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242-620: WrestleMania XV was the 15th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on March 28, 1999, at the First Union Center in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . Ten professional wrestling matches were scheduled on the event's card . The ticket sales of 20,276 drew a gross of $ 1,437,050. The main event saw

484-760: 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. Steve Williams (wrestler) In addition to his success as a singles professional wrestler, Williams achieved notoriety in Japan in tag team competition, winning the World Tag Team Championship eight times with notable gaijin tag team partners Terry Gordy , Gary Albright and Vader . His tag team success continued in North America, winning tag team titles in

726-642: 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

968-654: 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

1210-403: A leaping flying clothesline of his own before going Old School , ultimately falling into the ropes. The two began a fistfight in the middle of the ring with Undertaker failing a tombstone piledriver attempt, but successfully performing it seconds later and pinned him afterwards. Undertaker stood up and looked to the heavens with his hands upwards, signaling The Brood to descend onto the roof of

1452-414: A low blow , for which Mankind was not disqualified. When Show stood back up, he had Mankind on his back with the sock in his mouth and jumped backward so that his entire body landed on Mankind, breaking up the hold. As the two recovered, Show kicked his opponent out of the ring, grabbing a steel chair and thrusting it into Mankind's chest then hitting it over his back. Big Show threw that chair and another in

1694-481: A squash from Vachon, Sable also gave Tori a Sable Bomb , leading to Tori interrupting Sable's Playboy interview by demanding a championship match at WrestleMania. Having been buried alive in a Royal Rumble qualification match at Rock Bottom: In Your House , The Undertaker disappeared from television while The Acolytes , Faarooq ( Ron Simmons ) and Bradshaw ( John Layfield ), began to act strangely, eventually abducting Dennis Knight and leaving him tied up in

1936-424: A "very close friend". After the details of the case became known, Williams wrote that he "felt no sorrow for Chris Benoit", where he also wrote how he has "always asked God to give me life so that I could LIVE for my son". He also stated that he has "no idea how someone can murder their family and then stick a Bible next to them." Williams also criticized the mainstream media's disparaging reports on Vince McMahon and

2178-478: A 43–1–1 record at the time, who challenged him to a Brawl for All fight. From November's Survivor Series until the night after St. Valentine's Day Massacre, The Rock and Mankind ( Mick Foley ) traded the WWF Championship numerous times as Mr. McMahon screwed Mankind time and time again on his quest to headline WrestleMania. In their final match, a Raw Is War ladder match , Paul Wight delivered

2420-496: A Cell match. Stone Cold Steve Austin's feud with The Corporation continued after WrestleMania with Austin demanding the return of his customized smoking skull belt that was taken from him after losing the WWF Championship at Breakdown: In Your House in 1998. With The Ministry of Darkness continuing to threaten his family, Mr. McMahon was forced to comply with his nemesis' demands and requested his son Shane to deliver

2662-611: A Japanese promotion with which the WWF had talent exchanges. He was scheduled to compete against Snow and Holly at Backlash: In Your House for the WWF Hardcore Championship, but he did not appear due to his release. According to a radio interview from November 1999, Williams was originally planned to have some of Triple H 's storylines before his release. Most notably, the segment on the October 4, 1999 episode of Raw

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2904-408: 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

3146-658: A Six-Man Tag Team Match at Backlash. Bart Gunn would leave the WWF after his match against Butterbean. On the Dark Side of the Ring episode on the Brawl for All , Gunn said he felt his match against Butterbean was "punishment" for winning the Brawl and knocking out Steve "Dr. Death" Williams during the event (Williams suffered other injuries during the match) which was not what the bookers wanted (they wanted Williams to win to give him

3388-647: A Triple Cage "Tower of Doom" match at The Great American Bash in 1988. Williams, however, turned heel and joined the Varsity Club in late 1988. He and Sullivan won the NWA United States Tag Team Championship at Starrcade . They feuded with The Road Warriors and he and Mike Rotunda won the NWA World Tag Team Championship in the process. In May 1989, Williams and Rotunda were stripped of

3630-629: A WrestleMania in a critically acclaimed match, which received the 2009 Match of the Year award by both Pro Wrestling Illustrated and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter . The WWE Intercontinental Championship was defended at the event for the first time since WrestleMania X8 with Rey Mysterio defeated John "Bradshaw" Layfield. John Cena defeated Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship also involving

3872-486: A blind tag from Road Dogg, after he replaced Goldust, immediately putting an ankle lock until Venis grabbed the bottom rope. As Venis grabbed the ropes to stand up again Shamrock charged him but was tossed over the ropes as Ryan Shamrock insulted him. Venis went after Ken Shamrock and the two fought up the walkway with Shamrock running back to the ring but not fast enough to avoid a double count-out. Shamrock, not accepting

4114-444: 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

4356-798: 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

4598-593: A bruised knee and was placed on injured reserve for the first six games of the Generals 1983 season. After being activated for week #10 vs. the Birmingham Stallions on May 9, Williams was the starting nose tackle for the Generals in a 22–7 loss at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands . The game was telecast live on ESPN. Williams started at nose tackle the following week on May 16, in a 31–24 loss to

4840-643: 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

5082-502: A chair but Austin took it from him, Rock blocked the oncoming chair shot by pulling referee Mike Chioda in front of him, who took the chair shot. Rock then caught Austin by surprise with a swinging neckbreaker, taking the chair and driving it into Austin's back several times. After another pin attempt, with Tim White now officiating, Austin still kicked out and Rock used a sitting chin hold to subdue him. After holding him for some time, Austin slowly stood up, elbowing Rock and attempting

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5324-434: A chance to referee; rather than have two conflicting referees, a match was booked to give the winner the right to officiate. When Ryan Shamrock ( Alicia Webb ) appeared front row on Raw Is War on January 11, she gained attention not only from her brother but also Val Venis , who performed a flirtatious dance for her, and "Badd Ass" Billy Gunn, who lived up to his moniker by mooning her. Enraged, Ken Shamrock fought Gunn at

5566-438: 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

5808-467: A credible midcarder. However, because of Gunn being released, their feud instead carried over to All Japan Pro Wrestling in the early 2000s, where in Japan the Brawl For All was better received. When Mankind entered the ring he was immediately headbutted out, but as Big Show followed him out, Mankind slammed Show's head into the steel steps. He then tried a double-armed DDT into the steps but

6050-600: A darkened room. On January 11, The Undertaker returned in slightly new attire, taking a seat in a ceremonial throne on the Raw Is War stage while Paul Bearer stood beside him and The Acolytes brought Knight out and tied him to a table. There, Undertaker performed a ritualistic ceremony, rechristening him Mideon. Undertaker began delivering ambiguous apocalyptic messages, but after recruiting Mabel, now Viscera ( Nelson Frazier, Jr. ) and The Brood , he began to be more direct, revealing his plan to attack Mr. McMahon and take over

6292-772: A failed pin attempt only to be met with an enziguiri and then the Sharpshooter . Brown came in illegally to break it up but was tagged in straight afterward, dominating both Hart and Jarrett with power slams and dropkicks, almost winning the match after a Sky High that was broken up by Jarrett. Referee Jimmy Korderas was distracted when Debra ( Debra Marshall ) came to the apron to distract Brown only to be pulled down by Ivory ( Lisa Moretti ), at which point PMS ( Terri Runnels and Jacqueline Moore ) arrived and all of them began to fight while Test tried to pull them apart. With everyone distracted, Hart missile dropkicked Brown allowing Jarrett to roll Brown up and sit on him, securing

6534-723: A feud between Undertaker and Ken Shamrock who wanted revenge for Undertaker's actions to his family with Undertaker defeating Shamrock at Backlash: In Your House. When The Undertaker did successfully find Stephanie, Shamrock, in his quest to get revenge on Undertaker, continued to beat down and interrogate members of The Ministry of Darkness for McMahon's whereabouts. After Christian told Shamrock McMahon's whereabouts, Undertaker punished Christian by whipping him and have him face Crucifixion. Edge and Gangrel , who along with Christian were members of their own stable The Brood and were loyal to Christian decided to rescue him, betraying The Ministry. The Ministry got revenge by defeating The Brood in

6776-773: A feud with Vampiro . As a result of this feud, he wrestled against Jerry Only from the Misfits on the November 29 edition of WCW Monday Nitro in a steel cage match . On December 2 on Thunder in Topeka, KS, Williams rebounded to defeat Silver King , Villano IV and Villano V in a three on one match. On the following Nitro in Milwaukee, WI, Williams teamed with Oklahoma to defeat Vampiro and Jerry Only. On December 13, 1999, he then faced Sid Vicious in New Orleans, LA, but

7018-626: A few more matches for New Japan, Williams firmed with All Japan in January 1991 and became exclusively loyal to them. On February 29, 1992, at SuperBrawl II , then WCW Executive Vice President Kip Frey announced that he was negotiating to bring Williams and Gordy back to World Championship Wrestling. On March 9, the duo defeated three enhancement teams at a television taping for The Main Event in Anderson, SC in contests that would not air until May. On

7260-609: A fighting champion, he agreed to a rematch at WrestleMania, but regularly interfered in X-Pac's matches up until that point, culminating in a Greenwich Street Fight on March 22 that ended in a no-contest when the Mean Street Posse ambushed X-Pac and drove off with Shane in their car. Tori was sitting front row as a plant as early as September 14's Raw Is War , but it was not until late December that she began to act with stalker tendencies, sending flowers and notes to Sable,

7502-463: A four-corners elimination match. After The Rock won his "I Quit" match against Mankind at the Royal Rumble by playing a recording of his voice, Triple H demanded an I Quit match of his own, but as he was about to put Rock through the announcers table, The Corporation came to the ring and Kane held his manager/girlfriend Chyna hostage, demanding that he quit the match. As soon as the match

WrestleMania XV - Misplaced Pages Continue

7744-593: A four-day event held at convention centers and arenas in the host city of that year's WrestleMania. For WrestleMania XL in April 2024, WWE will relaunch the event under a new name of WWE World at WrestleMania, which will be done in partnership with Fanatics Events and held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The event will run from Thursday, April 4 until Monday, April 8. The five-day event includes interview panel sessions with WWE wrestlers,

7986-618: 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

8228-628: A hardcore match, which Williams lost because Al Snow interfered. On the April 5 Raw episode, Williams attacked both Snow and Holly with suplexes in the ring. Later in the week on the April 10 episode of WWF Shotgun , Williams defeated Tiger Ali Singh in what would be his final match for the company. While injured with a bad hamstring Williams decided to wrestle at the Giant Baba Memorial Show on May 2, 1999. Despite wrestling injured he didn't want to miss out at this event due to not wanting to let his mentor Giant Baba down, who died at

8470-785: 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

8712-496: A mainstay gaijin on AJPW television along with Stan Hansen , Terry Gordy , Johnny Ace and Gary Albright . He would either team with them or fight them in singles from 1994 to 1998 in a variety of feuds during a wrestling boom in Japan , comparable to that of WWF's Attitude Era . On August 31, 1997, Williams won the World Tag Team Championship titles with Gary Albright . Williams' last TV appearance for his first All Japan run

8954-510: 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

9196-553: 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

9438-535: A match they kept slapping each other acting as if they were setting up a future angle, but both of them swerved the audience and excitedly high-fived to reveal themselves as tag-team partners. Together they held a tag-team title reign when they captured the World Tag Team Championship titles from Kenta Kobashi and Jun Akiyama in February 2000. They split in early April when Vader left the company. Williams then feuded with success in singles against Akira Taue in

9680-423: A muscled woman, later identified as Nicole Bass , came into the ring to gorilla press slam Tori. This allowed Sable to Sable Bomb Tori and pin her to retain the championship. Before X-Pac could make his way to the ring Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco attacked him from behind but caused the little problem to X-Pac who beat them then ran into the ring, with Shane McMahon fleeing. Shane eventually made his way to

9922-432: A pin count. The Brawl For All match began with the two meetings in the middle, Gunn running into some blows from Butterbean. The two traded punches, neither man managing to contact properly until Butterbean shook Gunn with a left-hand jab followed by a right hook which stunned Gunn allowing Bean to corner him, giving him another right hook which knocked him down. Gunn immediately came back upon his knees but took advantage of

WrestleMania XV - Misplaced Pages Continue

10164-585: A push against "Stone Cold" Steve Austin). Gunn would not return to WWF TV until 2007. Nicole Bass continued to accompany Sable to the ring and destroyed all competition for Sable's WWF Women's Championship. After HHH washed his hands of D-Generation X and joined Chyna in the Corporation, X-Pac teamed up with Kane to form an unlikely tag team, and captured the WWF Tag Team titles from Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett. The City of Philadelphia would later host

10406-546: A ready-made nickname that dated back to an incident in junior high wherein he had to wrestle in a hockey goalie 's mask due to shattering his nose and was jokingly labeled "Dr. Death" by one of his school's coaches and his sister. Williams started every game in 1982 for the Oklahoma Sooners at right guard. He was named to the UPI All-Big Eight first team and played in the 1983 Fiesta Bowl . He

10648-601: A rematch at Halloween Havoc 92 but Gordy quit the company and was replaced by Steve Austin and they were only able to wrestle Rhodes and Windham to a time limit draw. On December 12, Williams teamed with Big Van Vader in an unsuccessful challenge to Windham & Rhodes in Columbus, OH. On December 28 he participated in the Battle Bowl event at Starrcade and teamed with Sting to defeat Eric Watts and Jushin Liger . At

10890-444: A reversal, smashing Kane's face into his knee. Kane was allowed time to recover when Triple H was distracted by Chyna coming to ringside. Triple H tried to Pedigree Kane as he stood up but failed while Chyna pushed the steel steps into the ring. Kane picked them up and ran into Triple H, who used the turnbuckle to swing his feet up and kicked them back into Kane causing Kane to stagger backward and drop them before smashing his face into

11132-427: A running attack but was taken out with a Samoan drop , which Austin again kicked out of. The Rock took his frustration out on White, Rock Bottoming him, which gave Austin the time to recover and attack the champion with a Stone Cold Stunner , with Earl Hebner eventually coming in to officiate but only counting to two before Rock kicked out. Mr. McMahon came to the ring, distracting Austin while The Rock low-blowed him;

11374-769: 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

11616-455: A slap, causing Show to punch McMahon and knock him out. The four corners Intercontinental match began with Ken Shamrock and Road Dogg in the ring, with the latter being thrown from corner to corner until Goldust tagged his way in, with running shoulder barges that floored Shamrock. Shamrock tagged in Venis who came in and instantly attacked Shamrock until Goldust backdropped him. Goldust tried

11858-490: 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

12100-424: A stretcher. Before the main event, Michael Cole announced Jim Ross returning to call the match. Mr. McMahon then came to the ring as the special guest referee but was confronted by Commissioner Shawn Michaels , who explained that only the commissioner is entitled to appoint a referee for WrestleMania, ordering McMahon to the back and barring all members of The Corporation from ringside. The main event began with

12342-469: A successful pin count. Before Kane's match with Triple H, Kane entered the ring only to be attacked while he was performing his signature entrance by the San Diego Chicken. Kane fought back and unmasked the chicken, revealing it to be Pete Rose , trying to gain revenge for the previous year's incident but receiving a Tombstone piledriver . Triple H also tried to ambush Kane by coming through

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12584-703: 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

12826-500: A superplex, the pin-count was broken up by Test but he was soon kicked out of the ring then X-Pac whipped McMahon with the belt before round house kicking him into the corner and performing the Bronco Buster. When Chioda checked on McMahon afterward, Test struck X-Pac with the championship belt but by the time McMahon covered him he managed to kick out. Test tried to interfere but took a Bronco Buster too. Triple H and Chyna came to

13068-582: A tag-team called The Miracle Violence Connection , which they formed prior in 1987 in Jim Crockett Promotions , winning the world tag team titles together on March 6 by beating Stan Hansen and Genichiro Tenryu . During that year, Williams was dividing his time between All Japan and New Japan, meaning he was holding the AJPW tag belt on the New Japan rings, something rare for the time. After

13310-772: A thirty-minute draw. On July 5, 1992, at a house show at the Omni in Atlanta, GA, Williams and Gordy won the WCW World Tag Team Championship from The Steiner Brothers Shortly afterwards at The Great American Bash , the final two rounds of the NWA Tag-Team Championship Tournament were run. Gordy and Williams defeated Ricky Steamboat and Nikita Koloff in the semi-finals, and then beat Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham in

13552-669: A trash can, was about to cry in tears, and then throwing his armpads to the ground while swearing again. Such scenes never happened in the traditional All Japan and was characteristic to the "crash TV" style of Vince Russo's writing. This would be an early sign of what would become the Pro Wrestling Love era , ultimately leading Williams into a grudge feud with Muto into 2002. In later 2001, 2002 and early 2003 Williams often teamed with Mike Rotundo and Mike Barton . The latter he befriended on TV and took part in multiple in-ring and backstage skits with, such as singing together in

13794-502: 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

14036-469: 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

14278-463: 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

14520-722: Is War when Triple H attacked Jim Ross was the moment when Williams was going to start his feud with Austin. Because the angle was originally planned for Williams, this storyline was supposed to be how he would become a heel, as Ross was going to manage him as a babyface until that point later in the year. Williams stated in his book that his main event push was going to start after the debut of WWF Smackdown! on UPN . In November 1999, Williams healed from his hamstring injury and appeared briefly in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) again, with Oklahoma (who in an ironic twist happened to be Ed Ferrara) as his manager in

14762-604: 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,

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15004-634: 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

15246-602: 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

15488-537: 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

15730-652: The Cherry Poppin' Daddies . During the Sunday Night Heat pre-show, Jacqueline ( Jacqueline Moore ) pinned Ivory ( Lisa Moretti ) after a back suplex. After the match, Terri Runnels burned her cigar into Ivory's cheek. The second Heat match saw a 21-man battle royal match with the last two competitors becoming a tag team for the evening to face the Tag Team Championship holders. In the event, D'Lo Brown and Test ( Andrew Martin ) were

15972-400: 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

16214-450: The Curtain Call but Venis flipped over Goldust's back only to be knocked down again by a clothesline from Goldust who then put Venis on the turnbuckle and attempted a superplex but Venis fought back and replied with a diving bulldog following with a fisherman suplex pin which would only make a two count. The two then collided in the turnbuckle, causing Goldust to fall down and Venis to fall on him, headbutting his crotch. Shamrock took

16456-424: The Fameasser on Snow, driving him into a chair on the mat. As the referee counted, Holly struck Gunn with a weapon, quickly covering Snow to steal his second championship reign. The WWF Tag Team Championship match began with Jeff Jarrett and D'Lo Brown exchanging running maneuvers before both tagging in their respective partners, at which point Test used a pumphandle slam on Owen Hart , but tried again after

16698-417: The Michigan Panthers at the Silverdome in Pontiac, MI – a game also shown on ESPN. Williams, trained for professional wrestling by Bill Watts and Buddy Landel , started wrestling in 1982 in Watts' Mid-South Wrestling. In 1985, he formed a team with Ted DiBiase and feuded with Eddie Gilbert and The Nightmare. In 1986, Mid-South was renamed the Universal Wrestling Federation and Williams went on to win

16940-411: 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

17182-468: The NWA World Heavyweight Championship , suffered a legitimate knee injury, Luger turned face and was moved from the US title match to the World Title match in Sting's place. He then departed the company. Following a one-time appearance for New Japan Pro Wrestling on February 10, 1990, at their Super Fight In Tokyo Dome card where he defeated Salman Hashimikov , he then went to All Japan Pro Wrestling in 1990 where he found success with Terry Gordy in

17424-591: 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

17666-606: The Royal Rumble , then Venis at St. Valentine's Day Massacre, with Venis winning the Intercontinental Championship thanks to help from Ryan. Venis soon dumped Ryan, and she began a relationship with Goldust ( Dustin Rhodes ). Venis also unwittingly lost his championship to Road Dogg on Raw Is War and found himself defending his championship against the important men in Ryan Shamrock's life in

17908-471: The Showstopper to Mankind as he was about to win the match, removing his chances of appearing the main event. However, as Mr. McMahon's conspiracy of appointing Big Show as special guest referee to secure The Rock as champion began to fall apart, Mankind constantly offered his services as a second official. With The Rock and Big Show causing infighting in the Corporation, Mankind successfully canvassed for

18150-680: 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

18392-826: The UWF Heavyweight Championship from Big Bubba Rogers . When Jim Crockett Promotions bought the UWF in late 1987, he was one of the few UWF wrestlers to receive an initial push in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). During this time he also worked for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling , World Class Championship Wrestling and New Japan Pro-Wrestling . Williams became involved with Jimmy Garvin 's war with Kevin Sullivan 's Varsity Club in 1988, often teaming with Jimmy and Ron Garvin or Ron Simmons in various matches, including

18634-699: The WWE Hall of Fame in 2021 as part of the Legacy Wing. Steven Franklin Williams was born and raised in the Denver suburb of Lakewood, Colorado on May 14, 1960. Williams attended Lakewood High School , graduating in 1978. He was the youngest of four children born to Gerald (died 1985) and Dottie Williams (died 2016). He grew up in Lakewood, where he also was living at time of his death with his mother. He

18876-735: The WWF Intercontinental Championship , but Road Dogg becoming Hardcore Champion until an injury prevented him from honoring a championship match with Al Snow . Snow ended up fighting himself and then Bob Holly for the vacant belt at St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House , with Holly winning the title at the banks of the Mississippi River . When Road Dogg won the Intercontinental Championship on Raw Is War Gunn fought Holly (now Hardcore Holly) and won when Holly crashed into an ad-hoc announcers table Jim Ross had constructed for his pirate broadcast of

19118-543: The Women's Champion and even helping her to defend her title against Luna Vachon at the Royal Rumble. On Raw Is War the night after the previous pay-per-view, Tori invaded the ring again and was publicly shouted at and humiliated by Sable. Vachon then brought Tori to the ring a fortnight after, reprimanding Sable for her ego, but a still-obsessed Tori helped attack Vachon. The following week on March 8's Raw Is War , Tori fought Vachon with Sable in her corner but after receiving

19360-544: 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

19602-401: 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,

19844-500: The "Big Four", and was considered one of the "Big Five" pay-per-views, along with King of the Ring . WrestleMania XV was scheduled on March 28, 1999, at the First Union Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . When Road Dogg Jesse James and "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn lost the WWF Tag Team Championship to The Corporation , they tried their hand at singles wrestling for some time. Gunn failed in his attempts to win

20086-410: The 30th. Having annoyed commissioner Shawn Michaels , McMahon was placed into the match as the second entrant. McMahon would later try to incentivize other wrestlers to eliminate Austin by putting a $ 100,000 bounty on him during the Royal Rumble match. Despite this, Austin (and, for that matter, McMahon) managed to stay in the match to the very end, although this was mostly due to he and McMahon leaving

20328-652: The ACW Heavyweight Championship, which he vacated after the match. The throat cancer eventually returned and Williams's health gradually worsened. His last public appearance was at the K&;S Wrestlefest Wrestling Convention on December 12, 2009, in Carteret, New Jersey . On December 29, 2009, Williams died at St. Anthony Central Hospital in Denver from throat cancer. He was 49 years old. Williams

20570-688: The April 18 edition of WCW Saturday Night it was announced that Williams and Gordy would be part of the upcoming tournament for the vacant NWA Tag-Team Championship that summer. At Clash of the Champions XIX on June 16, the duo defeated the Australian representatives Larry O'Day & Jeff O'Day in the opening round of the NWA Tournament. As a bonus for the Clash, it was announced by new WCW Executive Vice President Bill Watts that

20812-457: 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

21054-538: 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

21296-586: The Big Show, while Triple H retained the WWE Championship against Randy Orton. At WrestleMania XXVI , the professional wrestling career of Shawn Michaels came to an end as he faced The Undertaker in a highly acclaimed re-match of their encounter from the previous year. The event also featured John Cena winning the WWE Championship and Chris Jericho retaining the World Heavyweight Championship. Following Bret Hart's return to WWE in over twelve years since

21538-638: The December 9, 2000 pay-per-view Steve Williams and Mike Rotunda won the World's Strongest Tag Determination League in the main event and honored Giant Baba after the match. Williams had a main event pay-per-view match against Keiji Muto on July 14, 2001, for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship , which Williams lost. After leaving the backstage area Williams would then going on a huge swearing tirade, where he kicked

21780-488: 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

22022-558: The Japanese audience. Baba booked him to be a main eventer for the company. After, Williams became one of the most successful foreign athletes in Japanese wrestling history, especially in reference to the 90s and early 2000s. On July 28, 1994, he defeated top AJPW star Mitsuharu Misawa for the AJPW Triple Crown Championship, holding it for three months before dropping it to Toshiaki Kawada . Williams became

22264-631: The Line Again . In May 1998, Williams was signed by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) prior to the " Brawl for All " competition, which was set up in legitimate fights. WWF took interest in signing him due to his success in All Japan. Before entering the Brawl for All and signing a contract, he had only one in-ring match with the WWF, which was against 2 Cold Scorpio on a WWF Shotgun taping dark match (April 28, 1998). According to house show cards and recaps, Vince McMahon introduced him to

22506-486: The March 15, 1999 edition of Sunday Night Heat , Tiger Ali Singh paid a fan ( Ed Ferrara ) to impersonate Jim Ross, who had a bout with Bell's palsy at the time. Out of anger, Williams attacked Ferrara with a backdrop driver and Singh with his signature "Dr. Bomb" slam, and Ross would proceed to conduct a promo before Vince McMahon sent Big Show out to clear the ring. Williams would stare at Big Show, but would later leave

22748-521: The Mid-South (UWF), WCW, and the NWA as well as winning the World's Strongest Tag Determination League twice with Gordy and Mike Rotunda . In 2004, Williams was diagnosed with throat cancer , and underwent successful surgery the following year. He continued to wrestle on the independent circuit until his cancer returned in 2009, dying that year at the age of 49. Williams was posthumously inducted into

22990-511: The Pro Wrestling Love era as well as in AJPW. Williams was declared cancer-free in March 2005, making the announcement on the March 27, 2005 edition of IWA Japan TV. This was also the show where he publicly unveiled his electrolarynx . His return match was against King Kaluha , who he defeated on August 27, 2005, at WrestleReunion 2 . According to promoter Sal Corrente, Williams was initially hesitant to work with King Kaluha but

23232-567: 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

23474-534: The Undisputed WWE Universal Championship and end Reigns' generational 1,316 day-long title reign, following interference from Reigns' cousins Jimmy Uso , Solo Sikoa , and The Rock on his behalf, and Jey Uso , John Cena , Seth Rollins and The Undertaker on Rhodes' behalf. Other marquee matches during the two-night event saw Drew McIntyre defeat Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship before Damian Priest cashed in his Money in

23716-545: 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

23958-605: The Universal Championship against Roman Reigns. In another main event promoted match, AJ Styles retained the WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura . Other marquee matches saw Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey defeat Triple H and Stephanie McMahon in a mixed tag team match, which was Rousey's WWE debut match, and Daniel Bryan had his in-ring return after three years, teaming with Shane McMahon to defeat Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn . Also, The Undertaker defeated John Cena in an impromptu match. In another prominent match, Charlotte Flair retained

24200-403: 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

24442-452: 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

24684-475: 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

24926-498: 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

25168-533: The WWF Tag Team Championship between D'Lo Brown and Test against Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett was rated three out of 10 stars; and the triple threat match for the WWF Hardcore Championship between Hardcore Holly, Billy Gunn, and Al Snow was rated six out of 10 stars. Writing for 411Mania in 2009, Rob McNew gave the event a rating of 5.5/10, stating, "Like most Attitude Era shows this one doesn’t hold up very well ten years later" though he praised

25410-457: The WWF Women's Championship was rated one out of 10 stars; the match between Triple H and Kane was rated four out of 10 stars; the referee match between Mankind and Big Show was rated four out of 10; the four-corners elimination match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship between Road Dogg Jesse James, Ken Shamrock, Goldust, and Val Venis was rated five out of 10 stars; the tag team match for

25652-523: 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

25894-584: 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

26136-565: 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

26378-726: The WWF WrestleMania special on HSN later during the pay per view, after the Shane McMahon match "Dr. Death" Steve Williams cut a promo on Bart Gunn in a backstage interview with Jim Ross by his side, saying the Butterbean's punch "wasn't lucky" and that "Bart deserved what he got", telling the viewer to keep watching WWF because "the Doctor hasn't finished his job yet". This was in hopes of setting up an angle between Williams and Gunn, and to continue building Williams as

26620-600: 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

26862-437: 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

27104-586: The World Wrestling Federation. The security of Mr. McMahon's Corporation, Big Boss Man , challenged the Ministry to a six-man tag team match, which ended in a no-contest when the Ministry abducted Shane McMahon and took him to Undertaker, who threatened him while choking him then gave him a letter to give to his father. McMahon replied the following week on February 22 by booking The Undertaker in an Inferno match with Kane on Raw Is War ,

27346-475: The announcers table until Boss Man saved him. Undertaker continued with his mind games on March 8, ordering his Ministry to look for Boss Man all night and attacking any innocents in his way, eventually capturing Boss Man and crucifying him. Boss Man managed to escape while police were being beaten off by Undertaker's minions until he offered himself to the police while being derided by McMahon. The following week he continued his assault, with videos playing throughout

27588-581: The apron and the barricade. She was whipped into the barrier herself and as she recovered, Sable performed a crossbody from the outside apron. Sable continuously assaulted Tori while down on the mat, but Tori delivered two vicious clotheslines to the corner on Sable, then attempted a sunset flip pin which began a series of pinning reversals ending in a stalemate. Afterward Tori tried a running attack on Sable but took out referee Jimmy Korderas unwittingly. Sable then tried to perform her Sable Bomb but Tori jumped out of it. As she tried to perform her own powerbomb,

27830-477: 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

28072-441: The beginning of the year. In Williams' autobiography, as well as in his RF Video shoot interview in 2001, these midcard storylines were meant as a way to build his character up on television before entering a main event feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin , which in Williams's contract was promised to be a 6-month feud. Williams was released in mid-April for needing further time to rehab his injury and for refusing to work for FMW ,

28314-645: The belt to Austin. Shane, however, refused and took matters with Austin into his own hands by giving the smoking skull belt to The Rock. This culminated in a rematch between Austin and The Rock at Backlash 1999 while McMahon served as a special guest referee. Austin defeated The Rock to retain the WWF Championship after Mr. McMahon prevented Shane from screwing him and handed the smoking skull belt back to Austin. The Ministry of Darkness continued their ongoing war with The Corporation with The Undertaker going after Mr. McMahon's daughter Stephanie . The Undertaker continued to make sacrifices including Ryan Shamrock leading to

28556-402: The card and had matches against the likes of Giant Baba , Stan Hansen , Jumbo Tsuruta , Genichiro Tenryu and André The Giant . Williams became the last wrestler to defeat André The Giant, which took place June 5, 1992. André in the early 90s was ill with acromegaly , and during one of Williams's Tag Team Championship victories with Terry Gordy, André shook Williams's hand as a way to pass

28798-516: The cell. They cut open the roof of the cell and passed through a noose, securing the other end to the top of the cell. The Brood then ascended back into the rafters as Undertaker put the noose around Boss Man's neck, with Paul Bearer causing the Cell to rise and take a hanging Boss Man with it. After the match a video package of the Rage Party was shown while Boss Man was taken down and carried off on

29040-624: The challenger Stone Cold Steve Austin face The Rock in a no disqualification match for the WWF Championship . The penultimate match saw The Undertaker wrestle Big Boss Man in a Hell in a Cell match. Lower on the card, six of the promotion's seven active championships were defended, including the first WrestleMania defense of the Hardcore Championship . Also on the undercard was a Brawl for All match, an unscripted type of shootfight between wrestler Bart Gunn and boxer/mixed martial artist Butterbean . This event also marked

29282-400: The championship against Undertaker and Kane in what was billed as a triple threat match. McMahon added a stipulation, however, that neither brother could pin the other to win the match; this led to both men simultaneously pinning Austin, causing him to lose the match and the championship. This had been part of a deal McMahon had made with the two men to protect him from Austin, with the reward of

29524-445: The championship if they were successful. However, McMahon went back on his word after Austin attacked him on the next night’s Raw and announced he was forcing Undertaker and Kane to wrestle for the vacant championship at Judgment Day: In Your House . He also named Austin the special guest referee, hoping to humiliate him by forcing him to declare a new champion. Austin, however, had other ideas and counted both men out, declaring himself

29766-445: The corner, Snow fought with Hardcore Holly outside the ring, wrapping his neck in cable but, after some fighting from Gunn, Holly was able to suplex Snow. After Gunn again interjected himself, Snow was able to go underneath the mat to find some weapons including a Philadelphia Flyers hockey stick much to the delight of the crowd. The match ended when Gunn put Snow through a table in the corner, originally intended for Gunn and then used

30008-449: 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")

30250-503: 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

30492-653: The crowd and announced how happy he was to be cancer free for four years. Later, he made appearances for Oklahoma-based independent federation Sooner World Class Wrestling (SWCW). He also worked for Southwest Airlines in Colorado. After the death of longtime rival and friend Mitsuharu Misawa in June 2009, Williams made the decision to retire from wrestling after 27 years. Williams's final match took place August 15 in Colorado Springs, Colorado , for Asylum Championship Wrestling. He defeated Franco D'Angelo for

30734-480: The crowd at ringside, spitting water in his face but Austin took control and put him onto the Spanish announce table, performing two elbow drops to break the table and then spat water into Rock's face. Austin threw his opponent into the ring, celebrating to the crowd but when he entered the ring Rock sprang up and drove Austin into the floor with a Rock Bottom , following with an unsuccessful pin cover. The Rock grabbed

30976-560: The crowd while all eyes were on the stage entrance, hitting Kane out of the ring and then hitting him into the ring post and whipping him into the steel steps. Kane then picked Triple H up and straddled him on the crowd barrier, pushing him into the Mean Street Posse who were at ringside, picking him up again to ram his back into the steel post three times. Back inside the ring, Kane dominated Helmsley with his rough fighting style, using his foot to choke Triple H and knocking him down with clotheslines and punches until Triple H gained momentum from

31218-411: The decision belly to belly suplex slammed both competitors before leaving. When they recovered Goldust Irish whipped Road Dogg but had it reversed and as Goldust ran into the ropes he had his leg caught by Ryan Shamrock, seemingly trying to grab Road Dogg's leg. Road Dogg charged Goldust and was picked up for a powerslam but managed to roll Goldust round, crashing him into the floor and covering him for

31460-424: 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

31702-412: The eight seconds before standing up fully. As the fight resumed, Butterbean jabbed Gunn to the body and followed with a clean overhand right which sent Gunn back to the canvas, giving Butterbean a victory via knockout. The match lasted a total of 34 seconds. This was followed with an appearance from the San Diego Chicken , who mocked special referee Vinny Pazienza and was punched to the floor for it. On

31944-402: The end but he was brought back down with a low blow as referee Mike Chioda was distracted by Test. Shane continued to push the disqualification boundaries by whipping X-Pac with his belt several times before being back body dropped out of the ring, recovering only to be met with a flying crossbody. The Mean Street Posse tried to restrain X-Pac but he fought back, only to be floored by Test. After

32186-529: The entire event five out of 10 stars. The main event between The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWF Championship was rated eight out of 10 stars; the Hell in a Cell match between The Undertaker and Big Boss Man was rated five out of 10 stars; the match between Shane McMahon and X-Pac for the WWF European Championship was rated seven out of 10 stars; the match between Sable and Tori for

32428-460: The evening of the Ministry at McMahon's mansion ending in McMahon coming to the ring while Triple H brawled with Kane, begging Kane to help him. Kane ripped off his mask to reveal it was actually The Undertaker who grabbed McMahon by the throat as the lights turned off in the arena and when they came up, he was gone with McMahon alone in the ring. The main event of the evening was another chapter in

32670-671: The event again in 2024 with this time being held at the nearby Lincoln Financial Field in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the event held in the city and the 40th anniversary of the WrestleMania. 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

32912-723: The event have been hosted in North American cities, with 38 in the United States and two in Canada . The only WrestleMania in the event's history not to air live and be held without fans in attendance was WrestleMania 36 in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic ; it was the first major professional wrestling event to be affected by the pandemic. It was also the first to be held across two nights, with each WrestleMania since becoming two-night events. WrestleMania 37 in 2021

33154-609: The event produces a local economy boost for the host cities. WrestleMania centers on the main event matches, primarily for the men's WWE Championship —and additional men's world titles, such as the previous World Heavyweight Championship (2003–2013), the WWE Universal Championship (since 2017), and the current World Heavyweight Championship (since 2024)—as well as matches involving celebrities such as American footballer Lawrence Taylor or actor Mr. T . Other WWE championships are also contested for, while

33396-587: 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

33638-611: 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

33880-491: The final WWF appearance for Gorilla Monsoon , who died in October that year. WrestleMania is the World Wrestling Federation 's (WWF, now 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 the WWF's original four pay-per-views, which includes Royal Rumble , SummerSlam , and Survivor Series , which were dubbed

34122-514: 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

34364-683: The first network television airing of that type of match. During the match, McMahon provided commentary, nonchalantly revealing he had placed Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match against Big Boss Man for WrestleMania. During the match, Paul Bearer gave an ominous gift to McMahon, a teddy bear. After Undertaker set Kane on fire, he turned to the enraged McMahon, taking the teddy bear (later revealed to belong to Stephanie McMahon ) and setting it alight, reducing Vince to his knees. Trying to defeat either of his problems, McMahon declared he'd never show such weakness again and put Mankind against Undertaker, which ended with Undertaker almost chokeslamming McMahon through

34606-434: 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

34848-415: 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

35090-607: 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

35332-440: The first-ever Triangle Ladder match for the WWF Tag Team Championship , involving The Hardy Boyz ( Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy ), The Dudley Boyz ( Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley ), and Edge and Christian . The main event featured WWF Champion Triple H successfully defend his title in a fatal four-way match against The Rock, Big Show , and Mick Foley . This match was billed as having 'a McMahon in every corner' as Triple H

35574-415: The floor and rip the handcuffs, though Boss Man carried on using the nightstick and cut Undertaker open . Undertaker fought back by grabbing Boss Man at the throat and throwing him back into the fence again, striking him with a chair and running Boss Man face-first into the chain fence with a fireman's carry . As the two returned to the ring Boss Man tried to clothesline Undertaker but he ducked and performed

35816-618: 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

36058-477: 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

36300-411: 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

36542-464: 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

36784-566: 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

37026-411: The injury. Upon healing in January 1999, Williams worked dark matches on Heat /Shotgun/Raw is War tapings, mainly against Bob Holly (then still a part of the J.O.B. Squad ) to open up the tapings. His first match after rehabilitating his quad was defeating Holly on January 12, 1999, in Beaumont, TX. Williams was involved in a brief angle where he was managed by Jim Ross in early 1999 before Williams

37268-423: The last two, still fighting without realizing the match was over when Droz ( Darren Drozdov ) and The Godfather ( Charles Wright ) eliminated each other. The show officially began with Boyz II Men singing " America the Beautiful " in the ring before the opening video. The inaugural WrestleMania Hardcore Championship match began with Al Snow striking Billy Gunn as he tried to make a pre-match speech . With Gunn in

37510-475: 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

37752-410: The main event bout between Rock and Austin. Similarly, Scott Keith gave the event an overall negative rating, while calling the Rock vs. Austin match "solid by default" and complimenting Shane McMahon's performance given his lack of wrestling experience. In 2012, Bleacher Report ranked the event 25th out of the 27 Wrestlemanias to that point, calling the event "underwhelming" and criticizing the Hell in

37994-419: 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

38236-415: 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

38478-483: 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

38720-430: 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

38962-404: 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,

39204-500: The new NWA Mid-Atlantic, where he won their title in one of the first professional wrestling events in China. On March 14, 2004, Williams faced Belarusian kickboxer Alexey Ignashov in a mixed martial arts bout in the K-1 promotion and was knocked out 22 seconds into the fight. According to Williams he was tested positive with throat cancer a couple days before the match. This was his first and only professional fight. In March 2004, Williams underwent surgery for throat cancer ,

39446-566: The ongoing rivalry between Stone Cold Steve Austin and McMahon, which dated back to when Austin won the Royal Rumble in 1998. After Austin won the WWF Championship at WrestleMania XIV , McMahon set on a six-month-long quest to take the championship from him. With the exception of a one day reign by Kane, who won the championship in a First Blood Match at King of the Ring when his (kayfabe) brother The Undertaker caused Austin to bleed first, Austin thwarted each attempt by McMahon until Breakdown: In Your House in September 1998. There, Austin defended

39688-460: 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

39930-539: The past, Gunn made his first appearance since winning the tournament, to remind Holly that not all his partners were of a poor caliber. After a hardcore match between the two, which Gunn dominated until a masked assailant, revealed to be "Dr. Death" Steve Williams , threw him off the stage. Williams did this out of revenge for losing to Gunn in the Brawl for All. The week after on Raw Is War, Williams' manager Jim Ross announced to Gunn he would be facing noted mixed martial artist and boxer Eric "Butterbean" Esch , who held

40172-448: 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

40414-402: The quarter-finals would begin later that night; as a result in a non-title match Williams and Gordy defeated WCW World Tag Team Champions The Steiner Brothers . While waiting for the next round to begin following the Clash, the duo would face and defeat Marcus Bagwell and Tom Zenk in house show matches. At Beach Blast , Williams and Gordy again faced The Steiner Brothers, this time going to

40656-452: 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

40898-526: The ring and had fled. The Hell in a Cell match began with Big Boss Man punching The Undertaker into the corner until he ducked out and returned the same. Although Boss Man was able to deliver a swinging neckbreaker , Undertaker took control again throwing Boss Man into the cell. Boss Man reversed an Irish whip and threw Undertaker into the cell too, handcuffing one hand to the chain fence. Boss Man taunted Undertaker's lack of control before striking him repeatedly with his night stick causing Undertaker to fall to

41140-401: The ring and was punched into the corner, escaping a Bronco Buster when Test pulled him out of the ring. Shane tried to escape once again but X-Pac chased him and threw him back into the ring, only to be struck down by Test and then have his crotch rammed into the ring post. When he returned to the ring Shane scoop slammed him and attempted a Corporate Elbow , with X-Pac sitting up just before

41382-411: The ring at various points to brawl around the arena. Late in the match The Rock, who earlier in the evening had regained the WWF Championship, came to the ring and started arguing with Austin. McMahon took advantage of the distraction and threw Austin over the top rope, thus winning the match. Since he was officially now the winner of the Royal Rumble, McMahon was entitled to face whoever the WWF Champion

41624-598: 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

41866-499: The ring for Abdulla The Butcher's birthday and Williams supporting Barton's effort in fighting Genichiro Tenryu and Keiji Muto. However, Williams would turn on Barton on the April 15, 2002 pay-per-view, before befriending him again in October 2002. Williams would have sporadic singles feuds against Keiji Muto (defeating him in a singles match once out of revenge in March 2002) and George Hines , as with his wearing hamstring he couldn't compete in singles like he used to. Staying in

42108-412: The ring for this dark match. On the July 20 edition of Raw is War , Williams entered the Brawl for All tournament, making his first WWF television appearance with many expecting him to win. However, after beating Pierre Carl Ouellet in the first round, he faced Bart Gunn in the second round. Gunn took Williams down, tearing his quad, then knocked Williams out. Williams missed several months following

42350-409: The ring to pull Test out but when McMahon was floored by an X Factor , Chyna distracted the referee to allow Triple H to Pedigree X-Pac and cover him with Shane, turning heel and allowing him to retain the title. The New Age Outlaws ran to the ring and brawled with Triple H and Test until the lights went out and Kane's music began to play but by the time the lights came up The Corporation were clear of

42592-543: The ring with Ross. On the March 21, 1999 edition of Sunday Night Heat, Williams defeated The Hardy Boys in a handicap match. He next appeared on the March 22 edition of Raw is War, where he and WWF Hardcore Champion , Hardcore Holly, brawled in a fraternity house in Albany, New York. At WresleMania XV on the HSN version of WWF Free For All , Williams cut a backstage promo on Bart Gunn, saying how "Bart deserved what he got" after Bart lost to Butterbean. The day after on March 29 Raw episode, Williams and Hardcore Holly fought in

42834-406: The ring, The Rock tried the Corporate Elbow but Austin moved out of the way at the last second. Rock caught Austin's foot and spun him around, trying to Rock Bottom him again but Austin elbowed him away and delivered a stunner, finally securing a pinfall and winning the WWF Championship. The event was met with mixed critical response. Canadian Online Explorer 's professional wrestling section gave

43076-495: The ring, setting them both in seated positions and Show Stopping Mankind through the middle of them. At this point Earl Hebner finally decided to disqualify Big Show, with Show taking out his anger by attacking Mankind more with the chair. Mr. McMahon made his way to the ring afterward, berating Big Show for risking the WWF Championship match at which point Show grabbed him by the throat. He then thought better of it and released him, only to be met with another tirade from McMahon and

43318-459: The ring. Chyna held up Triple H as Kane shot a fireball at him, though he would duck out of the way causing ( kayfabe ) severe retinal damage to Chyna. Despite not receiving any damage, Triple H maintained that the fireball was meant for him, an insult he took personally and an intended injury he wanted to return at WrestleMania. On March 22, Kane prepared to have a match against Goldust, but as he threw off his entrance robes and wig, it turned out he

43560-495: The rules, his actions resulted in Austin, as the runner-up in the Royal Rumble, taking his place. With McMahon irate, Austin revealed he was willing to put his place on the line and not headline WrestleMania if McMahon would give him the opportunity to fight him one on one with no interference from The Corporation; if McMahon could beat him, Austin would not go to WrestleMania. Their steel-cage match at St. Valentine's Day Massacre mostly consisted of McMahon running away, but eventually

43802-468: The second night, and Bayley defeating Iyo Sky in Night 2 for the WWE Women's Championship to mark her first world title victory at WrestleMania. WrestleMania 41 will take place on April 19 and 20, 2025, at Allegiant Stadium in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada . While still roughly in mid-April, this is the latest April date for a WrestleMania, which subsequently marks the first WrestleMania to be held during Easter weekend. Additionally,

44044-468: The segment, Williams attacked Gunn with the backdrop driver, revealing himself to be the masked man. This story was played-off on WWF television as Williams getting revenge against Gunn for his Brawl for All loss. After, Williams was involved in two storylines as a babyface, one where he was pursuing the WWF Hardcore Championship from Hardcore Holly , and another where he sought to get even with Tiger Ali Singh for making fun of Ross on live television. On

44286-569: The show. Holly felt enraged that circumstances had conspired against him, while Snow still wanted another chance at the belt. In the previous year, due to the suddenly enlarged roster, a shootfighting (unscripted) knockout tournament titled Brawl for All was organized on a voluntary basis, with Bart Gunn winning the tournament on August 24 after defeating every opponent by knockout aside from his opening-round opponent Bob Holly. When Holly rechristened himself Hardcore Holly on February 15, decrying poor gimmicks and tag-team partners he had been given in

44528-487: The songs " The Star-Spangled Banner " or " America the Beautiful " before the show. Robert Goulet performed " O Canada " at WrestleMania VI. Acts such as Motörhead , Limp Bizkit , Saliva , Run–D.M.C. , Salt-n-Pepa , Living Colour , Ice-T , Drowning Pool , Flo Rida , P.O.D. , Machine Gun Kelly , Rev Theory , Mark Crozer , and Snoop Dogg have also performed during the live entrances of competitors. In 1988, in association with The Trump Organization , WWF prepared

44770-478: The special guest enforcer for the WWF Championship bout between Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin, while professional boxer Butterbean was challenged to a boxing match by Bart Gunn at WrestleMania XV. At WrestleManias XIV, XV, and 2000, Pete Rose became involved in a short feud with Kane that became a running gag with each appearance ending with Rose receiving a Tombstone piledriver or chokeslam from Kane. Big Show faced sumo wrestling yokozuna Akebono in

45012-425: The spring, Jinsei Shinzaki in the summer, Scott Norton in the fall at NJPW Do Judge!! , and Mike Barton again at the beginning of 2001 in a revenge match. In the summer of 2000, Williams had an unsuccessful feud against Toshiaki Kawada throughout AJPW TV episodes, which Williams lost, the angle being that Williams sought to get even with Kawada for defeating him for the Triple Crown Championship in 1994. On

45254-511: The start of the event it was announced that he would be substituting for an injured Rick Rude to challenge Ron Simmons for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship , but lost by disqualification. He left WCW shortly thereafter. Williams made his debut for Herb Abrams 's Universal Wrestling Federation in September 1990. Williams defeated Bam Bam Bigelow in the tournament finals for the UWF SportsChannel Television Championship at Beach Brawl . After winning, Williams went to Japan and vacated

45496-416: The steps from a drop toe-hold . Triple H then clotheslined Kane out of the ring, following himself and attempting to Pedigree Kane on the steps but was backbody dropped . When they made it back into the ring Kane chokeslammed Triple H while Chyna entered the ring with a steel chair, telling Kane she wanted to attack Triple H, but as Kane turned, Chyna hit him with the chair, causing him to corner her but again

45738-403: The stipulation of Night 2's main event. Since Rock and Reigns won, the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match was a Bloodline Rules match . Had Rhodes and Rollins won, all members of The Bloodline would have been barred from ringside during the championship match. Night 2 witnessed a rematch from last years WrestleMania, as Cody Rhodes defeated Roman Reigns in the Bloodline Rules match to win

45980-439: The tag division was safer for Williams' longevity in AJPW's upper-midcard and main events, as well as the popularity of tag-teams in Japanese wrestling at this time. In the tag division, Williams notably feuded with Satoshi Kojima , where Williams took the role of the veteran AJPW loyalist and Kojima as the young NJPW invader, who served as the sidekick to Keiji Muto. Williams surprise attacked and suplexed Kojima on TV when Kojima

46222-470: The title from Diesel at WrestleMania XI, Michaels defeated Bret Hart to win the WWF World Heavyweight Championship in a 60-minute Iron Man match at WrestleMania XII. The match was widely praised. The event also saw the return of the Ultimate Warrior, who defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley (later known as Triple H) in the latter's WrestleMania debut. At WrestleMania 13 , a submission match pitted Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin against one another in

46464-504: 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

46706-408: The title, and the Varsity Club disbanded. Not long after, Williams turned face again and had a short feud with Rotunda over who was responsible for the Varsity Club's breakup, before entering a feud with Lex Luger for the NWA United States Championship . Williams was scheduled to face Luger for the title at WrestleWar '90 on February 25, 1990. When Sting, who was scheduled to face Ric Flair for

46948-437: The title. Williams returned for an one-night appearance in 1994 at UWF Blackjack Brawl where he was award the UWF World Heavyweight Championship and defeated Sid Vicious by disqualification. In February 1990, Williams began to work for All Japan Pro Wrestling with Terry Gordy , initially as part of The Miracle Violence Connection team, while still wrestling for New Japan at the same time. They established themselves on

47190-470: The titles, Matt Hardy last eliminated Baron Corbin to win fifth André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal as well as first-ever WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal contested where Naomi won by last eliminating Bayley . WrestleMania 35 was held on April 7, 2019, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. At the event, Kofi Kingston became the first African-born WWE Champion after defeating Daniel Bryan, while Seth Rollins defeated Brock Lesnar to win

47432-436: The torch. Both of them prior had been close friends prior in Mid-South Wrestling . After André's death in February 1993, Williams began winning many matches against AJPW native main-eventers in singles such as defeating Akira Taue (April 1993), Kenta Kobashi (September 1993) and Jun Akiyama (April 1994). Williams would go on to defeat Kobashi twice again in 1994. Over time Williams gradually got traction and fanfare from

47674-407: 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

47916-546: The tournament final. Their NWA title win, however, went unrecognized by the NWA. Steve Williams and Terry Gordy then began feuding with the Dangerous Alliance, defeating Bobby Eaton and Arn Anderson in house show matches. On the September 26 edition of the Main Event, the duo sustained their first televised defeat when they were beaten by The Steiner Brothers in a non-title matchup. On the October 3 edition of WCW Saturday Night, they were then upset by Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham and lost both titles. Williams and Gordy received

48158-459: The tumor developing and remaining undetected since September 2003. Williams made a surprise appearance on the July 22, 2004 AJPW pay-per-view while he was undergoing surgery. He and Genichiro Tenryu defeated Arashi and Nobukazu Hirai on the show. Williams also cut a promo in a very hoarse and sickly voice, saying that he still wanted to wrestle Kawada again and return to AJPW when Williams became healthy. This would be Williams's last appearance in

48400-512: The two fought with Austin winning the match under unusual circumstances when Big Show made his debut, coming from under the ring and throwing Austin into the cage with the walls of it coming open, meaning that Austin had inadvertently won. (Brawl For All) The event was marked with a Rage Party the preceding evening at the Pennsylvania Convention Center , playing on the tagline of the event, much like Fan Axess that would come in later years. It included music from Isaac Hayes , Big Pun , and

48642-409: The two men kicking away at Austin in the corner and punching Hebner when he tried to stop them. As the two double-teamed Austin, Mankind came running to the ring in his referee's uniform, throwing McMahon straight out the ring and taking over as referee. Austin tried a roll-up pin, following up with a Lou Thesz Press but Rock soon took the advantage with another Rock Bottom. With Austin in the middle of

48884-421: The two wrestlers insulting each other before Austin threw the first punch, The Rock instantly returning. The majority of the early part of the match took place outside the ring, with Austin being choked with a T-shirt then taking Rock through the crowd before returning into the secure area and into the crowd the opposite end. When Rock threw Austin back into the secure area he choked him on some cable and took him up

49126-448: The walkway, but Austin fought out of his grasp and threw him into the steel barriers, trying to piledrive him but being backbody dropped so that his knee landed onto light support girders. Rock picked up Austin and threw him into the WrestleMania XV sign but Austin circled round and threw Rock into them instead, then dragged him back towards the ring having a suplex reversed on the concrete walkway. Rock then tried to throw Austin back through

49368-470: The winner of the match and leaving the championship vacant. A Deadly Games tournament was scheduled for Survivor Series in November, in which it turned out that The Rock, not Mankind, was McMahon's choice for winner and had the tournament manipulated to his advantage, while Austin lost in a match when McMahon's son Shane, acting as referee, refused to count a pinfall to go to the finals. Knowing Rock would be busy feuding with Mankind, McMahon realized Austin

49610-414: The winner was also given the option to choose between it or the WWE Championship. The creation of the ECW brand in June 2006 gave the Rumble winner a third option, the ECW Championship . This option was made available from 2007 until the brand was retired in 2010; however, the title was never chosen. The brand split ended in 2011 and the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships were unified in 2013, leaving

49852-405: The winner. The Undertaker and Kane fought for the first time at this event where The Undertaker won. The following year at WrestleMania XV , Austin defeated The Rock to regain the WWF Championship. The event featured the first of three encounters at WrestleMania between Austin and The Rock in a rivalry of the two most prominent and popular stars of the Attitude Era. WrestleMania 2000 featured

50094-437: 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

50336-565: The wrestling business over the Benoit incident. Williams has routinely stated how he loved Giant Baba "like his own father" during the 1990s, as Williams's father died earlier in 1986. Baba helped Williams during his bouts of depression and various personal problems like Williams's divorce in early 1995, as well as getting him off of heavy drugs by 1996. Williams got clean from heavy drugs after an incident in March 1995 where he resorted to marijuana and other drugs and painkillers to help alleviate his depression from his divorce, sneaking them on

50578-427: Was Triple H holding a flamethrower, shooting flames in Kane's face. Meanwhile, X-Pac, who had altercations with Shane McMahon prior to the February event, was frustrated with Shane's interference in the match and goaded into putting his European Championship on the line in a tag-team match with Triple H against Kane and Shane, which Shane won thanks to Triple H being distracted by Chyna. With Shane claiming himself to be

50820-492: 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

51062-1177: Was WWE's first event back with a live crowd, but at a reduced venue capacity before the company resumed live touring with full capacity crowds in July that year. Most WrestleMania events have taken place in large stadiums in large cities, with some in sports arenas. Much like the Super Bowl , cities bid for the right to host the year's edition of WrestleMania. The most-attended events include WrestleMania III (93,173) in Pontiac , WrestleMania VI (67,678) in Toronto , WrestleMania VIII (62,167) in Indianapolis , WrestleMania X-Seven (67,925) in Houston , WrestleMania X8 (68,237) also in Toronto, WrestleMania XIX (54,097) in Seattle , WrestleMania 23 (80,103) in Detroit , WrestleMania XXIV (74,635) in Orlando , WrestleMania 25 (72,744) also in Houston, WrestleMania XXVI (72,219) in Phoenix , WrestleMania XXVII (71,617) in Atlanta , WrestleMania XXVIII (78,363) in Miami , WrestleMania 29 (80,676) in East Rutherford , WrestleMania XXX (75,167) in New Orleans , WrestleMania 31 (76,976) in Santa Clara , and WrestleMania 32 (101,763) in Arlington . Since moving to large stadiums and running WrestleMania Axxess ,

51304-407: Was a babyface with an antihero edge, portraying an AJPW loyalist keeping the legacy of the Baba family name alive, as well as a comeback story upon his injury in the Brawl For All. Williams made his return on January 2, 2000, winning the New Year's Battle Royal on AJPW TV. In the following weeks, Williams defeated Mike Barton to start up a revenge angle and teased a program with Big Van Vader . In

51546-451: 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

51788-421: Was also a member of the Sooners 1980 Orange Bowl and 1981 Sun Bowl squads. Williams played both guard positions while at OU. Williams was selected by the New Jersey Generals in the 1983 USFL Territorial Draft on January 3, 1983. He signed with the Generals on January 31, just prior to the opening of training camp. Williams was converted to a defensive tackle in training camp. During camp, Williams suffered

52030-419: Was at WrestleMania. On the following night's episode of Raw , however, he announced that, since he was only a part-timer and the champion was a fellow Corporation member in The Rock, that he had filed paperwork relinquishing his WrestleMania championship opportunity and that he would be naming a replacement later in the evening. To his chagrin, Austin and Michaels informed him shortly thereafter that, according to

52272-478: Was cutting an in-ring promo, and Williams would often mention Kojima in his backstage promos as someone he would like to defeat. After a series of three house show matches involving Mike Rotunda at Williams's side, where they defeated Kojima and his team each time, the Williams vs. Kojima feud ended abruptly in January 2003 when AJPW's sale finalized and Williams left the company, with no singles match payoff. William's last appearance during his second All Japan run

52514-553: 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

52756-705: 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

52998-411: 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

53240-463: 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

53482-403: Was hit with the chair, this time by Triple H, who followed it up with a Pedigree onto the chair. Chyna and Triple H celebrated the reunion of D-Generation X afterwards. The Women's Championship match began with Tori taking her time to enter the ring, Sable grabbing her hair when she finally did and tossing her back out. Tori regrouped outside and pulled Sable out by her legs, ramming her face into

53724-542: Was known for praying backstage before each match. Williams was known for his Christian motivational speaking in personal interviews both before and after being diagnosed with throat cancer, comparable in personality to Marc Mero , who he was also a friend of during their time in WCW and WWF. During the time of the Chris Benoit double-murder/suicide case in the summer of 2007, Williams was highly critical of Benoit's actions, posting on his website that he found it "very disturbing" as Williams in his book considered Benoit to be

53966-407: Was likely to use the 1999 Royal Rumble, rather than a personal attack, to attempt to reclaim the belt and laid down the stipulation that he must win a Buried Alive match against The Undertaker to be in the Rumble. When he did, with some help from Kane, McMahon further tried to prevent Austin winning back the championship by "randomly" drawing him as the first entrant in the Rumble and drawing himself as

54208-425: 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

54450-593: Was of German descent and grew up in a Protestant background. He became a Born Again Christian early in his first AJPW run, and prior was a Christian believer who in general lacked interest in organized religion . He stated in his book that before becoming closer to God than he already was, he used to "skim the Bible" and also had a difficult time fitting in with more dogmatic and ritualistic churches. Williams also took interest in East Asian religions , having attended Japanese temples while on tour in Japan. Beginning in late 1990, not long after he debuted in AJPW, Williams

54692-523: Was on the track & field team, played football , and wrestled all four years. Williams graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1981 where he played football and also competed as an amateur wrestler , where he was a four time All American, finishing 6th as a freshman, 5th as a sophomore, 3rd as a junior and 2nd as a senior. His senior year, he lost in the finals of an NCAA tournament to future 2x Olympic gold medalist Bruce Baumgartner . Already interested in professional wrestling, Williams had

54934-420: Was on the January 13, 2003 pay-per-view of AJPW. On this show, Williams, Mike Rotunda , and Shigeo Okumura defeated George Hines , Hideki Hosaka and Johnny Smith . After leaving AJPW full-time, he wrestled a couple of matches for WWE on May 23 and 24, 2003 against Lance Storm . In late 2003, he was involved with the independent promotion Major League Wrestling (MLW) and also wrestled for IWA Japan and

55176-635: Was on the June 28, 1998 edition of AJPW TV. He and Wolf Hawkfield defeated Masao Inoue and Takao Omori before Williams went to the WWF, giving a symbolic farewell to Giant Baba and the Japanese audience after the match. He also sporadically wrestled in the U.S. on the independent circuit . That run was brought to an end during one of his appearances in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). After defeating Axl Rotten in approximately 2 minutes, Williams had an impromptu ECW World Heavyweight Championship match, but lost after being pinned by then-champion Raven . The loss happened in February 1997 at Crossing

55418-508: Was over, Chyna low blowed Triple H and revealed her alliances with The Corporation, promising a Valentine's Day present at the subsequent pay-per-view. Despite almost having the match won, Triple H suffered at the hands of an interfering Shane McMahon and illegal man Kane's chokeslam. Triple H took revenge on the February 22 Raw Is War by interfering in X-Pac's ( Sean Waltman ) match with Chyna, causing her to lose. Chyna called Triple H out on March 8, but before they could fight, Kane came to

55660-406: Was pinned. At Starrcade 99 on December 19, Williams faced Vampiro in a one-on-one encounter and was defeated via disqualification after he shoved referee Charles Robinson . Very shortly after, the announcement that he would return to All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) was on December 26, 1999. Williams went back to AJPW and had a second full-time run from 2000 to 2003. In the early 2000s, Williams

55902-402: Was released. During his time with Ross, he would attack people with suplexes , debuting on the February 22, 1999 edition of Raw is War. He wore a kabuki mask and threw Bart Gunn off a stage during a match of his. On the March 1 episode of Raw, Jim Ross announced that Bart Gunn would fight Butterbean at WrestleMania XV , and Gunn and Ross argued over the Brawl For All in a worked shoot. During

56144-424: Was shoved over the steps falling backward. Show dominated Mankind in the ring afterward, using his sheer size to punch and throw Mankind, with Mankind eventually being tied up in the ropes, which allowed him to back body drop Show out of the ring. Mankind then took out Mr. Socko, a smelly gym sock, and stuffed the foul-smelling sock into the Big Show’s mouth with the mandible claw three times. The third claw came with

56386-453: 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

56628-428: 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;

56870-429: 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

57112-410: 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)

57354-435: 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

57596-432: 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

57838-404: 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

58080-515: 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

58322-571: Was ultimately appreciative about the choice of opponent. Williams made an appearance at a SmackDown! brand house show on March 11, 2006, in Alexandria, Louisiana , after which he was signed to help train up-and-coming WWE wrestlers in its Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) developmental territory . While acting in that capacity, he made a few appearances on OVW television, where he helped fellow Oklahoma wrestler Jake Hager and briefly working as his tag team partner. He also made an appearance at an August 30 Raw house show, during which he addressed

58564-495: 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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