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WrestleMania 38

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WrestleMania 38
Promotional poster featuring Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns
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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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–Fort Worth metroplex city 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 in AT&T Stadium after WrestleMania 32 in 2016. It will also be the third WrestleMania to feature Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns in the main event (after 31 and 34), with WWE billing the match as "The Biggest WrestleMania Match of All-Time", which will see the unification of the promotion's two world championships, Raw's WWE Championship and SmackDown's Universal Championship, held by Lesnar and Reigns, respectively.

Production

Background

WrestleMania is considered WWE's flagship live event, having first been held in 1985. It is the longest-running annual professional wrestling event in history and is held 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] The official theme song for the event is "Sacrifice" by The Weeknd.[7]

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.[8] 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,[6] which was, however, disputed.[9] Travel packages became available on November 8, 2021,[10] while general tickets went on sale on November 12.[8]

Storylines

The event will include matches that 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,[11][12] while storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.[13]

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.[14] After Reigns retained the title at the 2021 SummerSlam, Lesnar returned to WWE and confronted Reigns, also implying that Heyman was still his advocate.[15] Two months later at Crown Jewel, Reigns defeated Lesnar to retain the Universal Championship with help from The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso).[16] A rematch was scheduled for the New Year's event Day 1,[17] and Reigns fired Heyman as he believed Heyman was working with Lesnar behind his back.[18] The Day 1 match, however, was canceled as Reigns tested positive for COVID-19.[19] 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.[20] On the following SmackDown, Lesnar, who reunited with Heyman, challenged Reigns to a champion vs. champion match, but Reigns declined.[21] At the Royal Rumble, Lesnar lost his WWE Championship after 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.[22] 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,[23] which he won.[24] It was then confirmed that their WrestleMania match would be a Winner Takes All match for the WWE Championship and Universal Championship,[25] which was further stipulated as a championship unification match.[26]

At the Royal Rumble, Ronda Rousey, in her first appearance since WrestleMania 35 in April 2019, made a surprise return and won the women's Royal Rumble match to earn a women's championship match of her choice at WrestleMania 38.[22] After pondering her choices due to having heated history with both reigning champions,[23] on the following episode of SmackDown, Rousey announced that she would challenge Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship.[27]

At SummerSlam in August 2021, Becky Lynch, who had been on maternity leave since May 2020, made a surprise return and defeated Bianca Belair in an impromptu match to win the SmackDown Women's Championship in 26 seconds.[15] Over the course of the next month, Lynch would continue to retain the championship against Belair using underhanded tactics before both were drafted to Raw in the 2021 WWE Draft; Lynch and Raw Women's Champion Charlotte Flair, who was drafted to SmackDown, traded their championships to keep the titles on their respective brands, thus Lynch became the Raw Women's Champion. After Belair failed to earn a title shot at the 2022 Royal Rumble and also failing to win the women's Royal Rumble match, Belair won the women's Elimination Chamber match at Elimination Chamber to finally earn a one-on-one match against Lynch for the Raw Women's Championship at WrestleMania 38. This in turn scheduled the only two women to win in the main event of WrestleMania against each other at WrestleMania (Lynch at WrestleMania 35 and Belair at WrestleMania 37 Night 1, respectively).[24]

On the January 31 episode of Raw, The Miz defeated Dominik Mysterio.[23] The following week, Dominik and his father Rey Mysterio were guests on "Miz TV". Rey claimed that Miz cheated to defeat Dominik while Miz took issue that Rey had an opportunity to qualify for the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match while he did not and also that Rey was the cover star of the WWE 2K22 video game. Miz also questioned if Rey was truly Dominik's dad, referencing the child custody battle that Rey had with Eddie Guerrero back at SummerSlam in 2005. Dominik then defeated Miz in a rematch.[28] Rey then defeated Miz during the Elimination Chamber Kickoff pre-show.[29] Later backstage, Miz accused Rey of cheating due to Dominik and said he would find a tag team partner who was a "global superstar".[24] On the following episode of Raw, as Miz teased the identity of his partner to face Rey and Dominik at WrestleMania 38, the Mysterios interrupted, stating it did not matter who Miz had chosen. Miz then revealed his partner as social media personality Logan Paul, after which, Miz and Paul attacked the Mysterios.[30]

On the February 21 episode of Raw, Edge made his first post-Royal Rumble appearance where he issued an open challenge for WrestleMania 38.[30] The following week, Edge came out to see who would answer his challenge, which was accepted by AJ Styles. Edge then stated he was glad Styles accepted as it was a match he had been wanting; however, he wanted the real AJ Styles and not the one who had been Omos' tag team partner for the majority of the past year. Edge then seemingly turned heel and attacked Styles, after which, a conflicted Edge performed two con-chair-tos on Styles.[31]

Matches

Night 1 (April 2)
No.Matches*Stipulations
1Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Ronda RouseySingles match for the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship[32]
2Becky Lynch (c) vs. Bianca BelairSingles match for the WWE Raw Women's Championship[33]
3Rey and Dominik Mysterio vs. The Miz and Logan PaulTag team match[34]
4Drew McIntyre vs. Happy Corbin (with Madcap Moss)Singles match[35]
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match
*Card subject to change
Night 2 (April 3)
No.Matches*Stipulations
1Brock Lesnar (WWE Champion) vs. Roman Reigns (Universal Champion)Winner Takes All match to unify the WWE Championship and WWE Universal Championship[36]
2Queen Zelina and Carmella (c) vs. Sasha Banks and Naomi vs. Liv Morgan and Rhea RipleyTriple threat tag team match for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship[37]
3Johnny Knoxville vs. Sami ZaynSingles match[38]
4Pat McAfee vs. Austin TheorySingles match[39]
5Edge vs. AJ StylesSingles match[40]
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match
*Card subject to change
Night TBD
No.Matches*Stipulations
1RK-Bro (Randy Orton and Riddle) (c) vs. TBDTag team match for the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship
2Finn Balor (c) vs. TBDSingles match for the WWE United States Championship
3Ricochet (c) vs. TBDSingles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
4The Usos (c) vs. TBDTag team match for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship
(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. ^ "The Weeknd Becomes the Official Voice for WWE WrestleMania 37". EssentiallySports. 2021-02-02. Retrieved 2022-02-07.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ Meltzer, Dave. "April 11, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter". f4wonline.com. Wrestling Observer. Retrieved 7 April 2016. The attendance as would be normally announced for an event was 93,730 people, breaking the WWE's all-time total attendance (paid plus comps) record of 79,127 set at the 1992 SummerSlam show at Wembley Stadium, which barely beat out the 1987 WrestleMania III show which did more than 78,000. The actual number in the building was 97,769. ... the company had pushed the idea from the start of drawing 100,000 people (pretty much insuring they would have to announce a number over that or it would be a disappointment to the fans) ... The WWE announced the number at 101,763, which is the mythical number 'for entertainment purposes' as Vince McMahon told me about the difference between real numbers and announced numbers years ago.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ Grabianowski, Ed (13 January 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 18, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
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  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ a b 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.
  16. ^ 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.
  17. ^ 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.
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ 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.
  20. ^ 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.
  21. ^ Powell, Jason (8 January 2022). "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.
  22. ^ a b 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.
  23. ^ a b c 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.
  24. ^ a b c Powell, Jason (February 19, 2022). "WWE Elimination Chamber results: Powell's live review of two Elimination Chamber matches, Roman Reigns vs. Goldberg for the WWE Universal Championship, Becky Lynch vs. Lita for the Raw Women's Championship, Ronda Rousey and Naomi vs. Charlotte Flair and Sonya Deville". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  25. ^ Guzzo, Gisberto (February 19, 2022). "WWE Confirms Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns At WWE WrestleMania 38 Will Be Winner Takes All". Fightful. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  26. ^ Currier, Joseph (February 25, 2022). "Lesnar vs. Reigns at WWE WrestleMania 38 now a championship unification match". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  27. ^ Barnett, Jake (February 4, 2022). "2/4 WWE Friday Night Smackdown results: Barnett's review of Royal Rumble winner Ronda Rousey announces which championship she will challenge for at WrestleMania, Paul Heyman rejoining WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre's return". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
  28. ^ Powell, Jason (February 7, 2022). "2/7 WWE Raw Results: Powell's live review of the Seth Rollins vs. Riddle, Lita's latest appearance, Chad Gable and Otis face Randy Orton and Riddle in the quiz bowl portion of the academic challenge, the continuation of the build to Elimination Chamber". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  29. ^ Powell, Jason (February 19, 2022). "WWE Elimination Chamber Kickoff Show results: Powell's review of Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  30. ^ a b Powell, Jason (February 21, 2022). "2/21 WWE Raw Results: Powell's live review of the milestone episode featuring new WWE Champion Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton and Riddle vs. Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens, and Miz TV on the Elimination Chamber fallout edition". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  31. ^ Powell, Jason (February 28, 2022). "2/28 WWE Raw Results: Powell's live review of Damian Priest vs. Finn Balor for the U.S. Championship, Edge addressing his WrestleMania future, Raw Tag Champions Alpha Academy vs. Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens in a non-title match, RK-Bro vs. The Street Profits". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  32. ^ WWE.com Staff (February 4, 2022). "SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair vs. Ronda Rousey". WWE. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  33. ^ Bryant, Nathan (February 19, 2022). "Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair". WWE. Retrieved February 20, 2022.
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  35. ^ WWE.com Staff (March 3, 2022). "Drew McIntyre vs. Happy Corbin". WWE. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
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  37. ^ WWE.com Staff (February 28, 2022). "Women's Tag Team Champions Queen Zelina & Carmella vs. Sasha Banks & Naomi". WWE. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  38. ^ WWE.com Staff (March 4, 2022). "Johnny Knoxville vs. Sami Zayn". WWE. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  39. ^ WWE.com Staff (March 3, 2022). "Pat McAfee vs. Austin Theory". WWE. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  40. ^ WWE Staff (February 28, 2022). "Edge vs. AJ Styles". WWE. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
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