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WrestleMania 38

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WrestleMania 38
File:WrestleMania 38 banner.jpg
Promotional poster featuring Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar
PromotionWWE
Brand(s)Raw
SmackDown
DateApril 2–3, 2022
CityArlington, Texas
VenueAT&T Stadium
Tagline(s)"The Most Stupendous Two-Night Event In WrestleMania History"
WWE Network event chronology
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39

WrestleMania 38 is the upcoming 38th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling live event produced by WWE. It will be held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event will air on pay-per-view (PPV) worldwide and will be available to stream through Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network internationally. It is scheduled to be held as a two-night event, taking place on April 2, and 3, 2022, at the AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

The event will be the fourth WrestleMania to be held in the state of Texas (after X-Seven, 25, and 32) and the second after WrestleMania 32 in 2016, which set the attendance record for a WrestleMania event at 101,763, which was, however, disputed.

Production

Background

WrestleMania is considered WWE's flagship live event, having first been held in 1985. It is the longest-running professional wrestling event in history and is held annually between mid-March to mid-April.[1] It was the first of WWE's original four pay-per-views (PPVs), including Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, which were originally dubbed the "Big Four",[2] and as of October 2021, it is one of the company's five biggest events of the year along with Money in the Bank, referred to as the "Big Five".[3] WrestleMania is ranked the sixth most valuable sports brand in the world by Forbes,[4] and has been described as the Super Bowl of sports entertainment.[5] WrestleMania 38 will feature wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. In addition to airing on traditional PPV, it will air on Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network in international markets.[6]

On January 16, 2021, in addition to announcing the date and location change of WrestleMania 37, which had to be rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the promotion revealed the dates and locations of the next two WrestleMania events. WrestleMania 38 was announced to be held at AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.[6] It was originally scheduled to be held solely on April 3, 2022; however, on October 25, 2021, it was revealed that, like the previous two WrestleMania events, WrestleMania 38 was expanded to take place over two nights: Saturday, April 2, and Sunday, April 3, 2022.[7] It will be the fourth WrestleMania to be held in the state of Texas (after X-Seven, 25, and 32) and the second to be held in this venue, after WrestleMania 32 in 2016, which set the attendance record for a WrestleMania event at 101,763, which was, however, disputed.[6] Travel packages became available on November 8, 2021,[8] while general tickets went on sale on November 12.[7]

Storylines

The event will include an unknown number of matches that each result from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results are predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands,[9][10] while storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.[11]

For many years, Paul Heyman had been the advocate for Brock Lesnar. After Lesnar took a hiatus following WrestleMania 36 in April 2020, Heyman became the special counsel for Roman Reigns that August, guiding him to win SmackDown's Universal Championship.[12] After Reigns retained the title at the 2021 SummerSlam, Lesnar returned to WWE and confronted Reigns, also implying that Heyman was still his advocate.[13] Two months later at Crown Jewel, Reigns defeated Lesnar to retain the Universal Championship with help from The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso).[14] A rematch was scheduled for the New Year's event Day 1,[15] and Reigns fired Heyman as he believed Heyman was working with Lesnar behind his back.[16] The Day 1 match, however, was canceled as Reigns tested positive for COVID-19.[17] Due to his status as a free agent, Lesnar was instead added to Raw's multi-person WWE Championship match at Day 1 and won the title.[18] On the following SmackDown, Lesnar, who reunited with Heyman, challenged Reigns to a champion vs. champion match, but Reigns declined.[19] At the Royal Rumble, Lesnar lost his WWE Championship due to interference from Reigns and a double cross from Heyman, who realigned with Reigns. Later that night, Lesnar entered into the Royal Rumble match and won to earn himself a world championship match of his choice at WrestleMania 38.[20] On the following episode of Raw, Lesnar announced that he would challenge Reigns for the Universal Championship. Still wanting it to be a champion vs. champion match, and also wanting a rematch for losing his title, Lesnar was also added to the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match at Elimination Chamber.[21]

At the Royal Rumble, Ronda Rousey, in her first appearance in WWE since WrestleMania 35 in April 2019, made a surprise return and won the women's Royal Rumble match to earn herself a women's championship match of her choice at WrestleMania 38.[20] On the following episode of Raw, Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch demanded Rousey to make her decision, however, Rousey stated she would reveal her choice on that Friday's SmackDown.[21]

Matches

Unknown Night

No.Matches*Stipulations
1Roman Reigns or Goldberg (c) vs. Brock LesnarSingles match for the WWE Universal Championship[22]
2Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Ronda RouseySingles match for a women's championship of Rousey's choice[20]
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match
*Card subject to change

References

  1. ^ "WrestleMania 29 press conference brings WWE to Radio City Music Hall". WWE. Archived from the original on April 7, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2014. ... WWE's flagship event lights up MetLife Stadium ... WrestleMania
  2. ^ Ian Hamilton, Wrestling's Sinking Ship: What Happens to an Industry Without Competition, p. 160
  3. ^ Desilva, Kristen (October 25, 2021). "WWE's Money In The Bank coming to Las Vegas in July 2022". KVVU-TV. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  4. ^ "The Forbes Fab 40: Puma Debuts On 2019 List Of The World's Most Valuable Sports Brands". Forbes. 16 October 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  5. ^ Gelston, Dan. "WrestleMania is Super Bowl of sports entertainment". Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 31, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  6. ^ a b c "WrestleMania set for Tampa Bay in 2021; Dallas in 2022; Los Angeles in 2023". WWE. January 16, 2021. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  7. ^ a b Hayden, Joey (October 25, 2021). "WWE announces WrestleMania 38 at AT&T Stadium will take place over two nights". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  8. ^ WWE.com Staff (November 4, 2021). "WrestleMania 38 Travel Packages available Monday, Nov. 8, at 12 p.m. ET at WrestlemaniaTravel.com". WWE. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
  9. ^ Grabianowski, Ed (January 13, 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 18, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  10. ^ "Live & Televised Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on February 26, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
  11. ^ Steinberg, Brian (May 25, 2016). "WWE's 'Smackdown' Will Move To Live Broadcast On USA (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on May 26, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  12. ^ Powell, Jason (August 30, 2020). "WWE Payback results: Powell's review of The Fiend vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman in a Triple Threat for the WWE Universal Championship, Keith Lee vs. Randy Orton, Sasha Banks and Bayley vs. Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax for the WWE Women's Tag Titles, Matt Riddle vs. King Corbin". Pro Wreslting Dot Net. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
  13. ^ Powell, Jason (August 21, 2021). "WWE SummerSlam results: Powell's review of Roman Reigns vs. John Cena for the WWE Universal Championship, Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks for the Smackdown Women's Championship, Bobby Lashley vs. Goldberg for the WWE Championship, Edge vs. Seth Rollins, Nikki ASH vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley for the Raw Women's Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  14. ^ Powell, Jason (October 21, 2021). "WWE Crown Jewel results: Powell's live review of Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship, Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair for the Smackdown Women's Championship, Big E vs. Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship, Edge vs. Seth Rollins in a Hell in a Cell match, Goldberg vs. Bobby Lashley in a No Holds Barred match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
  15. ^ Powell, Jason (December 3, 2021). "12/3 WWE Friday Night Smackdown results: Powell's review of Brock Lesnar's return, Sheamus vs. Cesaro, King Woods vs. Jey Uso". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  16. ^ Powell, Jason (December 17, 2021). "12/17 WWE Friday Night Smackdown results: Powell's review of the return of Roman Reigns, Ridge Holland vs. Cesaro, Sasha Banks and Toni Storm vs. Charlotte Flair and Shotzi". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
  17. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (January 1, 2022). "Roman Reigns To Miss WWE Day 1 Due To COVID, Brock Lesnar Added To WWE Title Match". Fightful. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  18. ^ Powell, Jason (January 1, 2022). "WWE Day 1 results: Powell's review of Big E vs. Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE Championship, Becky Lynch vs. Liv Morgan for the Raw Women's Championship, The Usos vs. Kofi Kingston and King Woods for the Smackdown Tag Titles, Edge vs. The Miz". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  19. ^ Powell, Jason. "1/7 WWE Friday Night Smackdown results: Powell's review of the confrontation between WWE Champion Brock Lesnar and WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, The Usos vs. Kofi Kingston and King Woods in a Street Fight for the Smackdown Tag Titles, Sami Zayn vs. Rick Boogs". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  20. ^ a b c Powell, Jason (January 29, 2022). "WWE Royal Rumble results: Powell's live review of the Royal Rumble matches, Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship, Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE Universal Championship, Becky Lynch vs Doudrop for the Raw Women's Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  21. ^ a b Powell, Jason (January 31, 2022). "1/31 WWE Raw Results: Powell's live review of the Royal Rumble fallout show, Brock Lesnar chooses his WrestleMania opponent, Ronda Rousey and new WWE Champion Bobby Lashley appear, Kevin Owens vs. Austin Theory and Rey Mysterio vs. AJ Styles in Elimination Chamber match qualifiers". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  22. ^ WWE.com Staff (January 31, 2022). "Universal Champion Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar". WWE. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
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