225-621: WrestleMania X-Seven (also known as WrestleMania 17 ) was the 17th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on April 1, 2001, at the Reliant Astrodome in Houston , Texas. It was the first WrestleMania held in the state of Texas . Twelve matches were contested at the event, including one broadcast exclusively on
450-471: A WWE 2K24 gaming tournament, live podcast recordings, meet-and-greets with wrestlers, and a large merchandise store with various memorabilia honoring WrestleMania's 40-year history. WWE Raw WWE Raw , also known as Monday Night Raw or simply Raw , is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE . It currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on USA Network . The show features characters from
675-488: A Chynabomb and looked to have the pinfall, but picked Ivory up after the 2-count. Chyna then performed a gorilla press drop and nonchalantly pinned Ivory to win the Women's Championship. The seventh match was the street fight between Shane McMahon and Vince McMahon with Mick Foley as the special guest referee. Shane dominated his father during the earlier part of the match by attacking him with various weapons such as
900-521: A Clothesline from Hell . The third match was the triple threat hardcore match between Raven , Kane and The Big Show for the WWF Hardcore Championship . Raven came out with a shopping cart full of weapons. Kane and Raven began fighting before Big Show made his entrance. During the match, the three wrestlers fought their way out of the ring and through the crowd into the backstage area. Big Show tried to lock himself, Raven and
1125-663: A Tombstone piledriver and went for the pin but Chioda was still unconscious. Later in the match, Triple H tried to pin Undertaker after hitting him in the head with a sledgehammer while in the Last Ride position but only gained a two-count. Triple H sent Undertaker into the corner and stood on the second rope to hit him with more punches, but Undertaker countered with a Last Ride, allowing him to pin Triple H and increase his WrestleMania winning streak to 9–0. The final contest of
1350-702: A five stars rating from sports journalist Dave Meltzer . In Night 2's main event, Roman Reigns retained the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Cody Rhodes, after Reigns' cousin Solo Sikoa interfered on his behalf. WrestleMania XL took place on April 6 and 7, 2024 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . Following precedent, the WrestleMania Weekend festivities included
1575-654: A ladder match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship also headlined, in which Razor Ramon defeated Shawn Michaels . Bret having been defeated earlier won the WWF World Heavyweight Championship from Yokozuna in the main event. Bret is the first wrestler in WrestleMania history to lose his first match and come back to win the WWF World Heavyweight Championship in the main event. After failing to capture
1800-553: A 2003 episode of WWE Confidential , the show utilized 13 cameras at the time at a cost of $ 85,000. On October 3, 2005, as Raw returned to USA Network, the 2002 set was retained but the beams and lighting on the sides were modified. The Spike TV logo was removed from the bottom side of the TitanTron. On October 9, 2006, the show debuted a new logo and opening intro featuring " ...To Be Loved " by Papa Roach as its theme song. This logo and intro were retained until November 9, 2009,
2025-557: A 27-hour tape delay, but has started airing live as of February 4, 2014. Syfy in the United States started airing a 2-hour replay of Raw on May 20, 2016. On June 26, 2018, WWE and USA Network announced a five-year contract extension for Raw . The new agreement for the live, weekly three-hour block commenced in October 2019. Clips from some WWE shows have also been shown on Fox Sports.com. On September 24, 2012, Hulu signed
2250-461: A Cell match with Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee. The Undertaker once again won the match to extend his WrestleMania winning streak to 20–0. Due to the acquisition of WCW, Vince's feud with Shane would later spiral into The Invasion storyline that dominated the WWF in the latter half of the year. It consisted of WCW wrestlers "invading" the WWF's televised shows in an attempt to "take over"
2475-408: A No Holds Barred Street Fight, Charlotte defeated Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks to win the inaugural WWE Women's Championship , Chris Jericho defeated AJ Styles in a singles match, The League of Nations (Sheamus, Rusev, and Alberto Del Rio) (with King Barrett ) defeated The New Day ( Xavier Woods , Kofi Kingston , and Big E ) in a six-man tag match, Zack Ryder won a 7-man ladder match for
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#17328012987312700-633: A Sharpshooter of his own. After Rock reached the ropes to force a break, Austin applied the Million Dollar Dream , a submission hold best known from his former gimmick, The Ringmaster. Shortly after, Rock used Austin's own finishing maneuver on Austin by executing a Stunner . Vince McMahon then came to ringside to observe the match. When Rock tried to pin Austin after the People's Elbow , McMahon seized Rock's leg and pulled him off Austin, breaking
2925-499: A Spanish Raw on Telemundo . On the same week as Raw ' s return to USA Network, Spike TV scheduled Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)'s live Ultimate Fight Night in Raw 's old timeslot in an attempt to go head-to-head with Raw . Since the return to USA Network, Raw has been pre-empted during the U.S. Open , which aired on USA , resulting in Raw to be moved to SciFi , a sister channel to USA, for three years. Since 2016,
3150-481: A Triple Threat Hardcore match for the Hardcore Championship. Another major feud that was built up in the lead to WrestleMania was the one involving Vince McMahon and his son Shane McMahon . The feud started with Vince's disapproval of Mick Foley 's job as then-WWF commissioner as well as Foley's decision of holding a six-man Hell in a Cell match at Armageddon 2000 , taking into consideration about
3375-629: A WrestleMania in a critically acclaimed match, which received the 2009 Match of the Year award by both Pro Wrestling Illustrated and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter . The WWE Intercontinental Championship was defended at the event for the first time since WrestleMania X8 with Rey Mysterio defeated John "Bradshaw" Layfield. John Cena defeated Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship also involving
3600-444: A bout that received much acclaim, and The Undertaker defeated Sycho Sid for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship in the main event. The match between Hart and Austin is considered by many fans as one of the best professional wrestling matches of all time and has been voted by IGN as the greatest match in WrestleMania history, and was number 1 among their list of top 20 WrestleMania matches of all time. Various other sources also names
3825-798: A brand value of US$ 245 million in 2019 behind the Super Bowl , Summer Olympics , NCAA Final Four , the FIFA World Cup , and the College Football Playoffs . For five of the first six WrestleManias, Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura served as the color commentators (the exception being WrestleMania 2, which was split among three venues and had Monsoon, Ventura, and Vince McMahon split up with guest commentators), while Bobby Heenan , Gene Okerlund , Lord Alfred Hayes , and others filled guest roles. For WrestleMania VII and VIII, Monsoon and Heenan provided color commentary. In
4050-643: A casket match, and Mickie James defeat Trish Stratus to win the original WWE Women's Championship . At WrestleMania 23 , the Money in the Bank match expanded to include eight men and would include stars from the new ECW brand, which was won by Mr. Kennedy . John Cena would go on to retain his WWE Championship against Shawn Michaels, while The Undertaker would win the World Heavyweight Championship from Batista. Representing Donald Trump , ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley defeated Umaga , who represented Vince McMahon, in
4275-425: A chair shot to the head from Lita) and Rhyno (who had already been dispatched by Jeff Hardy) both laying on two tables outside the ring, Jeff Hardy set up a huge ladder beside them and performed a Swanton Bomb onto them through the tables with most of his body landing on Spike, taking him out of the match. Lita was taken out of the match when Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley performed a 3-D on her. Jeff tried to unhook
4500-438: A contract, which guarantees a world title match at the time and place of the winner's choosing for up to one year, including the following year's WrestleMania. This lasted until 2010 when the Money in the Bank pay-per-view was introduced and thus the Money in the Bank ladder match was retired from WrestleMania. Forbes named WrestleMania one of the world's most valuable sports event brands from 2014 to 2019, ranking it sixth with
4725-593: A four-day event held at convention centers and arenas in the host city of that year's WrestleMania. For WrestleMania XL in April 2024, WWE will relaunch the event under a new name of WWE World at WrestleMania, which will be done in partnership with Fanatics Events and held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The event will run from Thursday, April 4 until Monday, April 8. The five-day event includes interview panel sessions with WWE wrestlers,
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#17328012987314950-555: A full 16:9 letterbox widescreen presentation, with a down-scaled version of the native HD feed on a 4:3 SD feed. In conjunction with this, Raw updated its graphics package, with the new WWE logo (first used with the WWE Network's launch in February) now on the lower-right corner of the screen, right next to the word, "Live". At this time, the new WWE logo began appearing on the ring's turnbuckle covers, and USA Network logo moved to
5175-618: A future WrestleMania will be held at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana as part of a partnership with the Indiana Sports Corp, which will see the 2025 Royal Rumble and a future SummerSlam held at the stadium. Over the years, WrestleMania has featured many celebrity appearances with varying levels of involvement. The main event of the first WrestleMania showcased numerous celebrities along with
5400-496: A handicap tag team match involving The Rock, Chris Jericho , Kurt Angle , Chris Benoit , and William Regal , Austin made his way down to the ring and ended up getting a Rock Bottom from The Rock in response to the stunner from the previous week. On the March 29 episode of SmackDown! , Debra was relieved from her managerial role by Mr. McMahon after failing to prevent a brawl between Rock and Austin. The secondary feud leading into
5625-467: A kendo stick and monitors from the Spanish broadcast table. Shane laid Vince on said table and performed a diving elbow drop off the top rope but his sister, Stephanie , pulled Vince out of the way, causing Shane to crash through it. Trish Stratus came towards the ring, pushing Linda McMahon out in a wheelchair, and then slapped Vince, causing her and Stephanie to get into a fight that led them out of
5850-427: A list of the "50 greatest wrestling pay-per-views of all time" from every professional wrestling promotion in the world, with WrestleMania X-Seven again ranked at number one. The promotional match preview video package for the main event, set to Limp Bizkit 's " My Way ", is widely considered one of the greatest wrestling video packages of all time. The following night on Raw , Austin and The Rock faced each other in
6075-785: A live WrestleMania SmackDown (including the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal) immediately followed by the 2024 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Friday April 5, then on the afternoon of Saturday April 6, NXT held their Stand & Deliver event , all at the Wells Fargo Center in Philly, which also hosted the post WrestleMania edition of Raw on Monday April 8. The main event of Night 1 saw The Bloodline ( The Rock and Roman Reigns ) defeat Cody Rhodes and Seth "Freakin" Rollins . This match determined
6300-420: A man he once considered his nemesis . With this, Austin turned heel . Austin attacked him with the steel chair, hitting him sixteen times, before pinning him and becoming the new WWF Champion. The show ended with Austin and McMahon shaking hands and sharing beers. The event was met with universal acclaim from fans and critics alike. John Powell of Canadian Online Explorer 's professional wrestling section rated
6525-510: A match billed as the "Battle of the Billionaires" and arbitrated by "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. This was also the last WrestleMania where the original WWE Women's Championship was defended when Melina defeated Ashley Massaro in a lumberjills match. At WrestleMania XXIV , Shawn Michaels defeated Ric Flair in a highly acclaimed retirement match, while the Money in the Bank ladder match included seven participants from all three brands which
6750-553: A match officiated by "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, while Triple H failed in his attempt to avenge Shawn Michaels' loss to The Undertaker from a year prior. This was the first WrestleMania in history in which both the World Heavyweight Champion and WWE Champion were able to successfully retain their titles. World Heavyweight Champion Edge defeated the challenger Alberto Del Rio in what would be Edge's last match before his retirement on April 11, and The Rock closed out
6975-444: A match with Ivory, causing her to lose the match and fail to capture the Women's Championship. In order for Chyna to again challenge for the title, Ivory required the match contract to include a "hold harmless" clause, stating that if Ivory injures Chyna's neck again, there could be no legal recourse against Ivory. In doing so, the contract also included a provision to ban Ivory's Right To Censor (RTC) stablemates from ringside. Before
WrestleMania X-Seven - Misplaced Pages Continue
7200-532: A multi-year deal with WWE to stream all of the company's TV shows and some of its web series which includes Raw . Episodes of Raw are available for viewing the following day as a condensed 90-minute version is available, not the full version as shown the previous night on USA Network. As of December 9, 2016, all episodes of Raw are available on demand on the WWE Network. Recent episodes are available for on-demand viewing 30 days after their original air date. After WrestleMania 32 in 2016, WWE began with airing
7425-901: A one-hour version airs on MBC Action at 8 PM Egypt Standard Time . It also airs on FM1 in Iran and on Sport 1 and Sport 1 HD in Israel. Raw further began airing on S Sport and S Sport Plus in Turkey. In Germany, Raw airs live and is on-demand on the Website of Bild , only for Bild+ Subscribers and with German commentary on ProSieben MAXX every Wednesday at 10pm. In Belgium, Raw airs on ABXplore (in French) and on Play6 . In Czech Republic, Raw airs on Nova Sport . In France, Raw airs on AB1 every Wednesday with French commentary. In Italy, Raw airs live on Discovery Plus and with
7650-476: A period that also saw the changeover to broadcasting Raw in high-definition , which occurred on January 21, 2008. From November 16, 2009, to July 16, 2012, the theme song for the Raw brand was " Burn It to the Ground " by Nickelback . Prior to this, the theme song for Raw was " ...To Be Loved " by Papa Roach , which had been used since October 9, 2006 and "Across The Nation" by The Union Underground which
7875-473: A rematch held in a steel cage which Triple H entered the cage and teased a fight with Austin before turning on The Rock. For several minutes Austin, Triple H, and Vince McMahon triple-teamed the outnumbered Rock forging an alliance with Triple H and Austin called The Two-Man Power Trip . The Rock was written out of the WWF's storylines with McMahon giving him a suspension . This allowed The Rock time off to begin filming The Scorpion King . The Rock returned on
8100-550: A ring rope to break the hold, he retaliated with numerous chops before throwing Regal into the exposed turnbuckle and finishing him off with a Lionsault to retain the Intercontinental Championship. Tazz and The APA ( Bradshaw and Faarooq ) took on Right to Censor ( The Goodfather , Val Venis , and Bull Buchanan ) next in a short match that ended with Bradshaw pinning the Goodfather after
8325-521: A short statement about his recent purchase of WCW and ended with a simulcast with Raw on TNN and Nitro on TNT including an appearance by Vince's son Shane . The younger McMahon interrupted his father's gloating over the WCW purchase to explain that Shane was the one who actually owned WCW, setting up what became the WWF's " Invasion " storyline. Following the purchase of WCW and the September 11 attacks ,
8550-769: A six-man tag team match, and Cesaro won the first-ever André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal by body-slamming Big Show over the top rope in similar fashion to Hulk Hogan bodyslamming André the Giant at WrestleMania III. WrestleMania 31 was held at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California , on March 29, 2015. Brock Lesnar defended the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the main event against Royal Rumble winner Roman Reigns, with Seth Rollins cashing in his Money in
8775-490: A small festival to celebrate WrestleMania IV, which included autograph signings, a brunch, and a 5K run; the event was held again in 1989 for WrestleMania V. In 1992, a festival was held the day of WrestleMania VIII which included a WWF superstar look-alike contest and a tournament for the WWF WrestleFest arcade game. In 1993, the WWF held a "WrestleMania Brunch" the day of WrestleMania IX at Caesars Palace , during
9000-607: A successful improvement. However, the weekly live schedule proved to be a financial drain on the WWF. From spring 1993 until spring 1997, Raw would tape several week's worth of episodes after a live episode had aired. The WWF taped several weeks worth of Raw from the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie , New York in April 1993, and again in June and October. The first episode produced outside of New York
9225-703: A sumo contest at WrestleMania 21, and fought professional welterweight boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. at WrestleMania XXIV . Jersey Shore star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi competed in a 6-person tag team match teaming with Trish Stratus and John Morrison in a winning effort against Dolph Ziggler and LayCool ( Layla and Michelle McCool ), at WrestleMania XXVII . The event has also featured live musical performances. Ray Charles , Aretha Franklin , Gladys Knight , Willie Nelson , Reba McEntire , Little Richard , Boyz II Men , Ashanti , Boys Choir of Harlem , Michelle Williams , John Legend , Nicole Scherzinger , Fantasia Barrino , and Keri Hilson have each renditioned
WrestleMania X-Seven - Misplaced Pages Continue
9450-502: A triple threat match. WrestleMania 38 took place on April 2 and 3, 2022, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. As most COVID-19 restrictions had been lifted by that point, this was the first full capacity WrestleMania since 2019, and established a new format for WrestleMania Weekend—a special live WrestleMania SmackDown featuring the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal (a recent WrestleMania night staple) immediately followed by
9675-469: A two-night event. WrestleMania 37 took place on April 10 and 11 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, the original location of WrestleMania 36, to allow for fan attendance—making it the first WWE event to have ticketed fans in attendance during the pandemic, though to a limited capacity of 25,000 for each night. In the main event for WrestleMania 37 Night 1, Bianca Belair defeated Sasha Banks to win
9900-463: A wrestling ring and commentate a wrestling match. In 2001, WrestleMania Axxess was held at the Reliant Hall which expanded upon the event by adding numerous activities including areas where attendees could buy special merchandise, see a production truck and check out special WWE vehicles. From 2002, WrestleMania Axxess would be extended to a three-day event (March 14–16) and would be held at
10125-426: Is War , however, during a match that placed Vince and Trish against Stephanie and William Regal, Stratus was turned on by the other participants in the match and had sewage dumped over her. In the following shows, Vince continued to demean Trish by having her do such actions as bark like a dog around the ring and stripping down to her lingerie. Despite this, Trish remained loyal to Vince and begged for his forgiveness. On
10350-828: Is broadcast live on ESPN 4 for Central America and on Fox Sports 2 in South America, in Mexico it is broadcast on Fox Sports, in Argentina on Fox Sports 3, in Chile on Fox Sports 1 and in Brazil on Fox Sports 2 and ESPN Extra, (also available on Star+ for Central and South America). The show also airs live on Supersport in South Africa on Tuesdays at 02:00 am CAT. Raw had aired in Australia on Fox8 since 2003, usually on
10575-421: Is often regarded as the greatest WrestleMania of all time, and the greatest professional wrestling pay-per-view event ever produced. WrestleMania is considered the World Wrestling Federation 's (WWF, now WWE) first flagship pay-per-view (PPV) event, having first been held in 1985 . It has become the longest-running professional wrestling event in history and is held annually between mid-March to mid-April. It
10800-553: Is once again two choices: the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship. A women's Royal Rumble match was introduced in 2018, with the winner receiving the option of challenging for either the WWE Raw Women's Championship or WWE SmackDown Women's Championship , which were renamed as the WWE Women's Championship and Women's World Championship, respectively, in June 2023. NXT 's championships,
11025-634: Is the company's flagship event and along with Royal Rumble , SummerSlam , Survivor Series , and Money in the Bank , it is referred to as one of the "Big Five", WWE's five biggest annual events of the year. The widespread success of WrestleMania helped transform professional wrestling. The annual event has facilitated the rise to stardom of several top WWE wrestlers. Celebrities such as Aretha Franklin , Cyndi Lauper , Muhammad Ali , Mr. T , Mike Tyson , Donald Trump , Floyd Mayweather Jr. , Snoop Dogg , Rob Gronkowski , Shaquille O'Neal , and Bad Bunny , among many others, have made special appearances within
11250-539: Is the only time consecutive WrestleManias were held in the same venue. The event also saw the WrestleMania in-ring debut of Shawn Michaels , who would later go on to earn the moniker "Mr. WrestleMania". The first time WrestleMania took place outside of the United States was WrestleMania VI, which was held at the SkyDome (now Rogers Centre ) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada . In the main event match, The Ultimate Warrior won
11475-665: The Sunday Night Heat pre-show. The main event was a No Disqualification match between The Rock and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin for the WWF Championship . The undercard included Triple H versus The Undertaker , the second Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the WWF Tag Team Championship and a Street Fight between Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon with Mick Foley as special guest referee. A record-breaking attendance for
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#173280129873111700-468: The 2001 Royal Rumble match when he last eliminated Kane , while The Rock became the first ever six-time WWF Champion when he defeated Kurt Angle at No Way Out . During their feud, Austin's wife Debra , who was trying to get back into managing, was ordered by WWF chairman, Vince McMahon , to be The Rock's manager against her wishes as well as both Rock and Austin's. As a result, Austin would hold The Rock and McMahon responsible if any harm came to her. On
11925-633: The 2022 Winter Olympics . A similar arrangement occurred in August 2024 for the 2024 Summer Olympics . The name for Raw was disputed in June 2009 when Muscle Flex Inc., a Los Angeles -based fitness company, had taken legal action against the WWE after a court ruled that some of WWE's trademarks related to Raw were similar enough to the In the Raw trademark that they caused confusion among Canadians . On June 18, 2008,
12150-424: The 3-Minute Warning assaulting Kitana Baker). These actions are supposed to be in order to meet Canadian broadcast standards, with repeat broadcasts often more heavily edited . This move had disappointed many wrestling fans over the years, and is unusual since the violence of wrestling scenes are not significantly different from other television programs aired on regular Canadian networks. Due to Rogers holding
12375-565: The Amway Center in Orlando. On May 21, 2021, WWE announced that they will return in front of live fans with a 25 city tour, therefore the July 12, 2021 edition of Raw would be the final WWE ThunderDome show. In September 2023, USA Network announced that SmackDown would return to the network in October 2024 after the expiration of its contract with Fox ; it was concurrently reported that
12600-678: The Canadian Intellectual Property Office then issued a final decision that found certain wares listed in the trademark application from WWE (No. 1,153,018) were confusingly similar and thus lacked distinctiveness from the Muscle Flex trademark, which Muscle Flex is in the process of acquiring. The WWE appealed the CIPO's ruling to the Federal Court of Canada , but failed to file the required documents by
12825-537: The Canadian National Exhibition . The three-day event included similar activities to that of the one-day line-up. 2003 would be the final WrestleMania Axxess at a convention center for 6 years. From 2004 to 2008, WrestleMania Axxess visited cities around the United States and Canada with a smaller touring version of what was previously presented at regular Axxess events. In 2009 WrestleMania Axxess returned, and has continued every year since, as
13050-602: The Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois , and the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles. They each featured multiple matches that led up to the main event; this saw WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan defeat King Kong Bundy in a Steel Cage match . A world indoor attendance-record of 93,173 fans was set at WrestleMania III, which was also the largest paying attendance in
13275-489: The Cobra Clutch . The penultimate match was between The Undertaker and Triple H . For his entrance, Triple H had British heavy metal band Motörhead perform his theme song, " The Game ", live. The match started with the two fighting outside of the ring with Triple H quickly being put through the replacement Spanish announcers' table. Later on, referee Mike Chioda accidentally had Triple H catapulted into him and
13500-577: The Montreal Screwjob incident, Bret Hart defeated Vince McMahon in a No Holds Barred match with members of the Hart wrestling family present. The Money in the Bank ladder match included ten participants from both Raw and SmackDown (the ECW brand was retired in February), and this match was won by Jack Swagger . This was the last Money in the Bank ladder match to be held at a WrestleMania event due to
13725-417: The NXT Championship and NXT Women's Championship , became additional choices in 2020, but were dropped as choices in 2022 after NXT reverted to its original status as WWE's developmental brand in September 2021. WrestleMania 21 saw the introduction of the Money in the Bank ladder match . This match features six to ten participants and took place at six WrestleManias between 2005 and 2010 before becoming
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#173280129873113950-450: The Netflix streaming platform, which is scheduled to broadcast the program for a period of at least 10 years. The WWE Network ceased operations in the United States on April 5, 2021, with all content being moved to Peacock , which currently has most previous Raw episodes, excluding content that was censored or removed by Peacock's standards and practices department. Recent episodes are still available for on-demand viewing 30 days after
14175-420: The Raw brand , to which WWE employees are assigned to work and perform. It debuted on January 11, 1993, and is considered to be one of WWE's two flagship programs, along with Friday Night SmackDown . In September 2000, Raw moved from USA Network to TNN, which rebranded to Spike TV in August 2003. On October 3, 2005, Raw returned to USA Network, where it will remain until January 2025 when it moves to
14400-450: The Raw is War episode before the event. To make matters worse for Vince, Mick Foley appeared shortly afterward that night and revealed that prior to his firing, Linda had made multiple contracts for him to sign, one of them was for Foley to referee a match of his choice at WrestleMania. Foley then chose the match between Vince and Shane, which was designated a street fight . At the Royal Rumble , Chyna ( kayfabe ) injured her neck during
14625-438: The September 11 attacks , the first hour was referred to as Raw instead of Raw Is War , and the second hour was rebranded from the War Zone to the Raw Zone within the show's on-screen graphics. The Monday Night War had ended months earlier with the WWF's purchase of the competing WCW brand. Monday Nitro , which had once gone head-to-head with Raw , aired its final show in March. WWF announcers began generally referring to
14850-488: The SmackDown Women's Championship against Asuka , ending Asuka's two-year undefeated streak, and Nicholas, a 10-year old fan, became the youngest champion in WWE history when he teamed with Braun Strowman to defeat Cesaro and Sheamus for the Raw Tag Team Championship, The SmackDown Tag Team Championship was also defended for the first time at WrestleMania, where The Bludgeon Brothers ( Harper and Rowan ) defeated The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) and The New Day to win
15075-524: The Spike TV logo on August 11, 2003, upon network relaunch. During the July 25, 2005 broadcast of Raw in Cleveland , Ohio , a special stage design was built for the John Cena - Chris Jericho Battle of the Bands concert. The 2002 set was designed by Production Designer Jason Robinson. It featured a larger TitanTron with dimensions of 55 feet wide by 25 feet tall. The expanded structure weighed about 4,000 pounds and requiring three 18,000-watt projector screens to power itself. According to Eric Bischoff on
15300-413: The USA Network as a replacement for Prime Time Wrestling , which aired on the network for eight years. The original Raw was sixty minutes in length and broke new ground in televised professional wrestling. Traditionally, wrestling shows were pre-taped on sound stages with small audiences or at large arena shows. The Raw formula was considerably different from the pre-taped weekend shows that aired at
15525-446: The WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida without an audience until further notice beginning with the following day's episode of SmackDown due to the COVID-19 pandemic that resulted in the suspension of many professional sports leagues. On the May 25 episode of Raw, NXT trainees were added into live crowds at the Performance Center. In August, all programming was moved to the new, state-of-the-art WWE ThunderDome inside of
15750-420: The history of professional wrestling at the time. The event is widely considered to be the pinnacle of the 1980s wrestling boom . To make certain that every seat in the Pontiac Silverdome would be filled, WWF decided to exclude the entire state of Michigan from pay-per-view access to the event, which made attending the event the only way for fans in Michigan to see it. The event featured Hulk Hogan defending
15975-401: The match card also includes gimmick matches and matches involving personal feuds. Since 1993, the winner of the annual Royal Rumble match receives a guaranteed world championship match at the same year's WrestleMania (except in 2016 in which the WWE World Heavyweight Championship was the prize of the match itself). With the introduction of the previous World Heavyweight Championship in 2002,
16200-467: The state of Texas . The main feud leading into WrestleMania X-Seven involved "Stone Cold" Steve Austin challenging The Rock for the WWF Championship . The Rock and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin had fought for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania XV and Backlash in 1999. Stone Cold Steve Austin earned his opportunity to compete for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania X-Seven by winning
16425-585: The "WWF Attitude" banner on the sides. By 1999, the WWF placed a "WWF.com: 'Download This!'" logo on the bottom of the TitanTron and added two vertical sides on the stage. Raw moved to TNN from USA beginning with the September 25, 2000 episode. The TNN network logo was added atop the TitanTron on the December 11, 2000 episode. Chyron graphics were added to the bottom beginning with the July 2, 2001 episode. Beginning October 1, 2001, in direct response to
16650-628: The 1000th broadcast. Raw also celebrated its thirtieth anniversary on RAW IS XXX on January 23, 2023. The wrestlers featured on WWE take part in scripted feuds and storylines . Wrestlers are portrayed as heroes , villains , or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match. The primary commentators for Raw are Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett . Additional commentary has been provided by Jim Ross , Michael Cole , Joey Styles , Tom Phillips , Kevin Patrick and others since its creation. In
16875-508: The Bank briefcase and won the title from McIntyre, becoming only the second wrestler to successfully win a world championship after a cash-in at WrestleMania, and Sami Zayn defeating Gunther in Night 1 to end the latter's 666-day reign as Intercontinental Champion . Also on the card, Rhea Ripley successfully defended the Women's World Championship against Becky Lynch in the opening match of
17100-538: The Bank briefcase, turning the bout into a Triple Threat, ending with Rollins pinning Reigns to win the championship. Other main bouts included Sting 's first-ever WWE match against Triple H, which he lost, The Undertaker returned and defeated Bray Wyatt to get his 22nd victory at the event's history, Randy Orton defeated Seth Rollins and Rusev lost the United States Championship and his unbeaten streak to John Cena. Another important promoted match
17325-586: The Big Show, while Triple H retained the WWE Championship against Randy Orton. At WrestleMania XXVI , the professional wrestling career of Shawn Michaels came to an end as he faced The Undertaker in a highly acclaimed re-match of their encounter from the previous year. The event also featured John Cena winning the WWE Championship and Chris Jericho retaining the World Heavyweight Championship. Following Bret Hart's return to WWE in over twelve years since
17550-553: The Brothers of Destruction interfered in Triple H's match against Test , with Kane ordered to run after Stephanie. With Stephanie held at ransom by Kane on a balcony in the arena, WWF commissioner William Regal gave Undertaker and Kane matches at WrestleMania against Triple H and The Big Show respectively and the Undertaker told Kane to put her down. After being attacked during a Hardcore Championship title defense, Regal would later include Raven into Kane and Big Show's match, making it
17775-585: The Crippler Crossface but the referee was knocked down and didn't see it. Near the end of the match, Benoit tried to pin Angle after a diving headbutt but was met with a two-count. Angle then quickly rolled-up Benoit, using the tights for leverage to win the match. The following match saw Chyna challenge the WWF Women's Champion Ivory . After an early bit of offense from Ivory, Chyna performed
18000-630: The Hardy Boyz, which resulted in Jeff Hardy beating Triple H for the Intercontinental Championship the following week and Triple H promptly regaining the title the next Monday on Raw . Meanwhile, the Brothers of Destruction defeated Edge and Christian to become the new WWF Tag Team Champions on the edition of April 19, 2001, of SmackDown! in a no-disqualification match. Austin and Triple H decided to challenge Undertaker and Kane for their newly won titles, but due to some wrangling by Linda McMahon
18225-488: The Intercontinental Championship, and The Rock defeated Erick Rowan in a record-breaking 6-second match. Also at WrestleMania 32, Baron Corbin won the third annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, by last eliminating Kane. WrestleMania 33 took place on April 2, 2017, at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida . It was the first WrestleMania since WrestleMania 29 in 2013 to feature two world championships on
18450-736: The Manhattan Center. On the February 19 episode of Raw , six days before Elimination Chamber , seven participants of the men's Elimination Chamber match, Braun Strowman , Elias , Finn Bálor , John Cena , Roman Reigns , Seth Rollins and The Miz , were involved in a Gauntlet match that began with Reigns and Rollins. Strowman won the Gauntlet match by pinning The Miz in what was the longest match in WWE history, lasting nearly two hours. From March 12, 2020, to August 18, 2020, WWE announced that all of its live programs would air from
18675-408: The March 12 episode of Raw is War , The Rock was placed in an overlong Ankle Lock hold during his rematch with Kurt Angle. When Debra went to check on The Rock, Angle also placed her into an Ankle Lock hold. Austin soon ran in to save her and knocked Angle out of the ring. Keeping to his word, he immediately gave The Rock a Stone Cold Stunner as punishment. The following week on Raw is War, during
18900-444: The March 12 episode of Raw is War , Shane McMahon made his return to the WWF. Angry with his father's actions, Shane started to throw punches at Vince only to be stopped by William Regal. Shane explained his actions on the following episode of SmackDown! as a result of frustrations over the manipulation of his sister, his mother's state and Vince's treatment of Trish. On March 23, World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. purchased
19125-455: The May 21 edition of Raw . Angle was celebrating the return of his Gold Medal from Chris Benoit which he won back the previous night at Judgment Day . Shane mocked him while declaring the return of WCW, and he got an Angle slam for his efforts. Shane would return the favor on the June 11 edition of Raw with an assist from The Undertaker. The two would eventually meet in a streetfight at King of
19350-557: The November 16, 2015, episode of Raw , WWE had a moment of silence for the victims of the terrorist attack in Paris , France, on November 13, 2015. Another moment of silence was held months later in June for the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting . On July 25, 2016, the ropes returned to red, the announce table moved back to the top of the stage for the first time since 2005, and a new HD set and graphics were debuted. The new set
19575-513: The Reliant Astrodome of 67,925 grossed US$ 3.5 million. Many in professional wrestling considered WrestleMania X-Seven to be the pinnacle of the company's famous Attitude Era , similar to how WrestleMania III was the pinnacle of the 80's wrestling boom. The WWF bought out rival competition World Championship Wrestling (WCW) the week prior. In addition to its commercial success, the event has received acclaim from critics and fans, and
19800-456: The Ring , where Austin pinned Benoit to retain the WWF Championship. Ten years later in 2011, Undertaker and Triple H would once again renew their rivalry, went on to face each other in a rematch at WrestleMania XXVII with The Undertaker defeating HHH via submission, to set his WrestleMania winning streak to 19–0. A year later, they faced each other a third time at WrestleMania XXVIII in a Hell in
20025-518: The Ring, which was the third of three matches for Kurt Angle on the night. The other two matches were the Semifinals and Final of the King of the Ring tournament which Angle was the defending champion. He would lose to Edge thanks to interference from Shane. Following King of the Ring, Edge let success go to his head and this led to Christian becoming jealous of Edge's success. They would break up on
20250-414: The September 3, 2001, edition of Raw following Christian's loss to The Rock in a WCW title match. After a brief feud for the WWF Intercontinental Championship, both would go on to become successful singles wrestlers in their own right with Edge being best known as the "Rated R Superstar." This would be the only WrestleMania for Paul Heyman as a commentator. However he has served in a variety of roles for
20475-567: The SmackDown Women's Championship, which was the first time two African Americans headlined WrestleMania. Also on the card, Bobby Lashley defeated Drew McIntyre by technical submission to retain the WWE Championship and celebrity Bad Bunny teamed with Damian Priest and defeated The Miz and John Morrison . In the main event of Night 2, Roman Reigns retained the Universal Championship against Edge and Daniel Bryan in
20700-534: The Undisputed WWE Universal Championship and end Reigns' generational 1,316 day-long title reign, following interference from Reigns' cousins Jimmy Uso , Solo Sikoa , and The Rock on his behalf, and Jey Uso , John Cena , Seth Rollins and The Undertaker on Rhodes' behalf. Other marquee matches during the two-night event saw Drew McIntyre defeat Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship before Damian Priest cashed in his Money in
20925-564: The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Latin America, with other territories to be added in the future. The agreement also includes international rights to WWE content outside of the United States, including SmackDown and NXT , live events, and other shoulder content. While USA Network's contract for Raw was to expire in October 2024, WWE reached a short-term extension of its agreement with NBCUniversal to keep Raw on
21150-625: The United States, rising above competitors such as the National Wrestling Alliance and American Wrestling Association . In attendance were business celebrity Sy Sperling and broadcasting executive Tony D'Angelo. WrestleMania 2 was held the following year and took place in three venues across the country. The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York , the Rosemont Horizon (now Allstate Arena ) in
21375-589: The United States, the show airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on USA Network. Occasionally, Raw is aired on same-day tape delay when WWE is on an overseas tour. Raw is also shown live on TNT Sports in the United Kingdom and Ireland , in a deal which began January 2020. Raw airs live in India at 5:30 a.m. on Tuesdays on Sony Ten 1. Since October 6, 2014, Raw has been airing live throughout Latin America on Fox Sports . Currently, Raw
21600-605: The Universal Championship against Roman Reigns. In another main event promoted match, AJ Styles retained the WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura . Other marquee matches saw Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey defeat Triple H and Stephanie McMahon in a mixed tag team match, which was Rousey's WWE debut match, and Daniel Bryan had his in-ring return after three years, teaming with Shane McMahon to defeat Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn . Also, The Undertaker defeated John Cena in an impromptu match. In another prominent match, Charlotte Flair retained
21825-403: The Universal Championship. The event also saw the retirement of veteran WWE stars Kurt Angle and Batista. For the first time, the main event of WrestleMania was a women's match, with Raw Women's Champion Ronda Rousey, SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch facing off in a Winner Takes All Triple Threat match for both championships, in which Lynch emerged victorious. For
22050-452: The WWE Championship against Chris Jericho, via submission. The third main event featured The Rock defeating John Cena via pinfall in a "Once in a Lifetime" match, announced a year in advance. In 2013, WrestleMania 29 had 80,676 fans in attendance, becoming the third-highest attended WrestleMania ever. This WrestleMania had three main events. The first saw The Undertaker extend his undefeated streak to 21–0 by defeating CM Punk. Triple H, with
22275-475: The WWE Championship and Benoit defeating Triple H and Shawn Michaels to win the World Heavyweight Championship. The event also featured the Rock 'n' Sock Connection (The Rock and Mick Foley) versus Evolution ( Batista , Randy Orton , and Ric Flair) in a 2-on-3 handicap match, which was The Rock's last match for over seven years, as well as Stone Cold as the guest referee in an inter-promotional singles match between
22500-498: The WWE Hall of Fame inductions, and then NXT holding its now annual WrestleMania event, Stand & Deliver , the afternoon of Night 1, and then followed by Raw After WrestleMania on Monday. At WrestleMania 38 itself, Cody Rhodes returned as Seth Rollins' "mystery opponent", defeating Rollins in Night 1. In the main event of Night 1, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin came out of retirement for a one match return to defeat Kevin Owens . In
22725-602: The WWE for the better part of the time since, including creative team member and manager of his longtime friend and client Brock Lesnar . WrestleMania WrestleMania is a professional wrestling event held annually between mid-March and mid-April by the American company WWE , the world's largest professional wrestling promotion . Since premiering in 1985 , 40 events have been held, with its most recent 40th edition occurring at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on April 6 and 7, 2024. WrestleMania
22950-475: The WWE's most recent reported financial quarter in 2009, combined sales of WWE's consumer products and digital media business segments produced $ 40 million in global revenues. In previous quarters, these numbers were even higher. Similarly, in June 2017, the WWE issued a legal order to Raw Motors, an automobile repair company in Colwick , UK, over a logo that it claims infringes on one of its logos for Raw that
23175-407: The WWF Championship while Kane defeated Triple H for the Intercontinental Championship. The next night Austin and Triple H lost the tag team titles to Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit; during the course of the match Triple H tore his quadriceps tendon and would miss the remainder of the year, leaving Austin to feud with the tag team champions alone. The feud culminated in a Triple Threat Match at King of
23400-523: The WWF World Heavyweight Championship against André the Giant and the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship match between "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat . The match between Savage and Steamboat would go on to be regarded as one of the greatest matches in WrestleMania history and is acknowledged by many (including Vince McMahon) as having "stolen the show". WrestleMania IV
23625-584: The WWF World Heavyweight Championship from Hulk Hogan. The following year, the event returned to the United States for WrestleMania VII, which was originally scheduled to be held at the outdoors Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum . The event was moved to the adjacent indoors Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena after poor ticket sales, sold on television as being for security reasons related to the Gulf War and Sgt. Slaughter 's storyline defection to Iraq . The event saw Hulk Hogan face defending champion Sgt. Slaughter for
23850-565: The WWF World Heavyweight Championship, while The Undertaker made his WrestleMania debut, defeating Jimmy Snuka . Following this, The Undertaker went undefeated in 21 of his WrestleMania matches until he lost to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XXX in 2014. The next edition, WrestleMania VIII, was held in the Hoosier Dome with "Macho Man" Randy Savage defeating Ric Flair for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship and Hulk Hogan defeating Sid Justice via disqualification. WrestleMania IX
24075-443: The WWF changed the color of the ring-ropes to red and began printing Raw Is War along the ring in reference to their rivalry with WCW . The stages was updated to feature a 70-foot tall large screen video wall known as the " TitanTron ", which consisted of a projection screen with several metal stage trusses and a video projector . The set also initially featured curtains on each side with truss beams and lighting later bearing
24300-489: The WWF was legally required to change the name of the company to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). On March 10, 2005, Viacom and WWE decided not to go on with the agreement with Spike TV (formerly TNN), effectively ending Raw and other WWE programs ' tenure on the network when their deal expired in September 2005. On April 4, 2005, WWE announced a three-year deal with NBCUniversal to bring Raw back to its former home, USA Network, with two yearly specials on NBC and
24525-504: The WWF. The Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion would also be involved with Stephanie as its new owner, merging WCW and ECW into The Alliance . Despite giving her own demands for a divorce shortly after WrestleMania, Linda would eventually reconcile with Vince in the wake of the Alliance's threat to the WWF. Shane McMahon's next feud would involve Kurt Angle as he would crash Angle's Olympic Gold Medal Ceremony reenactment on
24750-600: The World Heavyweight Championship against Jack Swagger, and Fandango pulling off an upset win over veteran Chris Jericho. In the opening bout, The Shield ( Dean Ambrose , Seth Rollins , and Roman Reigns ) defeated the team of Big Show, Sheamus , and Randy Orton in their WrestleMania debut. WrestleMania XXX was the 30th annual WrestleMania event produced by WWE on April 6, 2014, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans , Louisiana . The event
24975-437: The World Heavyweight Championship against Kurt Angle and Randy Orton in a Triple Threat Match, and John Cena retained the WWE Championship against Triple H. Edge defeated Mick Foley in a Hardcore Rules match, where Edge infamously speared Foley off the ring apron through a flaming table at ringside. WrestleMania 22 also featured Shawn Michaels defeating Vince McMahon in a No Holds Barred match, Undertaker defeating Mark Henry in
25200-526: The air. On May 25, 2016, WWE reintroduced the brand split , and a new set with red ring ropes, a brand new stage, used at SummerSlam . Furthermore, the broadcast table was moved to the entrance ramp similar to how it was in 2002–2005. On January 22, 2018, WWE celebrated the 25th anniversary of Raw with a simulcast show at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and the home of the first Monday Night Raw,
25425-547: The assets of their longtime rival promotion, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from AOL Time Warner . With it, the purchase brought in an extra twist to the storyline. On the March 26 episode of Raw is War (which was held at Gund Arena in Cleveland, Ohio ), Vince McMahon made a live speech that was also simulcast on the final episode of WCW Monday Nitro (which was held in Panama City Beach, Florida ). In
25650-418: The attendance record at 101,763 as announced by The Rock at the event. In the main event, Roman Reigns defeated Triple H to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Other bouts included the Undertaker defeating Shane McMahon in a Hell in a Cell match. Had Shane won, he would have gained control of Raw , while had Undertaker lost, this would have been his last WrestleMania. Brock Lesnar defeated Dean Ambrose in
25875-401: The belts but had the ladder beneath him pulled away by Bubba Ray, leaving him hanging in the air, and allowing Edge to jump off another ladder and spear Jeff to the ground at a height of 12 feet. Bubba Ray and Matt Hardy climbed the same ladder but Rhyno tipped the ladder over, sending Bubba Ray and Matt through four stacked tables at ringside and taking them out of the match. D-Von then set
26100-419: The contract reads "Shane McMahon". That's right! I now own WCW! And, dad, just like WCW did in the past, how it kicked your ass in the past and it will again, that's exactly what's going to happen to you this Sunday at WrestleMania! Oh my god! I don't believe it! I do not believe what we heard. Shane McMahon has bought WCW, and Mr. McMahon is in absolute shock! - Jim Ross , play-by-play commentator for
26325-449: The course of which Lex Luger attacked Bret Hart . In 1994, WWF offered "Fan Fest" for the weekend of WrestleMania X, which allowed fans to step inside a WWF ring, participate in games, meet superstars, and purchase merchandise; the event was followed up in 1995 with another "Fan Fest" for WrestleMania XI. For WrestleMania XV, a pre-event concert known as the "WrestleMania Rage Party" (in reference to that year's theme, "The Ragin' Climax")
26550-452: The creation of the Money in the Bank pay-per-view in July that year. WrestleMania XXVII featured the return of The Rock following a seven-year hiatus to serve as host for the event. Trish Stratus competed in her first WrestleMania since WrestleMania 22, teaming with John Morrison and Jersey Shore ' s Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi to defeat LayCool and Dolph Ziggler . Longtime WWE announcers Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler brawled in
26775-430: The deadline. In August 2009, the court ruled in favor of Muscle Flex, Inc. that it was successful in defending its In the Raw trademark against the WWE. In a press release date issued on July 20, 2009, Muscle Flex Inc. disclosed that it was in possession of WWE Raw -labeled items that it believes directly infringe on its In the Raw trademark such as various CDs, VHS tapes , and a number of apparel items. According to
27000-424: The departing superstars Brock Lesnar (who would return to the company eight years later) and Goldberg (who would return 12 years later). The WWE Hall of Fame was also reintroduced and became an annual induction show held the night before or week of WrestleMania. At WrestleMania 21 , the concept of the Money in the Bank ladder match was introduced; a six-man ladder match that featured a briefcase suspended above
27225-401: The edition of April 5, 2001, of SmackDown! , Triple H challenged Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho for his title and after interference from Commissioner William Regal and his wife Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley defeated Jericho to win his third Intercontinental Championship. The feud with Undertaker and Kane was temporarily put on hold after Triple H and Austin entered a brief rivalry with
27450-418: The edition of July 30 of Raw and chose to fight for Team WWF over Team WCW/ECW . Three weeks later at SummerSlam , The Rock won his first WCW Championship by defeating Booker T . The Rock and Austin would face each other again at WrestleMania XIX in a rematch with The Rock winning. Following The Rock's suspension, Triple H's feud with the Brothers of Destruction continued with Austin now on his side. On
27675-472: The entire two-hour block as Raw on-air. Raw updated to a new, industrial-inspired, parallelogram -shaped TitanTron in 2002. Ring apron lettering that had once born Raw Is War slogan was replaced with an advertisement for the WWF website. Around this time, black ring-ropes were occasionally used. Like the previous set, the TNN logo was relocated to the bottom side of the TitanTron. It was subsequently replaced by
27900-459: The entrance ramp along with LED ring posts. On the January 29, 2018 episode of Raw, new graphics and an updated logo were introduced, which lasted until September 23, 2019. In September 2021, the ring-ropes changed color from red to white, which was also reflected on SmackDown . On November 22 of that year, an updated version of the 2019 logo was introduced, alongside new graphics. The theme song
28125-580: The event a perfect 10 out of 10 stars, with the main event between The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin in a No Disqualification Match for the WWF Championship rated 10 out of 10 stars. The Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the WWF Tag Team Championship between The Hardy Boyz, Edge and Christian, and The Dudley Boyz also received a perfect 10 out of 10 stars, the Street Fight between Vince and Shane McMahon rated 7 out of 10 stars,
28350-523: The event aired live on pay-per-view, a Sunday Night Heat match was aired with Steve Blackman and Grand Master Sexay squaring off against X-Factor members X-Pac and Justin Credible . Near the end of the match, fellow X-Factor member Albert interfered by pulling Sexay out of the ring, allowing X-Pac and Credible to hit their X Marks the Spot finisher on Blackman for the win. The first match of
28575-723: The event have been hosted in North American cities, with 38 in the United States and two in Canada . The only WrestleMania in the event's history not to air live and be held without fans in attendance was WrestleMania 36 in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic ; it was the first major professional wrestling event to be affected by the pandemic. It was also the first to be held across two nights, with each WrestleMania since becoming two-night events. WrestleMania 37 in 2021
28800-460: The event pitted The Brothers of Destruction ( The Undertaker and Kane ) against Triple H and The Big Show . After defeating "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in a Three Stages of Hell match at No Way Out, Triple H felt that he deserved to be in the WrestleMania main event having defeated everyone in the WWF, including The Rock and Austin. The Undertaker took exception to that and told him that Triple H had never defeated him. Before WrestleMania X-Seven,
29025-609: The event produces a local economy boost for the host cities. WrestleMania centers on the main event matches, primarily for the men's WWE Championship —and additional men's world titles, such as the previous World Heavyweight Championship (2003–2013), the WWE Universal Championship (since 2017), and the current World Heavyweight Championship (since 2024)—as well as matches involving celebrities such as American footballer Lawrence Taylor or actor Mr. T . Other WWE championships are also contested for, while
29250-587: The event saluting the fans after laying out John Cena and The Miz with his signature move , the Rock Bottom , following Miz retaining the WWE Championship. This incident would set up the main event for the following year's WrestleMania. WrestleMania XXVIII had three matches in the upper card. In the first main event, The Undertaker defeated Triple H in a Hell in a Cell match via pinfall, officiated by Shawn Michaels and extending his WrestleMania streak to 20–0. The second main event featured CM Punk retaining
29475-538: The event was the WWF Intercontinental Championship match between Chris Jericho and WWF commissioner William Regal . During the match, Regal exposed one of the top turnbuckles to throw Jericho's shoulder into it before giving him a double underhook superplex . Jericho attempted the Walls of Jericho submission hold but had it reversed into a Regal Stretch . After Jericho managed to grab
29700-611: The events, with some participating in matches. The first WrestleMania was held in Madison Square Garden in New York City ; the 10th and 20th editions were also held there. WrestleMania III in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan , was the highest-attended indoor sports event in the world, with 93,173 fans in attendance. The record stood until February 14, 2010, when the 2010 NBA All-Star Game broke
29925-531: The extra hour on Nitro (which had been expanded to two hours in the spring of 1996), and by March 10, it was renamed to Raw Is War . It was also during the time Raw would be aired live more often. After WrestleMania XIV in March 1998, the WWF regained the lead in the Monday Night War with its new " WWF Attitude " brand. The April 13, 1998 episode of Raw Is War , which was headlined by a match between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Vince McMahon, marked
30150-514: The first WrestleMania on March 31, 1985, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The main event was a tag-team match between WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan and Mr. T , accompanied by Jimmy Snuka against the team of Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff , who were accompanied by Cowboy Bob Orton . The financial and critical success of the event secured the company's status as the most successful professional wrestling promotion in
30375-434: The first night, Jey Uso defeated his twin brother Jimmy Uso in Night 1, in only the third WrestleMania to feature a match between two real-life brothers after Owen Hart vs Bret Hart at WrestleMania X and Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy at WrestleMania 25 , social media influencer and professional boxer Logan Paul beat Randy Orton and Kevin Owens in a triple threat match to retain the United States Championship on
30600-415: The first three-man inter-brand commentary team since the brand extension was introduced was used and consisted of Jim Ross, Jerry "The King" Lawler, and Michael Cole . The following year at WrestleMania XXVI, Jim Ross was replaced by Matt Striker . At WrestleMania XXVII, Jim Ross returned to commentate, along with Josh Mathews and new SmackDown color commentator Booker T ; the sudden change of commentary
30825-607: The first time in WrestleMania's history, WrestleMania 36 was taped and held across two nights. The tapings occurred on March 25 and 26, 2020, at multiple locations including the WWE Performance Center in Orlando , Florida. It then aired on tape delay on April 4 and 5. It was originally scheduled to take place solely on April 5 at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida , and to air live, but
31050-415: The first time on September 11, 1995. At the start of the ratings war in 1995 through to mid-1996, Raw and Nitro exchanged victories over each other in a closely contested rivalry. Beginning in mid-1996, however, due to the nWo angle , Nitro started a ratings win-streak that lasted for 84 consecutive weeks, ending on April 13, 1998. On February 3, 1997, Raw went to a two-hour format, to compete with
31275-453: The first time that Nitro had lost the head-to-head Monday night ratings battle in the 84 weeks since 1996. On January 4, 1999, Mick Foley , who had wrestled for WCW during the early 1990s as Cactus Jack, won the WWF Championship as Mankind on Raw Is War . On orders from Eric Bischoff , Nitro announcer Tony Schiavone gave away this previously taped result on a live Nitro and then sarcastically added, "That's gonna put some butts in
31500-440: The first-ever Triangle Ladder match for the WWF Tag Team Championship , involving The Hardy Boyz ( Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy ), The Dudley Boyz ( Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley ), and Edge and Christian . The main event featured WWF Champion Triple H successfully defend his title in a fatal four-way match against The Rock, Big Show , and Mick Foley . This match was billed as having 'a McMahon in every corner' as Triple H
31725-618: The former as the only title to challenge for until the reintroduction of the brand split in 2016, which added the WWE Universal Championship as a choice. After it and the WWE Championship were unified as the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 38 in 2022, the undisputed title became the only choice in 2023, but with the introduction of a new World Heavyweight Championship following that year's WrestleMania 39 , there
31950-537: The fourth annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal by last eliminating Jinder Mahal . The event also marked the unannounced return of The Hardy Boyz, who won the Raw Tag Team Championship at the event in a fatal four-way tag team ladder match. WrestleMania 34 was held on April 8, 2018, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. In the main event, Brock Lesnar retained
32175-411: The headline match of its own pay-per-view event, Money in the Bank which incorporated the use of two Money in the Bank ladder matches for both respective WWE brands, Raw and SmackDown (since 2017, two matches have been held at the titular event, but one each for the men and women, with participants divided between the brands). The participant who retrieves the briefcase suspended above the ring wins
32400-464: The help of Shawn Michaels, defeated Brock Lesnar in a No Holds Barred match; had Triple H lost, he would have had to retire from in-ring competition. In the final match, John Cena avenged his loss from the previous year by defeating The Rock for the WWE Championship, winning the title a record 11th time and setting a record of four victories as a challenger in a world title match at WrestleMania. Other matches included Alberto Del Rio successfully defending
32625-511: The indoor sporting event record with an attendance of 108,713 at Cowboys Stadium, since renamed AT&T Stadium , in Arlington, Texas . In 2016, WrestleMania 32 surpassed WrestleMania III as the highest-attended professional wrestling event ever held in America, with 101,763 fans in attendance at AT&T Stadium, although the company revealed that attendance figures are manipulated for marketing purposes through investor calls. All editions of
32850-406: The ladder up again and attempted to grab the titles, but was held back by Edge. With Edge holding onto D-Von's legs, Christian sat on Rhyno's shoulders as he climbed up the ladder and unhooked the belts, making him and Edge the new Tag Team Champions. A total of 9 tables were destroyed in this match, and every performer involved except D-Von and Lita went through at least one table. The ninth match
33075-507: The lawsuit action against WWF from USA Network. The new television contract and the subsequent purchase of competitor WCW led to many changes in WWF's programming content. Raw Is War premiered on TNN on September 25, 2000. WCW's sharp decline in revenue and ratings led to AOL Time Warner selling selected assets such as the WCW name, tape library, and contracts to the WWF in March 2001 for $ 3 million. The final episode of Nitro , which aired on March 26, 2001, began with Vince McMahon making
33300-475: The line: Raw's Universal Championship , defended for the first time at WrestleMania, and SmackDown's WWE Championship. The main event saw Roman Reigns defeat The Undertaker in a No Holds Barred match giving Undertaker his second loss at WrestleMania. Elsewhere on the event's card, Brock Lesnar defeated Goldberg in a rematch from WrestleMania XX to become the new Universal Champion, Randy Orton defeated Bray Wyatt to win his ninth WWE Championship, and Mojo Rawley won
33525-433: The lower-left hand corner of the screen. Additionally, Raw ' s theme song ("The Night") was modified. On March 23, 2015, WWE added a small LED board to the left side of the ring on Raw . This LED board was also used at WrestleMania 31 . The LED board has since been featured on a sporadic basis, appearing in some weeks and being absent in others. On the 1,000th episode of Raw , "The Night" by Kromestatik debuted as
33750-542: The main event for Part 1 of WrestleMania 36, The Undertaker defeated AJ Styles in a Boneyard match , which was produced as a cinematic match and was one of two matches not filmed at the Performance Center—this would in turn be The Undertaker's final match. Braun Strowman also defeated Goldberg to win the Universal Championship while Becky Lynch retained the Raw Women's Championship over NXT's Shayna Baszler. In
33975-471: The main event for Part 2, Drew McIntyre defeated Brock Lesnar to win the WWE Championship; after the show went off the air, a dark match occurred wherein McIntyre retained the title over Big Show in a match described by WWE as the "hidden WrestleMania main event" (which was shown on the April 6 episode of Raw ). Also on the show, "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt defeated John Cena in a Firefly Fun House match, which
34200-627: The main event of Night 2, Roman Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar in a Winner Takes All match for the WWE Championship and WWE Universal Championship, becoming the first wrestler to hold both titles simultaneously and becoming recognized as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion , although both titles retained their individual lineages. WrestleMania 39 took place on April 1 and 2, 2023, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California —the original location of WrestleMania 37 before
34425-430: The match as the greatest WrestleMania match of all time. At WrestleMania XIV , Austin defeated Shawn Michaels to become the new WWF World Heavyweight Champion in a match that featured Mike Tyson serving as the special enforcer. Although Tyson had been aligned with Michaels and his stable D-Generation X , Tyson revealed to have been aligned with Austin all along as he personally counted the pinfall and declared Austin
34650-548: The match between Triple H and The Undertaker rated 6 out of 10 stars and the match between Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit rated 8 out of 10 stars. X-Seven was also awarded Best Major Show for 2001 by Dave Meltzer 's Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the WWF Tag Team Championship between The Hardy Boys, Edge and Christian and The Dudley Boyz was also placed #5 on IGN 's list of Top 20 Matches in WrestleMania History and noted that
34875-498: The match between the teams signed for Backlash forced the two to put up their singles titles against the tag team titles in a "winner-take-all" match. Triple H scored the pin after attacking Kane with his sledgehammer and the Power Trip became the second team in WWF history to hold both major singles titles and the tag team titles at the same time. The feud came to a climax at Judgment Day when Austin defeated Undertaker to retain
35100-546: The match included "some of the most memorable bumps wrestling fans have ever witnessed." D-Von Dudley expressed his belief that the match should be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame , stating: "In my opinion, I think that we should — you know, the n.W.o got inducted into the Hall of Fame and those guys were already in it. How about a TLC induction? How about recognizing how special that match was? Because think about it, not only
35325-551: The match, Test went over the top rope but got his foot caught between the top two ropes, forcing the referee and Guerrero to have to untangle him. With the help of his fellow Radicalz members Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn , Guerrero hit Test in the face with the European Championship belt while the referee was distracted and pinned him to become the new champion. The fifth match pitted Kurt Angle against Chris Benoit . The match started with mat wrestling between
35550-652: The match. The eighth match, dubbed " TLC II ", was the Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the WWF Tag Team Championship between the Hardy Boyz , Edge and Christian and the Dudley Boyz , the defending champions. Respective associates of each tag team, Spike Dudley for the Dudley Boyz, Rhyno for Edge and Christian, and Lita for the Hardy Boyz, interfered during the match. With Spike (who had just taken
35775-461: The mid to late 1990s, the commentator team comprised Vince McMahon , Jim Ross , and Jerry Lawler . Since the brand separation in 2002, matches from the Raw brand have been called by Ross and Lawler; the SmackDown matches called by Michael Cole , Tazz , John "Bradshaw" Layfield , and Jonathan Coachman , and from 2006 to 2010, the ECW matches called by Joey Styles and Tazz. At WrestleMania 25,
36000-594: The network through the end of the year. From October 7 through December 30, Raw will be shortened from three to two hours; wrestling reporter Dave Meltzer stated that this was a request made by USA Network. Raw ' s original set featured red, white, and blue ring-ropes, a blue ring-apron, blue steps, and a small stage made of neon light tubes. In 1995, the entrance way was changed to feature "Raw" in giant letters. Beginning on March 10, 1997, broadcasts of Raw were split into two hour-long blocks, each given its own name for television ratings purposes . The first hour
36225-419: The new CEO of the WWF, allowing him to fire Foley as commissioner. With Linda in a coma -like state, Vince started to have a public affair with Trish Stratus . Vince's daughter, Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, was at first far from pleased about the turn of events. At No Way Out , Stephanie and Trish squared off, with Stephanie scoring the victory after a run-in by William Regal. On the February 26 episode of Raw
36450-496: The newest episodes of Raw and SmackDown on YouTube for countries that do not air WWE programming on traditional TV for free in less than 24 hours after the original broadcast (The links are blocked in countries where the shows are traditionally available). The 90-minute Hulu version gets put on YouTube for international audiences. From 1995 to 2006, Raw was shown on The Sports Network (TSN) until it moved to rival sports broadcaster The Score (now renamed Sportsnet 360 ) after it
36675-420: The night was the WWF Championship match between The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin , which had a surprise no disqualification stipulation added just before the superstars were introduced. During the match, the two brawled inside and outside of the ring, with both men bleeding after hitting each other with the ring bell. The Rock attempted to place Austin in a Sharpshooter hold, but Austin reversed it into
36900-417: The on-screen copyright notice shown near the end of each hour). In 2010, WWE retired the red ropes for Raw after thirteen years for an all white scheme, which in 2012 became standard for all WWE programming. In 2012, Raw updated their HD set. Beginning in mid-2014, this set would also be featured in pay-per-views . From late September through the end of October 2012, the middle rope at all WWE programming
37125-406: The original air date. Since its first episode, Raw has been broadcast live from 209 different arenas, 172 cities and towns, and eleven different nations: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Afghanistan in 2005 , Iraq in 2006 and 2007 , South Africa, Germany, Japan, Italy, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia. Beginning as WWF's Monday Night Raw, the program first aired on January 11, 1993, on
37350-512: The pandemic forced it to be relocated. As was established the previous year, the WrestleMania Weekend festivities included a live WrestleMania SmackDown (including the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal) immediately followed by the 2023 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Friday March 31, then on the afternoon of Saturday April 1, NXT held their Stand & Deliver event , all at the Crypto.com Arena in nearby Los Angeles , which also hosted
37575-467: The pin attempt. After chasing McMahon around the ring, Austin responded by using Rock's signature move, the Rock Bottom . Later, Rock executed a Rock Bottom for a near fall. After Rock attacked McMahon, he was given a Stunner by Austin for a near fall. After Rock kicked out of the Stunner, McMahon handed Austin a steel chair to hit Rock with at Austin's request, revealing that Austin had sided with McMahon,
37800-461: The police. As a result, Kane requested a match against Triple H later that night but lost when The Big Show interfered on behalf of Triple H. In retaliation, Kane interfered in The Big Show's Hardcore Championship match against Raven on Raw is War , helping Raven pin Big Show to become the new Hardcore Champion. Undertaker's arrest led to a restraining order from Stephanie. To circumvent this,
38025-540: The post WrestleMania edition of Raw on April 3. The main event of Night 1 of WrestleMania saw Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn defeat The Usos for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship , marking the first time a tag team title match was the main event of a WrestleMania, and only the second time a tag team match was the main event, after WrestleMania I. The match was well received. It was also the first WrestleMania match since 1997 to earn
38250-588: The program was retitled as Raw on October 1, 2001, permanently retiring the Raw Is War moniker in prelude to the upcoming United States invasion of Afghanistan . In March 2002, as a result of the overabundance of talent left over from the Invasion storyline, WWF instituted a process known as the " brand extension ", under which Raw and SmackDown! would be treated as two distinct divisions, each with their own rosters and championships. Shortly thereafter,
38475-466: The referee in a security cage but Kane broke the padlock and afterward threw Raven through a glass window. Big Show and Kane continued to brawl ending with the two throwing each other through a wall. Raven tried to escape by driving off in a golf cart , but Big Show stopped him and caused him to crash. The golf cart also ran over some cords that allegedly almost knocked the power out of the building. Kane shortly followed with another golf cart, accompanied by
38700-481: The referee, and ran into Raven. The fight headed back into the stadium with Big Show attempting to press slam Raven off the entrance stage but both were kicked off it by Kane. Kane followed this with a diving leg drop off the stage onto Big Show, pinning him to become the new Hardcore Champion. The fourth match was the WWF European Championship match between Test and Eddie Guerrero . During
38925-452: The return of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin after a year-long hiatus, while Kurt Angle defeated Shawn Michaels in a highly acclaimed match. The Money in the Bank ladder match was also held at WrestleMania 22 as a six-man interpromotional match where the winner would get a world title match of their choosing, regardless of the brand they were on, with this match was won by Rob Van Dam. The main events of WrestleMania 22 featured Rey Mysterio win
39150-415: The rights to Raw and NXT were on the market with heavy interest among linear networks and digital properties. On January 23, 2024, TKO Group announced that Netflix would acquire the rights to Raw beginning in January 2025, in what was reported to be a 10-year deal worth $ 500 million per-year (roughly double the value of WWE's current agreement with NBCUniversal). The agreement will initially cover
39375-407: The rights to the National Hockey League broadcasts , Raw also airs on its OLN channel. All archived broadcasts of Raw are available on the WWE Network . Rogers Media secured the rights to Canadian WWE programming until 2024, after which in January 2025 the rights go to Netflix . Raw airs live in the MENA region on Shahid streaming platform Tuesday mornings, and later on the same day,
39600-598: The ring containing a contract that guaranteed the winning Raw brand participant a world title match at any time and place of their choosing within one year up to the next year's WrestleMania, in which Edge went on to win this match. In the main events, the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship passed on to John Cena and Batista , respectively, by defeating John "Bradshaw" Layfield and Triple H in their respective matches. Eddie Guerrero's last WrestleMania match took place at WrestleMania 21 against Rey Mysterio, before he died later that year. The event also featured
39825-435: The seats", consequently resulting in over 600,000 viewers switching channels to Raw Is War to see the underdog capture the WWF Championship . This was also the night that Nitro aired a WCW World Heavyweight Championship match in which Kevin Nash laid down for Hollywood Hogan after Hogan poked him in the chest . On June 28, 2000, Viacom won the landmark deal with the WWF to move all of its WWF programs stemming from
40050-468: The second night, and Bayley defeating Iyo Sky in Night 2 for the WWE Women's Championship to mark her first world title victory at WrestleMania. WrestleMania 41 will take place on April 19 and 20, 2025, at Allegiant Stadium in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada . While still roughly in mid-April, this is the latest April date for a WrestleMania, which subsequently marks the first WrestleMania to be held during Easter weekend. Additionally,
40275-487: The songs " The Star-Spangled Banner " or " America the Beautiful " before the show. Robert Goulet performed " O Canada " at WrestleMania VI. Acts such as Motörhead , Limp Bizkit , Saliva , Run–D.M.C. , Salt-n-Pepa , Living Colour , Ice-T , Drowning Pool , Flo Rida , P.O.D. , Machine Gun Kelly , Rev Theory , Mark Crozer , and Snoop Dogg have also performed during the live entrances of competitors. In 1988, in association with The Trump Organization , WWF prepared
40500-478: The special guest enforcer for the WWF Championship bout between Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin, while professional boxer Butterbean was challenged to a boxing match by Bart Gunn at WrestleMania XV. At WrestleManias XIV, XV, and 2000, Pete Rose became involved in a short feud with Kane that became a running gag with each appearance ending with Rose receiving a Tombstone piledriver or chokeslam from Kane. Big Show faced sumo wrestling yokozuna Akebono in
40725-428: The speech, Vince announced that the signing was not final and that he wanted Ted Turner to come to WrestleMania to hand-deliver the contract for signing. He then promised that with the purchase he was going to bury his rival forever. However, Shane, who was at the venue for Nitro , interrupted the speech and said: Because, dad, the deal is finalized... with WCW, and the name on the contract does say "McMahon". However,
40950-430: The stadium. As referee Foley tried to wheel Linda out to safety, Vince hit him with a steel chair, and then pulled Linda into the ring to make her watch as he beat down Shane with a garbage can. However, Linda stood up and low-blowed Vince, allowing Foley to recover and attack him. With Vince prone in the corner, Shane placed a garbage can in front of Vince's face and hit a Coast-to-Coast dropkick, pinning his father to win
41175-403: The stipulation of Night 2's main event. Since Rock and Reigns won, the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match was a Bloodline Rules match . Had Rhodes and Rollins won, all members of The Bloodline would have been barred from ringside during the championship match. Night 2 witnessed a rematch from last years WrestleMania, as Cody Rhodes defeated Roman Reigns in the Bloodline Rules match to win
41400-445: The theme for Raw . "Energy" by Shinedown served as the secondary theme-song until August 18, 2014, when it was replaced with "Denial" by We Are Harlot . On the September 14, 2015 season premiere of Raw , the middle rope was colored gold. Throughout the month of October 2015, the program once again partnered with Susan G. Komen for the Cure to promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month , with various stage elements being made pink. On
41625-449: The time such as Superstars and Wrestling Challenge . Instead of matches taped weeks in advance with studio voice overs and taped discussion, Raw was a show shot and aired to a live audience, with angles and matches playing out as they happened. Raw originated from the Grand Ballroom at the Manhattan Center , a small New York City theater, and aired live each week. The combination of an intimate venue and live action proved to be
41850-470: The title from Diesel at WrestleMania XI, Michaels defeated Bret Hart to win the WWF World Heavyweight Championship in a 60-minute Iron Man match at WrestleMania XII. The match was widely praised. The event also saw the return of the Ultimate Warrior, who defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley (later known as Triple H) in the latter's WrestleMania debut. At WrestleMania 13 , a submission match pitted Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin against one another in
42075-504: The title in the " Vickie Guerrero Divas Championship Invitational". WrestleMania XXX also saw the end of The Undertaker's undefeated streak at WrestleMania as he was defeated by Brock Lesnar in what was described as 'the most shocking result in sports-entertainment history'. At WrestleMania XXX, Bray Wyatt 's undefeated streak since his debut came to an end at the hands of John Cena. Also, at WrestleMania XXX, The Shield defeated Kane and The New Age Outlaws ( Road Dogg and Billy Gunn ) in
42300-470: The titles, Matt Hardy last eliminated Baron Corbin to win fifth André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal as well as first-ever WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal contested where Naomi won by last eliminating Bayley . WrestleMania 35 was held on April 7, 2019, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. At the event, Kofi Kingston became the first African-born WWE Champion after defeating Daniel Bryan, while Seth Rollins defeated Brock Lesnar to win
42525-407: The tournament featured a rematch of the previous year's main event between Hulk Hogan and André the Giant while Randy Savage went on to defeat Ted DiBiase in the finals to win the championship. The next event, WrestleMania V, returned the event to Atlantic City, in which Hulk Hogan defeated Randy Savage for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, which Savage had won the previous year. To date, this
42750-402: The two but Angle soon punched Benoit out of frustration and threw him out of the ring, so he could throw him into the broadcast table and the steel steps. Back in the ring, both men tried to submit their opponent using the other's signature hold with Benoit using the ankle lock on Angle, and Angle using the Crippler Crossface on Benoit. Benoit eventually succeeded in forcing Angle to tap out to
42975-482: The two had never faced each other in a one-on-one match on a pay-per-view event. During his entrance for a Hardcore Championship match against The Big Show, Triple H ambushed Undertaker. Kane ran in and saved the Undertaker from a further attack but was met with his own ambush by The Big Show. On the following episode of SmackDown! , Undertaker tried to break into the limousine of Triple H and his wife, Stephanie McMahon -Helmsley, on arrival but ended up being arrested by
43200-571: The two-hour version of that week's Raw has aired on Syfy. In February 2022, Raw temporarily moved to Syfy for two episodes due to USA's coverage (as part of NBC Sports ) of the 2022 Winter Olympics . On the August 29, 2011 episode of Raw , it was announced that performers from Raw and SmackDown were no longer exclusive to their respective brand, thus effectively dissolving the brand extension. On July 23, 2012, Raw aired its 1,000th episode , which also began its permanent three-hour format. On January 14, 2013, Raw celebrated its 20th year on
43425-438: The well-being of the wrestlers involved in the match. Despite his attempts Foley was given full support by Linda McMahon , Vince's wife and the WWF's CEO. Not pleased with this result, Vince immediately demanded a divorce from Linda. Shortly after Armageddon, secretly to Vince's delight, it was revealed Linda was rushed to hospital suffering with a nervous breakdown. With Linda hospitalized, the Board of Directors appointed Vince as
43650-414: The winner was also given the option to choose between it or the WWE Championship. The creation of the ECW brand in June 2006 gave the Rumble winner a third option, the ECW Championship . This option was made available from 2007 until the brand was retired in 2010; however, the title was never chosen. The brand split ended in 2011 and the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships were unified in 2013, leaving
43875-405: The winner. The Undertaker and Kane fought for the first time at this event where The Undertaker won. The following year at WrestleMania XV , Austin defeated The Rock to regain the WWF Championship. The event featured the first of three encounters at WrestleMania between Austin and The Rock in a rivalry of the two most prominent and popular stars of the Attitude Era. WrestleMania 2000 featured
44100-437: The wrestlers. Billy Martin served as ring announcer with Liberace as timekeeper, and Muhammad Ali served as an official. Mr. T competed in the main event alongside tag team partner, Hulk Hogan. WrestleMania 2 featured a 20-man battle royal pitting several NFL players against WWF wrestlers, while Lawrence Taylor defeated Bam Bam Bigelow in the main event of WrestleMania XI. Mike Tyson appeared at WrestleMania XIV as
44325-492: Was WWE's first pay-per-view (PPV) produced and is the most successful and longest-running professional wrestling event in history. The event has been broadcast through traditional PPV since 1985 and has been available via livestreaming since WrestleMania XXX in 2014, which was WWE's first major event available through this medium. WrestleMania was conceptualized by former WWE executive chairman Vince McMahon and named by ring announcer and WWE Hall of Famer Howard Finkel . It
44550-1177: Was WWE's first event back with a live crowd, but at a reduced venue capacity before the company resumed live touring with full capacity crowds in July that year. Most WrestleMania events have taken place in large stadiums in large cities, with some in sports arenas. Much like the Super Bowl , cities bid for the right to host the year's edition of WrestleMania. The most-attended events include WrestleMania III (93,173) in Pontiac , WrestleMania VI (67,678) in Toronto , WrestleMania VIII (62,167) in Indianapolis , WrestleMania X-Seven (67,925) in Houston , WrestleMania X8 (68,237) also in Toronto, WrestleMania XIX (54,097) in Seattle , WrestleMania 23 (80,103) in Detroit , WrestleMania XXIV (74,635) in Orlando , WrestleMania 25 (72,744) also in Houston, WrestleMania XXVI (72,219) in Phoenix , WrestleMania XXVII (71,617) in Atlanta , WrestleMania XXVIII (78,363) in Miami , WrestleMania 29 (80,676) in East Rutherford , WrestleMania XXX (75,167) in New Orleans , WrestleMania 31 (76,976) in Santa Clara , and WrestleMania 32 (101,763) in Arlington . Since moving to large stadiums and running WrestleMania Axxess ,
44775-400: Was a gimmick battle royal , involving nineteen WWF alumni famous for their outlandish gimmicks . To further increase the nostalgia, former announcers "Mean Gene" Okerlund and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan handled commentary for the match. The Iron Sheik won the match by throwing Hillbilly Jim out of the ring. In revenge for being eliminated, Sgt. Slaughter reentered the ring and put him in
45000-451: Was accompanied by Stephanie McMahon , The Rock by Vince McMahon, Big Show by Shane McMahon , and Mick Foley by Linda McMahon . At WrestleMania X-Seven , Stone Cold defeated The Rock and regained the WWF Championship. The event also featured Vince and Shane McMahon in a Street Fight , while Edge and Christian won the WWF Tag Team Championship against the Hardy Boyz and Dudley Boyz in the second Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match . The event
45225-467: Was almost identical to the set used for SummerSlam 2012 and 2013 . After some fans responded negatively to the redesign, the set was revamped four weeks later with a more elaborate and distinctive arrangement. The new set featured the absence of a traditional TitanTron, which had been part of the Raw staging since 1997. In its place was a curved LED banner with several rows of rectangle LED lights behind it. The new set also introduced LED floor panels on
45450-649: Was announced that TSN would be carrying Monday Night Football for the 2006 season. This meant that Canadian viewers would have to watch via tape-delay, as The Score did not broadcast Raw live at that time. Around that time, The Score aired Countdown to Raw until May 2013 when Raw is shown live to match the United States airtime. It was also shown on CKVR-TV in Barrie and CKMI-TV in Quebec until 2009. During its run on TSN, which aired live , Raw occasionally had been censored live for extremely violent scenes, or when female wrestlers or characters were assaulted by male wrestlers (particularly one segment that featured
45675-443: Was changed to "Greatness" by Vo Williams, which remained its theme song until November 20, 2023, when it was changed to "Born to Be" by def rebel, the artist behind WWE's music input for its programming, which is performed by Supreme Madness. Bumper themes included "Survival", "Eye of an Warrior" and "Legacy". In February 2022, Raw and NXT temporarily moved to Syfy in the United States due to USA Network broadcasting coverage of
45900-429: Was changed to pink due to WWE's alliance with the Susan G. Komen organization for Breast Cancer Awareness Month . This was repeated in 2013, from late September to early November, and it was repeated in 2014 from September 29. WWE is one of many organizations who provide financial contributions to the organization in addition to raising awareness among its employees and consumers. On August 18, 2014, Raw switched to
46125-553: Was defended for the first time at the event, with Triple H retaining against Booker T , while Brock Lesnar defeated Kurt Angle to win the WWE Championship. WWE celebrated the 20th edition of WrestleMania at Madison Square Garden with WrestleMania XX . The event featured The Undertaker (who returned to his Deadman persona) defeating the unmasked Kane in their second encounter and the WWE Championship and World Heavyweight Championship victories of Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit , respectively, with Guerrero defeating Kurt Angle to retain
46350-705: Was due to a singles match between regular commentators Michael Cole and Lawler. Howard Finkel , who is credited with coming up with the name "WrestleMania" in 1984, has served as the long-standing ring-announcer and has appeared at every event except WrestleMania 33 , but since the introduction of the WWE brand extension, Lilian Garcia , Tony Chimel , and Justin Roberts took over as announcers for their respective brand's matches. Four French commentators were at ringside: Jean Brassard and Raymond Rougeau ( WrestleMania 13 ), Phillippe Chéreau, and Christophe Agius ( WrestleMania XXX , WrestleMania 31 , WrestleMania 32 , and WrestleMania 33 ). The World Wrestling Federation staged
46575-411: Was held at the Atlantic City Convention Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey (though on the broadcast it was billed as being held in the Trump Plaza because the adjacent casino hotel was the event's primary sponsor). The event was an all-tournament event to crown a new WWF World Heavyweight Champion, with four non-tournament matches to fill between the gaps in the tournament rounds. The second round of
46800-463: Was held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center and televised by USA Network in an hour-long special, featuring performances by Isaac Hayes and Big Pun . The following year WWF held its first WrestleMania Axxess event at the Anaheim Convention Center expanding upon the party idea of WrestleMania Rage Party . The event included autograph signings and mementos to inductees of the WWE Hall of Fame . There were also activities where fans could enter
47025-425: Was moved due to the COVID-19 pandemic . It was only attended by essential personnel, and was the first WWE pay-per-view event unattended by fans . It was the first WrestleMania to promote the NXT brand, which was formerly WWE's developmental brand, but this would be the only to promote NXT as the brand was not featured at the next WrestleMania and it returned to being the developmental brand in September 2021. In
47250-431: Was referred to as Raw Is War , and the second became known as War Zone . These changes were reflected in television listings and, beginning with the June 9, 1997 episode, by the show's on-screen graphics. War Zone initially opened with a repeat of the Raw intro, punctuated with the War Zone logo. On November 24, 1997, the hour received its own distinct opening video, a remixed version of the typical Raw opening. In 1997,
47475-458: Was taped in Bushkill , Pennsylvania in November 1993 and Raw left the Manhattan Center permanently as the show would be taken on the road throughout the United States and had in smaller venues. On September 4, 1995, the WWF's chief competitor World Championship Wrestling (WCW) began airing its new wrestling show, Monday Nitro , live each week on TNT , which marked the start of the Monday Night War . Raw and Nitro went head-to-head for
47700-453: Was the 7-man ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship, which was won by Daniel Bryan. Also at WrestleMania 31, AJ Lee teamed with Paige to defeat The Bella Twins ( Brie Bella and Nikki Bella ) in a tag team match, while Big Show won the second annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, by last eliminating Damien Mizdow . WrestleMania 32 was held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on April 3, 2016. WrestleMania 32 broke
47925-428: Was the first WrestleMania held at an outdoor venue. It was also the first and only time in WrestleMania history that the WWF World Heavyweight Championship switched twice. Yokozuna defeated Bret Hart to become the WWF World Heavyweight Champion, only to lose it to Hulk Hogan in an impromptu match. WrestleMania X saw the event's return to Madison Square Garden. The event featured Owen Hart defeating his elder brother Bret;
48150-429: Was the first WrestleMania to be held in the state of Louisiana . It saw Daniel Bryan defeat Triple H in the opening match. Per the stipulation, this gave Bryan a spot in the main event, where he won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship by making Batista submit in a triple threat match which also included Randy Orton. It was the only WrestleMania where the WWE Divas Championship was defended, with AJ Lee retaining
48375-410: Was the first after the company was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), saw Stone Cold's last match, as he faced The Rock for a third time at WrestleMania, ending their long-running feud. Additionally, Hulk Hogan defeated Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels participated in his first WrestleMania match in five years, defeating Chris Jericho . The World Heavyweight Championship (2002–2013 version)
48600-408: Was the first of the WWF's original four pay-per-views, which includes Royal Rumble , SummerSlam , and Survivor Series , which were dubbed the "Big Four", and was considered one of the "Big Five" PPVs, along with King of the Ring . WrestleMania 17, stylized as WrestleMania X-Seven, was scheduled to be held on April 1, 2001, at the Reliant Astrodome in Houston , Texas, the first WrestleMania held in
48825-435: Was the last WrestleMania to be produced under the WWF name, and featured Triple H defeating Chris Jericho to win the Undisputed WWF Championship . Austin, The Rock, and The Undertaker defeated Scott Hall, Hulk Hogan, and Ric Flair respectively, all of whom had rejoined the company after their stints with WCW. Also, Rob Van Dam won his first Intercontinental Championship in his WrestleMania debut. WrestleMania XIX , which
49050-405: Was the match special, but they actually named a pay-per-view after it. So, you know, it has some relevance to it to be special, so why not put that match in the Hall of Fame?" Matt Hardy said it was his favorite career TLC match. In 2013, WWE released a list of their "15 best pay-per-views ever", with WrestleMania X-Seven ranked at number one. In 2019, Troy L. Smith of cleveland.com released
49275-432: Was the other match not filmed at the Performance Center and also produced as a cinematic match, and Charlotte Flair defeated Rhea Ripley to win the NXT Women's Championship , which was the first and thus far only time an NXT title was defended at WrestleMania. Also on Part 2, Edge had his first singles match since 2011 in which he defeated Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing match . Following this, WrestleMania would become
49500-404: Was the pinnacle of the 1990s wrestling boom. It was also the first WrestleMania held after the dissolution and WWF's subsequent purchase of the company's rival, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the end of the Monday Night War . The event was highly praised. In 2013, WWE released a list of their "15 best pay-per-views ever", with WrestleMania X-Seven ranked at number one. WrestleMania X8
49725-515: Was the second WrestleMania to be held at an outdoor venue. This was also the last WrestleMania event of the Ruthless Aggression era since later on in Mid-2008 the era ended as the WWE shifted towards a more "kid-friendly" product. WrestleMania 25 featured Chris Jericho defeating WWE Hall of Famers Roddy Piper , Jimmy Snuka , and Ricky Steamboat in a match that featured appearances by Ric Flair and actor Mickey Rourke . Shawn Michaels unsuccessfully attempted to hand The Undertaker his first defeat at
49950-409: Was then attacked by Undertaker due to his dissatisfaction over a two-count. With Chioda knocked out, the two brawled outside the ring, through the crowd, and into the technical area. On top of scaffolding, Triple H used a steel chair to attack Undertaker's legs, but Undertaker retaliated with a chokeslam off the scaffolding, followed by a diving elbow drop. Back in the ring, Undertaker hit Triple H with
50175-411: Was used from 2006 to 2012. Throughout its broadcast history, the show has aired episodes that have different themes. Some of them are yearly events such as the Slammy Awards . Others include tributes to various professional wrestlers who have recently died or retired from actively performing, as well as episodes commemorating various show milestones or anniversaries such as Raw 1000 , which celebrated
50400-522: Was used from April 1, 2002, to October 2, 2006. The rap outro of " Thorn In Your Eye " featuring Scott Ian of Anthrax was the theme song from March 31, 1997, to March 25, 2002. On May 17, 2012, WWE and USA Network announced that Raw would switch to a permanent three-hour format beginning with the 1,000th episode on July 23, 2012. Since then, all three hours of the broadcast have been known solely as Raw , though they are still considered three separate programs for Nielsen ratings purposes (as indicated by
50625-495: Was won by CM Punk , who would also win the match again at WrestleMania 25. The ECW Championship was defended for the only time at a WrestleMania event, when Kane emerged as the new champion in a record 8 seconds, while Randy Orton retained the WWE Championship and The Undertaker won the World Heavyweight Championship for the second consecutive year, defeating Edge. In an encounter that featured major media coverage, boxing world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeated Big Show. The event
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