Tag: WrestleMania

3 WWE Legends Reportedly Expected To Have Something At WrestleMania 40

With 10 matches already announced for WrestleMania 40, and perhaps several others still to be added, WWE fans in Philadelphia and across the world will have plenty to keep up with over the course of two nights on April 6 and 7. And now, according to Dave Meltzer, they can potentially look forward to three legendary names participating in some fashion as well.

In the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Meltzer reports that “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, The Undertaker, and John Cena “will have something at WrestleMania in some form.” The report also states there is no creative set in stone (specifically for Cena or Austin) currently or that, if there is, it could be a well-guarded secret. What any or all of these legends ends up doing is still predicated on several variables, including their willingness to participate and what the financial incentives might be. In Cena’s case, Meltzer says he is free from any movie obligations but “depending on what acting stuff he has and how quick after [WrestleMania] he’s filming would determine how much he can or can’t do for insurance reasons.”

Austin, of course, last appeared for WWE defeating Kevin Owens in a Street Fight at WrestleMania 38 Night One and then returned the next evening to dish out Stunners to Pat McAfee, Austin Theory, and Vince McMahon. Cena faced Theory in a losing effort at WrestleMania 39, and then returned to WWE full-time for a two-month run in late 2023, culminating in a loss to Solo Sikoa at Crown Jewel. Undertaker hasn’t officially competed in WWE since WrestleMania 36’s Boneyard Match win over AJ Styles, though he did appear on “WWE NXT” in October 2023, chokeslamming Bron Breakker.

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.

WWE Announces Location For WrestleMania 40

WrestleMania 39 is now less than a year away, with both nights scheduled to take place in SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California on April 1 and April 2. But that doesn’t mean WWE can’t start getting ready for the 40th iteration of WrestleMania in 2024, which they are doing by announcing the location, and dates, for the historic event.

“BREAKING NEWS,” WWE tweeted. “Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia will host WrestleMania 40, on Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7, 2024, as first reported by Philadelphia Inquirer and Sports Business Journal.”

Shortly after the announcement, WWE also issued a press release regarding the blockbuster news.

“Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, PHL Sports, and WWE are proud to announce that Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia will host WWE’s pop-culture extravaganza, WrestleMania 40, on Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7, 2024,” the statement read. “WrestleMania is more than a two-day event; it’s a week-long celebration.

“In addition to WrestleMania, other events will include ‘Friday Night SmackDown’, the 2024 WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony, and ‘Monday Night Raw’ at Wells Fargo Center as well as other fan events at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. In addition, WWE will also host multiple community outreach events, including hospital visits and Be a STAR bullying prevention rallies, designed to give back to the local region.”

This will be the first WrestleMania to take place in the Northeast since WrestleMania 35 in 2019, which emanated out of MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It’s been an even longer wait for Philadelphia wrestling fans, who last experienced a WrestleMania in their city back in 1999 with WrestleMania 15. The event, which took place at the height of the Attitude Era, saw Steve Austin defeat The Rock for the WWE Championship in the first of three major WrestleMania events the two stars would have over the next four years.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Is Bringing Back Shane McMahon For WrestleMania 38 Weekend [Report]

WWE is reportedly bringing in Shane McMahon for WrestleMania 38 this weekend.

Two months after an abrupt exit from WWE, it sounds like Shane McMahon will be back for WrestleMania 38 weekend.

As previously noted, McMahon left the WWE following reports that he garnered plenty of backstage heat for largely booking the men’s Royal Rumble match around himself. It was reported that Shane was involved in disagreementts with Vince McMahon and the match winner, Brock Lesnar.

According to a report from Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com, the company will bring in Shane O’Mac for WrestleMania 38 this weekend. The show will be held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Saturday and Sunday. At this time, there are 14 matches on the card. Johnson added that there isn’t any “word at this time” if McMahon will actually appear at WrestleMania 38, but he will be in Arlington for the event.

On this week’s episode of Raw, Vince McMahon promised Seth Rollins a match at WrestleMania Saturday. However, an opponent will not be announced until the day of the show. So it’s easy to speculate that Rollins will go one-one-one with the 52-year-old wrestling legend.

But it has been reported that Rollins will actually face Cody Rhodes, who apparently signed a deal to return to WWE earlier this month. If Rollins were to face McMahon at WrestleMania, it would make sense for Cody to make his highly-anticipated return on the post-WrestleMania edition of Raw.

Shane McMahon has wrestled at five of the last six WrestleMania events. He didn’t compete at WrestleMania 36, which was pre-taped with no fans in attendance because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It certianly wouldn’t be a surprise if WWE brought in Shane for a match, be it against Rollins or another superstar.

McMahon faced The Undertaker at WrestleMania 32, AJ Styles at WrestleMania 33, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn (a tag team bout with Daniel Bryan), at WrestleMania 34, The Miz at WrestleMania 35 and Braun Strowman at WrestleMania 37 a year ago.

Source: TheSportster

WWE Makes Changes To The WrestleMania 38 Line-Up

WWE has made a few more changes to the card for WrestleMania 38.

We noted before how AJ Styles vs. WWE Hall of Famer Edge was originally announced for WrestleMania Sunday, but then pulled from that listing and was not assigned to any night for a week or so. WWE then added the match back to WrestleMania Sunday, but now it is listed for WrestleMania Saturday.

On a related note, the Fatal 4 Way for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles is now listed for WrestleMania Sunday. The match was originally announced for WrestleMania Sunday, but then it was listed for Friday or Saturday. Now that Natalya and Shayna Baszler have been added to make it a Fatal 4 Way, WWE has confirmed the bout for Night Two of WrestleMania 38.

WrestleMania 38 will take place on Saturday, April 2 and Sunday, April 3 from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Below is the current announced card:

WRESTLEMANIA SATURDAY – APRIL 2:

SmackDown Women’s Title Match
Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair (c)

RAW Women’s Title Match
Bianca Belair vs. Becky Lynch (c)

SmackDown Tag Team Titles Match
Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs vs. The Usos (c)

WWE Hall of Famer Edge vs. AJ Styles

Logan Paul and The Miz vs. Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio

Drew McIntyre vs. Happy Baron Corbin

Kevin Owens hosts The KO Show with special guest WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin

WRESTLEMANIA SUNDAY- APRIL 3:

Winner Takes All Title Unification Match
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns

Triple Threat for the RAW Tag Team Titles
The Street Profits vs. Alpha Academy vs. Randy Orton and Riddle (c)

Fatal 4 Way for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles
Shayna Baszler and Natalya vs. Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley vs. Naomi and Sasha Banks vs. Carmella and Queen Zelina Vega (c)

Anything Goes Match
Johnny Knoxville vs. Sami Zayn

Pat McAfee vs. Austin Theory

UNCONFIRMED, RUMORED OR EXPECTED MATCHES:

Seth Rollins vs. Cody Rhodes

WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal

Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods vs. Sheamus and Ridge Holland

WWE Intercontinental Title Match
TBA vs. Ricochet (c)

WWE United States Title Match
Damian Priest vs. Finn Balor (c)

WWE To Air WrestleMania Saturday Kickoff On USA Network, Current WrestleMania 38 Cards

The Kickoff pre-show for Night One of WrestleMania 38 is set to air on the USA Network.

WWE will air the entire two-hour Kickoff pre-show for WrestleMania Saturday on the USA Network from 6-8pm ET, according to PWInsider. It’s likely that the show will also air on Peacock, YouTube and other outlets.

There’s no confirmation on the WrestleMania Sunday Kickoff airing on the USA Network as well.

WWE has not yet announced which matches will be featured on the Kickoff pre-shows.

On a related note, AJ Styles vs. WWE Hall of Famer Edge has been added back to the line-up for WrestleMania Sunday. The only announced match not assigned to a night as of this writing is the Fatal 4 Way for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles.

WrestleMania 38 will take place on Saturday, April 2 and Sunday, April 3 from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Below is the current announced card:

WRESTLEMANIA SATURDAY – APRIL 2:

SmackDown Women’s Title Match
Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair (c)

RAW Women’s Title Match
Bianca Belair vs. Becky Lynch (c)

SmackDown Tag Team Titles Match
Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs vs. The Usos (c)

Logan Paul and The Miz vs. Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio

Drew McIntyre vs. Happy Baron Corbin

Kevin Owens hosts The KO Show with special guest WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin

WRESTLEMANIA SUNDAY- APRIL 3:

Winner Takes All Title Unification Match
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns

Triple Threat for the RAW Tag Team Titles
The Street Profits vs. Alpha Academy vs. Randy Orton and Riddle (c)

Anything Goes Match
Johnny Knoxville vs. Sami Zayn

Pat McAfee vs. Austin Theory

WWE Hall of Famer Edge vs. AJ Styles

CONFIRMED MATCHES TO BE ASSIGNED A NIGHT:

Fatal 4 Way for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles
Shayna Baszler and Natalya vs. Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley vs. Naomi and Sasha Banks vs. Carmella and Queen Zelina Vega (c)

UNCONFIRMED, RUMORED OR EXPECTED MATCHES:

Seth Rollins vs. Cody Rhodes

WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal

Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods vs. Sheamus and Ridge Holland

WWE Intercontinental Title Match
TBA vs. Ricochet (c)

WWE United States Title Match
Damian Priest vs. Finn Balor (c)

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Gable Steveson Seemingly Spoils WWE Debut Date

It appears Olympic Gold Medalist Gable Steveson will be making his WWE debut at WrestleMania 38.

Soon after becoming a two-time NCAA Wrestling Heavyweight Champion over the weekend, Steveson tweeted “Dear Wrestling, Thank you. ❤️” to essentially bid farewell to amateur wrestling.

Steveson then posted the following message:

Also, I will be at #WrestleMania.. It’s time!!

However, Steveson would quickly delete the tweet, presumably to keep his WrestleMania debut a surprise. You can see a screengrab of the deleted tweet below.

Steveson was assigned to the RAW brand during last October’s WWE Draft. He signed a multi-year deal with WWE last September as part of the first-ever exclusive NIL agreement. His contract officially begins once he graduates from the University of Minnesota in May.

Last October, The Wrestling Observer reported that WWE had a big WrestleMania 38 debut planned for Steveson. The report added that WWE had plans to set up a remote training facility for Steveson near the University of Minnesota campus, where the wrestler would work with WWE coaches to learn the WWE style of in-ring action. It’s unknown if Steveson had been training for his WWE debut during his final year in college.

Gable Steveson will end his amateur wrestling career with an 85-2 record.

https://twitter.com/TheBrassRing1/status/1505680027165544451
https://twitter.com/GableSteveson/status/1505380388830597120

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE To Broadcast WrestleMania In Movie Theatres

WWE fans hoping to see The Showcase Of The Immortals will be able to do so while enjoying the big screen cinema experience.

WWE’s biggest show of the year is well on its way and for those wanting to view the WrestleMania 38 Premium Live Event in the best way possible, then a big-screen movie theatre experience might be the way forward!

WWE has announced a partnership with Fathomevents.com to bring both nights of this year’s ‘most stupendous’ ‘Mania to cinemas meaning that people will be able to see Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns in a winner take all, title unification match for the WWE and Universal Titles and Charlotte Flair vs. Ronda Rousey in the comfort of a movie theatre.

Theatre’s all over the United States will be taking part in this cinematic event so to find out if there’s one near you click this link to open a PDF of the full list of participating locations.

For more information, check out the WrestleMania 38 page on the Fathom events website.

This year’s WrestleMania takes place across April 2 and April 3 with two roughly four-hour-long shows.

Night one of WrestleMania 38 boasts two top women’s title matches with Charlotte Flair taking on Ronda Rousey for the SmackDown women’s championship, and Becky Lynch facing Bianca Belair for the Raw women’s championship.

We’re also getting Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs vs. The Usos for the SmackDown tag team titles.

In terms of non-title matches, we’re getting Drew McIntyre finally attempting to settle the score against Happy Corbin, The Mysterios taking on The Miz and Logan Paul and Kevin Owens coming face-to-face with Stone Cold Steve Austin on the KO Show.

And then on night two there will be the big Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns main event with both the WWE and Universal titles on the line.

Joining that match will be a Fatal Four Way for the WWE women’s tag-team titles with Carmella and Queen Zelina Vega taking on Naomi and Sasha Banks, Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley and the final team of Natalya and Shayna Bazler.

Johnny Knoxville and Sami Zayn will clash in an anything goes match, and Pat McAfee will take on Austin Theory.

Edge vs. AJ styles and the RAW tag-team title match between The Street Profits and RKBro have been confirmed but not announced for a day yet.

Source: TheSportster

Vince McMahon Reportedly Has Huge Plans For Cody Rhodes WWE Comeback

WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon is planning to give Cody Rhodes “a major match at WrestleMania” if Rhodes were to return to WWE, according to Wade Keller of PWTorch.

On his latest audio show, Keller noted how McMahon views Rhodes’ AEW exit “as a big deal” and wants to treat it accordingly.

“Cody and WWE haven’t confirmed it but Cody is going to WWE and he’s going to get a big push,” Keller said. “Vince McMahon is going to treat this as a big deal. Everybody I talked to thinks Vince loves the idea of acquiring a co-founder and EVP and, you know, main event wrestler. He just held their secondary singles title not that long ago, and having him show up on WWE TV is something that Vince is very interested in taking advantage of and making money on it. It could even be a situation where Cody is in a major match at WrestleMania.”

Keller said he had “four plus hours of conversations” with his sources within AEW and WWE, which led him to believe that Rhodes is expected to be on the WrestleMania 38 card.

“I fully expect Cody to be on WrestleMania either as a wrestler or making his first appearance,” Keller said. “I don’t know if they can hold back on putting him on TV so I could even see him appearing on Raw or SmackDown next week. I’m not aware of there being any kind of non-compete at this point since he’s been a free agent for a while so Cody could appear. I wouldn’t be shocked if there’s even some augmentation to the booking plans for WrestleMania perhaps related to the Elimination Chamber in order to set the stage for Cody to do something really big at WrestleMania.”

Keller continued, “I think Cody will get a big push, at least at first. You know, there’s different opinions on whether Vince is going to resent Cody for creating competition or admire Cody for his entrepreneurial spirit and being classy about it the whole way. You know, Paul Heyman, Eric Bischoff, Jeff Jarrett, they all competed with Vince [and] they all got jobs again. So, you know, we’ll, we’ll see how it goes. Vince saw Cody as a mid-carder. He saw Christian as a mid-carder. Christian went to Impact Wrestling and won a world title…He came back, he got a better push, but it wasn’t at the level of Edge, which is what, you know, Christian always wanted. He wanted to be at the Edge level.”

It is being widely reported that Cody Rhodes is in talks with WWE about a potential comeback. Since Rhodes is not under a non-compete clause with AEW, he is free to appear on WWE TV immediately.

Source: Wrestling Inc.