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.
Seth Rollins and Gunther will do battle at WrestleMania.
The match was made during a show-long angle on Raw that saw Adam Pearce ask Paul Heyman if he had read his emails. Heyman ignored Pearce and headed to the ring to talk about Rollins instead. Pearce cut him off and announced that not only had all charges against Rollins had been dropped, but Rollins was also medically cleared.
This brought out the former head of The Vision who attacked Heyman from behind with a steel chair. He went for the stomp but suddenly was dragged out of the ring by Gunther, who had not been seen on television for the last few weeks. He dragged Rollins to the announce table and put him to sleep with a rear naked choke as he pointed to the WrestleMania sign.
Later backstage, Jackie Redmond asked Pearce for a medical update. Pearce said that Rollins was still cleared, and he’ll get his chance for revenge at WrestleMania.
Rollins returned to WWE at Elimination Chamber, targeting Paul Heyman who was out of action briefly after Rollins laid him out with a steel chair and a stomp. Heyman lured Rollins to the ringside area on last week’s Raw, only to have Rollins be escorted out by security after announcing he had filed a restraining order.
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
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.
New United States Champion Sami Zayn will defend his title against Trick Williams after the two have traded barbs for the last several weeks. And after the two brawled for the vast majority of last week’s SmackDown, an unsanctioned match is now set between Jacob Fatu and Drew McIntyre.
Zayn was upset by the news on Friday that Nick Aldis had no plans for him at WrestleMania, right after the SmackDown GM told Trick Williams that there were, in fact, plans for him. A dejected Zayn walked away, but turned right back when Williams started to taunt him and smacked him, telling Aldis he would find a way. He ended up taking Carmelo Hayes’ open challenge for the United States title and won the match after Williams interfered, knocking out Hayes while Zayn ducked, allowing Zayn to win the helluva kick.
After the match Aldis’ tune changed, telling Zayn he would defend the title against Williams at WrestleMania.
Both Fatu and McIntyre arrived to Friday’s show banged up after the two spent most of last week’s show fighting, with the closing moments of the show seeing them fall off a platform. Fatu called out McIntyre, saying he was banged up but he was going to dogwalk McIntyre regardless. The former WWE Champion came out to declare himself the victim before going personal by bringing up Fatu’s children. Aldis arrived and made the unsanctioned match for WrestleMania, saying WWE would take no responsibility for what would happen.
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
Maxxine Dupri wants to be added to the Women’s Intercontinental title match between AJ Lee and Becky Lynch at WWE WrestleMania 42, something she said is her dream.
In an interview with Brad Gilmore on The Collection podcast, Dupri cited that if given the opportunity, she would make the title match at triple threat at next month’s two night event in Las Vegas.
“If I could write it right now, I would turn that Women’s Intercontinental championship match between AJ Lee and Becky Lynch into a triple threat. That would be my dream.”
Since her WWE return in 2025, Lee mentored and guided Dupri.
“To share the ring with AJ Lee would be unbelievable. She’s been such a wonderful mentor to me since returning to our locker room. It’s been so special. And, I have got a few hits I’d like to lay on Becky. I’ve got some pent-up aggression that I would like to unleash.”
Dupri defeated Lynch in November last year to win the Women’s Intercontinental title, but that wasn’t without help from Lee whose appearance was a distraction for Lynch.
Lynch was the focal point for Lee’s return in September 2025, nearly a decade after her exit. At Elimination Chamber, Lee ended Lynch’s second reign as champion.
On the March 23 edition of Raw, Lee challenged for a rematch for the title at WrestleMania 42 as Lynch confessed it to be a part of her plan all along.
A match for the Women’s Intercontinental title has been made for WrestleMania.
Becky Lynch and AJ Lee agreed to square off at WrestleMania 42 following a segment on Raw that saw them exchange their latest war of words. Lynch opened the segment by blaming the fans for getting tired of seeing her succeed. She explained that she went home and came back and made the Intercontineal title the most interesting title in all of wrestling. She then began taking shots at AJ, saying her greatest claim to fame was mastering the Divas era
“Well, I murdered the Diva’s era,” Lynch decalred.
Lee came out as Lynch bailed to the crowd. The Women’s Intercontinental Champion said that she figured Lynch wanted to get embarassed again and challenged her to a match at WrestleMania, with Lee saying she wanted to tap Lynch out on the biggest stage of them all. Lynch responded by saying Lee fell right into her trap. Eleven years ago, Lee walked into the office the day after WrestleMania and handed in her resignation. At WrestleMania, she’ll save her the trouble by ending her.
The two have been feuding since last fall, with Lee winning every major match the two were in. She defeated Lynch at Elimination Chamber last month to win the Intercontinental title for the first time.
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 and Tony Hinchcliffe are teaming up for another WrestleMania weekend comedy show.
The company announced today that “Kill Tony: WrestleMania” will take place in Las Vegas on Saturday, April 18 following night one of WrestleMania 42. It’s being held at Dolby Live in Vegas and will include appearances by Hinchcliffe, current WWE stars and legends, other comedians, and surprise guests.
KILL TONY: WrestleMania is coming to Las @Vegas on Saturday, April 18 as part of #WrestleMania Weekend!
Use presale code KILL26 TODAY at 1pm ET/10am PT to get your tickets before they go on sale tomorrow!
Tickets for the comedy show are going on sale tomorrow (March 24) at 10 a.m. Pacific. A pre-sale begins today at that same time.
The start time for the comedy show is 9 p.m. Pacific (midnight Eastern), and WWE notes that there will be plenty of time for fans to get there after the first night of Mania.
“KILL TONY: WrestleMania will begin after the conclusion of WrestleMania Saturday, allowing ample time for fans to get from Allegiant Stadium to Dolby Live,” WWE wrote.
Hinchliffe hosts the “Kill Tony” podcast, where aspiring comedians are chosen at random and get the chance to perform in front of established comedy veterans and have their set critiqued. The 41-year-old Hinchcliffe is a wrestling fan and has developed a relationship with WWE, which included him hosting The Roast of WrestleMania in Vegas last year. He was supposed to host a similar comedy show surrounding SummerSlam 2025, but that ended up being canceled.
Though the Roast of WrestleMania did not air anywhere and was not supposed to be filmed, audio of the show got out. It drew controversy for remarks that were made about Charlotte Flair.
Dolby Live is also set to host the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday, April 17. Stephanie McMahon, AJ Styles, Demolition, and basketball legend Dennis Rodman have been confirmed for the class so far.
There have been rumors that this is all leading to Brady appearing in some form at WrestleMania 42. Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE and Brady are in negotiations but nothing has been agreed to yet.
“From what I have been told, they are in negotiations with Tom Brady — but there is absolutely not a deal at this point for Tom Brady,” Meltzer said. “So it could happen. Obviously, Logan Paul and Tom Brady are working. I mean, everyone knows they’re working the angle, I think people have seen that coming in. But there could be something in some form at WrestleMania, it would not be a surprise.
“And what they did in the football game was clearly to build it. Just as all the talk of, you know, Tom Brady cutting down pro wrestlers and the wrestlers all responding — that is all storyline. That is not like Tom Brady’s a d**k and he doesn’t respect pro wrestling.”
WrestleVotes first reported earlier this month that WWE and Brady had discussed a possible Mania appearance, and there were departments in WWE working on things like logos, speciality merchandise, and branding for Brady.
A WrestleMania role would make sense for Brady given that he is part-owner of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders. Allegiant Stadium in Vegas, where the Raiders play their home games, is hosting the event on Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19. It’s the second straight year that WrestleMania has been held at the stadium.
The new edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has arrived.
As you might imagine, the lead story is a full review and ratings for last Sunday’s AEW Revolution — the company’s first PPV of the calendar year and one that featured a lot of matches, a lot of blood, and a lot of returns.
Dave Meltzer also gives some updates on the WWE WrestleMania 42 card for next month and all the news around WWE’s biggest shows of the year.
He also covers Thursday’s big news reveal that Tony Khan put in a bid for WWE back in 2023.
All that, plus a lot of other news, thoughts and recaps from the world of wrestling and MMA.
If Jelly Roll competes at WrestleMania 42, it doesn’t sound like it will be in a tag team match with Royce Keys.
Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that, after asking about rumors of Jelly Roll and Keys teaming together at Mania, he was told that it will not be happening. It’s not officially confirmed that Jelly Roll will be wrestling at the event, but Meltzer expects him to given what went down on SmackDown last week.
“I kind of wonder where they’re going with Jelly Roll,” Meltzer said. “It just feels to me they’re going to build to some gimmick match with Kit Wilson, maybe a tag with The Miz because The Miz has been involved in the storyline. They could do that. I had asked about the story because there was a story about Royce Keys, and I was told that it’s not Royce Keys, for whatever that’s worth. I wasn’t actually told that there is a match [for Jelly Roll], but when you look at it, it certainly seems like they’re building it.”
Last Friday’s SmackDown saw Jelly Roll return to WWE programming and interact with Miz and Wilson. The Miz TV segment ended with Jelly Roll inadvertently dropping Miz with a punch after Wilson moved out of the way.
A music superstar with an inspirational life story, Jelly Roll is a big WWE fan and has wrestled one match for the company so far, teaming with Randy Orton in a loss to Logan Paul & Drew McIntyre at SummerSlam 2025. He received significant internal praise within WWE for how hard he worked to prepare for that match but still came out of it thinking of all the things he could have done better.
WWE is opening up new WrestleMania tickets with a “one-of-a-kind elevated viewing experience.”
The company announced today that, beginning this Friday (March 20) at 1 p.m. Eastern/10 a.m. Pacific, fans will be able to purchase tickets to WrestleMania with seats placed atop of the Mania stage. In WWE’s announcement, the company hyped that this is the first time it has ever sold these kinds of seats. Only a limited number will be made available.
WWE today announced that fans can purchase seats positioned atop the iconic #WrestleMania 42 set for the first time EVER when the Premium Live Event takes place on Saturday, April 18, and Sunday, April 19, at @AllegiantStadm in Las Vegas!
WWE, in partnership with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, today announced that fans can purchase seats positioned atop the iconic WrestleMania 42 set for the first time ever when the Premium Live Event takes place on Saturday, April 18, and Sunday, April 19, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Pricing details for these stage seats has not been revealed.
This is the second straight year Vegas has hosted WrestleMania. For WrestleMania 41, the stage was modeled after a Vegas hotel and did have some seats located in that area, though they were not available for purchase.
WWE notes that the WrestleMania 42 stage will be unveiled in the days prior to the event.
“Each year, WrestleMania features a theme-based set that transforms the host stadium and enhances the live event experience,” WWE wrote. “In 2025, the custom-built WrestleMania 41 set leaned into the tradition of Las Vegas, incorporating a resort-inspired design to reflect the city’s iconic entertainment culture.”
So far, there have been five matches officially announced for the WrestleMania card:
World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk defends against Roman Reigns
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
Oba Femi has made it clear who he’s coming for next.
Femi powerbombed Lesnar in the opening segment of Raw, placing his foot on the fallen former UFC and WWE Champion and pointed at the WrestleMania 42 sign, accepting Lesnar’s open challenge from a few weeks ago.
The segment had started with Seth Rollins coming out with his masked men declaring that anyone associated with Paul Heyman would become a target of his. Heyman, who was previously announced as being out indefinitely, came out looking disheveled and eventually revealed Lesnar, who came out and destroyed the masked men surrounding Rollins. Lesnar and Rollins met face-to-face, but were then interrupted by Femi. Rollins exited the ring, distracting Lesnar long enough for Femi to lay out Lesnar with the pop-up powerbomb.
Later in the show, the match was made official for WrestleMania 42.
Several weeks ago on Raw, Heyman announced Lesnar’s dates with WWE heading into WrestleMania. He said there would be an open challenge for anyone to come out and challenge Lesnar for next month in Las Vegas.
Femi officially made his debut on the main roster back at the Royal Rumble, confronting Lesnar at one point in the match. On that night, Lesnar won their battle by eliminating Femi.
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin is open to making an appearance at WWE WrestleMania 42, but he thinks most of the spotlight should go to the current roster.
To help celebrate 3:16 Day (March 16), Austin called into Busted Open Radio for an interview on Monday. When asked about his status for WrestleMania 42, Austin said it would be cool to be involved in some form. But he thinks WWE has a quality roster right now that deserves to be showcased on the biggest stage.
“It’s funny because you’ll sit there or they’ll put something on [Instagram] and people will say, ‘Oh, no, no. Man, he’s too old. Let the current talent have the spotlight.’ Let the current talent have the spotlight, of course. If I can go out there and do something, that’d be fine,” Austin said. “But God damn, when I crashed that four-wheeler last year up there against that wall, man, you talk about sh***ing the bed big time. I was so pissed off about that. Because I was looking forward to going out there and announcing the attendance and then watching the show, seeing what kind of show the superstars were going to put on. And, man, I sh*t the bed on the big stage.
“We’ll see if they have me back. If they do, that’s cool. I always say — they got a pretty good roster, you know? So I think those guys and gals, they need all the time.”
Austin made an on-camera appearance at WrestleMania 41 in 2025 when he announced the night two attendance. He drove an ATV down to the ring and accidentally crashed into the ringside barrier, knocking down one fan.
WrestleMania is back in Las Vegas again this year — and Austin will be among the guests at the WWE World convention. He told Busted Open that he’s honored that fans still want to see him involved. But if he were to come back to WWE, it would be for a moment rather than an actual wrestling match.
“It’d be to go back for one of those moments,” the 61-year-old Austin responded when asked if he ever gets the itch to return. “Not a match itch, right? I got a left knee replacement a little over a year ago. And God dang, my leg feels good, I’m glad I got it done. But, yeah, I get the itch for certain moments. But to try and do a match? No.”
When asked if he’d be interested in coming back for a cinematic match, Austin said he loved The Undertaker vs. AJ Styles from WrestleMania 36. However, Austin thinks Undertaker vs. Styles was appropriate for the time it took place. He doesn’t know if he wants to see too many more cinematic matches.
“I don’t think so,” Austin said about a possible cinematic bout. “I think I’m good.”
WrestleMania 42 is about a month away — and it looks like we now know the main events for each night.
On WWE’s official ticketing website, it’s indicated that Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton’s WWE Championship match will be taking place on night one of WrestleMania 42 on Saturday, April 18. A graphic for that match is used for night one of Mania on the WWE.com schedule. Subsequently, CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns for the World Heavyweight Championship is the graphic displayed for night two on Sunday, April 19.
These would be the expected main events for both nights of WrestleMania, though WWE has not officially announced the match order yet.
Punk vs. Reigns was confirmed for WrestleMania shortly after Reigns’ Royal Rumble victory. During the build, issues between the two have been heightened with Punk bringing up Reigns’ late father Sika Anoa’i. That then led to a confrontation between Punk and The Usos taking place on Raw last week.
The Rhodes vs. Orton match was confirmed when Rhodes defeated Drew McIntyre on the March 6 episode of SmackDown to regain the WWE Championship. Orton had already earned a WrestleMania title shot through his win at Elimination Chamber — and he turned heel last Friday by bloodying Rhodes ahead of Mania.
WrestleMania 42 is being held at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. On the WrestleMania page of WWE’s website, the graphics for Punk vs. Reigns and Jade Cargill vs. Rhea Ripley both have a blue color scheme. The Rhodes vs. Orton and Stepanie Vaquer vs. Liv Morgan graphics have an orange color scheme. It’s not known if that means those matches will be taking place on the same night.
There are five matches officially announced as of now:
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
It took a bit, but WrestleMania 42 now looks to have a good WWE title match booked.
To review, the original plan was a third WrestleMania main event with Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns. Few seemed enthused about that idea. Then it was going to be Rhodes vs. McIntyre again, possibly with Jacob Fatu added. I didn’t sense much excitement for that idea either.
What WWE ultimately landed on, however, is a storyline they’ve had in their back pocket since Rhodes returned to the company. The mentor/mentee relationship combined with Orton feeling he “needs” to win the title was just sitting there waiting for them. Why it was ever a question they’d do anything else is anyone’s guess.
Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton on WWE SmackDown
“Randy, I’m not your son, and I’m not your brother, but I have always been proud to be your boy,” Cody Rhodes.
The dynamic between Orton and Rhodes in the closing segment of the March 13 SmackDown was really interesting.
Rhodes implied that what he expected from him and Orton main eventing WrestleMania was a respectful babyface vs. babyface main event. He mentioned that he expects to get the “Legend Killer,” but seemed to feel that would only happen after the bell rang, and not a moment before.
Rhodes said:
“I’m sure you’re hearing the voices in your head, and when the bell rings that’s what I expect. That’s what they expect. We get to watch the best Randy Orton has ever been. Randy Orton who just won a stacked Elimination Chamber. And I know when the bell rings that I get the Legend Killer. That I get the youngest World Champion in company history.”
“I know that we get the master of the 3 most dangerous letters in all of WWE. But that’s when the bell rings. And after the main event of WrestleMania, when the last bell rings, I want you to know I will always love you.”
Just two old pals heading into WrestleMania having respectful promo segments with each other is what Rhodes believed would take place.
But Orton knew that signing the contract meant he’d have to treat Rhodes like anyone else standing between him and the championship, regardless of their history.
“I don’t think you understand, Cody. I need this. I need that. But this wasn’t supposed to be hard. This was supposed to be easy. Drew was supposed to be out here,” Orton said.
“How am I supposed to….”
He was all but apologizing to Rhodes for what he was about to do.
This was the best thing to happen to the WWE title picture in months, including the two recent title changes.
Poor, vulnerable Jelly Roll
“Jelly Roll is a braver man than most,” – Wade Barrett
The absolute cherry on the sundae of the segment, however, came when Jelly Roll got involved. Because we needed that one extra step to solidify that Orton is a bad guy now. He needed to do something dastardly to a seemingly helpless victim, and somehow a Grammy Award-winning country music singer/rapper was picked for the role.
Jelly Roll played his role well too. I felt for the guy. He walked up to Orton literally saying, “I’m your friend” and was shoved to the ground. I hope none of you reading this ever have a friend reject you like this. For shame, Randy Orton. Don’t you just want to see Cody beat him at WrestleMania now?!
The full segment from the March 13 SmackDown is available below:
