217-513: WrestleMania XIX was the 19th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It featured wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown! brand divisions . The event took place at Safeco Field in Seattle on March 30, 2003, becoming the first WrestleMania held in the state of Washington . A record-breaking 54,097 fans from all 50 states and numerous countries around
434-654: A Gore on Chavo but Benjamin tagged himself into the match and pinned Chavo, to win the match and retain the Tag Team Championship. In the fifth match, Chris Jericho faced Shawn Michaels . Jericho had the advantage over Michaels at the start of the match, as he applied the Walls of Jericho onto Michaels early on. Later in the match, Jericho hit Michaels with a Sweet Chin Music for a near fall and as Michaels attempted Sweet Chin Music , Jericho countered into
651-553: 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 brand extension The brand extension , also referred to as the brand split , is the separation of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE 's roster of wrestlers (and, at various times, creative staff) into distinct divisions, or "brands". The promotion's wrestlers are assigned to
868-702: 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
1085-654: 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
1302-593: A triple threat match that also involved Big Show. Lesnar then regained the WWE Championship from Angle on the September 18 episode of SmackDown! , in an Iron Man match winning 5-4. On the April 3 episode of SmackDown! , enraged by his loss at WrestleMania, Mr. McMahon indefinitely suspended Hulk Hogan with pay and forced him to sit out the remainder of his WWE contract as a part of their storyline. On
1519-472: A triple threat match to retain the Women's Championship. Stratus and the returning Jazz had a match on Raw to determine who would challenge Victoria for the title at WrestleMania. During the match, Victoria entered the ring and hit both women with the title belt, earning a double disqualification. It was then announced that Victoria would defend the title against both Stratus and Jazz in a triple threat match at
1736-408: 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
1953-492: A Street Fight at WrestleMania where if Hogan lost, he would have to retire from professional wrestling . Hogan accepted his challenge later that night. Two weeks later on the March 20 episode of SmackDown! , McMahon and Hogan had a contract signing for their match at WrestleMania. As Hogan was preparing to sign the contract, McMahon attacked Hogan with a steel chair from behind. Shortly afterward, McMahon hit Hogan several times with
2170-709: A United Kingdom-based brand that would be produced exclusively in the country. In June 2018, the brand was officially established as NXT UK , a sub-brand of the American-based NXT. In September 2021, NXT was rebranded as NXT 2.0 and then in February 2022, the 205 Live brand was dissolved. In 2024, NXT UK will be relaunched as NXT Europe and feature wrestlers from all of Europe. According to Shawn Michaels , two additional NXT sub-brands will be launched that same year: NXT Mexico and NXT Japan which will also feature wrestlers from Mexico and Japan respectively. NXT Europe
2387-511: A WrestleMania event, since The Rock had lost their two previous encounters at WrestleMania XV and X-Seven , respectively. As soon as the challenge was made, Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff announced that the following week on Raw , The Rock would face Booker T in a match, and if he won, he would have the choice to face either Austin or challenge Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania. On
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#17327906843102604-544: 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
2821-444: 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
3038-404: A brand extension between WCW and the popular New World Order (nWo) stable, which would have seen the group expand in scope and the production of nWo-branded programming; this concept was scrapped due to budgetary concerns. However, in 1997, an nWo-exclusive pay-per-view , Souled Out , was held. A year later in 1998, WCW began co-branding all of its pay-per-view events under the "WCW/nWo" banner,
3255-798: 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
3472-423: A brand via the annual WWE Draft and exclusively perform on that brand's weekly television show, with some exceptions. Throughout its history, WWE has utilized the brand extension twice. The first brand split occurred from 2002 to 2011, while the ongoing second began in 2016. WWE currently promotes three brands. The two main brands, referred to as the main roster, are Raw and SmackDown . NXT , WWE's third brand,
3689-643: 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
3906-438: 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
4123-519: A convicted criminal, would never win a world championship in WWE, telling Booker T that "people like him" could never be World Heavyweight Champion. In the WrestleMania XIX press conference, Michael Cole questioned Triple H as to whether or not his promo was racially insensitive. Triple H confirmed this was not the case and was indeed only referring to Booker T's criminal past and nothing more. On
4340-519: A draft on Raw and went into effect one week later on April 1. On May 6, 2002, the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE, which became an orphaned initialism in 2011). On June 13, 2006, after an Extreme Championship Wrestling reunion pay-per-view and video releases, WWE announced an addition to its prime time programming with ECW on Sci-Fi . The new ECW brand launched in May 2006 and served as
4557-541: 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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#17327906843104774-618: 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
4991-399: A larger scale). With the acquisition of new talent, the WWF's already large roster doubled in size. In order to allow equal opportunity to all wrestlers, the company endorsed a brand extension to have the WWF represented and promoted with two brands, Raw and SmackDown! , named after the promotion's two primary television programs, Raw and SmackDown! , respectively. In early 2002,
5208-545: A lawsuit from the World Wildlife Fund over the "WWF" initials. It was also the first WrestleMania to be held under the company's first brand extension that began in March 2002, which split the roster between the Raw and SmackDown! brands, where wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform on their respective shows; WrestleMania XIX featured wrestlers from both brands. It was also the first WrestleMania to feature
5425-785: 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
5642-504: A major competitor in the professional wrestling industry. The brand extension was enacted to alleviate the issues of an overcrowded roster and to imitate competition the company no longer had from the former promotions. The first two brands established were Raw and SmackDown, named after the respective weekly shows, Raw and SmackDown . ECW —a revival of the former promotion—served as the third brand from 2006 to 2010. The first brand extension then ended on August 29, 2011. A relaunch of
5859-407: A match between Hogan and The Rock, McMahon came down to the ring, only to distract Hogan, which allowed the referee, Sylvan Grenier , to give The Rock a chair, which The Rock used to hit Hogan and pin him for the win. After No Way Out, McMahon proclaimed that Hulkamania was dead and proclaiming a new 'mania; "McMahonamania". On the March 6 episode of SmackDown! , Hogan informed McMahon that Hulkamania
6076-510: 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
6293-553: 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
6510-453: A near fall. As he attempted another Angle Slam , however, Lesnar countered into an F-5 for a near-fall. Lesnar performed another F-5, and instead of covering Angle, Lesnar climbed to the top rope and massively botched a Shooting Star Press on Angle, which Angle covered for by pinning Lesnar for a near-fall. After Lesnar kicked out, Angle picked up Lesnar only to be hit with a third F-5 , Lesnar then successfully pinned Angle, winning
6727-874: A new brand extension was introduced on July 19, 2016. Raw drafted the WWE Women's Champion, the United States Champion, and the WWE Tag Team Champions, while SmackDown drafted the WWE Champion and the Intercontinental Champion; NXT champions were ineligible to be drafted. This distribution of championships remained unchanged at the Battleground pay-per-view, which took place the Sunday immediately following
WrestleMania XIX - Misplaced Pages Continue
6944-528: A no contest when all four women teamed up, pulling down Coachman's pants and pinning him. The next match was a World Heavyweight Championship match between Booker T and Triple H . The match began with Booker T in control of Triple H, however, Ric Flair , who was at ringside in Triple H's corner, threw Booker T's knee into the steel steps. The attack allowed Triple H to work over Booker T's leg, as he applied various submission holds onto Booker T's leg including
7161-591: A one-off main event against Kevin Owens 19 years later at WrestleMania 38 ). The other primary match from the Raw brand saw Triple H retain the World Heavyweight Championship against Booker T , while other matches on the undercard included Shawn Michaels defeating Chris Jericho in his first Mania since 1998 , Hulk Hogan defeating Mr. McMahon in a street fight billed "20 Years in
7378-469: A practice that continued into 1999. In the mid-2000s, New Japan Pro-Wrestling introduced a brand extension which divided their roster into two sub-brands: Wrestle Land and Lock Up; around the same period fellow Japanese promotion Kaientai Dojo promoted two sub-brands for their roster, Get and Rave. In 2013, AAA launched a brand extension that split their roster into two sub-brands, Evolución and Fusión . A similar concept to WWE's brand extension
7595-704: A second draft of 2019 occurring in October, the Wild Card Rule was abolished. In May 2020, select and limited interbrand matches returned with the introduction of the Brand to Brand Invitational, though under stricter guidelines than the previous Wild Card Rule. This happened largely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic , in which several wrestlers have opted to not perform during the outbreak, thus resulting in fewer available talent on each show. The separation of
7812-769: 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
8029-490: 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
8246-703: 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
8463-676: A talent exchange agreement, which meant that SmackDown! wrestlers could appear on ECW and vice versa. This allowed the United States Championship and WWE Tag Team Championship to be shared between the two brands. In July 2008, the WWE Divas Championship was created for SmackDown, allowing SmackDown's women wrestlers to compete for a title. A talent exchange between ECW and Raw then began in September 2008. After John Morrison and The Miz of ECW became World Tag Team Champions, they appeared more frequently on
8680-434: A third brand, and a revival of the original ECW promotion. Both instances of the brand extensions required that representatives of each brand draft "superstars" (terminology used by the company to refer to its contracted personnel) onto each brand in a draft lottery . After WWE bought all the assets of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in 2003, the company began releasing DVDs promoting the original ECW. Soon afterwards,
8897-403: A three-hour show and SmackDown being a two-hour show, Raw received three picks each round and SmackDown received two. Six draft picks had to be made amongst the non-title holders from WWE's developmental brand , NXT . Seth Rollins was picked first by Raw, with WWE Champion Dean Ambrose being SmackDown's first pick. Two other brands would also be established during the second split. After
WrestleMania XIX - Misplaced Pages Continue
9114-502: 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
9331-469: 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
9548-463: 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
9765-468: Is currently utilized by the Japanese promotions CyberFight , which promotes four distinct sub-brands, and Gleat , which promotes three sub-brands. Following the acquisition of Ring of Honor (ROH) by All Elite Wrestling (AEW) founder Tony Khan in March 2022, ROH and AEW are operated independently with separate rosters and championships while both are under Khan's ownership. In 2023, AEW launched
9982-547: 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,
10199-634: 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
10416-602: 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
10633-482: The Widow's Peak on Stratus, who countered with a Chick Kick to Victoria to win the match and the women's title, tying The Fabulous Moolah 's record of four title reigns. The next match was a triple threat WWE Tag Team Championship match between the teams of Rhyno and Chris Benoit , Los Guerreros ( Chavo and Eddie Guerrero ), and the champions, Team Angle ( Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas ). Rhyno delivered
10850-537: 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
11067-602: 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
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#173279068431011284-550: The Indian deathlock . Booker T retaliated and took control of the match; after he delivered a Harlem Hangover leg drop , Booker T grasped his knee in pain, which allowed Triple H to recover and perform a Pedigree to win the match and retain the World Heavyweight Championship. The seventh match was a Street fight between Hulk Hogan and the WWE Chairman, Mr. McMahon . Both Hogan and McMahon tested each other's strength in
11501-633: 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
11718-534: 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
11935-802: The NXT UK Women's Championship and NXT UK Tag Team Championship ; the WWE United Kingdom Championship was renamed to NXT United Kingdom Championship in January 2020. A secondary title of the NXT brand was also introduced in mid-2018, the NXT North American Championship . In early 2019, the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship was established to be shared between Raw, SmackDown, and NXT. In May 2019,
12152-631: 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
12369-543: The Stone Cold Stunner on The Rock for a near-fall, much to Austin's dismay. After he failed to win with the People's Elbow, The Rock then performed two Rock Bottoms on Austin for two near-falls. The Rock performed a third Rock Bottom on Austin, winning the match. After the match in the ring Rock privately thanked Austin for helping him in his career. This was Austin's last match until WrestleMania 38 in 2022. In
12586-526: The Superstar of the Decade by the WWE fans in January, beginning the feud between them. On the March 3 episode of Raw , Austin, who had left the company during the summer of 2002 before returning at No Way Out, made his WWE television return. As he cut a promo about the WWE fans, he was interrupted by The Rock, who challenged him to a match at WrestleMania because Rock was obsessed with not beating Austin at
12803-666: The TakeOver banner), while NXT UK had this similar practice. Initially, the Undisputed WWE Championship and the original WWE Women's Championship were available to both brands. The other championships were exclusive to the brand the champion was a part of. When the brand extension began, Raw received the Intercontinental Championship and European Championship when their respective holders were drafted, while SmackDown! became
13020-418: The WCW World Heavyweight Championship , which Booker T had won on the final Nitro . The match was met with negative reactions from the fans and viewers at home, when the WWF wrestlers interfered at the end of the match. With WWF focused on splitting its roster, the Invasion storyline was used as a second resort. Following the end of the angle at Survivor Series , the WWF executed their alternate plan, which
13237-420: The WWE 24/7 Championship was established. Defended across all five of WWE's brands, it was open to anyone, regardless of gender or WWE employment status. In October 2019, after NXT's creative team took over 205 Live, the WWE Cruiserweight Championship was renamed to NXT Cruiserweight Championship, with the title shared between 205 Live and NXT, and was later extended to NXT UK in January 2020. A secondary title
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#173279068431013454-423: The WWE Tag Team Championship and World Tag Team Championship respectively and both received new belt designs one week later. Meanwhile, a new World Heavyweight Championship was introduced for the brand that did not draft Roman Reigns in the 2023 draft , with Reigns keeping his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship (it is currently unclear if one of Reigns' titles will be retired). SmackDown drafted Reigns, thus
13671-553: The Walls of Jericho . After Michaels escaped the hold, he hit Jericho with a Sweet Chin Music for a near fall. Later, Jericho attempted a suplex that Michaels countered into a roll-up giving him the successful pinfall victory. After the match, Jericho offered to shake Michaels's hand and they hugged before Jericho attacked Michaels with a low blow. Before the next match begun, a fatal four-way pillow fight (hosted by Jonathan Coachman ) took place between Stacy Keibler , Torrie Wilson , Tanya Ballinger, and Kitana Baker. The match went to
13888-525: The World Heavyweight Championship for Raw. Shortly thereafter, Raw became the exclusive brand for the World Tag Team Championship, the Intercontinental Championship, and the Women's Championship. Meanwhile, SmackDown! created the WWE Tag Team Championship and revived the United States Championship . The result was each brand having four championships: World Heavyweight, Intercontinental, World Tag Team, and Women's titles for Raw; WWE, United States, Tag Team, and Cruiserweight titles for SmackDown!. When ECW
14105-432: The World Heavyweight Championship that was introduced for Raw in September 2002 after the WWE Undisputed Championship became exclusive to SmackDown! and was renamed to the WWE Championship. A documentary entitled The Mania of WrestleMania was filmed live during the event and released the following year. It was the first sole production from WWE Films . WrestleMania XIX also marked the first time that production equipment
14322-427: The World Tag Team Championship on Sunday Night Heat . At the end, while the referee was distracted, the Dudleyz performed the 3D (Dudley Death Drop) on Storm. After which, Bubba dropped an elbow on Van Dam, allowing Storm to pin Van Dam, thus Storm and Morley retained the titles. As the event began, Ashanti sang a rendition of " America the Beautiful ", which was omitted from DVD and WWE Network releases. In
14539-420: 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
14756-478: The main event , Brock Lesnar faced Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship , where if Kurt Angle was disqualified or counted out , he would lose the title. The match began with Lesnar and Angle chain-wrestling back and forth, until Angle countered a shoulder block into a German suplex . Lesnar would then attempt an F-5 on Angle but Angle countered it into an Ankle Lock that Lesnar was able to escape out of. As Lesnar escaped, Angle would hit an Angle Slam for
14973-401: 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,
15190-483: The "Big Four", and was considered one of the "Big Five" PPVs, along with King of the Ring until its discontinuation after 2002. WrestleMania XIX was held on March 30, 2003, at Safeco Field in Seattle, Washington . It was the first, and to date, only WrestleMania held in the state of Washington . WrestleMania XIX was the first WrestleMania promoted under the WWE name, following the company being renamed from World Wrestling Federation (WWF) to WWE in May 2002 following
15407-429: The April 17 episode of SmackDown! , John Cena would become the number one contender after he defeated Chris Benoit in the tournament's final match. At Backlash , Lesnar defeated Cena to retain the WWE Championship. Lesnar would then feud with Big Show , as he defeated him at Judgment Day to retain the WWE Championship in a stretcher match . Lesnar would, however, lose the WWE Championship to Angle at Vengeance in
15624-508: 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
15841-538: 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
16058-519: 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
16275-655: The Cruiserweight Championship was defended on the cruiserweight-exclusive show, 205 Live . 205 Live would become its own brand in 2018, making the title exclusive to the brand. The WWE United Kingdom Championship was unveiled in December 2016 with its inaugural holder determined in January 2017. The title later became the top championship for the United Kingdom-based NXT spinoff, NXT UK, which debuted in mid-2018 and also introduced
16492-459: The Cruiserweight Championship. In the next match, The Undertaker and Nathan Jones faced Big Show and A-Train in a tag team match . Earlier in the night on Sunday Night Heat , Jones was attacked and beaten down by the FBI . It was then announced that The Undertaker would have to face both Big Show and A-Train in a handicap match . Both Big Show and A-Train had the advantage of The Undertaker at
16709-551: The Intercontinental Championship in July and August 2002, respectively, deactivating both championships. The issue of specialty championships being exclusive to one brand was partially corrected in September 2002. When SmackDown! general manager Stephanie McMahon announced that Undisputed Champion Brock Lesnar signed a deal to exclusively appear on SmackDown! , Raw general manager Eric Bischoff introduced
16926-488: 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
17143-561: The Making", and The Undertaker defeating the team of Big Show and A-Train in a handicap match . WrestleMania is considered World Wrestling Entertainment 's (WWE) 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 was the first of WWE's original four pay-per-views, which includes Royal Rumble , SummerSlam , and Survivor Series , referred to as
17360-494: The March 10 episode of Raw , Booker T got revenge by attacking Triple H in the bathroom, laying him out. On the March 24 episode of Raw , Booker T and Goldust defeated Triple H and Ric Flair in a tag team match with Booker T pinning Triple H. Another feud from the Raw brand was the rivalry over the Women's Championship . The champion Victoria had captured the title from Trish Stratus at Survivor Series . The next month at Armageddon, Victoria defeated Stratus and Jacqueline in
17577-405: The March 10 episode of Raw , The Rock, with Bischoff's approval, announced that he would pick his own opponent for later that night, which turned out to be The Hurricane , in hopes for The Rock to gain an easy victory. However, during the match, Austin made his way down the entrance ramp, which distracted The Rock and allowed The Hurricane to roll up The Rock into a successful pinfall, thus making
17794-529: The May 1 episode of SmackDown! , "Mr. America" (Hogan under a mask) made his debut on Piper's Pit , where McMahon promised to prove Mr. America was actually Hogan. Also involved in the feud was Zach Gowen , a one legged wrestler who was brought into the feud by Mr. America. After multiple failed attempts to prove Mr. America was Hogan, however, McMahon finally succeeded on the July 3 episode of SmackDown! , after he aired footage of Mr. America unmasking and revealing himself to be Hogan. He then announced that Hogan
18011-772: The NXT United Kingdom Championship, the NXT UK Women's Championship, and the NXT UK Tag Team Championship were retired and unified into their respective NXT counterparts after the NXT UK brand went on hiatus (which will relaunch in 2023 as NXT Europe). The NXT UK Heritage Cup was not retired and after months of inactivity, it was transferred to NXT in April 2023 and renamed the NXT Heritage Cup. The 24/7 Championship
18228-597: The Raw brand, moving to a feud with reigning WWE Tag Team Champions of SmackDown, brothers Carlito and Primo Colon . The teams fought several non-title and title bouts for their respective brands' tag team championships before the two fought in a winner-take-all title unification lumberjack match at WrestleMania 25 . Carlito and Primo would go on to win the contest, forming the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship. The tag team championships remained separate titles, but were defended collectively as
18445-468: The Royal Rumble match, after a sneak attack from behind. Michaels returned later in the match and attacked Jericho out of revenge, helping to lead to his elimination. The two agreed to meet at WrestleMania XIX in a match. Before the event aired live on pay-per-view , Kane and Rob Van Dam faced Chief Morley and Lance Storm (with The Dudley Boyz , ( Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley )) for
18662-425: The Royal Rumble, which he entered at number 29 and won after last eliminating The Undertaker . The following month at No Way Out , Lesnar and Benoit defeated Team Angle (Kurt Angle, Shelton Benjamin , and Charlie Haas ) in a handicap match . During No Way Out, Edge was supposed to team up with Lesnar and Benoit to wrestle Team Angle in the scheduled Six Man Tag team match but Edge was attacked backstage and it
18879-567: 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
19096-507: The Street Fight between Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan receiving the lowest rating of 4 out of 10 stars. He also noted that "it was the WWE slugging homeruns last night at WrestleMania XIX. Criticized for not making the most of the talent it has, the WWE had all the bases covered and proved that if the entire organization puts forth the effort, they can deliver a superior sports entertainment product" and further claimed that "WrestleMania XIX
19313-829: The Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions, although both titles retained their individual lineages; Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn would then win the tag titles at WrestleMania 39 ; One year later, the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship would finally split at WrestleMania XL in a Six-Pack Ladder Match with A-Town Down Under winning the SmackDown Tag Team Championships and Awesome Truth winning the Raw Tag Team Championships, both of these titles would eventually renamed as
19530-450: 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
19747-633: The Unified WWE Tag Team Championship until the then-anonymous general manager of Raw announced that the World Tag Team Championship would be retired in favor of continuing the WWE Tag Team Championship, which received a new, single set of belts. On February 16, 2010, the ECW Championship was deactivated along with the ECW brand. On September 19, 2010, at Night of Champions , the Women's Championship
19964-402: The United States at the time), through separate buyouts that included the employees (on and off-air talent) from both companies. The sales had left the WWF as the only major professional wrestling promotion in the world with international television distribution (until the national expansion of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in 2004 and much later, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in 2019 on
20181-625: 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
20398-553: 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
20615-403: 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
20832-452: 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
21049-475: 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
21266-410: The WWE Championship was rated the highest with a score of 9 out of 10 stars, the match between The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin was rated 8 out of 10 stars, the match between Booker T and Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship was rated 7.5 out of 10 stars (although the finish was generally frowned upon), the match between Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho was also rated 7.5 out of 10 stars and
21483-498: 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
21700-539: The WWE Women's Championship and the WWE Tag Team Championship were renamed as the Raw Women's Championship and the Raw Tag Team Championship, respectively. With this, each brand had a world championship , a secondary championship , a tag team championship , and a women's championship . Since Raw became the exclusive home of WWE's revived cruiserweight division, they also created a new WWE Cruiserweight Championship . Beginning November 29, 2016, in addition to Raw ,
21917-421: The WWE roster between two brands also intended to split the pay-per-view (also known as premium live event from 2022) offerings, which began with Bad Blood in June 2003. The original idea had the "major" pay-per-view events at the time (Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and WrestleMania) would contain the only instances where wrestlers from different brands would interact with each other, and even among
22134-523: 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
22351-584: 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
22568-565: 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
22785-600: 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
23002-437: 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
23219-487: The World Heavyweight Championship became exclusive to Raw. In June 2023, Reigns received a new belt design that represent the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, he would then finally drop the title to Cody Rhodes at Night 2 of WrestleMania XL on April 7, 2024. Although mostly regarded as a WWE concept, brand extensions have also occurred in other professional wrestling promotions. In the 1990s, then-President of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) Eric Bischoff proposed
23436-518: The World Heavyweight Championship was unified with the WWE Championship to become the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The title retained the lineage of the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship was retired. The name was reverted to WWE Championship on June 27, 2016. At WrestleMania 32 on April 3, 2016, the Divas Championship was retired and then replaced with a brand-new WWE Women's Championship . After five years,
23653-477: 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
23870-437: The beginning of the match, until McMahon threw Hogan at ringside. Hogan then countered a chairshot by McMahon into several of his own, that caused McMahon to bleed profusely from the head. Late into the match, Roddy Piper made a shocking appearance as he interfered in the match and hit Hogan with a pipe . Hogan however, recovered and delivered a big boot and three running leg drops to McMahon to successfully pin him and win
24087-577: The best match of the night and a "five-star match". Jericho himself called it "one of the best matches in Mania history." On the SmackDown! after WrestleMania, SmackDown! General Manager Stephanie McMahon announced Kurt Angle suffered a pulled hamstring and a neck injury, while Lesnar suffered multiple concussions . She later announced that a tournament would take place to determine the number one contender to Lesnar's WWE Championship at Backlash . On
24304-507: The brand extension as part " The New Era " went into effect on July 19, 2016. As before, Raw and SmackDown were the two primary brands, with NXT serving as a developmental brand and briefly as part of the main roster. Other brands during the second brand extension included NXT UK , a United Kingdom -based subsidiary of NXT which was active from 2016 to 2022 (scheduled to be relaunched as NXT Europe in 2024), and 205 Live —a brand that specialized in cruiserweight wrestlers (with all wrestlers for
24521-644: The brand having a billed weight of 205 pounds and under) and was active from 2016 to 2022 (first as a Raw subsidiary, then as a standalone brand, and finally as an NXT subsidiary). In 2001, the Monday Night War , the rivalry between the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) ended with the WWF emerging victorious. The WWF would acquire the majority of assets of WCW, and later Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) (the third largest promotion in
24738-454: The chair in the head, causing him to bleed . McMahon then signed the contract and forced Hogan to sign with his blood. Another feud on the Raw brand was between Triple H and Booker T , with the two feuding over the World Heavyweight Championship . Triple H won the title three months prior at Armageddon by defeating then-champion Shawn Michaels in a 3 Stages of Hell match . In the months following, Triple H wrestled Scott Steiner during
24955-421: The company promoted two ECW reunion shows for ECW alumni , entitled ECW One Night Stand in 2005 and in 2006 . On May 25, 2006, WWE announced a launch of a new brand, ECW, a revival of the former 1990s promotion. The new brand debuted on Sci Fi on June 13, 2006, with its final episode on February 16, 2010, on the rebranded Syfy. The ECW brand was dissolved and its show was replaced the following week with
25172-449: 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")
25389-452: 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
25606-424: 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
25823-630: The draft. With the WWE Championship being defended exclusively on SmackDown, Raw commissioner Stephanie McMahon and general manager Mick Foley introduced the WWE Universal Championship to be Raw's world title. As SmackDown was lacking a tag team championship and a women's championship, SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon and general manager Daniel Bryan introduced the SmackDown Tag Team Championship and SmackDown Women's Championship . Subsequently,
26040-479: The end of the show, injuring Angle's knee. At the Royal Rumble , Angle faced Chris Benoit for his championship while Lesnar was forced to wrestle Big Show for a spot in the Royal Rumble match , which guaranteed the winner a shot at his brand 's championship at WrestleMania. Angle defeated Benoit by submission to retain his title. Lesnar defeated Big Show, despite interference from Heyman, to win his way into
26257-668: 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
26474-530: 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
26691-587: 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
26908-798: The event was " Crack Addict " by Limp Bizkit , who appeared at the event to perform the song; the band also performed their song " Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle) " during The Undertaker 's entrance. The marquee match from the SmackDown! brand, which was the main event, saw Brock Lesnar win the WWE Championship from defending champion Kurt Angle . The marquee match from the Raw brand was the third and final WrestleMania bout between The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin (after 15 and X-Seven ), which The Rock won, marking Austin's final match before his retirement from in-ring performance due to injuries sustained in previous years (Austin would return for
27125-399: The event. A smaller feud, also from the Raw brand was between Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels . After Michaels lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Triple H at Armageddon, he appeared in an in-ring segment with Jericho, during which Jericho stated that Michaels was washed up. After mocking Michaels and threatening to attack him, Jericho turned around into a superkick . When Michaels
27342-611: 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
27559-650: The exclusive home for the Tag Team Championship and the original Cruiserweight Championship . With several specialty championships being exclusive to one brand, numerous wrestlers were left with no title to fight for except for the Hardcore Championship , which although a property of SmackDown! after the draft, it was contested under different rules than the other championships—the European and Hardcore championships were later unified with
27776-514: 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
27993-535: The first match that aired, Rey Mysterio faced Matt Hardy for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship . The match began with back and forth action between the two, until Hardy performed a Twist of Fate for a near-fall. Mysterio retaliated by delivering a 619 on Hardy, but as Mysterio delivered a West Coast Pop, Hardy ducked into a roll-up that saw Hardy use the ring ropes for leverage and successfully pinned Mysterio, thus Hardy retained
28210-434: 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
28427-415: 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
28644-607: 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
28861-518: 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
29078-414: The following two pay-per-view events for the World Heavyweight Championship. First was at the Royal Rumble , where Triple H got himself disqualified in order to retain the title when he nailed Steiner with the sledgehammer . Then at No Way Out, he defeated Steiner by pinfall to retain the title. On the February 24 episode of Raw , Booker T won a 20-man battle royal by last eliminating The Rock to become
29295-639: The following year, the event became about brand supremacy; in addition to the traditional Survivor Series matches, each champion of the Raw brand faces their counterpart of the SmackDown brand in non-title matches (e.g., the Universal Champion against the WWE Champion). Following the 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-up , a Wild Card Rule was introduced. Interbrand competition became much more frequent, with interbrand matches occurring weekly on Raw and SmackDown Live , as well as at pay-per-views. With
29512-618: 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
29729-414: The four major pay-per-views, in which both brands were involved. The only exception to this were the two months leading up to WrestleMania 33 in order to build the feuds for that event, and the two months (including the month of WrestleMania) following WrestleMania to begin new feuds for each brand. For example, February 2017 only had a SmackDown pay-per-view while March only had one for Raw. WrestleMania 33
29946-524: The four shows only the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania would have wrestlers from different brands competing against each other. Wrestlers, as a result, appeared only in two-thirds of the shows in a given year, and thus appeared in fewer shows compared to before the brand extension. With single-brand PPVs in place, WWE was able to add more pay-per-view events to their offerings, such as Taboo Tuesday/Cyber Sunday , New Year's Revolution , December to Dismember , and The Great American Bash . Eventually, WWE abandoned
30163-537: 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
30380-411: 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
30597-464: 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
30814-404: The idea was put in motion to separate the WWF's two shows into distinct brands while both being under the WWF banner. One year prior, the original plan was to create a new WCW (which would be an independent entity in the storylines but would be under the WWF's auspices in reality), and for this new WCW to take over Raw and use the show to recreate its WCW counterpart, WCW Monday Nitro . (The WWF
31031-566: 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
31248-460: The launch of the WWE Network service in 2014 and its subsequent merger of the American service with Peacock in 2021, each brand have its own set of PPVs/PLEs each month with the main roster events (Raw and SmackDown) being dual-branded while NXT kept its brand-exclusive premium live events regardless the brand extension is in operation or not (from 2014 to 2021, NXT promoted its specials under
31465-475: 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
31682-485: 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
31899-471: 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
32116-627: 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
32333-463: The match and the WWE Championship. After the match, Angle and Lesnar shook hands and embraced as the show came to a close. The event received highly positive reviews from various websites and wrestling publications. John Powell of Canadian Online Explorer 's professional wrestling section rated the event a perfect score of 10 out of 10 stars, which was a higher rating than the previous year's event . The main event between Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle for
32550-430: 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
32767-451: The match between Austin and The Rock at WrestleMania official. On the March 24 episode of Raw , Austin was banned from entering the arena, as The Rock proceeded to perform the first ever "Rock Concert" that night. However, he managed to enter the arena and attack The Rock during the segment before The Rock fled the ring. The secondary feud on the SmackDown! brand was between Hulk Hogan and Mr. McMahon . One month prior at No Way Out, during
32984-534: The match, Jazz and Victoria would double-team Stratus and Steven Richards , who was at ringside in Victoria's corner, would intervene in the match. As Jazz was thrown over the top rope onto ringside, however, Richards came in the ring with a steel chair and tried to hit Stratus with it but missed and hit it off the ropes into his face, allowing Stratus to perform the Stratus Faction on him. Victoria went for
33201-567: The match, once the show was off the air, Rock gave a farewell speech in which he stated that he was officially taking a sabbatical from professional wrestling. 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
33418-517: The match. The next and final match on the undercard , was the encounter of The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin . The match began with Austin and The Rock brawling in the ring, which ended up at ringside. Throughout the match, The Rock worked over Austin's leg, which included applying a Sharpshooter on Austin. The Rock then began to constantly taunt Austin, as he put on his vest and imitated his taunts and mannerisms, which led both to use their finishers with unsuccessful pin attempts. Austin performed
33635-404: 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,
33852-504: The number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania. On the March 3 episode of Raw , Triple H cut a somewhat controversial promo on Booker T. Triple H downplayed Booker T's WCW success, pointing out that the WCW World Heavyweight Championship had been held by non-wrestlers like Vince Russo and actor David Arquette calling WCW and its title "a joke". He implied that Booker T, as
34069-512: 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
34286-540: 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
34503-406: The practice of single-brand pay-per-view events following WrestleMania 23 . December to Dismember and New Year's Revolution were cancelled following the announcement. With the reintroduction of the brand extension in 2016, single-branded pay-per-view events returned, and seven more pay-per-view events were added in 2017 so that each brand could have their own pay-per-view each month, in addition to
34720-403: The process. At No Way Out, The Rock defeated Hogan with the help of Mr. McMahon . On the February 24 episode of Raw , The Rock moved to the Raw brand and competed in a 20-man Battle royal that would determine the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship . The Rock however, lost after he was eliminated by Booker T . The Rock would go on to criticize Austin for being chosen as
34937-408: The reality series, WWE NXT . On May 25, 2016, it was announced that beginning July 19, SmackDown would broadcast live on Tuesday nights, as opposed to being taped on Tuesdays and airing on Thursdays as it was previously, receiving a unique roster and set of writers compared to Raw , thus restoring the brand extension. The draft took place on the live premiere episode of SmackDown to determine
35154-440: The reestablishment of the brand extension in 2016; the first interbrand match that occurred after the brand extension went into full effect was at SummerSlam on August 21, 2016, where Raw's Brock Lesnar defeated SmackDown's Randy Orton . The next large interbrand matches occurred at Survivor Series on November 20, 2016, featuring traditional Survivor Series elimination tag team matches between Raw and SmackDown, and beginning
35371-452: 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
35588-598: 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
35805-595: The rosters between both brands. On the July 11 episode of Raw , Vince McMahon named Shane McMahon the (on-screen) commissioner for SmackDown and Stephanie McMahon the commissioner for Raw; both chose a General Manager for their respective shows. On the July 18 episode of Raw , Stephanie McMahon chose Mick Foley as the Raw General Manager, and Shane McMahon chose Daniel Bryan as the SmackDown General Manager. Due to Raw being
36022-480: The second brand extension began, WWE revived the cruiserweight division . The cruiserweight wrestlers were originally exclusive to Raw but had a supplementary show called 205 Live that premiered that November on the WWE Network . Following WrestleMania 34 in April 2018, the 205 Live brand was split from Raw, with the promotion's cruiserweight wrestlers becoming exclusive to the new brand. Additionally, in December 2016, WWE announced that they would be establishing
36239-524: 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,
36456-544: 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
36673-545: 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
36890-407: The start of the match; however, late into the match, Jones appeared and attacked Big Show, allowing The Undertaker to deliver a Tombstone Piledriver on A-Train for a successful pinfall, thus The Undertaker won the match and remained undefeated at WrestleMania. In the third match, Victoria , Jazz and Trish Stratus fought in a triple threat match for the WWE Women's Championship . Throughout
37107-468: 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
37324-456: The teammates being on separate brands. Bobby Lashley was also notable for his interbrand action, as he was involved in a storyline with Donald Trump against WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, which carried over from Raw through WrestleMania 23 to ECW. The brief return of Saturday Night's Main Event to NBC also led to more interaction between the brands. Interbrand competition returned with
37541-466: The title at Survivor Series in November 2002 after his agent, Paul Heyman , betrayed him and assisted Big Show in winning the match. On the episode of SmackDown! immediately following Armageddon, Angle revealed that he too had taken on Heyman as his agent, and together they would ensure Lesnar never received an opportunity to regain the WWE Championship. Lesnar responded by brutally attacking Angle at
37758-537: 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
37975-504: 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
38192-415: The title. The main feud on the Raw brand was between The Rock and Steve Austin . On the February 20 episode of SmackDown! , The Rock returned to WWE after a six-month hiatus from wrestling (his last appearance being at SummerSlam the previous August). On that evening, he was involved in a confrontation with Hulk Hogan before their WrestleMania X8 rematch at No Way Out , officially turning heel in
38409-535: 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
38626-407: 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
38843-581: 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
39060-466: 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
39277-445: The world at Safeco Field resulted in ticket earnings of $ 2.76 million. WrestleMania XIX was the first WrestleMania to be promoted under the WWE name after the promotion was renamed from World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in May 2002. It was also the first WrestleMania to take place after WWE introduced the brand extension in March 2002. Many fans and insiders consider this show the "epilogue" of The Attitude Era . The official theme song for
39494-437: 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
39711-644: Was "praying" in the corner, switched places with his brother Eric . Lesnar then came out and the match began. Shortly after the match began, Benjamin and Haas came to the ring and distracted Lesnar, which gave Eric time to switch back with Kurt. As Lesnar regained his focus, Kurt was able to pin him with a small package for the win. The following week on the March 20 episode of SmackDown! , SmackDown! General Manager Stephanie McMahon told Angle that, at WrestleMania, if he tried to get himself disqualified, counted out or if Benjamin, Haas, Heyman, Eric or anyone tried to interfere in their match on Angle's behalf, he would lose
39928-492: 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
40145-1618: 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 ,
40362-410: Was a guest on Jericho's in-ring show The Highlight Reel the following month, Jericho claimed he had idolized Michaels from a young age and that he had been Jericho's inspiration to become a wrestler, even going so far as to emulate Michaels in his early professional years. At the Royal Rumble, Michaels and Jericho entered the Royal Rumble match at #1 and #2, respectively. Jericho eliminated Michaels from
40579-451: 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
40796-473: Was also retired in November 2022. At WrestleMania 38 in April 2022, SmackDown's Universal Champion Roman Reigns defeated Raw's WWE Champion Brock Lesnar to win both titles and become the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, although both titles retained their individual lineages. Similarly in May 2022, SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) defeated Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro ( Randy Orton and Riddle ) to win both titles and become
41013-422: Was announced he could not participate in the match. In reality, Edge had suffered a severe neck injury prior to the event, and needed time off for surgery. On the March 6 episode of SmackDown! , Lesnar defeated Heyman in a steel cage match to earn a WWE Championship match against Angle. On the March 13 episode of SmackDown! , Angle defeated Lesnar to retain the WWE Championship. Before the match began, Kurt, who
41230-553: 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
41447-705: 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
41664-438: Was fired from WWE. On the Raw after WrestleMania, Stone Cold Steve Austin was fired from the WWE in storyline by Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff due to "medical reasons". Austin was later re-hired a few weeks later by WWE CEO, Linda McMahon , however, as Raw's Co-General Manager, along with Bischoff. Later that night, The Rock hosted "Rock Appreciation Night", where he taunted Austin for getting fired and proclaimed he
41881-411: 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
42098-463: 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
42315-499: Was initially kept to a minimum, with wrestlers from all brands competing together only at pay-per-view events. However, from 2003 to 2007, all pay-per-view events became brand exclusive, leaving the "big four" pay-per-views ( WrestleMania , SummerSlam , Survivor Series , and Royal Rumble ) as the only interbrand shows. Starting in late 2006, in an attempt to add more star power to the shows, interbrand matches became more common. Most notably, MNM and The Hardy Boyz reformed, despite
42532-410: Was later introduced for NXT UK called the NXT UK Heritage Cup with its own special stipulations. Subsequently, the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship was created for NXT with the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship becoming only shared between Raw and SmackDown. In January 2022, the NXT Cruiserweight Championship was retired after it was unified with the NXT North American Championship. In September 2022,
42749-399: Was launched in 2010 and has served as WWE's developmental territory since 2012. The first brand split began in March 2002, following the company's acquisition of talent from the former World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotions, and after the conclusion of The Invasion storyline. WWE's roster had doubled in size, and the company no longer had
42966-496: Was leaving WWE, as he had nothing left to accomplish, and because the fans did not appreciate him anymore. Goldberg would officially make his WWE debut by interrupting Rock, telling him "You're Next!", which led to Goldberg spearing The Rock. On the April 14 episode of Raw , The Rock would accept the challenge made by Goldberg, which he had previously rejected a week earlier, meaning the two would wrestle each other at Backlash. At Backlash, Goldberg successfully pinned The Rock. After
43183-425: 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
43400-420: Was not dead and that McMahon had nothing to do with creating it. McMahon informed Hogan that he did not hate Hulkamaniacs or Hulkamania, but he hated Hogan. He then told Hogan that he hated him for leaving WWE (then known as the WWF) and signing with Ted Turner 's World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and for testifying against him in the infamous steroid trial in the 1990s. McMahon proceeded to challenge Hogan to
43617-507: Was not only a outstanding show but it will surely go down as one of the best WrestleManias ever". In 2019, Troy L. Smith of cleveland.com released a list of the "50 Greatest Wrestling Pay-Per-Views of All Time" from every professional wrestling promotion in the world, with WrestleMania XIX ranked at number eight. Most of the critics rated Jericho vs. Michaels as the match of the night. Kazuchika Okada stated that he "learned so much from that match." Jericho reported that Michaels viewed it as
43834-470: Was on April 2 and Raw had its first post-WrestleMania pay-per-view on April 30, while only SmackDown had a pay-per-view in May. This also happened in 2018, however, for 2018, WWE announced that following WrestleMania 34, brand-exclusive PPVs would be discontinued, abandoning the single-brand practice for a second time. The 2018 Elimination Chamber and Fastlane events were the last two brand-exclusive pay-per-views for Raw and SmackDown, respectively. Since
44051-454: Was originally planned for 2023 but was delayed due to WWE's acquisition by Endeavor , which also owns Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), with WWE and UFC merging to form TKO Group Holdings . The merger was finalized in September 2023. In September 2022 the brand dropped the 2.0 moniker, reverting to the NXT name, with a revised version of the logo featuring white lettering in the 2.0 font outlined in black and gold. Interbrand competition
44268-486: Was revived in 2006 as a third brand, the ECW World Heavyweight Championship was reactivated as the brand's only championship. Over the course of the first brand extension, these championships switched between brands, usually due to the result of the annual draft. The Cruiserweight title, however, was the only championship to never switch brands, staying on SmackDown! from 2002 until the championship's retirement on September 28, 2007. In October 2007, SmackDown! and ECW began
44485-437: Was suspended from the underside of Safeco Field's roof (while in the closed position) with WWE suspending their lighting truss system from it. The main feud heading into WrestleMania on the SmackDown! brand was between Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar , with the two feuding over the WWE Championship . Angle won the title three months prior at Armageddon by defeating then-champion Big Show with Lesnar's help; Lesnar had lost
44702-453: 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
44919-428: 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;
45136-429: 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
45353-410: 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)
45570-435: 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
45787-432: 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
46004-404: 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
46221-515: 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
46438-409: Was to separate the two shows themselves: previously, wrestlers appeared on both Raw and SmackDown , but with this extension, wrestlers would be exclusive to only one show. Only the Undisputed WWF Champion and the WWF Women's Champion were exempt and could appear on both shows. This would change as both championships were later assigned to a brand. The brand extension began on March 25, 2002, with
46655-407: Was unable to find a television time slot for WCW due to its exclusivity deal with Viacom .) This experiment was first made on July 2, 2001, when the final twenty minutes of Raw was given to WCW programming, in which the Raw crew was largely replaced (with Scott Hudson and Arn Anderson doing commentary, as well as a major stage overhaul) to present a match between Buff Bagwell and Booker T for
46872-530: Was unified with the Divas Championship, retiring the Women's Championship in the process; the Divas Championship was briefly referred to as the Unified WWE Divas Championship. The first brand extension would then end a year later and all champions could appear on both shows. In 2012, NXT became a developmental brand for WWE and they introduced the NXT Championship that year, followed by the NXT Women's Championship and NXT Tag Team Championship in 2013. On December 15, 2013, at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs ,
47089-495: 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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