Tag: Wwe Wrestlemania 40

WWE, Fanatics reveal details of ‘WWE World’ at WrestleMania

Posted on by Ian Carey

WWE and Fanatics have revealed details regarding “WWE World.”

As first announced on Friday’s broadcast of SmackDown, the two companies will partner to present a five-day interactive experience from Thursday, April 4 to Monday, April 8, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia as part of WrestleMania week. 

Tickets to the event will range between $30 and $300. 

TKO sent out a press release on Monday with information about the types of experiences fans will be offered at WWE World. 

From today’s press release: 

WWE World at WrestleMania will feature a variety of immersive experiences for fans including a central main stage that will host roundtable discussions with top WWE Superstars, a WWE 2K24 gaming tournament, live podcast recordings, live memorabilia and autograph sales through Fanatics Live, and the largest WWE Superstore in WrestleMania history. The event will also feature exclusive merchandise, autograph sessions and meet-and-greets with WWE Superstars and Legends, in addition to immersive exhibits and memorabilia honoring WrestleMania’s 40-year history. 

“Fanatics has a phenomenal ability to customize offerings for fans and we’re excited to partner with them on this first-of-its-kind experience for the WWE Universe at WrestleMania XL,” said Scott Zanghellini, WWE Co-Head of Revenue Strategy & Development.

“Fanatics Events is thrilled to partner with WWE to host our debut event, WWE World at WrestleMania,” said Lance Fensterman, CEO of Fanatics Events. “Through unique content, Superstar access and immersive experiences, we look forward to curating a captivating event for all fans who are in Philadelphia for WWE’s marquee event.”

VIDEO: WWE WrestleMania 40 teaser trailer

Posted on by Bryan Rose

WWE has released their ‘teaser trailer’ for WrestleMania 40.

The video was uploaded to WWE’s YouTube channel just prior to the start of Sunday’s Super Bowl game. You can watch it below.

The 30-second trailer hyping the April 6 and 7 shows in Philedalphia features Cody Rhodes & Seth Rollins having a staredown with Roman Reigns & The Rock. Footage was also shown of the press conference from last Thursday where Rock slapped Rhodes, leading to a pull-apart that ended with Rock and Reigns leaving together.

The company confirmed following the press confrence that Reigns will defend the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Rhodes. IYO SKY, meanwhile, will defend the WWE Women’s Championship against Bayley in a match between two former friends.

Matches at the Elimination Chamber premium live event on February 24 will determine challengers for World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins and Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley. Becky Lynch and Bianca Belair have qualified for the women’s chamber match, while Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton have qualified for the men’s.

Seth Rollins to face Elimination Chamber winner at WWE WrestleMania 40

Posted on by Ethan Renner

WWE has officially announced how Seth Rollins’ opponent in the World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 40 will be decided. 

In a segment kicking off Friday’s SmackDown, Raw GM Adam Pearce and SmackDown GM Nick Aldis appeared alongside Paul “Triple H” Levesque and revealed that a men’s Elimination Chamber match will take place at the February 24 Elimination Chamber even in Australia, with the winner going on to challenge Rollins for the World Heavyweight title at WrestleMania 40 set for April 6 & April 7. 

12 wrestlers were announced for six qualifying matches to be held on WWE programming between now and Elimination Chamber, with the first two set for Friday’s Smackdown. 

The 12 wrestlers —

  • Randy Orton
  • Bronson Reed
  • Kevin Owens
  • Logan Paul
  • AJ Styles
  • The Miz
  • Bobby Lashley
  • Ivar
  • Drew McIntyre
  • Sami Zayn
  • Dominik Mysterio
  • LA Knight

The first two matches held on the Friday, February 9 SmackDown —

  • Drew McIntyre vs. AJ Styles
  • Randy Orton vs. Sami Zayn

The four remaining qualifying matches have yet to be announced.

After weeks of a feud being teased between Pearce & Aldis, they said that management was presenting a united front in making this announcement, as the dueling authority figures feud appears to have been shifted to The Rock vs. Triple H. 

Triple H began SmackDown by stating that he wanted to make clear that coming out of Thursday’s WrestleMania Kickoff event featuring The Rock & Roman Reigns that some people don’t “know their role” and that it doesn’t matter where “you sit at the table,” that the power comes from one place — Triple H. 

Wrestling Weekly: Cody Rhodes gets the chance to finish the story, doesn’t he?

Posted on by Victor Sosa

After Thursday night, Cody Rhodes is officially back in the WrestleMania main event game, but was he ever really out?

On this week’s Wrestling Weekly, Les Thatcher and I discuss this as well as the excellent confrontation between Rhodes, The Rock, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins at the WrestleMania press conference, the Young Bucks’ attack on new AEW Tag Team champions Sting & Darby Allin, and the firing of Scott D’Amore from TNA.

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!

Click Here to Listen (sub needed)

Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes set for WWE WrestleMania 40 main event

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes will officially headline WWE WrestleMania 40. 

WWE’s WrestleMania Kickoff media event in Las Vegas on Thursday night raised more questions than it answered as it appeared to retcon what happened on last Friday’s SmackDown and presented many possible matches going forward. 

What we do know is this —

WWE announced Thursday following their Kickoff media event in Las Vegas that Reigns vs. Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship will main event WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia set for Saturday, April 6 & Sunday, April 7. 

The main event announcement was made by WWE chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque in a social media post on X after the Kickoff event had concluded. 

Rhodes was presented as “making his decision” for the first time at the Kickoff event, a continuity shift from last Friday’s SmackDown where Rhodes stated that he was not coming for Reigns at WrestleMania, and the show closed with a Roman Reigns & The Rock face-off.

At the WrestleMania Kickoff event, Roman Reigns announced that he was choosing to face The Rock at WrestleMania after Cody had hesitated and lost his right to choose which title he would challenge for at Mania as Royal Rumble winner. 

The Rock then entered and showed a Samoan wrestling family tree on screen, stating that the main event between himself and Reigns would be the biggest ever, and that while you may not like it, you have to accept it. 

Rhodes then interrupted, said that the proceedings between Reigns & Rock were “bullsh*t,” and announced that he had made his WrestleMania decision and would be choosing to face Reigns. An angle followed where Rhodes said that The Rock and Reigns’ grandfathers would be ashamed of them, leading to The Rock slapping Rhodes. 

A pull-apart ensued involving Rock, Reigns, Rhodes, and Seth Rollins, who was onstage as an afterthought in all of this as World Heavyweight Champion as the storyline between Rhodes, Rock, and Reigns unfolded. 

In a backstage segment near the conclusion of the show, Triple H was doing an interview when The Rock approached and told him to “fix” the situation with Rhodes, as Rock walked in lockstep with Reigns. A Rhodes & Rollins vs. Rock & Reigns tag match would be the logical conclusion to come to after that angle, but whether the match happens on night one of WrestleMania, or perhaps at Elimination Chamber in Australia later this month, remains to be seen.

The WrestleMania Kickoff event also featured a face-to-face between Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley & Becky Lynch, as well as a promo from Bianca Belair. 

A replay of the event is embedded below.

Cody Rhodes responds to WWE WrestleMania fan backlash: ‘Trust me’

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Cody Rhodes took to X to respond to recent backlash regarding WrestleMania 40.

On Monday, Rhodes wrote: “Appreciate the passion, God bless y’all….but. Trust me.”

Fans have voiced their disapproval since an angle that took place on Friday’s SmackDown between Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns. Rhodes told Reigns that he would be coming after him, but not at WrestleMania. It was at that moment that The Rock came out, shaking hands with Rhodes as he entered the ring. The show closed with The Rock and Reigns having a staredown.

During Raw, chants of “we want Cody” and “Rocky sucks” could be heard during the opening promo between Rhodes and Seth Rollins. Michael Cole acknowledged the chants, asking if it was 1996 again.

After Rollins asked Rhodes to confirm their match for WrestleMania, Drew McIntyre came to the ring and said it was him who should face Rollins at WrestleMania. After Rollins balked at the idea, McIntyre attacked Rollins, leading Rhodes to make the save, never giving his answer.

WrestleMania match vs. Roman Reigns part of The Rock’s deal to join TKO board

Posted on by Ian Carey

The deal for The Rock to face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania was made weeks before Cody Rhodes won the Royal Rumble. 

The Rock was appointed to the TKO Board of Directors last month. As part of the deal, he was given full ownership of “The Rock” name as well as $30 million worth of company stock. Our own Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio, that The Rock wrestling Reigns at WrestleMania was also part of the agreement. 

Meltzer said:

When (Rock) made the deal on January 3 to come in (facing Roman at WrestleMania) was part of the deal. Why Cody Rhodes won the Royal Rumble is a question that I cannot answer because nobody will answer it for me. 

Outside of Nick Khan and Ari Emanuel, very few people, if any, were made aware that a deal had been made for Rock to face Reigns at WrestleMania. The belief backstage at the Royal Rumble was that it would be Rhodes vs. Reigns. 

Subscribers can click here to listen to the full episode of Wrestling Observer Radio. 

The negative reaction to Rhodes being removed from the WrestleMania main event is something WWE now plans on turning into part of the story.  

Meltzer continued:

(It) played out the way they wanted it to play out. The plan as of Friday night was Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes and we’ll see how it plays out because now they’re trying to turn it into a story and we’ll see how the story goes.

WWE does plan on having Rhodes vs. Reigns somewhere down the line, but the match is not currently planned for WrestleMania. 

Like Cody said, they’re going to do that Cody Rhodes match, just not this year at WrestleMania unless they change and do it this year at WrestleMania. Everything’s up in the air, nothing is locked in stone. 

Our own Bryan Alvarez asked Meltzer if WWE was expecting the backlash they have received as a result of booking Reigns vs. Rhodes. 

Meltzer responded:

I don’t know what they were expecting but they were expecting Cody Rhodes to turn into Daniel Bryan, yes. 

They were expecting to make Cody Rhodes into a martyr and make him a bigger babyface out of that. Were they expecting peope to boo Dwayne? I don’t know because I’ve asked that one and haven’t got a straight answer.

Meltzer continued to say that WWE might not care if fans reject Reigns vs. Rock. 

I don’t know how much do they care because the’re going to be getting more eyeballs for this match than any match they’ve ever had, they’re going to have more sponsorship revenue based on the fact Dwayne’s wrestling than any match they’ve had so they may go in there and just go, ‘let ’em boo!’ It’s the biggest money match that we can ever make and that’s the match that we’re going to make. 

Subscribers can click here to listen to the full episode of Wrestling Observer Radio.

The Rock & Roman Reigns face-off set for WWE WrestleMania 40 media event

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Next Thursday (February 8), WWE is holding a WrestleMania 40 Kickoff event in Las Vegas.

The media event was announced following The Rock and Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns’ confrontation on Friday night’s episode of SmackDown. The confrontation set the stage for Reigns vs. The Rock to headline WrestleMania 40.

WWE has confirmed that The Rock and Reigns will face off for another confrontation at the media event. We’ll hear from Rock, Reigns, and Paul “Triple H” Levesque.

“Fans and media will hear from both The Rock and Roman Reigns, as well as WWE Chief Content Officer Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque,” WWE wrote. “Onsite interview opportunities for media will immediately follow the event with both participants, Cody Rhodes, Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins, Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley.”

The media event is being held at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is open to the public at no charge. It begins at 7 p.m. Eastern time/4 p.m. Pacific and will stream live on Peacock as well as WWE’s social media channels.

Michael Cole and Pat McAfee are hosting the media event.

WrestleMania 40 is taking place from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7. IYO SKY vs. Bayley for the WWE Women’s Championship is the first match that’s been made official for the show.

The Rock vs. Roman Reigns to headline WWE WrestleMania 40

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Roman Reigns vs. The Rock will headline WWE WrestleMania 40. 

The Rock made a surprise appearance on Friday’s SmackDown episode in a segment where Cody Rhodes announced that he was coming for Reigns, but not at WrestleMania 40. 

Reigns & The Rock went face-to-face to close the show, with WWE.com running the headline: 

The Rock challenged Roman Reigns to a WrestleMania match as Cody Rhodes shunned The Tribal Chief!

WWE announced Friday that the 2024 Royal Rumble winner Rhodes would choose his WrestleMania opponent on SmackDown. Rhodes cut a promo questioning what “finishing his story” would look like, ultimately stating that finishing his story would entail taking everything from Reigns, not just the WWE Universal Championship. 

Rhodes said that he had consulted with friends, family, and legends in making his choice, and had in fact consulted with someone Reigns knows well. The Rock then entered and shook hands with Rhodes and had a short conversation with him before Rhodes left the ring to Reigns and The Rock. 

The Rock and Reigns facing off with Reigns holding the Universal title high closed SmackDown. 

WWE also announced a WrestleMania 40 kickoff press event in Las Vegas for Thursday, February 8 to stream live on Peacock at 7 p.m. Eastern time where Reigns vs. The Rock will likely be made official. 

Rhodes now looks to be in line to challenge Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 40, a match teased on this past Monday’s Raw. Rollins vs. CM Punk and Reigns vs. Rhodes had appeared to be the WrestleMania title programs, but Punk suffered a torn triceps at Royal Rumble, potentially leading to a pivot from WWE to Rock vs. Reigns and Rhodes vs. Rollins.

IYO SKY vs. Bayley official for WWE WrestleMania 40

Posted on by Joseph Currier

IYO SKY vs. Bayley is the first match official for WWE WrestleMania 40.

After winning the women’s Royal Rumble match, Bayley made her WrestleMania decision on SmackDown tonight. Damage CTRL split apart with Bayley separating from the group and announcing that she’ll be challenging SKY for the WWE Women’s Championship at WrestleMania.

Bayley was in the ring with SKY, Kairi Sane, and Asuka when she revealed her decision. Bayley told them that she’s not oblivious. She knows that they’ve been talking about her behind her back.

“You guys talk about me constantly. Why? All I wanted was for Damage CTRL to be the best,” Bayley said. “All I wanted was to take this to the top to WrestleMania. And I wanted to do that together. But you guys see nothing in me, do you? Huh? IYO, what happened? When you, me, and Dakota [Kai] started this, we were like this. Ever since they came around, you turned your back on me. What happened?”

SKY, Sane, and Asuka then attacked Bayley, but she was able to grab a metal pipe and fight them off. Bayley officially declared that she’ll be challenging SKY at WrestleMania.

Before Bayley announced her decision, there was a backstage segment where she overheard SKY, Sane, and Asuka talking about her.

Dakota Kai, who didn’t appear on SmackDown tonight, posted a tweet responding to the Damage CTRL split:

This will be Bayley’s first time competing in a one-on-one title match at WrestleMania. She won the women’s Royal Rumble last Saturday after entering the match at number three. She was in the match for 63 minutes and 3 seconds, which set a new women’s Rumble record.

WrestleMania 40 is being held at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7.

WWE changing start time for WrestleMania 40

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Update —

Our Dave Meltzer has confirmed that both nights of WrestleMania 40 will start at 7 p.m. Eastern time.

**********

It looks like WrestleMania will have an earlier start time this year than it had in 2023.

WrestleVotes reported on Friday that WWE has decided that 7 p.m. Eastern will be the start time for both nights of WrestleMania 40. Each night will also have a pre-show leading into the event.

“Source states WWE has made the decision to change the WrestleMania start time,” WrestleVotes wrote. “The main card will now begin at 7pm EST, presumably with a kickoff show starting at 5pm EST. This will be for both nights of WrestleMania.”

The start time for WrestleMania 39 last year was 8 p.m. Eastern. That’s the regular start time for WWE premium live events.

WrestleMania 40 is taking place from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7. The show will stream live on Peacock/WWE Network.

No matches have been confirmed for WrestleMania yet, but we know that Royal Rumble winners Cody Rhodes and Bayley will be getting title shots at the event.

Both Rhodes and Bayley are set to appear on SmackDown tonight. WWE is advertising that Bayley will reveal whether she’s challenging Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley or WWE Women’s Champion IYO SKY at WrestleMania.

Bayley to choose WrestleMania 40 opponent on WWE SmackDown

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Bayley will make her choice on Friday.

During WWE Raw, she was cornered after Nia Jax attacked Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley. Bayley told Jax that she would make her decision regarding who she will challenge at WrestleMania on Friday’s SmackDown.

Bayley was in the ring with the rest of Damage CTRL when Ripley came out. Before she could say much of anything, she was then attacked by Jax, who threw Ripley into the ring and gave her the annihilator, the new name for the banzai drop. Everyone except Bayley left the ring as Jax told her that she can choose IYO SKY or anyone else, but Ripley wouldn’t be making it to WrestleMania.

Last eliminating  Liv Morgan at Saturday’s Royal Rumble to win the match, Bayley has indicated so far she is interested in challenging Ripley. Dissension has been teased between Bayley and the other members of Damage CTRL, however, since Asuka and Kairi Sane joined the group.

Here is the updated lineup for Friday’s SmackDown:

  • WWE United States Champion Logan Paul will appear
  • Bayley will choose her WrestleMania 40 opponent

CM Punk confirms triceps injury, says WWE WrestleMania ‘not in the cards’

Posted on by Bryan Rose

CM Punk isn’t going to WrestleMania this year.

Punk confirmed on WWE Raw that he tore his right tricep during the Royal Rumble match on Saturday and as a result, will be out of action for the foreseeable future, including WrestleMania. He said that while WrestleMania 40 isn’t in the cards for him, there’s always next year.

As he was cutting his promo, Drew McIntyre came out and eventually told Punk that he prayed for something like this to happen, as now he will find a way to get to the main event of WrestleMania and live Punk’s dream again. Punk told him that his heart hurts more than his tricep, he will rehab and when he comes back he will headline WrestleMania. But before that, he would first target McIntyre.

McIntyre responded by attacking Punk, headbutting him and stomping on his injured tricep. Sami Zayn came in for the save as referees tended to Punk.

It was reported earlier on Monday that Punk had torn his right triceps, putting his WrestleMania status into question. Punk had previously tore his left tricep at AEW All Out back in 2022. He returned from that injury for the debut of AEW Collision last June.

Seth Rollins confirms injury, promises to defend title at WWE WrestleMania

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Seth Rollins opened Monday’s WWE Raw confirming his left knee injury, but promising to carry the World Heavyweight title into WrestleMania 40.

Rollins kicked off Monday’s Raw with a promo confirming that he injured his left knee in his World title defense against Jinder Mahal last Monday. Rollins said that he suffered a Grade 2 tear of his MCL, as well as a torn meniscus. He said that if he had to undergo surgery to repair the injury, he was looking at three to four months out of action. 

Intercontinental Champion Gunther interrupted Rollins’ promo and said that he was sad to hear that Rollins would be out of action. Rollins said Gunther should have let him finish, and that he would be rehabbing the injury rather than getting surgery and promised to take the World title into WrestleMania.

Rollins and Gunther shook hands as the segment ended, hinting at a future title program between the two. 

A program between Rollins and CM Punk has been the teased direction for the World Heavyweight Championship since Punk made his WWE return at Survivor Series last November. 

Both Punk and Gunther are entered into Saturday’s Royal Rumble match. Rollins is not advertised for Royal Rumble. 

Dustin Rhodes on WWE WrestleMania 40 main event: ‘This is Cody’s time’

Posted on by Ian Carey

Dustin Rhodes says he will be “pissed” if Cody Rhodes is not in the main event of WrestleMania 40. 

The 54-year-old spoke to Sports Illustrated ahead of his TNT title match against Christian Cage on Dynamite tonight. During the interview, Rhodes discussed his thoughts on The Rock possibly wrestling Roman Reigns instead of his brother. 

“I hope Cody’s in the main event spot against Roman,” said Rhodes. “Or it’s going to be The Rock. If it is The Rock, I’m pissed–this is Cody’s time. He is becoming the face of the company, and it’s paying off.

But I get it. If it is The Rock, it’s still good business. I understand that there are a lot of people who love seeing The Rock. But I still think it’s Cody’s moment.”

Rhodes also discussed his battles with substance abuse. He said that getting sober is the reason he’s been able to continue his career. 

“My sobriety, that’s my legacy,” said Rhodes. “And I understand it’s OK to have bad days. There will be better ones. Life has been an incredible teacher. I’ve learned a lot, and I plan on being clean and sober for the rest of my life.

“I wasn’t seeing clearly back in the day, and I paid for it heavily. Sometimes, I’m still trying to prove myself, even when I don’t need to. I came out the other side. The devil is still sitting here, right on my shoulder. All’s I need to do is walk with him. But each new day, I tell him, ‘No, I’m going to be good today.’ So I’m not going to drink. I’m not going to do drugs. I have my sh– together, and I’m fixin’ to get on with my life.

“It’s been a long road, but I’ve got back so much of what I lost. It’s the reason I have my career, too. Being clean, it’s the reason I’m still here. And it’s the reason I can still entertain.”

Rhodes defeated Willie Mack on AEW Collision on Saturday. It was his first singles win since defeating Bishop Kaun on the May 17, 2023 edition of AEW Rampage.