WWE WrestleMania 40 card: Logan Paul faces 2 opponents in Philly

A look at the updated match card for WWE WrestleMania 40.

Anticipation is building for WWE’s grandest annual event, as it always brings massive hype. A month out, it seems fans know who will square off in some of the top matches of the two-day extravaganza at WrestleMania 40.

Bayley‘s Royal Rumble win propelled her to a title match at WrestleMania. While Rhea Ripley presented an intriguing matchup, once her Damage CTRL teammates turned on her, the Role Model chose to challenge IYO SKY for the WWE Women’s Championship instead.

In a surprising turn of events, Cody Rhodes told Roman Reigns on the Feb. 2 episode of SmackDown that he would not challenge for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. While it seemed like the logical continuation of Rhodes’ storyline, one wondered how much CM Punk’s injury changed WWE’s WrestleMania plans for the top title matches.

Nevertheless, Rhodes surprised the audience by bringing out The Rock to share a face-to-face moment with Reigns in the ring, closing the show. This comes just a month after the People’s Champion proclaimed on Raw that he would “sit at the head of the table.”

However, then came the WrestleMania Kickoff event in Las Vegas on Feb. 8. Rhodes, Reigns, The Rock and Seth Rollins were all billed for it, with a teaser that the American Nightmare made his decision on what he’ll do at WrestleMania despite what happened.

The Tribal Chief tried to take matters into his own hands at the Sin City show, declaring he’ll face the People’s Champion at WrestleMania. After a handshake agreement, Rhodes interrupted the festivities and told them he wanted Reigns at Lincoln Financial Field after all.

It sparked a fierce war of words, with The Rock snapping back at Rhodes and Rollins for talking about his family. Most comments were explicit and bleeped from the Peacock broadcast as the faces traded words with the Bloodline members.

For any questions about how definitive that event’s shenanigans were, Triple H confirmed on X that Reigns vs. Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.

Rollins got his own challenger at Elimination Chamber, when Drew McIntyre outlasted five other men to earn his world title shot. Becky Lynch did the same earlier on the show, and will take on Rhea Ripley for the Women’s World Championship.

But that’s not all. After the events of the first few shows of March, a huge tag team match has been set for Night 1. Rhodes and Rollins will team together to face Reigns and The Rock with high stakes for Night 2: If Cody and Seth win, the Rhodes-Reigns rematch will be one-on-one, but if they lose the tag team match, that rematch will be fought under Bloodline Rules, meaning anything goes.

WrestleMania 40 goes down on Saturday, April 6, and Sunday, April 7 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. We’ll update this post with more matches as WWE makes them official, so check back often until Mania week rolls around.

Latest update: March 18, 2024, 11:10 p.m. ET.

WWE WrestleMania 40 card:

Night 1:

  • Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns and The Rock – If Rhodes and Rollins win, then all members of The Bloodline will be barred from ringside during Rhodes’s Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match against Reigns on Night 2; however, if Reigns and Rock win, then the championship match will be Bloodline Rules

Night 2:

  • Roman Reigns (c) vs. Cody Rhodes – Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match
  • Seth Rollins (c) vs. Drew McIntyre – World Heavyweight Championship match

Night TBD

  • IYO SKY (c) vs. Bayley – WWE Women’s Championship match
  • Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Becky Lynch – Women’s World Championship match
  • Gunther (c) vs. Sami Zayn – WWE Intercontinental Championship match
  • The Judgment Day (Damian Priest and Finn Balor) (c) vs. #DIY vs. The Awesome Truth vs. The New Day vs. TBD vs. TBD – Six-pack challenge match for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship
  • Logan Paul (c) vs. Kevin Owens vs. Randy Orton – WWE United States Championship match
  • LA Knight vs. AJ Styles
  • Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso

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WWE Raw results 03/18/24: The Man takes flight to be Last Woman Standing

This week on WWE Raw, Becky Lynch outlasted Nia Jax, Cody Rhodes spit fire at The Rock, and Sami Zayn questioned himself.

Becky Lynch doesn’t do tune-up matches. She only does big time bouts even while on the Road to WrestleMania, and she’s got another one tonight on WWE Raw in Raleigh.

See, there’s something that just doesn’t sit right with The Man about Nia Jax. It’s not just that Jax beat Lynch clean earlier this year, though that’s definitely a big part of it.

The rest has to do with Lynch trying to prove she’s the best at what she does when she faces Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 40. How can she claim to be the top dog if she can’t first say definitively she’s better than Jax?

Becky would tell you she can’t. That’s why we’ve ended up with a Last Woman Standing match less than three weeks out from Philadelphia. It should be really fun, and there’s definitely a chance that Liv Morgan gets involved as well. What would that mean for the Showcase of the Immortals? We’ll find out soon enough.

The other big thing on tonight’s Raw is getting more teams into the Six-Pack Ladder Match for the men’s tag team titles at WrestleMania. There are three qualifying matches on the card this evening, and the one we’ve really got our eye on is #DIY vs. The Creed Brothers. Honestly seems like both teams would be great to have in the title match, so we’re not sure which way this one will go.

Oh, and there’s going to be a contract signing between Gunther and Sami Zayn, so if you’re one of the people still holding out hope that Chad Gable works his way into a Triple Threat situation, this would be the time.

We’re pumped for this Raw, one of only three left before WrestleMania. Let’s get into it.

WWE Raw results from Raleigh:

(please scroll down for more details on any match or segment in bold)

  • Jey Uso has a discussion with Jimmy Uso, then gets assistance from Cody Rhodes to fight off an attack from Jimmy and Solo Sikoa
  • A hype video is shown for the Last Woman Standing match, along with a shot of Becky on her way into the arena
  • Paul Heyman apologizes to Adam Pearce for Jimmy and Solo “going into business for themselves” and insists they did what they did on their own and Pearce has Roman Reigns’ word that they are gone; Heyman adds that he has official business to do and that “everyone is going to be caught off guard”

  • #DIY def. The Creed Brothers by pinfall in a WrestleMania Tag Team Qualifying Match
  • The Judgment Day talks to Andrade, who will get a chance to impress them next week; Damian Priest chastises JD McDonagh for not winning the Gauntlet match, but somehow it now falls on Dominik Mysterio to get some shine back by defeating Ricochet tonight
  • Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell def. Katana Chance and Kayden Carter by submission, with LeRae taking advantage of a knee “injury” to Chance and exploiting it to get the victory
  • The Rock Concert segment from SmackDown is shown
  • Cody Rhodes has some venom for The Rock tonight, and does some negotiating of sorts with Heyman
  • Nia Jax says Becky Lynch has never beaten her, and when that proves true again, Nia plans on taking her spot at WrestleMania
  • Jey Uso offers to watch Cody’s back if needed on SmackDown, though Rhodes also says he gave his word he’d show up alone
  • Ricochet def. Dominik Mysterio by pinfall, with McDonagh unable to help Dom win or successfully ambush Ricochet after the final bell
  • Sami Zayn finds Chad Gable and expresses his respect for Gable, but they end up having a disagreement over Chad’s “it just means more” mantra before Gable suggests that Zayn “can’t beat Gunther”
  • The Sami Zayn-Gunther contract signing turns into a referendum on self-belief
  • Awesome Truth gets a pep talk from #DIY before heading out to face Indus Sher
  • The Awesome Truth def. Indus Sher by pinfall in a WrestleMania Tag Team Qualifying Match
  • Zayn demands to know why Gable said he can’t beat Gunther, and Chad tells him it’s because Sami waits for a window of opportunity to strike and will need to change his mentality to have any chance to win
  • Drew McIntyre is interrupted immediately by Seth Rollins, who poses an interesting question: Is Drew more like Seth than he’d care to admit?
  • Becky Lynch cuts a short promo ahead of her main event with Jax
  • The New Day def. Alpha Academy (Akira Tozawa and Otis) by pinfall in a WrestleMania Tag Team Qualifying Match
  • Liv Morgan stops by and tells Becky that Nia is all hers tonight — just make sure you kick her ass
  • Rollins checks in with Rhodes, who again insists he’s going to face Reigns solo on SmackDown
  • Becky Lynch def. Nia Jax in a Last Woman Standing Match
  • As Lynch takes a moment to compose herself after a hard-fought victory, she’s joined in the ring by Rhea Ripley, and the two stand eye to eye exchanging pleasantries as Raw goes off the air

Jey, Jimmy Uso talk WrestleMania, and Cody Rhodes ensures there’s no Bloodline ambush

Pat McAfee is already tired from participating in the Yeetdown. Michael Cole mentions that it will be only the third time that it’s brother vs. brother at WrestleMania. Jey says he knows The Bloodline is in the building and asks big brother Jimmy where he’s at.

Jimmy comes through the crowd, side by side with Solo Sikoa. But Solo stands outside the ring, allowing Jey and Jimmy to come face to face. Jey says regardless of what’s happened and the bad blood, he misses his twin.

Jey asks Jimmy to come back, but Jimmy insists he never left. After running down all the things Jey’s done since going to Raw, he claims the biggest moment of his career is because of … Jimmy.

Jey says nah, that his biggest career moment will be at WrestleMania 40 when he knocks the yeet out of his ass. Jey gets in the first shot, but Jimmy is able to land a superkick thanks to a distraction from Solo. it could be a two-on-one beatdown, but here comes Cody Rhodes, who chucks Jimmy aside and hits a Cody Cutter on Sikoa.


Cody Rhodes has some pointed insults for The Rock and negotiates a bit with Paul Heyman

Rhodes is dressed in all black tonight, perhaps a sign of what kind of headspace he’s in. Cody starts off by reminding us that in less than three weeks, he’s going to face the greatest champion in all of sports once again.

He’ll have a conversation with Roman Reigns on SmackDown about that, but there are complications, the biggest one being The Rock. Rhodes brings up The Rock referring to himself as our favorite heel and runs down some of the great heels he’s known.

“Rock, I don’t think you’re a heel … I think you’re an a–hole.”

Cody goes on to suggest that while The Rock made fun of him for crying, wasn’t The People’s Champ the one actually crying behind the scene? Accusing the people around him of being yes-men, Cody says that he’s lots of wonderful thing — but also a whiny bitch.

Saying it was fair game for The Rock to mention his mom, Cody also says he knows Rock’s mom. Rhodes says she’s wonderful, deserving of respect just like his own mom should be since she wouldn’t be scared of The Rock.

Addressing WrestleMania, Cody admits he doesn’t know if Sunday will be Bloodline Rules or if he’ll finish the story. But how can The Rock be so sure of himself? After all, he hasn’t been in the ring for years. Final Boss? Rhodes says maybe he’ll only be “Roman’s side chick.”

That brings out an angry Paul Heyman, who apologizes for his previous apology because it was dumb. Rhodes invites Heyman into the ring, but he says he’s cool on the apron and has a message from Reigns: When Reigns and Rhodes are face to face on SmackDown, no other members of The Bloodline will be present except for Paul.

Cody likes what he hears and says “Deal.” But Heyman says he forgot one crucial point. Namely, that Rhodes has to show up alone to SmackDown too. “Deal.”


Sami Zayn and Gunther make it official for WrestleMania, but does Sami believe in himself?

Adam Pearce is in the ring with the usual contract signing setup, summoning Zayn first and then Gunther. The Ring General mocks Sami for dressing like any slob from the crowd, to which Zayn takes offense at the feeling that Gunther doesn’t think he can win their match.

Sami angrily signs on the dotted line, but Gunther just wants to make fun of hic challenger a little more, questioning whether he even believes he can win. He smiles as he signs too and prepares to leave. But Zayn tells him to wait and tells Gunther to look into his eyes before storming off.


Is Drew McIntyre more like Seth Rollins than he cares to admit to himself?

McIntyre can’t be pleased that he’s immediately interrupted by the arrival of Rollins before he even makes it down the ramp. Mind games are fair play on the Road to WrestleMania, though.

They both end up in the ring, where Seth claims he has something to get off his chest. He admits he’s a spotlight junkie in the manner of people introducing themselves at AA meetings. “Spotlight junkie” chants break out in response.

An exasperated McIntyre says Rollins has become a parody of himself, but the only punchline is going to be when Drew beats him for the title at WrestleMania. McIntyre also mocks the “CM Punk” chant, at which point Rollins interjects and says none of this is a joke to him.

The World Heavyweight Champion says he’s been doing this for a while and it gets better every time. He wants the spotlight as bright as it can possibly be, which surprisingly gets McIntyre’s approval … except for the finish.

“You had me until you mentioned the big spotlight,” Drew says, yelling that it should only be the work they’ve done that matters. Rollins’ priorities are all screwed up, he insists, and that means McIntyre won’t get the moment he deserves — he’ll get the moment he earned.

Seth retorts that Drew is a spotlight junkie just as much as he is, motivated by the fact that his previous title run was in front of no fans. The problem is that when the lights got bright again, McIntyre fumbled the ball. At WrestleMania 40, Seth suggests, Drew will discover he’s not as good as he thinks he is.


Becky Lynch takes to the air to defeat Nia Jax in a Last Woman Standing Match

Lynch looks like she wants to try to end it early, taking it to Jax in and out of the ring. Pat McAfee says he thought the strategy would be opposite, and perhaps he has a point as Jax starts taking over on the outside. They slug it out as the match goes to its first commercial break.

Michael Cole reminds us the only way to win is to keep your opponent down for a count of 10. Jax is busy getting out a table and a ton of chairs, but Lynch is recovering and uses a chair on Nia as she climbs back in the ring.

Jax hits a Samoan Drop back onto a pile of chairs, and McAfee thinks that’s it. Narrator: It was not it.

The crowd wants tables but Lynch is busy applying a sleeper, then pivoting into a bulldog onto a chair. The ref counts to about six, then Lynch tries coming off the top rope and takes a chair to the gut.

Jax is feeling good as Lynch struggles to get back up, eating more chair shots when she does. Jax sits right on top of her on a chair, but a kendo stick is within reach for The Man, and she goes to town with that, sending Jax to the floor.

Nia recovers quickly and picks up the steps to use as a weapon. But she misses when trying a legdrop on the apron, then gets dropped on the steps. The ref gets to six, so Lynch smashes her face into the steps again. The fans roar their approval as Becky gets out a table right as more ads arrive.

There’s now a ladder set up when the broadcast returns, but Lynch is able to blind Jax with a blast from a fire extinguisher. Somehow she’s still able to stagger back into the ring and hit Lynch with a Samoan Drop that drives The Man through a table.

Jax hits an Annihilator too, and the ref starts to count. Lynch rolls out of the ring at eight, landing on her feet to break the count. Jax eyes the table on the floor, but Lynch wriggles free of a Samoan Drop and hits a Manhandle Slam through the table instead.

The ref counts but both women make it up; Jax just barely. Seeing she needs to do something spectacular to win it, Lynch scales the ladder and drives Jax through the announce table with a legdrop. The ref counts, and this time not even Jax is getting up.

WWE announces 5 shows in Europe to support Bash in Berlin

WWE will hit five cities it doesn’t often visit ahead of Bash in Berlin.

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When WWE Bash in Berlin heads to Germany this summer, it won’t be the only chance that fans in that region will get to see their favorite WWE wrestlers in action.

WWE announced today a five-stop Road To Bash In Berlin Tour, which will bring live events (also known to many fans as house shows) to five European cities in the lead-up to Bash in Berlin. Though circumstances can always change this far out, talent announced for the tour includes AJ Styles, Bianca Belair, Bobby Lashley, Jimmy Uso, Kevin Owens, LA Knight and Solo Sikoa.

The tour dates and venues are:

  • Sunday, Aug. 25 – Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam, Netherlands
  • Monday, Aug. 26 – Forest National in Brussels, Belgium
  • Tuesday, Aug. 27 – Rudolf Weber Arena in Oberhausen, Germany
  • Wednesday, Aug. 28 – Porsche Arena in Stuttgart, Germany
  • Thursday, Aug. 29 – Festhalle in Frankfurt, Germany

Tickets for all of the Road to Bash in Berlin shows go on sale this Friday, March 22.

The tour will be hitting cities WWE doesn’t visit all that often. It last hit Rotterdam in 2017, and the other stops will mark the first events in their respective cities since at least 2022.

Bash in Berlin will be the first ever WWE premium live event in Germany, and will go down on Saturday, Aug. 31 from the Mercedes-Benz Arena.

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WWE Raw preview 03/18/24: Will Becky Lynch or Nia Jax be Last Woman Standing?

Another big part of WWE Raw from Raleigh will be three qualifying matches for the Six-Pack Ladder Match at WrestleMania.

There’s nothing wrong with settling some longstanding business before WrestleMania, which is exactly what we might see tonight on WWE Raw from Raleigh.

Surely, this is it for Becky Lynch and Nia Jax … right?

Though Becky Lynch has framed her quest to dethrone Rhea Ripley as an attempt to prove something to herself, that’s really true of her ongoing issue with Nia Jax as well. Jax just can’t leave her alone, it’s true, but The Man also has a self-confidence hurdle she needs to clear after Jax beat her clean a few months ago.

We’d say a Last Woman Standing match is a good way to put this kind of thing behind you. The question is whether Lynch will actually be able to do that, and if perhaps WWE might still have Liv Morgan sniffing around the edges of this bout. It should be fun regardless.

Gunther and Sami Zayn make it official for Philly

Sami Zayn wasn’t the man we necessarily thought would be the challenger for Gunther and his Intercontinental Championship, but it works. Even if the “I’ve got to find a way to WrestleMania” bit has become a well-worn trope over the past few years, it certainly suits Sami.

Gunther has been properly built to be a monster during this reign, but he’s really improved on the mic along the way. Expect to see that come to the forefront during their contract signing tonight on Raw.

Who will make it into the tag team title ladder match at WrestleMania?

We’ll see not one, not two but three qualifying matches for the Six-Pack Ladder Match at WrestleMania 40:

  • #DIY vs. The Creed Brothers
  • The Awesome Truth vs. Indus Sher
  • Alpha Academy vs. The New Day

If we have to choose a la Hamilton picking between Burr and Jefferson, we’d go with #DIY, The Awesome Truth and The New Day. The Creeds seem like the most likely to crash the party. But the actual six-team match should be wild at Mania.


We’ll be bringing the heat tonight, and by that we mean live WWE Raw results and updates. Join us back here at 8 p.m. ET on Wrestling Junkie for the latest.

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WWE SmackDown results 03/15/24: Rock Concert for Cody, Bayley gets Damage CTRL-alt-deleted

WWE SmackDown from Memphis also made several more WrestleMania 40 matches official.

You know what’s fun in kind of a surreal way about WWE right now? The Rock is something of a regular! He’s making his third consecutive WWE SmackDown appearance tonight in Memphis, so he’s practically part of the ongoing crew now.

And while we kid Mr. Rock, it is easy to take for granted that one of the busiest guys in Hollywood (not to mention his other business interests) is on TV every Friday, then cutting long and entertaining video promos randomly throughout the week. You may not be rooting for him — almost certainly most WWE fans will be cheering against him at WrestleMania — but you have to respect how committed he’s been to this whole angle.

(Yes, there’s a cynical aspect to it to since he’s on the TKO board now, so of course he wants the company to do well, but still.)

Anyway, we’re anxious to see what he’s got up his sleeveless vest again tonight, so let’s fire this up and see what we’ve got.

WWE SmackDown results from Memphis:

(please scroll down for more details on any match or segment in bold)

  • The broadcast begins with a recap of the challenge The Rock and Roman Reigns made to Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins, which of course was accepted for night 1 of WrestleMania
  • The Rock Concert is back, to the delight of the Memphis fans, but The Rock also has pointed messages for Cody and Mama Rhodes
  • Legado Del Fantasma (Angel and Berto) def. LWO (Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde) by pinfall in a WrestleMania Qualifying Match
  • Kayla Braxton talks to LA Knight, who dares AJ Styles to come out and humble him, finding it curious that Styles would fly all the way to Australia but wouldn’t drive to Memphis; he challenges Styles to a match at WrestleMania, at which point AJ finally appears, attacking LA from behind with a steel chair before accepting the challenge

  • Logan Paul asks Nick Aldis what the repercussions will be for Randy Orton messing with him last week, but the GM suggests Paul request an apology from Orton in person; Paul also insults Aldis by saying he can’t expect Nick to do his job when he can’t even find Logan a WrestleMania opponent
  • Jimmy Uso is asked about the challenge made to him by Jey Uso, and he says “YEET” to it, which sounds like he accepts to us

  • Randy Orton def. Grayson Waller by pinfall, after which Kevin Owens helps fight off Austin Theory and Paul; Aldis also arrives with some news: at WrestleMania, Paul will defend his United States Championship against both Owens and Orton in a Triple Threat match
  • Dakota Kai says everything Bayley is going through is her own fault and warns the “chicks” in the locker room that Damage CTRL runs the show
  • Santos Escobar def. Dragon Lee by pinfall; after the match, Carlito tries to fight all of Legado Del Fantasma by himself, but he soon has more help in the form of Rey Mysterio, who challenges Escobar to a match next week
  • New Catch Republic def. Pretty Deadly by pinfall in a WrestleMania Qualifying Match
  • Bayley de. Dakota Kai by DQ after interference from Damage CTRL, and not even Naomi is enough to help fight off a show-closing beatdown of the Role Model

The Rock Concert is back like it never left, and The Rock addresses Cody’s mom

Walking out to a bit of a remix between his current and old themes, The Rock also gets a mixed reaction from the fans that sounds like more cheers than boos. He says he usually scorches every city he’s in, but this city is different … because his wrestling career began in Memphis.

He even mentions the Flex Kavana moniker he used before saying that The Rock has come back home. Since it’s the home of the blues and Elvis, The Rock wants to sing a song. And hey, he’s got legitimate musicians backing him this time!

Of course, his song starts in on Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins. Ja Morant catches a stray as well, and then the final verse zeroes in on the Cody Crybabies.

Lest we think that’s all The Rock is going to do, he’s not done with Cody even once his Rock Concert is complete. He mocks Rhodes for crying on Raw and says he wants to talk to Cody’s mom.

The Rock addresses her directly, saying he’s going to make her and her son pay. How? By beating Cody with a belt and then handing her the bloody belt, apparently. If you smell what The Final Boss is cooking.


Grayson Waller is sacrificed to Randy Orton in front of Logan Paul, who gets some bad WrestleMania news

Before the action even gets going, Logan Paul’s music hits and the United States Champion makes his way down the ramp. He settles in with the announcers to get a closer look at this one, still griping (and finding sympathy from Wade Barrett) about not having a WrestleMania match.

It’s interesting that the announce team framed Waller as Austin Theory’s mentor since Austin made the main roster first and has won titles. Both men seem pretty happy as Orton ends up sprawled over the announce table before a commercial break.

The crowd is really into Orton’s offense, then disappointed when Theory pulls Waller away from certain doom. Theory, ever the good sport these days, takes the vintage Orton DDT, and Waller takes the RKO that ends it.

After the bell, however, Theory attacks Orton, allowing Paul to mock the Viper. But before he can deliver a right hand, Kevin Owens comes rushing to the rescue, quickly driving away the heels.

Orton nearly RKOs Owens by accident, but Theory ends up taking both a stunner and an RKO. That brings out Nick Aldis, who says he’s figured out Logan’s WrestleMania opponents, as in plural.

It’ll be Paul vs. Owens vs. Orton for the United States Championship. Interesting.


Bayley wins by DQ but Damage CTRL proves its point

How great is it to see Kai back in there in earnest after so much time off? And what’s up with the “whoop that trick” chants? As Wade Barrett notes, Trick Williams must love that his catchphrase is so over.

The rest of Damage CTRL is at ringside, so that’s more than a little potential concern for Bayley. Kai tries for something, perhaps a superplex, but Bayley shoves her down and drops a flying elbow.

Dakota pulls off a sweet overhead kick, allowing Kairi Sane to get involved while Kai has the ref’s attention. Kai’s stiff kick is answered by a powerbomb, and now all of Damage CTRL is involved but the ref for some reason doesn’t call for the bell until IYO SKY hammers Bayley across the back.

Someone will need to come to the rescue, and it turns out to be Naomi. The problem is the numbers game is still against the heroes, and SKY delivers the Over the Moonsault to Bayley. Damage CTRL poses triumphantly over Bayley as the show goes off the air about two minutes early.

How to watch WWE WrestleMania 40: Live stream US, international

A look at how to watch WWE WrestleMania 40.

WrestleMania is always the most anticipated part of the WWE calendar. It marks the pinnacle of WWE’s major storylines, unfolding on a grand stage while often sparking memorable moments that linger in the minds of fans for years, whether they are celebrated or infamous.

WrestleMania 39 shocked fans when Cody Rhodes lost the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match to Roman Reigns in the main event. It appeared WWE was gearing up for a rematch between the two at WrestleMania 40, and indeed, that’s what happened.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson once looked like Reigns’ challenger in the main event at Lincoln Financial Field. However, after some furious fan backlash, at the WrestleMania press conference in February, Rhodes, winner of the Royal Rumble match, chose Reigns as his opponent for the Show of Shows.

Before this, on Night 1 of WrestleMania, Rhodes and Seth Rollins will face The Rock and Reigns in a tag match. If the latter team wins, The Bloodline can interfere in Reigns vs. Rhodes on Night 2.

The American Nightmare will have the chance to finish his story. Failing to do so casts doubt on when he’ll return to the main event scene, along with WWE’s timeline to pull the title off Reigns and have it prominently featured on weekly programming again. It’s a potentially transformative moment for WWE if they choose to shift from the Tribal Chief and usher in a new era, but are they ready to make this move?

The action will transpire across two nights, on Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7. Here’s what you need to know to watch WrestleMania:

WWE WrestleMania 40

  • Date: Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7, 2024
  • Location: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
  • Start time: 7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT
  • How to watch: On Peacock in the U.S., and on WWE Network in the rest of the world

Shayna Baszler to compete in Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport X on April 4

Shayna Baszler on the Bloodsport X card could mark a drastic change in WWE policy.

It’s not just WWE that sets up shop in the WrestleMania host city in early April each year. Most of the pro wrestling world also descends upon the same location, taking advantage of the fact that so many fans are in one place. And while WWE usually tends to ignore the indie shows that swirl around Mania week, that’s changing in a big way this year thanks to today’s announcement that Shayna Baszler will compete in Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport X.

Fightful Select (subscription required) first reported Friday afternoon that “multiple WWE talent will be competing at Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport” — a major break in tradition not just for WrestleMania week, but in WWE policy in general. Superstars are rarely if ever permitted to work elsewhere.

Shortly after that report, Barnett himself confirmed that Baszler would be part of the show on April 4.

Baszler is a natural choice for the event. Not only was she trained by Barnett, but her MMA background is tailor made for Bloodsport, which is positioned as a hybrid between MMA and pro wrestling and features hard-hitting but technical matches.

As well, with the Fightful report suggesting more than just Baszler will be involved, it raises the question of whether WWE will allow more talent to compete in other promotions from time to time.

Bloodsport X is also part of the GCW Collective, a group of shows held throughout WrestleMania weekend in Philadelphia that includes Defy, DDT Pro-Wrestling, Progress, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling and other promotions. Tickets for Bloodsport X are sold out, but limited General Admission ticket packages good for admission to all Collective shows are still available at the time of this post.

Yes, you can still get WrestleMania 40 tickets, but they’ll cost you

This may end up being the most expensive WWE WrestleMania ever for fans to attend.

Business is definitely booming for WWE, which has set a number of event and venue records over the past 18 months. The demand for tickets to live shows, especially the bigger ones, has been consistently high, and WrestleMania 40 is no exception.

That’s great news for WWE. For fans still hoping to attend? Not as much.

Why? Because while there are still tickets available for both nights at Lincoln Financial Field, they’re pretty costly — as in $225 for “limited view” seats (not including fees) in the highest sections behind the stage.

That’s for night 1. For Sunday night, only resale tickets are currently for sale, beginning at $334 through Ticketmaster. If you want to attend both nights of the event, the cheapest two-day tickets available via official resale on Ticketmaster at the time of this post are $869, and those are high on the end opposite the stage.

In his latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscription required), Dave Meltzer notes that these are the highest “get-in” prices for any event in WWE history. This is simply supply and demand at its finest, as fans want to be at WrestleMania and are willing to pay heavily for the chance to do so.

This can be seen in the supporting events as well. Where the last few WrestleManias have simply had “Superstores” that fans could walk into and buy merch, this year will have WWE World at WrestleMania. It’s more than just merch … but at the end of the day, a lot of it is just fans paying for the opportunity to spend even more.

In any case, if you’re considering a last minute trek to Philadelphia, it’s worth keeping an eye on Ticketmaster to see if prices will drop closer to the show, but every indication is that there won’t be any cheap way to get in.

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Don’t expect John Cena to wrestle past age 50: ’50 is my absolute line in the sand’

John Cena repeated his desire to wrap up his in-ring WWE career before he turns 50 in 2027.

Despite the common jokes, you can still see John Cena in a WWE ring from time to time at the moment. But if he has his way, that’s not going to be true for all that much longer.

There’s no question that Cena is much closer to the end of his wrestling career than the beginning, but it turns out he’s actually given some thought to when he’d like to retire from WWE. He stated earlier this year that he plans to call it quits before age 50, and he hasn’t changed his mind since then.

While appearing on “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” Cena said he’d like to have his last match before age 50 (and he’s nearly 47), but if he doesn’t, that milestone birthday will definitely be it (h/t Wrestling Observer for the transcription).

You know what, 50 is my absolute line in the sand. I would like to try to do it before that. But at 50 I’m just going to tweet, ‘Peace out, see ya.’ That’s it, I’m good.

Cena has famously appeared in at least one televised WWE match every year for more than two decades, though he cut it close at the end of 2022, wrestling on the Dec. 30 episode of SmackDown. He’s yet to have any in-ring action in 2024, though he’s teased some kind of role at WrestleMania 40 next month.

And while his acting career has certainly taken off in a way that consumes much more of his time, Cena pointed to other areas of his life that he’d like to focus on as he heads toward the end of his 40s.

I was very much driven where WWE was my passion 24/7. And I’m very grateful, but I’ve grown and there’s a lot of other avenues I’m curious about in life. And certainly being a great husband and partner is one of those. So I just want to try to do what I can in those avenues.

It’ll be a somewhat surreal day when Cena finally decides he’s wrestled for the last time, but it sounds like it’s not that far off. WWE fans should cherish every time he steps in the ring from here on out, because there might not be that many more times left.

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WWE SummerSlam 2024 is headed to Cleveland

Cleveland Browns Stadium, long thought to be the choice for WWE SummerSlam 2024, will indeed host the event in August.

Logan Paul, as well as The Miz and Johnny Gargano, to name a few others, will be home for SummerSlam this year.

As Paul revealed Tuesday during his “Impaulsive” podcast, WWE SummerSlam 2024 will take place in his hometown of Cleveland on Saturday, Aug. 3. The venue will be Cleveland Browns Stadium, home of the NFL’s Browns.

This will be the first time for Cleveland to host WWE’s annual summer showcase since 1996, when it was held at what was then the Gund Arena, home of the NBA’s Cavaliers. Since 2021, every edition of SummerSlam has taken place in a football stadium.

Cleveland was rumored to be the host location for the 2024 show since last fall. Those reports received a boost last month, when local media reported on a seven-figure tax credit given by Ohio to WWE for producing programming in the state. The guess that it was for SummerSlam turned out to be correct.

SummerSlam now becomes the only WWE premium live event to be confirmed for the U.S. after WrestleMania in April. The other PLEs that have been officially announced are Backlash in France on May 4, Money in the Bank in Toronto on July 6, and Bash in Berlin on Aug. 31.

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