The Rock is not to blame for the delayed release of the WrestleMania XL: Behind the Curtain documentary, according to Brian Gewirtz.
Gewirtz, a former head writer for WWE and now an executive for The Rock and Dany Garcia’s Seven Bucks Productions, appeared on The Ringer’s Masked Man Show Thursday and explained that an error in promoting the documentary is responsible for the delayed release, and dismissed speculation that The Rock was “holding hostage” the project.
WWE originally announced that the documentary would premiere on the company’s YouTube channel on Wednesday, April 10. The documentary has still yet to be released.
Gewirtz says:
“There is, believe it or not, there is an awesome doc that WWE… The Rock isn’t holding hostage until he has approval of every frame… Jesus. But there was, I think there was an error in terms of promoting it so soon because it wasn’t ready to come out. So, that was an error that was made. But this was a doc that I think went from 11 minutes to 45 minutes, now it’s over an hour. And it’s pretty awesome, and it will be coming out in some form pretty soon, is my understanding.”
Gewirtz also discussed Seven Bucks’ Who Killed WCW series that is coming to Vice TV on June 4 in his Masked Man Show interview. The episode is embedded below.
WWE’s first-ever women’s Grand Slam Champion added another accolade on Sunday in Philadelphia at WrestleMania 40, defeating IYO SKY in the show’s semi-main event to win the Women’s Championship.
In a bout where SKY kicked out of a Bayley-to-Belly, and Bayley kicked out of SKY’s trademark moonsault, Bayley scored the win by pinfall after a flying elbow and a Rose Plant.
The title match ends a nearly two-year storyline following Bayley forming the Damage CTRL group with SKY and Dakota Kai at SummerSlam 2022, Asuka & Kairi Sane eventually joining the group, then ultimately Damage CTRL turning on Bayley after her Royal Rumble win this year.
NFL star George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers was ringside for Bayley’s win, as Bayley is a San Francisco Bay Area native and a Niners fan. Kittle’s appearance was highlighted on the WrestleMania broadcast.
While she had pushed for a live appearance by Paramore for WrestleMania, the band’s touring schedule would not allow for it according to Bayley’s social media. Instead the Hayley Williams-fronted group provided music for the pre-match video package for Bayley on Sunday.
Bayley’s best friend and former tag team partner Mercedes Mone posted the following message to Bayley on social media on Sunday:
Be so good they can’t ignore you because yoU we’re born to do this @itsBayleyWWE
Bayley becomes the fourth wrestler to hold the Women’s title since it was rebranded from the Raw Women’s Championship last year.
WWE has continued an annual tradition with the set reveal for WrestleMania 40.
In a video posted Thursday night to its YouTube channel and social media platforms, WWE unveiled the set and stage for Saturday and Sunday’s WrestleMania 40 event taking place in Philadelphia at Lincoln Financial Field.
This year’s reveal video was hosted by Jackie Redmond and Kayla Braxton, and featured an appearance from media personalities Ninja Kidz.
With Philadelphia serving as this year’s WrestleMania host city, the set features a color scheme similar to that of the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles, who play their home games at Lincoln Financial Field.
WrestleMania 40 takes place over two nights, with kickoff shows streaming on Peacock/WWE Network beginning at 5 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday, April 6 & Sunday April 7, with the main cards kicking off each night at 7 p.m. Eastern time.
This year’s set reveal is in the embedded video below:
WWE has revealed the match lineups for WrestleMania 40 nights one and two.
Chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque unveiled the matches for this weekend’s two-night WrestleMania event in a series of social media posts on Monday night. The shows will take place at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
Seven matches will take place on night one on Saturday, April 6, with six matches official for Sunday, April 7.
Each night will include four championship matches.
Both shows will stream live on Peacock/WWE Network starting at 7 p.m. Eastern time on their respective nights.
Night one (Saturday, April 6) —
The Rock & Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes & Seth Rollins
WWE Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley defends against Becky Lynch
WWE Intercontinental Champion Gunther defends against Sami Zayn
Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship six-pack ladder match: Finn Balor & Damian Priest defend against Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa, The Miz & R-Truth, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods, Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate, Grayson Waller & Austin Theory
Jade Cargill, Bianca Belair, & Naomi vs. Asuka, Kairi Sane, & Dakota Kai
Rey Mysterio & Dragon Lee vs. Dominik Mysterio & Santos Escobar
Night two (Sunday, April 7) —
Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against Cody Rhodes
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins defends against Drew McIntyre
WWE Women’s Champion IYO SKY defends against Bayley
WWE United States Champion Logan Paul defends against Kevin Owens & Randy Orton in a triple threat
LA Knight vs. AJ Styles
Philadelphia street fight: Bobby Lashley, Montez Ford, & Angelo Dawkins vs. Karrion Kross, Akam, & Rezar
Rey Mysterio has issued a challenge to Santos Escobar & Dominik Mysterio for a tag team bout at WWE WrestleMania 40.
In a segment on Friday’s SmackDown, Mysterio appeared alongside the LWO and declared his intention to face Escobar & his son Dominik in a tag team match at WrestleMania with a mystery partner.
Rey then revealed Dragon Lee as the newest member of the LWO, and as his planned partner for the WrestleMania contest, and the LWO brawled with Escobar’s Legado Del Fantasma.
WWE has yet to officially announce that tag bout for WrestleMania.
A faction warfare storyline between the LWO (Rey Mysterio, Dragon Lee, Carlito, Joaquin Wilde, Cruz Del Toro, Zelina Vega) and Escobar’s Legado Del Fantasma (Escobar, Angel Garza, Humberto Carrillo, Elektra Lopez) got an added twist on last week’s SmackDown as Dominik seemingly temporarily aligned with Escobar’s group. Dominik is part of The Judgment Day faction on Raw, but was without a clear WrestleMania direction prior to his inclusion.
Following up on Friday’s segment, Vega vs. Lopez is set for next Friday’s SmackDown, the go-home show for WrestleMania 40.
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) March 26, 2024
Meek Mill is a native of Philadelphia, the host city for WrestleMania 40 on Saturday, April 6 & Sunday, April 7. WWE chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque quoted Meek Mill’s X post with the following comment:
Game on…the whole world’s on notice. @MeekMill #WrestleMania
Monday’s teaser follows a social media exchange between Meek Mill & Triple H on social media on Sunday where the rapper mentioned that his sons were hoping to attend WrestleMania, and Triple responded by telling Meek Mill to clear his schedule.
Meek Mill teased a performance of his Dreams and Nightmares song:
Triple h they want dreams and nightmares at wrestling!!!!!!!!!!!!
Meek Mill was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year for Back of my Mind in 2021, and nominated for Best Rap Album for Championships in 2019.
CM Punk is headed to WrestleMania as a guest commentator.
Punk announced during Monday’s WWE Raw episode that he will serve as special guest commentator for the Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre World Heavyweight Championship match on night two of WrestleMania 40 on Sunday, April 7.
Making a special appearance on Monday’s Raw in Chicago, Punk, World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, and Rollins’ WrestleMania challenger Drew McIntyre went more than 22 minutes in a segment setting up Punk as guest commentator for Rollins vs. McIntyre.
Punk teased hosting WrestleMania, teased being a guest referee for the World Heavyweight title match, taunted McIntyre for wearing “lifts in [his boots]” and “shoe polish” in his beard, dared McIntyre to name who had “chosen” McIntyre to be WWE’s “chosen one,” referenced Jim Cornette’s podcasts, name-dropped The Rock, and much more in the memorable segment before closing with a promise to make Rollins & McIntyre “interesting” with his WrestleMania commentary.
Rollins will defend his World Heavyweight title against McIntyre on night two of WrestleMania on Sunday, April 7 after teaming with Cody Rhodes against The Rock & Roman Reigns in the main event of night one the day before. McIntyre earned the title shot by winning an Elimination Chamber match last month in Perth, Australia.
Punk suffered a torn right triceps in the Royal Rumble in January after making it to the final two of the match eventually won by Cody Rhodes.
WWE posted an interview with Punk regarding Monday’s segment:
The final four is set for the WWE WrestleMania qualifying tournament on SmackDown.
Austin Theory & Grayson Waller, and Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins of The Street Profits won their tournament matches on Friday’s SmackDown to advance to the bracket two finals. They will meet on next Friday’s SmackDown, with the winners added to the six-pack Tag Team title ladder match set for WrestleMania 40.
The Street Profits defeated Akam & Rezar of Authors of Pain on Friday’s SmackDown, while Theory & Waller were victorious over Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson of The OC.
Tyler Bate & Pete Dunne of New Catch Republic, plus Humberto Carrillo & Angel Garza of Legado Del Fantasma won bracket one matches on last week’s SmackDown and will also meet on next week’s SmackDown with a spot in the WrestleMania ladder match on the line.
On this week’s Raw, The New Day’s Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods, DIY’s Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano, plus R-Truth & The Miz won matches to qualify for the WrestleMania Tag Team title match.
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Finn Balor & Damian Priest will defend their titles at WrestleMania in the six-pack ladder match.
The field for the WrestleMania Tag title match:
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship six-pack challenge ladder match: Finn Balor & Damian Priest defend against The New Day, DIY, The Miz & R-Truth, Legado Del Fantasma/New Catch Republic winner, Street Profits/Austin Theory & Grayson Waller winner
Three new matches are official for WWE WrestleMania 40 set for Saturday, April 6 & Sunday, April 7.
United States Champion Logan Paul will defend his title at WrestleMania in a triple threat match against Randy Orton & Kevin Owens in a bout announced during Friday’s SmackDown episode.
Paul retained the US title by DQ over Kevin Owens at Royal Rumble, while Orton pinned both Owens and Paul in the men’s Elimination Chamber match in Perth last month.
After Jey Uso issued a challenge on Raw this week to brother Jimmy Uso to face him at WrestleMania, Jimmy officially accepted the challenge in a heated promo on Friday’s SmackDown episode.
LA Knight issued a challenge on SmackDown to AJ Styles for a match at WrestleMania after Styles interfered in the men’s Elimination Chamber match in Perth leading to Knight being pinned by Drew McIntyre in that contest. Styles accepted the challenge on SmackDown with a sneak attack, laying out Knight with a steel chair.
WrestleMania 40 will stream live on Peacock/WWE Network on Saturday, April 6 & Sunday, April 7 at 7 p.m. Eastern time from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Here is the updated lineup:
WrestleMania 40 night one —
The Rock & Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes & Seth Rollins
WrestleMania 40 night two —
Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against Cody Rhodes
World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins defends against Drew McIntyre
WrestleMania 40 night TBA —
Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley defends against Becky Lynch
WWE Women’s Champion IYO SKY defends against Bayley
Intercontinental Champion Gunther defends his title
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Finn Balor & Damian Priest defend their titles in a six-pack ladder match
United States Champion Logan Paul defends against Kevin Owens & Randy Orton in a triple threat match
Jey Uso has issued a WrestleMania 40 challenge to his twin brother Jimmy Uso.
In a segment on Monday’s WWE Raw, Jey laid out a challenge for a brother vs. brother match at WrestleMania 40. Jey dared Jimmy to accept the challenge, promising to knock his brother’s teeth out:
The singles match would come a year after The Usos main evented night one of WrestleMania 39 as a tag team, defending the Undisputed WWE Tag Team titles against Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn at the 2023 event.
Both Usos left The Bloodline faction in the aftermath of WrestleMania 39 last year, but Jimmy ultimately turned against his brother and rejoined Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa in The Bloodline. Jimmy cost Jey the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in a match against Reigns at SummerSlam in 2023, and also cost his brother the Intercontinental Championship by interfering in a match between Jey and Gunther last month on Raw.
The WrestleMania 40 card continues to take shape following Monday’s Raw, where a six-pack ladder match for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team titles was added to the lineup.
The official WrestleMania 40 card to this point is below. The show streams live on Peacock/WWE Network on Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7 at 7 p.m. Eastern time:
WrestleMania 40 night one —
The Rock & Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes & Seth Rollins
WrestleMania 40 night two —
Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against Cody Rhodes
World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins defends against Drew McIntyre
WrestleMania 40 night TBA —
Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley defends against Becky Lynch
WWE Women’s Champion IYO SKY defends against Bayley
Intercontinental Champion Gunther defends his title
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Finn Balor & Damian Priest defend their titles in a six-pack ladder match
The Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship will be on the line at WrestleMania 40 in a six-pack ladder match.
Raw GM Adam Pearce & SmackDown GM Nick Aldis announced during Monday’s Raw that The Judgment Day’s Finn Balor & Damian Priest will defend their Tag Team titles at WrestleMania in the ladder match.
The five other teams in the bout will be decided in a series of qualifying matches to take place on WWE programming in the coming weeks. Teams from both Raw and SmackDown will have the opportunity to qualify.
The first three qualifying matches will take place on the Monday, March 18 Raw. Alpha Academy’s Otis & Akira Tozawa will take on The New Day’s Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods in one qualifying bout, DIY’s Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa will face The Creed Brothers in another qualifier, plus The Miz & R-Truth will take on Indus Sher in the other qualifying match set for next week’s Raw.
Here is the current lineup for both nights of WrestleMania. The shows stream live on Peacock/WWE Network on Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7 at 7 p.m. Eastern time:
WrestleMania 40 night one —
The Rock & Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes & Seth Rollins
WrestleMania 40 night two —
Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against Cody Rhodes
World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins defends against Drew McIntyre
WrestleMania 40 night TBA —
Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley defends against Becky Lynch
WWE Women’s Champion IYO SKY defends against Bayley
Intercontinental Champion Gunther defends his title
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Finn Balor & Damian Priest defend their titles in a six-pack ladder match
The match was officially announced during Friday’s SmackDown episode where an in-ring confrontation took place between all four competitors. Rollins & Rhodes accepted the challenge issued by Rock & Reigns on last week’s SmackDown for the WrestleMania bout.
A stipulation for the match was also agreed to, where if Rock & Reigns are victorious, the Rhodes vs. Reigns Undisputed Universal title match for night two will be Bloodline rules (a no-DQ match where The Bloodline can freely interfere). If Rhodes & Rollins are victorious in the tag team bout, The Bloodline will be banned from the building for the Reigns vs. Rhodes match on night two.
An additional stipulation was agreed to for the Universal title match on night two, where if Rhodes loses, he cannot challenge Reigns for the Universal title ever again.
SmackDown went off the air Friday while the in-ring confrontation between the WrestleMania competitors was still underway. WWE chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque made the official match announcement in a social media post shortly after:
Here is the current card for both nights of WrestleMania. The shows stream live on Peacock/WWE Network on Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7 at 7 p.m. Eastern time:
WrestleMania 40 night one —
The Rock & Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes & Seth Rollins
WrestleMania 40 night two —
Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against Cody Rhodes
World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins defends against Drew McIntyre
WrestleMania 40 night TBA —
Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley defends against Becky Lynch
WWE Women’s Champion IYO SKY defends against Bayley
Intercontinental Champion Gunther defends his title
A gauntlet match on the March 11 WWE Raw will determine Gunther’s WrestleMania challenger for the Intercontinental Championship.
WWE announced during this week’s episode that a gauntlet match on next week’s show will decide the number one contender to the IC title, with the winner advancing to face Gunther at WrestleMania 40.
Ricochet, Chad Gable, Sami Zayn, Bronson Reed, Shinsuke Nakamura, and JD McDonagh will square off in the gauntlet match on the Monday, March 11 Raw to decide Gunther’s next challenger.
A women’s division contest is also set for next week’s Raw, as Becky Lynch will face Liv Morgan. Morgan interfered in a Lynch vs. Nia Jax match on this week’s Raw, attacking Jax and causing a DQ loss for Lynch to set up next week’s bout.
The Women’s Tag Team titles will also be on the line on Raw next week. The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane) will defend the titles against Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark following an in-ring confrontation between the two teams on this week’s Raw.
Asuka & Sane are set to defend the Women’s Tag titles on Tuesday’s NXT Roadblock episode against Lyra Valkyria & Tatum Paxley, but the Asuka & Sane vs. Baszler & Stark Tag title match was announced for next week nonetheless.
The announced lineup for the Monday, March 11 WWE Raw which takes place at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas:
Gauntlet match to decide Gunther’s Intercontinental Championship challenger at WrestleMania 40: Ricochet vs. Chad Gable vs. Sami Zayn vs. Bronson Reed vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. JD McDonagh
Becky Lynch vs. Liv Morgan
Women’s Tag Team Champions The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane) defend against Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark
The Bloodline have issued a challenge to Cody Rhodes & Seth Rollins for a tag team match on night one of WWE WrestleMania 40.
In a long promo segment on Friday’s SmackDown, The Rock laid out a challenge to Rhodes & Rollins with a stipulation attached — If The Rock & Reigns win the tag team match, Rhodes vs. Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal title on night two of WrestleMania will be a Bloodline rules match where anything goes, and the group would stack the deck against Rhodes. Should Rollins & Rhodes win, The Bloodline will be banned from the building for the Rhodes vs. Reigns title bout.
The Rock invited Rhodes to respond to the challenge on next Friday’s SmackDown. The Rock is scheduled to appear on the next two SmackDown episodes — Friday, March 8 in Dallas, and Friday, March 15 in Memphis. Rhodes has been advertised for those episodes as well.
Rollins will defend the World Heavyweight title against Elimination Chamber winner Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania, with that match also presumably set for night two.
A tease of dissension between The Rock & Reigns was also part of The Bloodline segment on this week’s SmackDown, with Reigns smoldering as The Rock laid out the challenge and cut a promo. Reigns then insisted on The Rock acknowledging him as Tribal Chief, which The Rock did.
