While a match between Roman Reigns and The Rock is not likely for the upcoming WrestleMania 37 event, the current Universal Champion has not given up on the idea and he has a very interesting location in mind for this mega bout.
During a recent interview with Fox Sports, Roman Reigns talked about a potential match with his cousin and said that it makes sense for them to face off when WrestleMania returns to Hollywood:
“We’ll go to Hollywood for WrestleMania 39, and I think it just makes sense, he’s the biggest box office attraction for the big screen.
So, to be able to take that and match it up with the biggest box office attraction in sports entertainment, I think some magic would be made.”
A match between Roman Reigns and The Rock has been in discussion for a few years now and the People’s Champion also showed interested in squaring off with the Big Dog last year.
Though due to the movie commitments of the Hollywood star, the match will require a lot of planning. So a destination such as WrestleMania 39 seems to be a much more likely scenario for the bout than a closer date.
WWE has announced upcoming dates and locations for WrestleMania, from 2021-23:
Tampa Bay: WrestleMania 37, Saturday, April 10 and Sunday, April 11, 2021 at Raymond James Stadium
Arlington/Dallas: WrestleMania 38, Sunday, April 3, 2022 at AT&T Stadium
Inglewood/Los Angeles: WrestleMania 39, Sunday, April 2, 2023 at SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park
“Florida is excited to welcome back WrestleMania to Tampa in April at Raymond James Stadium. Florida has continued to work with professional sports and entertainment to safely operate while generating revenue and protecting jobs. WrestleMania will bring tens of millions of dollars to the Tampa area and we look forward to hosting more sporting and entertainment events in Florida this year,” said Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
“The opportunity for Tampa Bay to host WrestleMania in April is, in true WWE fashion, the perfect comeback story and marks a clear indication that our beautiful city is poised to bounce back stronger than ever. We can’t wait to once again showcase all that team Tampa Bay has to offer,” added Tampa Mayor Jane Castor.
“We are elated for WrestleMania’s return to Arlington’s AT&T Stadium and look forward to building upon the success from 2016 when more than 101,000 fans were in attendance for WrestleMania 32,” said Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams.
“The City of Inglewood looks forward to the opportunity to host WrestleMania in 2023 and celebrates the deferral of this year’s event to Tampa Bay so they can have their rightful WrestleMania moment. Our time will come,” said Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr.
“On behalf of everyone at WWE, we thank Governor DeSantis, Mayor Castor, Mayor Williams and Mayor Butts for their graciousness and flexibility in what was a collaborative effort to bring the next three WrestleManias to these iconic stadiums in their world-class cities,” said Vince McMahon, WWE Chairman & CEO.
In coordination with local partners and government officials, WWE will announce ticket availability and safety protocols for WrestleMania37 in the coming weeks. Information on additional WrestleMania Week events is forthcoming.
Former AEW Champion Jon Moxley recently had an interview with Sports Illustrated where he shared his memories of the late Brodie Lee.
Mox wrestled Lee many times in WWE when he was still known as Luke Harper and the two then locked horns again after the late star followed his friend’s footsteps and joined AEW.
Talking about the news of his demise, the former WWE champion claimed that it doesn’t feel real and it feels as if he is in a vivid dream:
“It doesn’t feel real,” said Moxley, on Sunday evening. “It feels like I’m in a very vivid dream and I’m waiting to snap out of it. My brain hasn’t accepted it yet. Right now, I’m completely f—— numb.”
Jon Moxley On His WrestleMania Spot With Brodie Lee
The former Dean Ambrose then talked about the many times he wrestled Brodie Lee and he especially recalled the one spot he did with the former TNT champion which even bugged Vince McMahon.
Jon recalled a spot from the WrestleMania 31 ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship and revealed how the boss reacted to it:
“We wanted to make the highlight reel, we figured the only way we could do that was if I nearly killed myself with a death-defying bump. So we devised this spot where he powerbombs me from the ring to the floor through a steel ladder, and that’s f—— sketchy.
It’s an extremely dangerous bump, going backward at a high angle. It was a gnarly bump. Vince [McMahon] bugged out. He thought I was dead, which meant it was a good f—— bump. “
The former WWE star continued by saying that he would have not trusted anybody else with the bump and he maintains the sentiment even to this day.
Apart from this, Jon Moxley also discussed how Brodie Lee was a family man who was very proud of being a husband and father. You can check out his full interview at this link.
Kevin Owens has opened up about original plans that were in place for WrestleMania 34. Owens teamed up with Sami Zayn, competing against Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan. According to Owens, the match was supposed to pit him and Zayn against Shane McMahon and his father, Vince McMahon.
Leading into that matchup, Owens headbutted Vince McMahon on an episode of SmackDown. Reflecting on working with Vince McMahon, Owens revealed how he wished it “led to more.”
“Yeah, that was really cool. I wish it would have led to more, honestly,” Owens confessed in an interview with ITRWrestling.com and SPORF.com. “But who wouldn’t feel that way? I think it could have, and I think it almost did. I really think, at one point, there was a chance that it was going to be me and Sami Zayn against Shane and Vince at WrestleMania – which would have been incredible – but Vince, I remember one of the things he had told me was, ‘I can’t run WrestleMania and focus on a match at the same time.'”
Kevin Owens On Daniel Bryan’s “Perfect Situation”
Kevin Owens explained how Vince McMahon felt the best position for him was backstage, not in the ring. This decision helped deliver a “perfect situation” for Daniel Bryan’s return.
“He got cleared medically and the storyline was already in progress,” Owens explained. “He was already so heavily involved in the storyline just because him and Shane were running SmackDown together, and obviously that was an incredible thing to be a part of Daniel’s return, especially in that building where he won the title at WrestleMania XXX, so it was great.”
Owens admitted he would have liked to have kept Vince McMahon involved in the feud at the time. Alternatively, he would have liked to have continued, furthering an on-screen rivalry with him afterward.
He stressed how being involved with Vince McMahon on television helps to immediately “add credibility” to a Superstar or feud.
Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon would defeat Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn at WrestleMania 34.
The Survivor Series match between Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre ended with Jey Uso getting involved in the bout; leaving fans wanting a rematch between the two stars.
During his recent appearance on WWE’s The Bump, the WWE champion spoke up about a number of things and he also discussed a potential rematch with the Universal champion.
McIntyre first claimed that their match at Survivor Series was all about showing the world what he is about these days, before talking about a potential rematch with Reigns at a ‘WrestleMania-level’ event:
“He kept talking and talking, and [Paul] Heyman kept talking and talking and kept tweeting. I kept my mouth shut because I was going to show through [my] actions what I’m capable of these days, and you saw his emotions change throughout the match.
But he knows what I’m all about now.” said Drew McIntyre, “I guarantee that match is going to come back around again one day, and hopefully, it’ll be WrestleMania-level.”
The ending of the Survivor Series match between the two champions saw Roman hitting a low blow on McIntyre and then putting him in the guillotine choke thanks to interference from Jey Uso.
However, Drew McIntyre chose to pass out instead of tapping to the submission, leaving the possibility for a rematch between the two stars open.
Would you like to see Drew McIntyre having a rematch with Roman Reigns at next year’s edition of WrestleMania? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.
Rumors abound that WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns will be clashing with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson at next year’s WrestleMania 37. However, this matchup may only take place if The Rock’s hectic Hollywood schedule allows for it. WWE is already planning for a WrestleMania main event that does not involve The Rock.
Daniel Bryan, Goldberg and Big E have been discussed as a potential opponent for Reigns, as first reported by WrestleTalk. For fans hoping that Goldberg is a long-shot possibility, think again.
Roman Reigns: You’re Next!
The 53-year-old legend appeared on WWE’s digital show The Bump on Wednesday. He called out the Universal Champion and declared, “So Roman, it’s coming, and I’m coming for you … Roman Reigns: You’re next!”
Goldberg’s WWE contract runs through 2022 and calls for two matches per year. Reigns and Goldberg were set to clash at WrestleMania this past April, but Reigns pulled out at the last minute due to Covid-19 concerns.
The Rock’s busy movie schedule is the primary factor standing in the way of a showdown with Roman Reigns at WrestleMania. Additionally, insurance issues amidst the coronavirus pandemic further complicate the chances of having The Rock return to wrestling on the “Grandest Stage of them All.”
A match between Reigns and The Rock would likely be predicated on Reigns’ current ‘Head of the Table’ storyline. Reigns has assumed the role of “Tribal Chief.” It’s a position The Rock may take issue with if a match takes place.
Roman Reigns faced off against Drew McIntyre in a Champion vs. Champion match up at Survivor Series. Reigns would win the bout via technical submission after interference from Jey Uso. This contentious victory leaves a thread that WWE could revisit if plans to feature The Rock fall through.
Triple H had said after WrestleMania 36 that Rhea Ripley’s loss to Charlotte Flair is part of a larger story they are trying to tell but as everything else this year, the coronavirus pandemic has forced these plans to be changed as well.
During his recent media call ahead of the Takeover: WarGames 2020 event, the WWE VP was asked about the plans for the former NXT women’s champion.
Replying to the question, Triple H confirmed that the plans have changed. However, in the wake of Ripley’s recent revelations about her struggles with mental health this year, the Game claimed that he still believes it’s a valuable lesson for the former NXT women’s champion:
“Is it where it was going? No, and it won’t, the whole world changed, but I do still believe that that is a valuable — there’s a lot of valuable lessons for her to be able to go through to find herself to pick herself up.
The Rhea Ripley that I’m watching right now is a way better Rhea Ripley than it was in January-February of last year when she was on the high or even December of this time last year.” said Triple H “She’s a way better performer, way more mature, her understanding, all of it, and all of that came through that process. It is what it is.”
The WWE EVP also talked about the spotlight the women’s division has received in recent times and he said that female competitors of NXT have delivered every time they have been put in the spotlight position.
The NXT TakeOver: WarGames event will be taking place from the Performance Center on December 16 live on the WWE Network.
Former NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley has opened up about her loss to Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 36. She acknowledged how her momentum has slowed down since her championship loss in April.
Speaking with Lilian Garcia on Garcia’s podcast Chasing Glory, Ripley confessed how it has felt like the wind has been taken out her sails in recent months.
“I felt like I went through a stage where I was losing confidence in myself because I wasn’t portrayed the same way. Even now, I’m still slowly building myself back up from it,” Riple explained. “My confidence was tainted a little, which sucks because I try to keep it up and do my best all the time. I don’t know if it was something in my head that wasn’t getting the picture, I just got a little bit lost after that.”
She added how she feels like she’s finally getting back on track. Ripley noted that she has committed to building herself back up but shared how it’s been an undeniably difficult process.
Ripley explained how she’s been watching matches from NXT UK and footage from her feud with Shayna Baszler.
She confessed she’s been doing this in an attempt to “remember who I am because I forgot who I was.”
Ripley admitted this active effort to reconnect with who she was has been helpful for her.
Rhea Ripley took to the ring during last week’s episode of NXT to address her future. She was interrupted by Candice LeRae alongside Toni Storm, Dakota Kai, and Raquel Gonzalez. Ripley will be a part of Team Shotzi versus Team Candice at NXT TakeOver: WarGames.
NXT TakeOver: WarGames takes place on December 6th from NXT’s Capitol Wrestling Center in Orlando, FL.
NXT UK and former PROGRESS, Fight Club:PRO Superstar Trent Seven recently appeared on the Gorilla Position podcast. The WWE Superstar discussed a number of topics during his time on the show; including his Moustache Mountain partner Tyler Bate, the BT Sport studio and possibly moving to RAW or SmackDown.
Trent Seven on WWE & WrestleMania
“I suppose I can try and spin as many plates as I can” Trent Seven began on the show, after being asked if he wants to appear on RAW and SmackDown and represent the British style of wrestling.
“Also by focusing on making sure British wrestling is represented at the highest level” Seven would continue. “That may mean going to NXT in America, that may mean going to SmackDown, it may mean going to RAW. Obviously those kind of opportunities you can’t turn down.”
Trent Seven would then describe how the opportunity to appear at WrestleMania is one of his major goals in WWE. “I feel like if you’re a professional wrestler, especially within the WWE? If your goal is not to be on a WrestleMania card at some point in your career? I find it hard to relate to anyone who wouldn’t want that. Very rarely do I meet those people.”
British Wrestling Legends
Seven would finish by saying how he wants to be remembered as a legend of the British wrestling scene. “The one thing that I always keep in mind is now look back, 20-30 years ago? We look back at the people, the incredible names that have come from British wrestling. Davey Boy Smith, William Regal, Rollerball Rocco, Johnny Saint etc, the list goes on and on and on.”
“The thing that really is motivating to me at the moment? That in 20-30 years time from now, who are the British legends going to be?” Seven would continue. “Now I need them to be me. I want them to be Tyler Bate and I want them to be Pete Dunne. Obviously there’s a plethora of other guys, but I’m focusing on myself at the moment.”
“At the minute there’s no Moustache Mountain (Seven’s tag team with Tyler Bate) right now, and no British Strong Style (Seven’s stable with Bate and Pete Dunne). That’s something that’s been a major driving force for me [being remembered as a British legend].”
Many wrestlers were working on plans for their grand WrestleMania entrance at the Raymond James Stadium before coronavirus forced WWE to move the show to the performance center and it appears that Bayley was one such star.
The former SmackDown women’s champion recently appeared on D-Von Dudley’s podcast where she talked about a number of things and also revealed the nixed plans for her WrestleMania entrance.
Bayley revealed that she wanted Hayley Williams from Paramore to perform her entrance at WrestleMania and they were trying to make it happen before the pandemic halted those plans:
“So before the pandemic, before we knew that WrestleMania was gonna be in front of nobody and we were actually trying to figure out how to get that going and how to make it work.
Like we were having phone calls about it, and then all this happened and we couldn’t do it.” said Bayley, “So, we’ll see. I’m never gonna stop trying because that’s a dream moment for me and a dream WrestleMania moment for me so Hayley Williams, let’s do it, come on.”
The former NXT star isn’t the only one who had to give up on her WrestleMania plans and previous reports have revealed the cancelled plans for Becky Lynch’s entrance at the Show Of Shows as well.
Bayley has been feuding with Sasha Banks for the past few months over the SmackDown women’s title and after the Survivor Series PPV; it would be interesting to see what the company has planned for her.
Bianca Belair made her official main roster debut during the WrestleMania 36 event earlier this year and she then established herself as a member of the Raw roster the next night.
The former NXT star recently had an interview with Bleacher Report where she talked about a number of things and also revealed when she found out about her WrestleMania appearance.
Belair revealed that she knew there was possibility of her debuting at the Raw after WrestleMania but she then got a call at the day of the Show Of Shows telling her that she was needed for the PPV:
“I believe it was that morning I got a phone call saying, ‘Hey, you’re needed.’ ‘For WrestleMania?’ ‘Yes. You’re debuting with The Street Profits.’ ‘Oh, OK. Cool, great.'”
Belair went on to explain that it’s the nature of the business that you have to stay ready all the time and you might miss out on the opportunity if you are not ready.
Apart from this, Bianca Belair talked about her time on the main roster and a possible move to NXT. You can check out her comments about a possible return to the Black and Yellow brand at this link.
The current plan for the main event of WrestleMania 37 remains WWE Champion Randy Orton vs. Edge. According WrestleVotes, WWE has also considered The Fiend as Edge’s opponent. WrestleMania takes place Sunday, March 28th, 2021 at a location to be determined.
The WWE Network has added several episodes of Prime Time Wrestling from 1989-1992.
WWE has announced a storyline fine for Randy Orton. He’s been fined an undisclosed amount of money for roughed up producer Adam Pearce last week. Orton defends the WWE Championship against Drew Mcintyre tonight on Raw.
Training hard and more focused than ever. There's something special about big title fights on #WWERaw, they're rare. I know what losing means… I go to the back of the line, no “next time” for a while, no #SurvivorSeries. But I won’t let that happen pic.twitter.com/zZ2xtfAV9D
Bruan Strowman, Sheamus, Keith Lee and Matt Riddle are scheduled to wrestle Retribution tonight on Raw. (via Fightful)
Stephanie McMahon has been named on AdWeek’s list of Most Powerful Women in Sports.
There has been so much momentum around #womeninsports in 2020, I can’t wait to see it grow into 2021 & beyond! I’m honored to be included among such an amazing group for this year’s Most Powerful Women in Sports list. Thank you @Adweek & congratulations to all the honorees! 💪💪
Sasha Banks has moved on from feuding with Bayley for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Title.
Digital Spy has an article covering this feud that has been on and off again for a few years now on the main roster.
2020 was the year that the feud came full circle from them being best friends to tag team champions to them facing off as a babyface and heel in singles competition.
During this interview, Banks was asked if a WrestleMania match between her and Bayley was the ultimate goal.
“I just want to have the most fun time that I can have in WWE. Whether that’s Bayley at WrestleMania, whether that’s Liv Morgan, whether that’s Ruby Riott – it could be anybody.
But, of course, to main event WrestleMania is still one of my biggest dreams and to do that with Bayley would be ultimately a dream come true.”
Banks is slated to take on WWE RAW Women’s Champion Asuka in a non-title match at the upcoming Survivor Series pay-per-view event on November 22 in Orlando, Florida at the Amway Center that will air on the WWE Network. Bayley doesn’t have a match lined up just yet.
WrestleMania 37 is expected to undergo some changes.
WWE is still listing WrestleMania 37 to take place from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, but it was reported earlier this month that WWE has plans in place to move the show to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
The NFL will be holding Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium next year. NFL insider Adam Schefter reported today that the NFL is now planning for 20% capacity for the championship game. The stadium has a standard seating capacity of 65,618, and maybe a few more with temporary seating at a Super Bowl game.
So how does this impact WWE? The company usually does around the same number of fans as NFL games for stadium shows. Thus, this could be an indication as to how many fans can attend WrestleMania 37 as it could between 13,000 and 15,000 fans.
Because the world deals with the COVID-19 pandemic, things can change between the time of these two events, but they’re only a few months apart.
March 28, 2021 is the date for WrestleMania 37. WWE has yet to announce the venue change for this show but is expected to do so.
Florida has been more relaxed with its COVID-19 guidance compared to California. That’s the reason why AEW and WWE have held shows in the state since the start of the pandemic.
It turns out that WWE originally had a different opponent in mind for John Cena at WrestleMania 36.
It wasn’t supposed to be Bray Wyatt, but rather Elias. Plans changed though. Elias shared the news in a recent interview with Sports Illustrated.
“New Orleans, I’m in the mix with John and the Undertaker. The next year, I’m in there with John and the Undertaker again—John at WrestleMania, the Undertaker the night next on Raw. I was supposed to go on and face the Undertaker at the show in Saudi Arabia.
That never ended up happening because of Goldberg, but that was supposed to be my match. The year after was supposed to be myself against John Cena at WrestleMania in a three-year running story. Things obviously changed and that didn’t end up happening.”
Cena took part in the Firefly Fun House match against Wyatt at WrestleMania. It was a trip down memory lane for Cena as it wasn’t a normal match. Instead, WWE aired a series of segments where he went through all of his old gimmicks.
Elias ended up wrestling and beating Baron Corbin at Wrestlemania 36 at Night 1.
Cena hasn’t been on WWE television since this contest. Instead, he has continued to focus on his career in Hollywood.
There have been rumors that Roman Reigns could possibly face the Rock at WrestleMania next year. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, however, The Rock’s Hollywood commitments may prevent it from happening.
The Rock is worth a lot of money in Hollywood and an injury during a wrestling match could potentially cause delays in shooting a major motion picture. After tearing his abdominal and abductor muscles at WrestleMania 29, there was concern that filming of the movie “Hercules” would have to be delayed.
“The issue has been insurance issues regarding other work he has coming up,” wrote Dave Meltzer. “It’s been an issue since the second Cena match. There have been at least three ideas, a singles with Lesnar, a singles match with HHH, and Rock & Rousey vs. HHH & Stephanie for him but none ever materialized.”
The Rock has several projects in the works at the moment, including “Black Adam” and the series based on his youth, “Young Rock.”
Roman Reigns recently spoke about possibly facing The Rock on ESPN’s First Take.
“It would be amazing, Reigns said. “I think for any Superstar of my generation to have someone on his level, someone that has done so much not only in sports entertainment, but the movie industry, entertainment in general.
The man has what a billion followers online and stuff. To be able to put that type of spotlight on our current generation and what we do within our product in WWE would be amazing and just sharing the ring with him.”
AJ Styles commented on WWE WrestleMania being too long during a recent live stream on his Twitch channel.
The length of WrestleMania has expanded dramatically in recent years. What used to be a 4-hour special has evolved into marathon events. This year’s WrestleMania was “too big for one night” and was held over two nights for the first time in history.
‘More’ is not always ‘better’ and AJ Styles agrees with the general fan sentiment that WrestleMania would be a more enjoyable experience if WWE cut back on the number of matches on the card. He believes the talent would benefit as well. It used to be an honor to be chosen for the WrestleMania card. Only the top performers who excelled on WWE’s roster earned the right to be part of the most special night of the year. That honor has been diminished as the match count grew.
Less Is More
“I wish we would not do so many matches on WrestleMania,” Styles began. “It used to be if you were on WrestleMania, you accomplished something. Now, everybody’s on it, so it’s not as big of a deal.”
“Hey, we’re gonna give you everybody you wanted to see, so by the time you see this match, you may be burned out or ready to go home and your kids may be falling asleep. It’s a tough day because when it starts, you’re in out in the sun, you’re watching it, and that sun will drain you quick. In my opinion, I think less is more.”
Styles clarified that he’s not pushing for WrestleMania to revert to a 3-hour format. However, he does feel that four hours is the sweet spot.
As for whether or not WWE should continue presenting WrestleMania over multiple nights, he’s not sure.
“We’re gonna have to find out together. So much has changed over these past couple of months, who knows what’s gonna happen? I was watching my intro video and I thought ‘Gosh, man, it was so great being in front of those fans.’ We took it for granted. No doubt about it. I certainly did.”
AJ Styles’ WrestleMania Record
AJ Styles has a 5-2 record at WrestleMania since joining WWE in 2016:
Bruce Prichard was part of the backstage WWE crew for over two decades and he was involved in the planning of many big angles and matches that took place over the years of his employment.
On the latest episode of his Something To Wrestle With podcast, Prichard revealed one such WrestleMania match they had planned involving the late great Eddie Guerrero which couldn’t take place.
Prichard revealed that the idea of a dream match between Guerrero and the Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels was being kicked around for WrestleMania 22:
“It was kicked around as a possibility because they never worked together, and that was, at least in my head, a dream match,” said Prichard. “That was one of those that I definitely would love to have seen.”
However, the talks of a match between the two legends never came to fruition because Eddie Guerrero, unfortunately, passed away due to heart failure in November 2005, six months prior to the big event.
The changed direction for Shawn Michaels then saw the former DX member competing against the WWE chairman Vince McMahon in a No Holds Barred match at the show. Michaels won this bout after delivering a diving elbow drop from the top of a ladder to McMahon, followed by the Sweet Chin Music.
Zack Ryder finally got a WrestleMania moment after being with WWE for more than a decade when he won the Intercontinental Championship in a ladder match during the WrestleMania 32 event.
However, the former WWE star did not have a very long reign with the title and fans were not very happy with the fact that the company actually took the belt off him the next night on Raw in a match with the Miz.
Though while talking about his short reign during a recent session with Pro Wrestling Junkies, Ryder claimed that losing the title actually made the moment because it fitted his underdog character:
“I think losing the next night made the moment, I wish I could have lost it that same night. Why have the title for two weeks or two months? Unless I’m going to go undefeated for two years or something, just take it off me. That’s just the Zack Ryder character – the underdog that finally gets it and then it gets taken away.”
Zack Ryder continued by saying that the loss made his win special because nobody thought that he was going to win in the first place and people resented the fact that he lost it so soon.
Apart from this, the former WWE star also talked about things like his recent AEW stint and he revealed that he has actually made a list of AEW stars he wants to face. You can check out his comments on the matter at this link.
Kevin Owens may once again have his opportunity to jump off the pirate ship at Raymond James Stadium.
News is coming in today that WWE is tentatively planning to move WrestleMania 37 from its planned venue of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California to the originally planned WrestleMania 36 location of Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida. The NFL’s SuperBowl LV will be held in the same venue on February 7th, 2021.
Florida-based reporter Jon Alba and Inside the Ropes’ Garry Cassidy have been Tweeting about the news.
I was just about to run this within the hour but wanted to give #WWE a chance to comment and was waiting for a response. Multiple sources have told me as well WrestleMania may be on the move to Tampa, about a month after the Super Bowl is held at the same venue. https://t.co/vFjnxM0iry
WWE was forced to move WrestleMania 36 from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida to their WWE Performance Center in Orlando. The event was originally scheduled for April 5th but WWE changed the show to a 2-night event.
This happened just weeks after other sporting leagues began shutting down due to the global pandemic.
Due to not having live fans in attendance for the first time in WrestleMania history, the event featured multiple “Cinematic Matches”. These included the Undertaker and AJ Styles’ Boneyard Match. Bray Wyatt and John Cena also met in a FireFly Fun House match on the show.
Roman Reigns has given his public reaction to the comments made by The Rock regarding a potential match.
The former WWE Champion stated that if he ever went back to work a match at WrestleMania then the opponent that would make sense would be his cousin in terms of a box-office draw.
Reigns took to his Twitter account on Wednesday to give his response. He brought up defending his title against his other cousin, Jey Uso, at this Sunday’s WWE Clash of Champions pay-per-view.
Reigns wrote, “@TheRock at #WrestleMania… Jey @WWEUsos at #WWEClash, my responsibility is putting our family’s name on top of the card and at the center of @WWE Universe.”
As of this writing, The Rock has not responded to Reigns’ tweet. The Rock has noted in the past that he’s retired from the pro wrestling business, but perhaps this match can bring him back.
The future WWE Hall of Famer stopped wrestling full-time around 2002 and went on a hiatus for many years after his contract with WWE expired in 2004. The Rock returned to WWE part-time from 2011–13 and continues to make sporadic appearances for the company.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson says he’d be honored to wrestle Roman Reigns at a future WrestleMania.
The Rock recently sat down with his brother-in-law Hiram Garcia for a project called, ‘The Rock: Through the Lens,’ a photographic record of a brotherhood over twenty years in the making. Garcia serves as President of Production at Seven Bucks Productions. Through the Lens can be seen at The Rock’s YouTube channel.
During the latest clip from Through the Lens, The Rock spoke about his experiences hosting Saturday Night Live five times, working with Hollywood legend Danny DeVito and his cousin, Roman Reigns.
The Rock said Reigns is a hero to millions of people around the world. He amassed a legion of fans wrestling for WWE, but showed people his true warrior spirit when he went public with his heroic battle against Leukemia.
When asked if he’d ever return to WWE for one more WrestleMania event, The Rock named Roman Reigns as the one opponent that would make sense. He officially announced his retirement from wrestling last year, but a match against Reigns would be a box office blockbuster.
Garcia asked The Rock the big question. If he did return to WWE for a WrestleMania dream match against Roman Reigns, who goes over?
The Rock joked, “I’ll tell you this right now. I’m not going down that road, because I know how that conversation goes.”
Imitating WWE boss Vince McMahon, they continued, “Here’s what we’re thinking. Roman beats you now at this WrestleMania. But, listen, before you guys say anything … then on the next one… that’s when …”
In actuality, The Rock said it would be an honor to put Reigns over on that stage.
“You know what,” he began, “the truth is, I would be honored not only to share the ring with Roman and to go back to the WWE, but of course, I would be honored to have him raise his hand on that one.”
You can see The Rock’s full comments about working with Roman Reigns below:
WWE successfully managed to produce WrestleMania 36 as a two-night event and after this, Triple H made the case for the show to be a multi-night event in the future.
The Game’s comments made many wonder if it was an indication of things to come and if the company was planning to stretch future WrestleManias into two nights after the change this year but it doesn’t appear to be the case.
Dave Meltzer discussed the event on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Newsletter and confirmed that currently there are no plans for WrestleMania 37 to be a two-night event.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that the top brass could not consider the change in format for the show in future but the report confirms that Triple H’s comments are not an indication of the same.
“Like, it’s a week long festival and I think that the big main-stage attraction needs to be those two nights and it’d be this weekend of events. I do think that’s probably a change that; with chaos comes the genius and maybe that is the genius of it.”
Triple H continued by saying that he knows people who have
been rooting for this for a period of time but this is a major shift that
doesn’t come easy.
What do you think about WrestleMania possibly being a two-night event in future? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
The EVP of Global Talent Strategy & Development for WWE Triple H recently appeared on Corey Graves’ After The Bell podcast this week. ‘The Game’ discussed a number of subjects from his near 25 year career, including the filming and logistics of WrestleMania 36 that took place earlier this month.
This year’s WrestleMania is unlike any that fans have ever seen and hopefully the worldwide pandemic will have cleared by WrestleMania 37 next year. This year’s iteration of the biggest show in WWE’s calendar also took place over 2 nights, unprecedented in the event’s history.
Many fans and those in the industry would applaud the concept, with previous shows lasting nearly 8 hours including the pre-show. One of the bigger names that agrees with the two night concept? Triple H.
Triple H on a Two-Night Event
“Well, I mean my opinion is my opinion, but I think it was much more enjoyable than the eight hour extravaganza” Triple H began on the episode. “It’s just become so big that it’s almost when you think about it; it started out as a concert that ended up being a festival.”
Concert To Festival
The Cerebral Assassin would elaborate further, saying “it’s this week long thing you know? When you think about it in that manner. Now the Thursday would have been the Hall of Fame, Friday was Smackdown, Saturday was going to be NXT Takeover. Sunday would have been WrestleMania, Monday would have been RAW.”
With Chaos Comes The Genius
Triple H would then confirm that he much preferred the two-night concept for the actual WrestleMania event itself. “Like, it’s a week long festival and I think that the big main-stage attraction needs to be those two nights and it’d be this weekend of events. I do think that’s probably a change that; with chaos comes the genius and maybe that is the genius of it. I know there’s been people saying that for a period of time, but that’s a major shift and that doesn’t come easy. I think people in the world look at stuff like that and think ‘why can’t they just make it two nights?'”
Hunter would sarcastically finish by saying “yeah, because it’s really easy to!”
Do you think that WrestleMania should be a 2-night event going forward? Let us know in the comments
A new report has surfaced online regarding WWE having serious talks with ESPN that dates back to last year involving WrestleMania 35.
Sports Illustrated reports that ESPN wanted to up their coverage of WrestleMania 35 and the network was in a “deep discussion” to have a desk at WrestleMania, and to air WrestleMania SportsCenter breaks all weekend.
However, as WrestleMania week approached, the talks died the week before. The reason for it not happening was due to WWE Chairman Vince McMahon not wanting to reveal the behind-the-scenes aspects of WWE. This would include moments after the show ended.
This is interesting considering that WWE shows this type of footage on various programs such as Total Bellas, Total Divas, WWE 24 and WWE Chronicle.
Per the report, this type of footage could have been acquired by ESPN for a significant price. However, this footage is far more valuable to WWE than it would be to ESPN.
Fast forward a year later, it’s been reported that WWE was in talks with ESPN to air the pay-per-view on the ESPN+ pay-per-view service. This type of deal didn’t happen when the coronavirus pandemic started in the United States.
ESPN did not want to spend such a high price on any event that was surrounded by uncertainty.
WWE executives questioned whether this type of deal would’ve led to a mass decrease of WWE Network subscribers. Finally, FOX and the USA Network were “less than enthused” with WWE making a deal to air replays of past WrestleMania events including from 2014, 2016, and 2019.
The broadcast of WrestleMania 35 will serve as a lead-in for Night Two of WrestleMania 36, which FOX was especially not thrilled with.
Originally, FOX hoped that some of the WrestleMania encore presentations would air on FS1, but WWE made the decision to air them on ESPN because that network draws significantly more viewers.