Tag: wrestlemania

WWE reveals WrestleMania 42 cards for both nights

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE has revealed how it’s dividing up the cards for WrestleMania 42.

During a Tuesday morning appearance on ESPN’s Get Up, SmackDown commentator Joe Tessitore announced the lineups for nights one and two of WrestleMania. He confirmed that night one will be headlined by Cody Rhodes defending the Undisputed WWE Championship against Randy Orton, who will have Pat McAfee in his corner. The night two main event will be CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns for the World Heavyweight Championship.

The first hour of night one will be simulcast on ESPN2. WWE has announced that Drew McIntyre vs. Jacob Fatu (unsanctioned match) and Logan Paul, Austin Theory & IShowSpeed vs. The Usos & LA Knight will air during that part of the show.

On night two, the first hour is being simulcast on ESPN. WWE has loaded up that portion of the card with Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi and the six-way ladder match for Penta’s Intercontinental title.

There is likely still one match to be added to the night two lineup. Currently, night one has seven bouts while night two only has six.

Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas is hosting WrestleMania 42 on Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19. The show will stream live on the ESPN Unlimited app in the United States and on Netflix internationally.

Here are the cards for each night:

WWE WrestleMania 42 —

Night one:

  • Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes defends against Randy Orton (w/ Pat McAfee)
  • Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer defends against Liv Morgan
  • Seth Rollins vs. Gunther
  • Women’s Intercontinental Champion AJ Lee defends against Becky Lynch
  • Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Lash Legend defend against Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss, The Bella Twins, and Bayley & Lyra Valkyria
  • Unsanctioned match: Drew McIntyre vs. Jacob Fatu (ESPN2)
  • Logan Paul, Austin Theory & IShowSpeed vs. The Usos & LA Knight (ESPN2)

Night two:

  • World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk defends against Roman Reigns
  • WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill defends against Rhea Ripley
  • Finn Balor vs. Dominik Mysterio
  • United States Champion Sami Zayn defends against Trick Williams
  • Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi (ESPN)
  • Ladder match: Intercontinental Champion Penta defends against Je’Von Evans, Dragon Lee, Rusev, JD McDonagh, and Rey Mysterio (ESPN)

Note: Full match order has not been announced yet.

WWE to announce WrestleMania 42 cards on ESPN

Posted on by Joseph Currier

It won’t be long until we find out how WWE is dividing up the cards for each night of WrestleMania 42.

Paul “Triple H” Levesque sent out a tweet this morning announcing that WWE commentator Joe Tessitore will be on ESPN’s Get Up this Tuesday at 9:35 a.m. Eastern time. During the appearance, Tessitore will break down the WrestleMania card and reveal which night each match will be happening on.

“Every match on this year’s #WrestleMania card has the opportunity to steal the show and both nights are STACKED,” Levesque wrote. “SmackDown’s @JoeTessESPN will be on @GetUpESPN tomorrow at 9:35am ET to break down which matches will be featured on Saturday and Sunday.”

It’s expected that Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton will be the night one main event, with World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns closing out the weekend in the headlining spot on night two. The show is being held at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas for the second straight year.

Heading into tonight’s Raw, there are 12 matches officially announced for WrestleMania. Two more bouts are likely to be added to the April 18-19 event, giving each night a seven-match card.

These are the bouts that have been confirmed so far:

  • World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk defends against Roman Reigns
  • Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes defends against Randy Orton
  • Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer defends against Liv Morgan
  • WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill defends against Rhea Ripley
  • Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi
  • Seth Rollins vs. Gunther
  • Unsanctioned match: Drew McIntyre vs. Jacob Fatu
  • Women’s Intercontinental Champion AJ Lee defends against Becky Lynch
  • United States Champion Sami Zayn defends against Trick Williams
  • Ladder match: Intercontinental Champion Penta defends against Je’Von Evans, Dragon Lee, Rusev, JD McDonagh
  • Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Lash Legend defend against Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss, The Bella Twins, and Bayley & Lyra Valkyria
  • Finn Balor vs. Dominik Mysterio

John Cena excited for ‘incredible group’ of WWE WrestleMania debuts

Posted on by Joseph Currier

John Cena — the host of WWE WrestleMania 42 — is excited to be in the building to experience several wrestlers’ first Mania.

In a tweet promoting WrestleMania tickets, Cena wrote that he’s looking forward to being in Las Vegas for the WrestleMania debuts of Lash Legend, Je’Von Evans, Trick Williams, Oba Femi, and Stephanie Vaquer. Both Legend and Vaquer are entering the April 18-19 event as champions, while Evans and Williams will be challenging for gold. Femi is booked in one of the top matches on the show against Brock Lesnar.

“Since retirement I’ve met so many wonderful people who’ve shared with me that they saw my first WrestleMania match … and my last,” Cena tweeted. “I’m so excited to be able to say ‘I was there!’ for the WM debuts of this incredible group! @LashLegendWWE @WWEJeVonEvans @_trickwilliams @Obaofwwe @Steph_Vaquer”

Cena, who retired from the ring with a loss to Gunther in December 2025, now serves as an ambassador for WWE. Evans and Femi took part in undercard matches on Cena’s retirement show, with Cena aiming to spotlight some of the up-and-coming wrestlers in WWE. Evans and Femi were in NXT at the time but joined the main roster shortly after.

In addition to hosting WrestleMania, Cena is set to appear on a live recording of The Undertaker’s Six Feet Under podcast at WWE World on April 18.

Here are all of the matches that have been officially confirmed for WrestleMania so far (nights to be determined):

WWE WrestleMania 42 (Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas) —

  • World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk defends against Roman Reigns
  • Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes defends against Randy Orton
  • Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer defends against Liv Morgan
  • WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill defends against Rhea Ripley
  • Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi
  • Seth Rollins vs. Gunther
  • Unsanctioned match: Drew McIntyre vs. Jacob Fatu
  • Women’s Intercontinental Champion AJ Lee defends against Becky Lynch
  • United States Champion Sami Zayn defends against Trick Williams
  • Ladder match: Intercontinental Champion Penta defends against Je’Von Evans, Dragon Lee, Rusev, JD McDonagh
  • Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Lash Legend defend against Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss, The Bella Twins, and Bayley & Lyra Valkyria
  • Finn Balor vs. Dominik Mysterio

WOR: Jericho return, AEW and NXT, Mania matches, live earthquake coverage

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including the return of Chris Jericho, the WrestleMania match update, Randy Orton’s mystery person, Sakura Genesis, Arena Mexico this week, ratings, your Dynamite and NXT TV reports, Collision spoilers, and AN EARTHQUAKE STRIKES DAVE’S STUDIO. Not making that up. A fun show as always so check it out~!

Timestamps:
Start: Mitsuo Momota is cancer free, more on Seth Rollins vs. Gunther & other WrestleMania matches, Randy Orton to reveal mystery caller on SmackDown, lineups for the weekend
11:13: Chris Jericho returns to AEW
18:41: Corrections, upcoming Stardom stipulation, Best of the Super Juniors update
24:45: CMLL notes
32:17: Ratings
41:47: MMA & RAF notes
49:32: AEW Dynamite recap & earthquake coverage
1:07:31: Additional earthquake coverage & WWE NXT notes
1:17:42: AEW Collision spoilers

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WOL: Dynamite, Jericho, Mercedes, unannounced Mania matches, NXT

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Filthy Tom Lawlor is back to talk tons of different subjects including AEW Dynamite tonight, rumors of Chris Jericho and Mercedes Mone, last night’s NXT with the bizarre finish to the show, the planned unannounced matches for WrestleMania, and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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WOR: WrestleMania card, Cena returns, non-Mania big matches, RAW report, more!

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including the WrestleMania card filling up, what should headline night one, John Cena added to boost ticket sales, new Mania weekend non-WWE matches, Arena Mexico, Best of the Super Juniors, the RAW report, ratings and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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Former WWE 24/7 champion to host WrestleMania 42 afterparty

Posted on by Vincent Verhei

Add another event to the jam-packed WrestleMania week in Las Vegas.

Rob Gronkowski, former WWE 24/7 Champion, will be hosting Gronk Beach late at night after Mania Sunday. The event’s web site describes Gronk Beach as “the ultimate nighttime beach party” and a “high-energy music festival.” It also promoted appearances at the party by Tiffany Stratton, Trick Williams, Lash Legend, and “surprise guests.”

Gronk Beach will take place at the Marquee Dayclub at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on Sunday, April 19, starting at 10:30 p.m. and running till “late.” That means you’ll be able to enjoy WrestleMania with the F4W crew at our suite at the Cosmo, stick around for the start of our afterparty, then take the elevator upstairs to Gronk Beach, although that does mean you’ll miss out on Big Vinny V’s Karoake Bash.

The day before, a Kill Tony WrestleMania comedy special will be taped featuring WWE talent that will premiere the following Monday.

Tickets to Gronk Beach are available here. Tickets to all Figure Four Online related Mania events are available here.

IC title ladder match leads list of new WWE WrestleMania 42 matches

Posted on by Vincent Verhei

The WWE announced a bevy of new matches for WrestleMania tonight on Monday Night Raw.

The most prominent of those matches will see Penta defending the WWE Intercontinental Championship in a ladder match. After defending his title against Kofi Kingston, Penta himself announced the match in an in-ring promo. Later in the evening, Je’Von Evans, Rusev, Dragon Lee, and JD McDonagh were announced as competitors.

Finn Balor also announced his match for Mania. In a video package, Balor recapped how he took Dominik Mysterio under his wing in the Judgment Day, only for Mysterio to turn on him. He vowed to destroy Mysterio at Mania.

Finally, a four-way tag match for the Women’s Tag Team Championship was announced, with Lash Legend & Nia Jax defending the titles against Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss, the Bellas, and Lyra Valkyria & Bayley.

Earlier in the show, Gunther vs. Seth Rollins had been announced as well.

WrestleMania 42 takes place Saturday and Sunday, April 18 and 19, at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada. Tickets are available here.

WWE WrestleMania 42 card — 

  • World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk defends against Roman Reigns
  • Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes defends against Randy Orton 
  • WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill defends against Rhea Ripley 
  • Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer defends against Liv Morgan 
  • Women’s Intercontinental title: AJ Lee defends against Becky Lynch
  • WWE United States title: Sami Zayn defends against Trick Williams
  • WWE Women’s Tag Team titles: Nia Jax & Lash Legend defend against Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair, The Bella Twins, and Bayley & Lyra Valkyria
  • Ladder match for Intercontinental title: Penta defends against Dragon Lee, JD McDonagh, Je’Von Evans, and Rusev
  • Unsanctioned: Drew McIntyre vs. Jacob Fatu
  • Seth Rollins vs. Gunther
  • Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi
  • Dominik Mysterio vs. Finn Balor

Cody Rhodes reacts to WWE crowds cheering Randy Orton over him

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Cody Rhodes isn’t bothered by WWE crowds cheering for Randy Orton over him in their WrestleMania feud.

The Undisputed WWE Championship will be on the line when Rhodes and Orton face off at WrestleMania 42. During the build to the match, Orton has turned heel and launched attacks on Rhodes, Matt Cardona, and even country music star Jelly Roll. The heel turn hasn’t exactly taken with fans, though, with them happy to see Orton return to his more aggressive persona.

Rhodes appeared on Busted Open Radio this morning and opened up about how the fans have been reacting.

“I don’t take it personally. I think maybe when I was younger I did. And certainly there’s no absolute in that, I’m sure some things kind of slip through the armor a bit and you feel it,” Rhodes said. “But my thought in terms of fans, today, more than ever, is that we are out there and whatever their emotional need is, if they need to cheer for you, if they need to cheer for him, if they need to yell at you — I can’t put a governor on that, and I will not. Tully Blanchard rules in terms of for me when he’d say, ‘The loudest, the longest [reaction].’

“I can’t be angry at them, whatever it is they need. If they’re cheering for Randy as he seeks [World title reign number] 15 even with the things he did, okay. I’m not there to try and tell you you’re wrong or right. There’s no wrong way to be a fan. So right now it hasn’t got to me. I’ll be honest, sometimes maybe it will. But right now? No.”

The Rhodes vs. Orton match is expected to headline WrestleMania 42 night one on Saturday, April 18. Rhodes told Busted Open that, despite all the history they have together, the matchup feels “very first-time” given how different he and Orton are now. Rhodes is looking to show Orton how much he’s leveled up as a wrestler since they were in Legacy together.

WOL: WWE SmackDown underdelivers on the way to WrestleMania

Posted on by Andrew Zarian

It’s the Sunday Wrestling Observer Live with Andrew Zarian.

This past Friday’s WWE SmackDown might have been one of the more disappointing shows on the road to WrestleMania so far. He discussed the show and the disappointing parts outside the main event, built around Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton, which has been good, but there’s too much repetition throughout the rest of the show.

He also previewed this week’s WWE Raw which takes place at Madison Square Garden, and discussed whether they are doing too much of the same thing when it comes to the build to the main event between Roman Reigns and CM Punk.

Saturday’s AEW Collision saw a great main event between Kevin Knight and Kazuchika Okada in which Knight had a great showing despite the loss.

Also, the whodunnit storyline continues as AEW was forced to pivot after Toni Storm’s surprise absence. Is this leading to a Mina Shirakawa title run in the future?

Plus, WrestleMania ticket sales, the Intercontinental title in AAA, and American Gladiators’ names revealed.

Click here to listen (sub needed) or watch on YouTube

WOL: WrestleMania weekend ticket sales, Q&A with Bryan and Tom

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Filthy Tom Lawlor is back with tons to talk about including WrestleMania weekend ticket sales, Smackdown tonight, AEW and Triller, Will Ospreay back to New Japan, a fun Q&A at the end of the show, and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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Wrestling Weekly: Bigger prices should mean better booking

Posted on by Victor Sosa

Les Thatcher is on the road this week at the Squared Circle Expo, but that did not stop he and Victor Sosa from getting together on a new Wrestling Weekly.

The guys talk the road to WrestleMania, all the happenings in AEW, and a few stories from the territories regarding Ricky Morton and the late great Dennis Condrey.

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!

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Fight Game: What’s AEW’s biggest money match?

Posted on by Garrett Gonzales

John LaRocca and Garrett Gonzales return with a brand-new Fight Game to discuss some of the most interesting topics in pro wrestling.

We gave out our thumbs up and thumbs down before jumping into our two big topics on current wrestling.

The first topic is on what AEW’s biggest money match is as we look toward All In later in the summer. If Will Ospreay is going to be finally anointed as AEW World Champion, should it be against MJF or Kenny Omega?

Then, we focus on the build to CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns for WWE WrestleMania 42 and try and figure out where they may be going next.

We finished up the show with our new Observe This segment talking about stories from Dave Meltzer’s 1985 Observer Book. This week was all about the build to the original WrestleMania.

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Brock Lesnar reflects on breaking Undertaker’s WWE WrestleMania streak

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Brock Lesnar had mixed emotions when he broke The Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak in 2014.

At WrestleMania 30, Lesnar defeated Undertaker to end his Mania streak after 21 straight victories. It was a controversial decision and remains one of the biggest moments in WWE history. Lesnar reflected on the night during an appearance on Barstool Sports’ Spittin Chiclets podcast.

“For me, guys, it’s really simple. Like, this is a business. It’s a business,” Lesnar said about the decision for him to win. “And I think a lot of guys live and breathe the lifestyle of it. And for Taker — obviously it wasn’t my call to make. At the time, Vince McMahon, if there was a person that could take the streak away with a legitimate background and people could believe it, I guess it was me. There’s a lot of people that are pissed that it’s me, but it’s not my call. And so my hats off to Undertaker, Mark, he’s a great guy. And at the end, it’s a business. It’s a give and take. And it was time for Taker to give — and it was a time for Brock Lesnar to take it.”

Lesnar said he was excited when he found out he was going to win, but he also felt bad for Undertaker. They’ve always had a good relationship. And after Undertaker suffered a concussion during the match, Lesnar made sure to go to the hospital with him.

“He was a mentor of mine. Like, I worked with Taker for many years,” Lesnar said. “And so now we’re out in this match and Taker got hit left field day of. He’s coming to his [22nd] WrestleMania thinking that he’s going to win and then two hours before we go on, the rug gets pulled on him. And so a lot of different emotions there, I’m sure. I was excited, but I also felt bad too. Like, I’m the guy and I get to be the guy.

“So we’re out in the match and next thing I know Taker is not being Taker. It’s a dance out there and you just got to do your best to get through it. And we did. And, yeah, out of respect — because I spent a lot of time with Taker and I wanted to make sure that he was all right. And that’s part of the deal, you know? I did go to the hospital to make sure he was okay. That’s just part of the respect thing.”

Undertaker ended up continuing his in-ring career through WrestleMania 36, where he defeated AJ Styles in a Boneyard Match. He finished with a WrestleMania record of 25-2.

At WrestleMania 42 this year, Lesnar is set to face up-and-coming WWE star Oba Femi. The two-night event is being held in Las Vegas on Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19.

WOL: WrestleMania build, Smackdown, Dennis Condrey memories

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez is back with tons to talk about including the death of Dennis Condrey, Tom and Bryan somehow get beaten again in a match they weren’t even in, a look at Smackdown from Friday night, thoughts on the WrestleMania build, and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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