Tag: WrestleMania 39

Backstage News On Scrapped WrestleMania 39 Plans For Cody Rhodes

Cody Rhodes may have promised to take the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship from Roman Reigns during his promo exchange with Paul Heyman last night on “WWE Raw,” but at one point in time WWE had other plans for him in regard to WrestleMania 39, according to Dave Meltzer on “Wrestling Observer Radio.”

This plan would have seen a brand new title created by the company that would have been defended on NIght One of WrestleMania, while Reigns would defend his titles on Night Two. It was noted that Rhodes, Drew McIntyre, and Seth Rollins were the names discussed to walk away with the mysterious new title, with WWE hoping to have two top titles once again. 

This idea only would have happened if The Rock had been involved at WrestleMania 39. There had been a “pie-in-the-sky” idea for the WWE legend to win the Royal Rumble match earlier this month and go on to face Reigns at WrestleMania. Of course, Rhodes won the Rumble match instead, and The Rock is not scheduled to be in a WrestleMania match this year due to the Hollywood star not having enough time to get into ring shape.

Rhodes is now set to collide against Reigns at WrestleMania in the main event. However, there could be another twist yet due to the fact that the “Tribal Chief” is defending his titles against Sami Zayn at the upcoming Elimination Chamber event first. 

Source: Wrestling Inc.

The Rock Has Reportedly Told WWE He Won’t Be Ready In Time For WrestleMania

There are high hopes for this year’s WrestleMania. Especially if Triple H can hold onto his creative role long enough to be the one in charge of booking it. Top of many people’s WrestleMania wish lists is The Rock returning to reclaim his position at the head of the Samoan Dynasty’s table, but anyone with that WrestleMania dream may have just had it dashed.

Just hours after WWE dropped new Rock merch, making many believe his comeback was imminent, Wrestling Observer Newsletter has reported a WrestleMania match for The People’s Champ is off the table. According to the new report, The Rock has spoken to WWE and informed them he will not be able to be in the right shape for a match in time to face Reigns at WrestleMania.

Despite apparently shooting down plans to compete at WrestleMania, a match that would have been The Rock’s first for seven years, the movie star reportedly signed off by saying he would be open to other plans in the future. What’s a little confusing about all of this, if it is indeed accurate of course, is the insinuation that these plans have been sprung on The Rock all of a sudden.

While nothing official has been confirmed by WWE in terms of a Rock return, the belief among fans that he and Reigns would clash at WrestleMania has been alive and well for a very long time. So much so that you’d have to think Rock and WWE have at least discussed a potential matchup when WrestleMania goes Hollywood a little over two months from now.

On the bright side, if The Rock really isn’t going to be a part of WWE’s WrestleMania plans, the company can now move forward with whatever plan B is. Just in time for the Royal Rumble. It’s implied in the report that Rock is out that WWE was likely pressing for an answer from The Great One, needing to know what its road to WrestleMania is going to look like before solidifying a couple of main eventers through its Royal Rumble matches eight days from now.

Source: TheSportster

WrestleMania 39 Breaks All-Time WrestleMania Gate Record

WWE issued the following: 

WWE today announced that WrestleMania Goes Hollywood (WrestleMania 39), which will originate from SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles across two nights, broke the company’s all-time gate record for any WrestleMania, despite having yet to announce a single match. The previous record announced was $17.3 million in 2016 at WrestleMania 32 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The record gate comes on the heels of unprecedented ticket sales demand for WWE in 2022, in which it produced the highest-grossing gates of all time for Royal Rumble, Survivor Series and WWE Extreme Rules. WWE Clash at the Castle in Cardiff, Wales, which marked WWE’s first major stadium show in the U.K. in 30 years, was the highest-grossing U.K. event in company history.

Additionally, WWE set in-market gate records for SmackDown and Raw events in more than 20 markets for the year, including the Dec. 30 SmackDown, which took place in Tampa, Fla., and heralded the return of  John Cena.

WrestleMania 39 streams live on Saturday, April 1, and Sunday, April 2, exclusively on Peacock in the United States and WWE Network everywhere else.