with must-see matches. Below is a list of matches and shows you’ll need to check out!
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WWE’s WrestleMania 39 takes place at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood (Los Angeles), California on April 1-2. Stay tuned for live, full coverage of the event this weekend!
Impact x NJPW: Multiverse United
Date: Thursday, March 30, 2023
Location: Globe Theater
Must-See Matches: The Women’s No. 1 Contender Four-Way, the Tag Team Championship Four-Way, Kenta vs. Minoru Suzuki
Injuries have played a major role in derailing Impact’s plans lately. Josh Alexander had to drop the Impact World Championship due to a torn triceps and a new champion won’t be crowned until Rebellion in mid-April. Mickie James’ status as Knockouts Champion is up in the air, resulting in her getting pulled from the Multiverse United crossover with New Japan. That show also lost one of its marquee matches in Mike Bailey vs. Will Ospreay due to the latter going down with a shoulder injury.
However, Multiverse United still has a strong card lined up thanks to a pair of four-way matches — Bullet Club vs. TMDK vs. Aussie Open vs. The Motor City Machine Guns for the Impact Tag Titles and Deonna Purrazzo vs. Gisele Shaw vs. Miyu Yamashita vs. Masha Slamovich for a spot in the next Knockouts Championship match. And if you’re in the mood for some Strong Style goodness, we’re getting Kenta vs. Minoru Suzuki.
Every “Speedball” Mike Bailey Match
“Speedball” Mike Bailey quietly had a Wrestler of the Year performance in 2022 after his five-year ban from entering the United States was lifted, which included competing in a whopping nine matches during last year’s WrestleMania Weekend. The former X Division Champion has another packed schedule this time around, and since a few of them are bound to make the “Best of the Weekend” list, it’d be easier to just name them all:
- GCW Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport 9 (Thursday, March 30, Ukrainian Cultural Center): Mike Bailey vs. Kota Ibushi
- Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow (Thursday, March 30, Globe Theatre): Mike Bailey vs. Shigehiro Irie
- NJPW x Impact: Multiverse United (Thursday, March 30, Globe Theatre): Mike Bailey vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
- DDT vs. GCW (Friday, March 31, Ukrainian Cultural Center): Mike Bailey & MAO vs. Nick Wyane & Jordan Oliver
- GCW Joey Janela’s Spring Break 7 (Friday, March 31, Ukrainian Cultural Center): Mike Bailey vs. El Hijo Del Vikingo
Circle 6 Presents AJ Gray’s Power Hour
Date: Friday, March 31, 2023
Venue: Knucklehead Hollywood
Must-See Match: Big Damo vs. Jacob Fatu
Of all the smaller shows on the WrestleMania schedule, this one stuck out for its three “Hoss Fight” matches. And unlike most shows, it’s streaming for free!
ROH Supercard of Honor 2023
Show: ROH Supercard of Honor 2023
Date: March 31, 2023
Location: Galen Center
Must-See Matches: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Eddie Kingston, The Reach for the Sky Ladder Match, Vikingo vs. Komander for the AAA Mega Championship, Wheeler Yuta vs. Katsuyori Shibata
Ring of Honor returns to pay-per-view for the first time since its weekly TV started up again and Tony Khan has managed to craft a solid card. Anchored by the long-awaited grudge match between Claudio Castagnoli and Eddie Kingston, the show will also feature a number of tributes to the late Jay Briscoe as Mark Briscoe will challenge Samoa Joe for the ROH TV Championship and five tag teams from both AEW and ROH will compete in the “Reach for the Sky” Ladder Match for the Briscoe’s vacated tag titles.
Joey Janela’s Spring Break 7
Date: Friday, March 31, 2023
Location: Ukrainian Cultural Center
Must-See Matches: All of It
Janela’s Spring Break show often winds up being GCW’s best WrestleMania Weekend event. And while there are only four matches confirmed, that’s probably going to be the case again this year. We’ve already mentioned Speedball vs. Vikingo, but the rest of the card has Kota Ibushi in his first standard match since leaving New Japan, Maki Itoh and Nick Gage teaming up to face the fan-favorite tag team of Effy & Allie Katch (aka Bussy) and a GCW World Tag Team Championship match between The Motor City Machine Guns and two of GCW’s best high-flyers in Nick Wayne and Jordan Oliver (The East West Express)
NXT TakeOver Stand & Deliver 2023
Date: Saturday, April 1, 2023
Location: Crypto.com Arena
Must-See Matches: Bron Breakker vs. Carmelo Hayes, The NXT North American Championship Five-Way, Johnny Gargano vs. Grayson Waller
NXT is still stuck in a strange place. The brand has moved on from some of the more cringe-inducing aspects of the 2.0 Era but hasn’t quite made its way back to the standard of quality set by the “Black and Gold” Era. Stand & Deliver could help change that as the main event looks poised for a “passing the torch” moment from Bron Breakker to Carmelo Hayes and between the Fatal Five-Way and the Women’s Ladder Match, this show could wind up having some of the best matches of the weekend.
There’s also the matter of Johnny Gargano’s return to NXT for what will likely be his final match on the brand. Kudos to Shawn Michaels and Triple H for setting up this match all the way back when Gargano initially left the company, but Grayson Waller’s work with more-established stars has often been hit or miss.
Overall the card is solid, but it’ll all come down to execution.
WrestleMania 39
Date: Sunday, April 1, 2023 and Sunday, April 2, 2023
Location: SoFi Stadium
Must-See Matches: Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens vs. The Usos, Bianca Belair vs. Asuka, Gunther vs. Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre
And now for the reason we’re all here. A lot has been said about the build to this year’s WrestleMania, how it doesn’t necessarily feel like WWE’s biggest show of the year once you step outside of The Bloodline’s storyline. But this is still Paul Levesque’s first crack at booking a WrestleMania and there aren’t many filler matches, so both nights should fly right by.
Obviously, a lot of the show will come down to how WWE wants to handle Reigns vs. Rhodes and The Usos’ tag title match. Will the latter get the nod as the Night One main event? Are they willing to pull the trigger on letting Rhodes dethrone Reigns? Does the faction crumble as soon as its hit with diversity? The answers to these questions will likely determine how well the show is received and where it stands in the pantheon of past WrestleManias.
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