WWE WrestleMania XL(40) 2024
WWE WrestleMania XL is the 40th edition of WrestleMania series by WWE which is considered the biggest pro-wrestling event of the year. The show took place over two nights on April 6, 2024, and April 7, 2024, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA. This was the second time that WrestleMania is taking place in Philadelphia as WrestleMania 15 took place at First Union Center(now called Wells Fargo Center) in 1999.
The main event of night 1 was a tag team match where The Rock and Roman Reigns faced Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins. The main event of night 2 was Roman Reigns vs Cody Rhodes Bloodline Rules match for Universal Championship.
event info
Promotion: World Wrestling Entertainment
Date: April 6 & 7, 2024
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Venue: Lincoln Financial Field
Start Time: Pre-show – 6 pm ET, Main Show – 7 pm ET
Network: Peacock
Broadcast Type: Live
card
Night 1
Check here for the results from WrestleMania XL night 1.
| Match | Stipulation |
|---|---|
| Rhea Ripley(c) def. Becky Lynch | Women’s World Championship |
| A-Town Down Under(Austin Theory & Grayson Waller)(Smackdown) and Awesome Truth(The Miz & R-Truth)(RAW) def. Judgment Day(Damian Priest & Finn Balor), New Day(Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods), DIY(Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) and New Catch Republic(Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate) | Ladder match for RAW Tag Team Championship & SmackDown Tag Team Championship |
| Rey Mysterio & Andrade def. Dominik Mysterio & Santos Escobar | Tag Team Match |
| Jey Uso def. Jimmy Uso | Singles Match |
| Bianca Belair, Naomi & Jade Cargill def. Damage CTRL(Kairi Sane, Asuka & Dakota Kai) | Tag Team Match |
| Sami Zayn def. Gunther(c) | WWE Intercontinental Championship |
| The Bloodline(The Rock & Roman Reigns) def. Cody Rhodes & Seth Rollins | Tag Team Match (If Cody & Rollins win, The Bloodline would be banned from ringside during Roman vs Cody on night 2. But if The Bloodline wins, it will be a Bloodline Rules match) |
Night 2
Check here for the live results from WrestleMania XL night 2.
| Match | Stipulation |
|---|---|
| Drew McIntyre def. Seth Rollins(c) | World Heavyweight Championship – CM Punk on Commentary |
| Damian Priest def. Drew McIntyre(c) | World Heavyweight Championship – Money in the Bank Cash-In |
| The Pride(Bobby Lashley, Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) def. The Final Testament(Karrion Kross, Akam & Rezar) | Philadelphia Street Fight |
| LA Knight def. AJ Styles | Singles Match |
| Logan Paul(c) def. Kevin Owens & Randy Orton | Triple Threat Match for WWE United States Championship |
| Bayley def. Iyo Sky(c) | WWE Women’s Championship |
| Cody Rhodes def. Roman Reigns(c) | Bloodline Rules Match for Undisputed WWE Universal Championship |
STORYLINE
Universal/WWE Championship: When Cody Rhodes came to WWE in 2022, he said he had returned to win the WWE Championship which was taken away from his father Dusty Rhodes in 1978 at Madison Square Garden. He won the men’s Royal Rumble 2023 and his match at WrestleMania became his chance to “finish his story”. But, he failed to beat Roman due to outside interference from The Bloodline. The Rock made an appearance on January 1’s Day 1 2024 special RAW episode and teased a match against Roman, his real-life cousin. He was later appointed to WWE Board of Directors on January 23, 2024. Cody won men’s Royal Rumble 2024 and pointed towards Roman Reigns in the skybox. On the following RAW episode, World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins tried to convince Cody to choose him for WrestleMania. On SmackDown February 2 episode, Cody told Roman that his title was the one that was taken away from his father and Cody’s story would only finish by winning this title. Then, Cody added that he got counsel from many legends and someone very close to Roman, and that he would finish his story but not at WrestleMania. The Rock then made his entrance. Cody and The Rock hugged in the ring. The Rock said something in Cody’s ears before Cody left the ring looking dejected. The Rock and Roman Reigns had a face-off in the ring to close the show. The online wrestling community got behind Cody with “#WeWantCody” trending for days. WWE held WrestleMania Kickoff event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV, on February 8. Roman said Cody had missed his chance and he had chosen to face The Rock at WrestleMania. The Rock presented Ano’ai Mavia Family Tree and said that Roman vs The Rock is the biggest WrestleMania match of all time. Cody then came out and said it was not Roman’s choice, before announcing that he had decided to face Roman. As Cody continued his promo, The Rock felt that Cody had disrespected his family and slapped him. Seth Rollins, who was also present on the stage during this segment, got into The Rock’s face. Backstage, The Rock interrupted Triple H’s interview, brought up Cody insulting his family and told him to fix things or they would take matters into their own hands. Triple H tweeted and confirmed Roman Reigns vs Cody Rhodes match for WWE Championship as the main event of WrestleMania XL on night 2. On February 12 RAW episode, Rhodes said that he reversed his decision and decided to challenge Reigns because of the fans. Rollins interrupted to tell Cody that he understood his decision and offered to help him against The Bloodline. On SmackDown February 16, The Rock completed his heel turn by officially joining The Bloodline. He also claimed that he would do everything in his power to ensure Rhodes did not finish his story. At Elimination Chamber: Perth on February 24, Rhodes challenged Rock for a singles match. On SmackDown March 1, Rock rejected Cody’s challenge and instead offered a counteroffer of a tag team match for Cody and Rollins to face Rock and Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania XL Night 1. He also added the stipulation that if Cody and Rollins won, then The Bloodline would be barred from ringside during the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match on Night 2, however, if Rock and Reigns won, then the championship match would be contested under The Bloodline’s rules. Roman told Rock that he would have to acknowledge Roman as the Tribal Chief in order for him to agree to this match. The Rock acknowledged Roman. Rhodes and Rollins appeared on the next week’s SmackDown episode where they confronted Roman and Rock and accepted the challenge. During the segment, Rock promised Cody that he would hand his mother a weight belt with Cody’s blood on it. On March 18 RAW episode, Paul Heyman came to RAW to tell Cody to meet Roman alone in the ring for a face-off on SmackDown March 22. Cody and Roman had a promo segment on that show where they both questioned their tag team partners in the match on night 1. Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa came out to stand beside Roman. In response, Seth Rollins & Jey Uso came out to support Cody in case of a brawl. On March 25 RAW episode, The Rock attacked Cody when he was brawling Solo and Jimmy backstage. The Rock split open Cody’s head and put Cody’s blood on a weight belt with Mama Rhodes written on it. Rock and Roman appeared on RAW April 1 episode where Seth confronted them and asked any of them to face him in a singles match. Solo Sikoa stepped up to face Rollins. During the match, Rock and Jimmy Uso attacked Rollins. Cody Rhodes ran out to make the save. Roman Reigns then appeared to help Rock deal with Cody & Seth. The Bloodline stood tall to close that show. Rock and Roman won the tag team match on night 1 to turn Roman vs Cody on night 2 in a Bloodline Rules match.
WWE Women’s Championship: Bayley formed Damage CTRL stable upon her return from an injury at SummerSlam 2022 with Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai. Iyo won women’s Money in the Bank ladder match in July 2023 in London. She cashed in the MITB briefcase against Bianca Belair to win WWE Women’s title. Kairi Sane joined the group in November 2023 when she returned to WWE. Asuka also joined the group a week later, reuniting with her former tag team partner Sane. Iyo, Asuka, Sane and Bayley faced Team Bianca in women’s War Games match at Survivor Series 2023 where Bayley was the one to be pinned to lose the match. Soon, the Japanese trio of Iyo, Asuka and Sane started sidelining Bayley from the major decisions and discussions of the group, and even stopped helping her out in matches. Bayley, however, helped out the group on important occasions. Bayley also envisioned that The Kabuki Warriors(Asuka & Sane) would win Women’s Tag Team titles and that she would win the women’s Royal Rumble 2024 to go on to win Women’s World Championship. Bayley did win the Royal Rumble match, making a record for the longest time a women’s Rumble match. She was about to make a decision on RAW January 29 episode for WrestleMania XL opponent when Nia Jax attacked Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley and scared Bayley away. Bayley said she would announce her decision on SmackDown February 2 episode. On that night, Bayley found Iyo, Sane and Asuka laughing about her backstage with Iyo even saying “Bayley would be finished tonight”. Bayley confronted Iyo about this in the ring before The Kabuki Warriors attacked her. Bayley fought back before announcing that she was choosing to face Iyo at WrestleMania.
Women’s World Championship: After Bayley chose to face Iyo Sky at WrestleMania, WWE announced that the challenger for Women’s World Championship would be determined via Elimination Chamber match. Becky Lynch won the chamber match to set up her title shot at WrestleMania. Becky continued to feud with Nia Jax for the next few weeks. After Becky defeated Nia in a last woman standing match on RAW March 18 episode, Rhea Ripley came out for a face-off with Becky. The following week, Rhea said Becky was not focused on winning the title from her as she was fighting others. Becky replied that the title was not a joke to her. The segment ultimately led to brawling between the two after Becky punched Dominik Mysterio, who was present with Rhea during the segment.
World Heavyweight Championship: After it was cleared that Cody Rhodes had chosen to face Roman Reigns, WWE announced that the challenger for World Heavyweight Championship would be determined via Elimination Chamber match. Drew McIntyre won the chamber match to get the title shot. On February 26 RAW episode, Rollins and McIntyre came face-to-face where McIntyre told Rollins to not get involved against The Bloodline. Rollins argued that the fight against The Bloodline was important otherwise they would take over this title also. On March 25 RAW episode, CM Punk appeared in his hometown of Chicago. He said that despite his injury, he was trying to involved at WrestleMania. McIntyre interrupted him and asked the crowd if they wanted Punk to be a special guest referee. Rollins also came out after this and asked the crowd if they would like for Punk to be special guest commentator. Despite the crowd rooting for Punk to be a referee, Punk announced that he would on the commentary.
Intercontinental Championship: RAW General Manager Adam Pearce announced on March 4 RAW episode that a gauntlet match would determine Gunther’s challenger for Intercontinental title. This match was supposed to feature Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura, Ricochet, Bronson Reed, JD McDonagh and Chad Gable. Sami Zayn won this match to earn the the title shot.
Tag Team Championship: On RAW March 11 episode, RAW GM Adam Pearce and SmackDown GM Nick Aldis announced that the undisputed tag team titles would be defended in a ladder match featuring 6 teams. WWE announced that teams would be identified the qualifiers for this match. From RAW side, 3 teams qualified in straight qualifying matches which were as below:
- New Day(Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) defeated Alpha Academy(Otis & Akira Tozawa) – RAW March 18, 2024 episode
- DIY(Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) defeated The Creed Brothers(Julius Creed & Brutus Creed) – RAW March 18, 2024 episode
- Awesome Truth(The Miz & R-Truth) defeated Indus Sher(Veer & Sanga) – RAW March 18, 2024 episode
On the SmackDown side, a tournament was organized to find the two teams. 8 teams participated in the first round of qualifiers and the winners of these matches then went to the second round where the two teams to fill the spots were identified. The tournament matches and results are as below:
- Legado Del Fantasma(Angel & Berto) defeated LWO(Joaquin Wilde & Cruz Del Toro) – Pre-Qualifier – SmackDown March 15, 2024 episode
- New Catch Republic(Tyler Bate & Pete Dunne) defeated Pretty Deadly(Kit Wilson & Elton Prince) – Pre-Qualifier – SmackDown March 15, 2024 episode
- The Street Profits(Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) defeated AOP(Akam & Rezar) – Pre-Qualifier – SmackDown March 22, 2024 episode
- A-Town Down Under(Grayson Waller & Austin Theory) defeated The OC(Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson) – Pre-Qualifier – SmackDown March 22, 2024 episode
- A-Town Down Under(Grayson Waller & Austin Theory) defeated The Street Profits(Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) – Qualifier 1 – Smackdown March 29, 2024 episode
- New Catch Republic(Tyler Bate & Pete Dunne) defeated Legado Del Fantasma(Angel & Berto) – Qualifier 2 – Smackdown March 29, 2024 episode
United States Championship: Kevin Owens lost to Logan Paul via disqualification at Royal Rumble 2024 in the United States title match after he was caught using Logan’s brass knuckles. Owens and Paul entered the Elimination Chamber match for a shot at World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania. Orton eliminated both of them from the match. Logan hit Orton with brass knuckles to cause his elimination from the match. Logan Paul instructed SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis to find him a suitable opponent for WrestleMania. On SmackDown March 1 episode, Orton & Owens defeated Grayson Waller & Austin Theory in a tag team match. Orton interrupted Logan and KSI’s segment on SmackDown March 8 episode where they revealed Prime drink as the first-ever ring sponser of WWE. Orton hit KSI with an RKO. The following week, Logan asked Aldis to fine or suspend Orton, which Aldis refused to do. Logan then mocked Aldis of being unable to carry out any action as he was also not able to find him an opponent. Logan and Theory attacked Orton after his match against Waller. Owens helped out Orton to stop the attack. After this, Aldis came out and announced that Logan would defend US title against both Owens and Orton at WrestleMania. On SmackDown March 29 episode, Logan cost Owens & Orton a tag team match against Pretty Deadly by hitting Owens with his brass knuckles. Orton was miffed with Owens until he found out what happened. He chased after Logan, but Logan fled from the arena in his car.
Jey Uso vs Jimmy Uso: Jey Uso fought his cousin Roman Reigns for Universal Championship in a Bloodline rules match at SummerSlam 2023. Jey’s brother Jimmy attacked him during the match. Jey ended up losing the match due to this. After this, Jey left SmackDown as he refused to be involved with The Bloodline. Cody Rhodes later took him to RAW, and he continued to be separated from The Bloodline. In the men’s Royal Rumble match, Jey entered at #1 and Jimmy entered at #2. Jey ended up eliminating Jimmy from the match. Jey challenged Gunther for Intercontinental Championship on RAW February 19 episode where Jimmy attacked him once again to cost him the match. Jey addressed Jimmy on RAW March 11 episode and issued a challenge to face him at WrestleMania. Jimmy responded to this challenge on SmackDown March 15 episode and accepted the challenge. Jey faced Shinsuke Nakamura on RAW March 25 episode. Jimmy & Solo tried to interfere in the match, but were stopped by Cody & Rollins.
Knight vs Styles: AJ Styles and LA Knight were involved in a fatal 4-way match for Universal Championship at Royal Rumble. Roman Reigns retained the title in that match. Tensions continued between them after the match also. Styles attacked Knight during Elimination Chamber match which led to his elimination from the match. Styles continued to attack Knight in the following weeks on SmackDown. Knight finally responded to him on March 15 SmackDown episode and challenged him for a match at WrestleMania. Styles attacked Knight once again before accepting Knight’s challenge. On March 22 SmackDown episode, we got to know that Knight tried to invade Styles’ home that week and was arrested by police after they brawled in Styles’ garden. Knight was released after Styles decided not to press charges. On March 29 Smackdown, Styles told Nick Aldis to make sure Knight did not enter the arena. As Styles did a promo in the ring, Knight appeared disguised as a security personnel and attacked Styles.
Rey Mysterio & Dragon Lee vs Santos Escobar & Dominik Mysterio: Rey Mysterio faced Logan Paul at Crown Jewel 2023 event to defend United States Championship. His LWO teammate Santos Escobar tried to stop outside interference during the match but did not take care of Logan’s brass knuckles which Logan later used to beat Rey. LWO’s Carlito blamed Escobar for Rey’s loss against Logan which caused a rift between them. This rift boiled up on November 10, 2023 episode of SmackDown where Escobar turned on Rey after Rey lost to Bobby Lashley. Rey was sidelined due to an injury. Dragon Lee faced Escobar at Survivor Series 2023, but lost the match. Over the course of the next few months, Escobar continued to feud with LWO and reformed Legado Del Fantasma. Escobar faced Carlito in a Street Fight on SmackDown March 1, 2024 episode, where Rey returned and helped Carlito by stopping an attack from Legado Del Fantasma. Rey and Escobar clashed in a singles match on SmackDown March 22 episode, where Rey’s son, Dominik Mysterio interfered to cost him the match. On SmackDown March 29 episode, LWO and Legado Del Fantasma came face-to-face along with Dominik. Rey challenged Escobar and Dominik for a tag team match at WrestleMania and chose Dragon Lee as his partner. The match was made official the next day.
