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WrestleMania XL

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WrestleMania XL
Promotional poster featuring various WWE wrestlers
PromotionWWE
Brand(s)
DateApril 6–7, 2024
CityPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
VenueLincoln Financial Field
WWE Network event chronology
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WrestleMania XL is the upcoming 40th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It will be held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event is scheduled to be held as a two-night event, taking place on April 6 and 7, 2024, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

This will be the second WrestleMania to be held in the city of Philadelphia and in the state of Pennsylvania, after WrestleMania XV in 1999. WrestleMania XL will also be the first WrestleMania after the company was sold to Endeavor, the parent company of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The sale was finalized in September 2023, with WWE and UFC merging to become divisions of a new entity called TKO Group Holdings, subsequently marking the first WrestleMania under TKO.

Production

Background

File:Le Lincoln Financial Field (cropped).jpg
The event will be held at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

WrestleMania is WWE's flagship pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, having first been held in 1985. It was the company's first PPV produced and was also WWE's first major event available via livestreaming when the company launched the WWE Network in February 2014. It is the longest-running professional wrestling event in history and is held annually between mid-March to mid-April.[1] Along with Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and Money in the Bank, it is one of the company's five biggest events of the year, referred to as the "Big Five".[2][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] Much like the Super Bowl, cities bid for the right to host the year's edition of WrestleMania.[6] WrestleMania XL will feature wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. In addition to airing on traditional PPV, it will be available to livestream on Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network in most international markets.[7] The official theme song for the event is "Gasoline" by The Weeknd.[8]

On July 27, 2022, it was announced that Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania would host WrestleMania 40 on April 6 and 7, 2024.[7] Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenney welcomed WWE to the city, noting the economic boost from visiting fans.[9]

The event's logo was revealed on October 8, 2022, during the Extreme Rules Kickoff pre-show at the nearby Wells Fargo Center. Themed after the Liberty Bell and in the colors of the Philadelphia Eagles, it incorporates Roman numerals for the first time since WrestleMania XXX in 2014, thus officially stylizing the title as WrestleMania XL.[10][11] Tickets for the event went on sale on August 18, 2023.[12] Over 90,000 tickets were sold on the first day for both nights combined, breaking WWE's record set by the prior year's WrestleMania.[13]

From January 2023, there had been speculation that WWE had been placed up for sale.[14] Hours before WrestleMania 39 Night 2 began, CNBC reported via multiple sources that a deal between WWE and Endeavor, the parent company of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) via Zuffa, was imminent. The deal involved a merger of WWE with the UFC into a new publicly traded company, with Endeavor holding a 51% stake.[15] The sale was confirmed the next day on April 3, 2023,[16] and was finalized on September 12, with WWE merging with the UFC to become divisions of TKO Group Holdings. WrestleMania XL will in turn be the first WrestleMania held in which WWE was not owned and controlled by the McMahon family, and subsequently the first WrestleMania under TKO.[17]

Other WrestleMania week events

As part of the WrestleMania festivities during the week of the event, WWE will hold a number of events throughout the week. The night before WrestleMania XL on April 5, WWE will kick off WrestleMania Weekend with a special "WrestleMania Edition" of Friday Night SmackDown. Immediately after SmackDown, the 2024 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony will commence. The day of WrestleMania Saturday, WWE's NXT brand will hold its annual WrestleMania Week event, Stand & Deliver. WrestleMania Week will conclude with the Monday Night Raw after WrestleMania on April 8. All of these events will be held live at the nearby Wells Fargo Center.[18]

Storylines

The event will include matches that result from scripted storylines. Results are predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands,[19][20] while storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.[21]

After Cody Rhodes made his return to WWE at WrestleMania 38 in April 2022, he declared that he would finish his story by winning the WWE Championship, a title his father Dusty Rhodes never held.[22] After winning the 2023 Royal Rumble match and failing to win the title at WrestleMania 39,[23] Rhodes again won the Royal Rumble match at the 2024 event, thus earning another world championship match at WrestleMania XL.[24] After the Royal Rumble, Seth Rollins argued that Rhodes should choose to face him for the World Heavyweight Championship, instead of facing Roman Reigns, with Rollins describing the World Heavyweight Championship, as "the Dusty Rhodes title ... the workhorse championship, the blue collar championship"; Rhodes responded that he would consider.[25] After careful consideration, Rhodes said that he would eventually win the WWE Championship, but he would put that goal on hold, seemingly confirming he would challenge Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XL.[26]

At SummerSlam in July 2022, Bayley made her return from injury alongside Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky with the trio dubbing themselves Damage CTRL. Kairi Sane, who returned to WWE in November 2023 and who had previous issues with Bayley before her departure, forgave Bayley and joined with Damage CTRL, followed by Asuka joining the group, subsequently reuniting The Kabuki Warriors in the process. The group would have success on SmackDown, including multiple WWE Women's Tag Team Championship reigns, as well as Sky winning the WWE Women's Championship. Bayley then won the 2024 women's Royal Rumble match, thus earning a women's championship match of her choice at WrestleMania XL. Bayley had previously said she would be going after Raw's Women's World Championship so that Damage CTRL would hold all the women's championships of Raw and SmackDown; however, on the February 2 episode of SmackDown, after Bayley overheard Sky, Asuka, and Sane talking behind her back, Bayley revealed she understood Japanese and how they made fun of her. Asuka and Kairi then attacked Bayley, who after fighting them off would decide to challenge Sky for the WWE Women's Championship at WrestleMania XL.[26]

Matches

No.Matches*Stipulations
1Seth "Freakin" Rollins (c) vs. Cody RhodesSingles match for the World Heavyweight Championship[27]
2Iyo Sky (c) vs. BayleySingles match for the WWE Women's Championship[28]
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match
*Card subject to change

References

  1. ^ Benigno, Anthony; Clapp, John (April 3, 2013). "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. ^ "Las Vegas to host WWE's Money in the Bank in 2022". KSNV. August 22, 2021. Archived from the original on August 23, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  4. ^ Ozanian, Mike (October 16, 2019). "The Forbes Fab 40: Puma Debuts On 2019 List Of The World's Most Valuable Sports Brands". Forbes. Archived from the original on January 27, 2022. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  5. ^ Gelston, Dan (April 4, 2013). "WrestleMania is Super Bowl of sports entertainment". Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 31, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  6. ^ Graser, Marc (March 28, 2010). "WrestleMania sets off bidding frenzy". Variety. Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
  7. ^ a b Lambert, Jeremy (July 27, 2022). "WWE Announces Dates And Location For WrestleMania 40". Fightful. Archived from the original on July 27, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  8. ^ Lambert, Jeremy. "WWE Announces The Weeknd's Gasoline Is The Official Theme Song Of WrestleMania 40 | Fightful News". Fightful. Archived from the original on 1 February 2024.
  9. ^ Sharber, Cory. "WWE's Wrestlemania 40 coming to Philadelphia in 2024". WHYY. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
  10. ^ Kasabian, Paul (October 8, 2022). "WWE WrestleMania 40 Logo Revealed; Event Will Be Held in Philadelphia". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on October 9, 2022. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  11. ^ Harris, Jeffrey (October 8, 2022). "WWE Unveils WrestleMania 40 Logo at Extreme Rules". 411Mania. Archived from the original on October 9, 2022. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  12. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (July 21, 2023). "WrestleMania 40 Tickets Available On Friday, August 18". Fightful. Archived from the original on July 21, 2023. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  13. ^ Currier, Joseph (August 18, 2023). "WrestleMania 40 breaks WWE's all-time gate record". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Archived from the original on August 19, 2023. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
  14. ^ Sherman, Alex (January 7, 2023). "Vince McMahon is back at WWE to ensure a smooth sale process. Here's who might want to buy it". CNBC. Archived from the original on January 9, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  15. ^ Sherman, Alex (April 2, 2023). "WWE near deal to be sold to UFC parent Endeavor, sources say". CNBC. Archived from the original on April 2, 2023. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  16. ^ Valinsky, Jordan (April 3, 2023). "WWE is combining with UFC to form a new company". CNN. Archived from the original on April 3, 2023. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  17. ^ "Endeavor and WWE® Deal to Create TKO Group Holdings Expected to Close September 12". Business Wire. September 7, 2023. Archived from the original on September 7, 2023. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
  18. ^ Wells Fargo Center [@WellsFargoCtr] (November 8, 2023). "Three huge events have been added to @WWE WrestleMania Week in Philadelphia! Friday Night Smackdown & 2024 WWE Hall of Fame Friday, April 5 NXT Stand & Deliver Saturday, April 6 Monday Night RAW Monday, April 8 All three events right here at Wells Fargo Center! Combo Tickets for all three events on-sale next Friday, November 17" (Tweet). Retrieved November 12, 2023 – via Twitter.
  19. ^ Grabianowski, Ed (January 13, 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 29, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  20. ^ "Live & Televised Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on February 18, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
  21. ^ 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.
  22. ^ Brookhouse, Brent (April 4, 2022). "WWE Raw results, recap, grades: Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes among those celebrating WrestleMania wins". CBSSports. Archived from the original on April 5, 2022. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
  23. ^ Powell, Jason (April 2, 2023). "WrestleMania 39 results: Powell's live review of night two with Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, Bianca Belair vs. Asuka for the Raw Women's Title, Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus for the Intercontinental Title, Edge vs. Finn Balor in Hell in a Cell, Brock Lesnar vs. Omos". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on April 9, 2023. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  24. ^ Powell, Jason (January 27, 2024). "WWE Royal Rumble results: Powell's live review of the Royal Rumble matches, Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton vs. LA Knight vs. AJ Styles for the WWE Universal Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on January 27, 2024. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  25. ^ Powell, Jason (January 29, 2024). "WWE Raw results (1/29): Powell's live review of Cody Rhodes and Bayley's post Royal Rumble win appearances, CM Punk's health update, Damian Priest and Finn Balor vs. DIY for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
  26. ^ a b Barnett, Jake (February 2, 2024). "WWE Friday Night Smackdown results (2/2): Barnett's review of Roman Reigns responds to Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes, appearances by Royal Rumble winners Cody and Bayley". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  27. ^ "Cody Rhodes to speak after historic Royal Rumble victory". WWE. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
  28. ^ WWE.com Staff (February 2, 2024). "WWE Women's Champion IYO SKY vs. Bayley". WWE. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
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