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WrestleMania XL

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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.

WrestleMania XL
Promotional poster featuring Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes
PromotionWWE
Brand(s)
DateApril 6–7, 2024
CityPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
VenueLincoln Financial Field
WWE Network event chronology
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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 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 which marks the 5th consecutive year that a Weeknd song has been used for WrestleMania.[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]

Main event match

After Cody Rhodes made his return to WWE at WrestleMania 38 in April 2022, he declared he would finish his story by winning the WWE Championship, a title his father Dusty Rhodes never held.[22] Also at WrestleMania 38, Roman Reigns became the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion by retaining the WWE Universal Championship and winning the WWE Championship.[23] After Rhodes won the 2023 Royal Rumble match but failed to defeat Reigns for the undisputed title at WrestleMania 39,[24] Rhodes again won the Royal Rumble match in 2024.[25] With the introduction of the World Heavyweight Championship after WrestleMania 39,[26] Rhodes in turn received a choice of which title to challenge for at WrestleMania XL.[25] During the Royal Rumble post-event press conference, Rhodes said he wanted to face Reigns again for SmackDown's Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.[27] However, on the January 29 episode of Raw, Seth "Freakin" Rollins argued that Rhodes should instead challenge him for the World Heavyweight Championship, claiming his title to be the workhorse championship that embodied Dusty.[28] On that Friday's SmackDown, after taking counsel over his choices, Rhodes said that while he still wanted the WWE Championship, he would not be challenging Reigns for the title at WrestleMania XL.[29]

Prior to the Royal Rumble at Raw: Day 1 on January 1, The Rock made his return to WWE and seemingly called out Roman Reigns by asking if he should sit at the "head of the table", a reference to their relationship through the Anoaʻi family as for over three years, Reigns had claimed he was the Head of the Table and Tribal Chief of the family.[30] On the February 2 episode of SmackDown, Rhodes said one of the individuals he took counsel from knew Reigns very well. This brought out The Rock, who came face-to-face with Reigns.[29] During the WrestleMania XL Kickoff media event on February 8, in which Rollins was on hand to hear Rhodes's official decision, Reigns and Rock declared they would face each other in the main event of WrestleMania XL. Rhodes then appeared and asserted that since he won the Royal Rumble, he got to decide the main event and announced that he had in fact chosen Reigns. After bringing up each other's families, Rock said that he and Rhodes now had issues and he slapped Rhodes in the face with Rollins backing Rhodes. Backstage as WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H was being interviewed over what had just transpired, Rock and Reigns appeared and told him to fix it or they would.[31]

On the following SmackDown, Triple H asserted that the main event of Night 2 of WrestleMania XL would in fact be Reigns defending the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Rhodes. As a result, it was decided that an Elimination Chamber match at Elimination Chamber: Perth would be held to determine Rollins's challenger for Raw's World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania. Qualifying matches began that night.[32]

Undercard matches

At SummerSlam in July 2022, Bayley made her return from injury alongside Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky with the trio dubbing themselves Damage CTRL.[33] 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.[34] 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.[25] Bayley had previously said she would be going after Raw's women's championship so that Damage CTRL would hold all the women's titles of Raw and SmackDown;[35] 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. Bayley was then kicked out of Damage CTRL after Asuka and Sane attacked her, turning face for the first time since 2019. After fighting off the rest of Damage CTRL, Bayley decided she would challenge Sky for the WWE Women's Championship at WrestleMania XL.[29]

On February 5, Raw General Manager Adam Pearce announced that due to the women's Royal Rumble match winner choosing to challenge for SmackDown's women's championship, the challenger for the Women's World Championship at WrestleMania XL would be determined by an Elimination Chamber match at Elimination Chamber: Perth.[36] Reigning champion Rhea Ripley was also scheduled to defend the title against Nia Jax at the same event.[37]

Matches

No.Matches*Stipulations
1Roman Reigns (c) vs. Cody RhodesSingles match for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship[38]
2Iyo Sky (c) vs. BayleySingles match for the WWE Women's Championship[39]
3Rhea Ripley (c) or Nia Jax vs. Women's Elimination Chamber match winnerSingles match for the Women's World Championship[40]
4Seth "Freakin" Rollins (c) vs. Men's Elimination Chamber match winnerSingles match for the World Heavyweight Championship[41]
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match
*Card subject to change

References

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  2. ^ Ian Hamilton. Wrestling's Sinking Ship: What Happens to an Industry Without Competition (p. 160)
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  25. ^ a b c 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.
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  28. ^ Powell, Jason (January 30, 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 February 3, 2024.
  29. ^ a b c 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. Archived from the original on February 3, 2024. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
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  32. ^ Barnett, Jake (February 9, 2024). "WWE Friday Night Smackdown results (2/9): Barnett's review of Triple H addressing the WMXL Kickoff event, Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate vs. DIY for a shot at the Undisputed WWE Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 9, 2024.
  33. ^ Powell, Jason (July 30, 2022). "WWE SummerSlam results: Powell's review of Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar in a Last Man Standing match for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, Bianca Belair vs. Becky Lynch for the Raw Women's Title, The Usos vs. The Street Profits for the Undisputed WWE Tag Titles, Liv Morgan vs. Ronda Rousey for the Smackdown Women's Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on July 31, 2022. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  34. ^ Barnett, Jake (November 10, 2023). "WWE Friday Night Smackdown results (11/10): Barnett's review of Bobby Lashley vs. Carlito, LA Knight vs. Grayson Waller, and Bayley addresses the future of Damage CTRL". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on November 11, 2023. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  35. ^ Defelice, Robert; Brennan, Corey (January 28, 2024). "Bayley Reflects On Victory In 'Wide-Ranged' 2024 WWE Royal Rumble Match: I Feel Amazing". Fightful. Archived from the original on January 29, 2024. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
  36. ^ Boone, Matt (February 5, 2024). "WWE Elimination Chamber Qualifying Matches To Begin On Tonight's RAW". PWMania. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  37. ^ Powell, Jason (February 2, 2024). "WWE Raw results (2/5): Powell's live review of Cody Rhodes vs. Shinsuke Nakamura in a Bull Rope match, Kabuki Warriors vs. Kayden Carter and Katana Chance for the WWE Women's Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
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  39. ^ WWE.com Staff (February 2, 2024). "WWE Women's Champion IYO SKY vs. Bayley". WWE. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  40. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (February 5, 2024). "WWE Confirms Women's Elimination Chamber Winner Will Face Rhea Ripley At WWE WrestleMania 40". Fightful. Retrieved February 9, 2024.
  41. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (February 9, 2024). "Men's Elimination Chamber Match Announced For WWE Elimination Chamber, Winner Faces Seth Rollins At WM 40". Fightful. Retrieved February 9, 2024.
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