WrestleMania 41

Background

WrestleMania is WWE's flagship pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, having first been held in 1985. It was the company's first PPV produced and was also WWE's first major event available via livestreaming when the company launched the WWE Network in February 2014. It is the longest-running event in WWE history and is held annually between mid-March to mid-April, featuring wrestlers from WWE's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions.^[1] Along with Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and Money in the Bank, it is one of the company's five biggest events of the year, referred to as the "Big Five".^[2]^[3]^[4] WrestleMania was ranked the sixth-most valuable sports brand in the world by Forbes,^[5] and has been described as the Super Bowl of sports entertainment.^[6] Similar to the Super Bowl, cities bid to host WrestleMania.^[7] The official theme songs for the event are "Timeless" by The Weeknd and Playboi Carti, and "Fein" by Travis Scott; this marks the sixth straight year in a row that a track by the Weeknd has served as the theme song for a WrestleMania.

On May 4, 2024, during NBC's pre-race coverage for the 150th Kentucky Derby, it was announced that Allegiant Stadium in the Las Vegas district of Paradise, Nevada would host WrestleMania 41 on Saturday, April 19, and Sunday, April 20, 2025, marking the first WrestleMania to be held during Easter weekend. This will subsequently be the second WWE event to be held at the venue after SummerSlam in 2021.^[8] This will also be the second WrestleMania held in the Las Vegas area, after WrestleMania IX in 1993, which was held at Caesars Palace, with the event in turn marketed as "WrestleMania Vegas".^[9] Two-day combo tickets went on sale on October 25, 2024,^[10] while single day tickets went on sale from January 24, 2025.^[11]

Minneapolis, Minnesota was also a finalist to host the event at U.S. Bank Stadium. Its proponents said they had been informed that the decision to place the event in the Las Vegas area was driven by a "change in direction by new ownership", following the 2023 merger of WWE and Las Vegas-based Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) as TKO Group Holdings, controlled by UFC's previous sole owner Endeavor.^[12] U.S. Bank Stadium would in turn get SummerSlam for 2026.^[13]

Broadcast outlets

In addition to airing on traditional pay-per-view worldwide, WrestleMania 41 will be available to livestream on Peacock in the United States, Netflix in most international markets, and the WWE Network in any remaining countries that have not yet transferred to Netflix due to pre-existing contracts. This marks the first WrestleMania to livestream on Netflix following the WWE Network's merger under the service in January 2025 in those areas. The select few territories that still have the standalone WWE Network will eventually merge under Netflix once the pre-existing contracts expire.^[14]

Other WrestleMania week events

As part of the WrestleMania festivities, WWE will hold a number of events throughout the week. On April 17, Netflix will present WaleMania X from the Brooklyn Bowl.^[15] The night before WrestleMania 41 on April 18, WWE will kick off WrestleMania Weekend with a special "WrestleMania Edition" of Friday Night SmackDown.^[16] Immediately afterwards, the 2025 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony will commence. During the afternoon of WrestleMania Saturday, WWE's NXT brand will hold its annual WrestleMania Weekend event, Stand & Deliver. After WrestleMania Saturday's conclusion, WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker will host his 1deadMAN show. After WrestleMania Sunday's conclusion, there will be a comedy event, "The Roast of WrestleMania Featuring Tony Hinchcliffe & Friends". On April 21 will be the Monday Night Raw after WrestleMania, with all WrestleMania week events concluding with NXT on April 22. SmackDown, Stand & Deliver, and Raw will be held live at the nearby T-Mobile Arena,^[16] while the Hall of Fame ceremony, 1deadMAN Show, Roast of WrestleMania, and NXT will be held live at the nearby Fontainebleau Las Vegas in the BleauLive Theater.^[17]^[18]^[19]

In partnership with Fanatics Events, WWE will also host the second annual WWE World at WrestleMania, a five-day fan convention, which will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The event will begin on Thursday, April 17 and run through Monday, April 21. It will include interview panel sessions with WWE wrestlers, live podcast recordings, meet-and-greets with wrestlers, and a large merchandise store with various memorabilia honoring WrestleMania's 41-year history.^[20] WWE World will also host the Slammy Awards which will be held during the afternoon of April 20.^[21] Also, throughout April, WWE partnered with Clash of Clans with various superstars featured in the game, and included an "enhanced match sponsorship" at WrestleMania 41.^[22]

Storylines

The event will include matches that result from scripted storylines. Results are predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands,^[23]^[24] while storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.^[25]

Main event matches

In his final WrestleMania match, John Cena is set to face Cody Rhodes for SmackDown's Undisputed WWE Championship in an attempt to become a record 17-time WWE world champion.^[a]

On July 6, 2024, at Money in the Bank, John Cena officially announced that he would retire from professional wrestling at the end of 2025, having wrestled for WWE since 2002 (though part-time since 2018). Cena also stated that he would compete at WrestleMania 41, which would be his last WrestleMania.^[26] After losing the 2025 men's Royal Rumble match,^[27] Cena announced that he would compete in the men's Elimination Chamber match at Elimination Chamber: Toronto for one last chance to challenge for a world championship at WrestleMania 41, citing that main-eventing WrestleMania and becoming a record 17-time world champion as recognized by WWE would be "best for business".^[28] Also before the Elimination Chamber event, TKO board of directors member Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson tried to bribe SmackDown's Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes to be his corporate champion, stating that they had become friends following their opposition at the prior year's WrestleMania XL. Rock claimed that he could elevate Rhodes's career and offer him anything he wanted and that he would be at Elimination Chamber to get Rhodes's answer.^[29] At the event, Cena won the Elimination Chamber match, thus earning a match against Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania. Following the match, Rhodes came out to congratulate Cena followed by Rock to get Rhodes's answer. Rhodes denied Rock and Cena embraced Rhodes; however, Cena turned on Rhodes, siding with Rock, despite also opposing Rock the prior year, and viciously attacked Rhodes, turning heel for the first time since 2003.^[30] Cena next appeared on the March 17 episode of Raw, berating the audience, claiming they mistreated him for the last 25 years, before being cut off by Rhodes who chastised Cena and told him he wanted to face the real Cena at WrestleMania 41, not this "whiny" version.^[31] The following week, Cena stated that after he won the title, he would retire with it.^[32] In their final confrontation before WrestleMania on the March 31 episode of Raw, Cena vowed to "bury" Rhodes at the event, and tried to cheap shot him after being goaded, before being hit with a Cross Rhodes.^[33]

CM Punk is set to face Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins in a triple threat match in his first WrestleMania main event. This will be Reigns' record 10th WrestleMania main event and Rollins' third.^[b]

Upon CM Punk's return to WWE at Survivor Series: WarGames in November 2023,^[34] he immediately became a target of Seth Rollins. At the 2024 Royal Rumble, Punk suffered a torn tricep which ruled him unable to compete for the next few months, leading him to miss WrestleMania XL,^[35] although he was on guest commentary for Rollins's World Heavyweight Championship match at the event.^[36] After Punk made his return from injury, him and Rollins would have various encounters, further enraging Rollins. Later, Punk would join Roman Reigns' team as its fifth member at Survivor Series: WarGames in the namesake match on behalf of his former manager and Reigns's special counsel, Paul Heyman, with Heyman owing Punk a favor for agreeing to the match. Reigns' team would win at the event.^[37] Punk then became the target of Rollins again due to Rollins's hatred of both Reigns and Punk. This culminated in a match on Raw's Netflix premiere, where Punk defeated Rollins.^[38] Punk, Reigns, and Rollins then participated in the men's 2025 Royal Rumble match. As Reigns and Rollins tried to eliminate each other, Punk eliminated both Reigns and Rollins; Punk was eliminated shortly after. The three brawled at ringside where Rollins performed a two-footed stomp on Reigns, ruling him unable to compete for the next few weeks.^[27] Rollins and Punk then participated in the men's Elimination Chamber match at the namesake event where Punk eliminated Rollins. However, Rollins subsequently performed a Stomp on Punk, costing him the match.^[30] On the following episode of Raw, Punk spoke about his inability to compete in a WrestleMania main event before brawling with Rollins.^[39] They then faced each other the following week in a Steel Cage match which Rollins won after a returning Reigns pulled him out of the cage and attacked Rollins in an act of revenge from the Royal Rumble, after which, Reigns noticed Heyman tending to Punk in the ring, which enraged Reigns, causing him to also attack Punk.^[40] On the March 21 episode of SmackDown, a brawl ensued between all three men, with Rollins, Reigns, and Punk pointing at the WrestleMania sign,^[41] with a triple threat match subsequently made official for WrestleMania 41.^[42] During the contract signing the following week, Heyman announced that the match would main event WrestleMania, although it was not confirmed which night. While grateful for finally being in the main event of WrestleMania, Punk said this was not the favor he was owed from Heyman.^[43] On the March 31 episode of Raw, it was announced that the match would main event Night 1 of WrestleMania.^[44]

Undercard matches

At Saturday Night's Main Event XXXVIII, Gunther defeated Jey Uso to retain Raw's World Heavyweight Championship.^[45] Uso then won the men's Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble the following week, earning a world championship match of his choice at WrestleMania 41.^[27] During the post-show, although Uso stated that he wanted another shot at Gunther, he did not make an official decision.^[46] Uso then confronted Gunther on the following Raw, with Gunther stating that Uso should choose SmackDown's world champion because he had already defeated Uso and instead deserved to defend the title against someone like John Cena.^[47] After making an appearance on that week's SmackDown,^[48] Uso opened the February 10 episode of Raw where he was attacked by Gunther. Uso subsequently decided that he would challenge Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 41.^[49]

At the Royal Rumble, SmackDown's Charlotte Flair won the women's Royal Rumble match, earning a world championship match of her choice at WrestleMania 41.^[27] Flair subsequently appeared on the following episodes of Raw, NXT, and SmackDown to confront each brand's respective champions before finally choosing to challenge Tiffany Stratton for SmackDown's WWE Women's Championship at WrestleMania.^[50]

Throughout February, qualifying matches were held to determine the participants for the women's Elimination Chamber match at Elimination Chamber: Toronto with the winner earning a match for Raw's Women's World Championship at WrestleMania 41. During Iyo Sky's qualifying match, reigning Women's World Champion Rhea Ripley attacked Sky's opponent, unintentionally causing a disqualification loss for Sky. Due to this, Ripley rewarded Sky with a title match, which was scheduled for after Elimination Chamber on the March 3 episode of Raw.^[47] At Elimination Chamber, SmackDown's Bianca Belair won the eponymous match,^[30] while Sky subsequently defeated Ripley on Raw to win the title, confirming that Sky would defend the Women's World Championship against Belair at WrestleMania.^[39] However, during the contract signing on the March 17 episode, Ripley interrupted and performed a powerbomb on Sky onto Belair, after which, Ripley instead signed the contract.^[31] The following week, it was announced that Sky would face Ripley on the March 31 episode in a title rematch with Belair as the special guest referee.^[32] That match would end in a double disqualification, thus Sky retained the title.^[51]

At Bad Blood on October 5, 2024, fans captured footage of Kevin Owens attacking Cody Rhodes as the latter was entering his bus after the event went off the air.^[52] In the following weeks, Owens and Rhodes' mutual friend, Randy Orton, attempted to maintain peace, only for Owens to attack Orton in the parking lot, believing Orton chose Rhodes over him. At Crown Jewel on November 2, Orton and Owens were scheduled for a match, however, both engaged in a brawl throughout the arena with Owens getting the upper hand, thus the match never officially began.^[53] On the following SmackDown, another brawl took place where Owens performed a package piledriver on Orton, who was then taken to a nearby hospital.^[54] Four months later at Elimination Chamber: Toronto, Orton returned and attacked Owens after the latter won an unsanctioned match.^[30] On the following SmackDown, Orton spoke about the issues he had with Owens and vowed to get revenge.^[55] On the March 21 episode, Orton challenged Owens to a match at WrestleMania 41, which was made official.^[41]

At the Royal Rumble, SmackDown's AJ Styles made a surprise return from injury and competed in the Royal Rumble match, but was eliminated by Raw's Logan Paul.^[27] As part of WWE's transfer window, Styles was transferred to the Raw brand. After several weeks of confrontations, Styles challenged Paul to a match on the March 31 episode of Raw, but Paul declined, saying he does not "fight for free" and pointed to the WrestleMania sign as a brawl ensued between the two men with Paul getting the upper hand. Later that night, Raw General Manager Adam Pearce made a match between Paul and Styles official for WrestleMania 41.^[51]

Production

Background

Broadcast outlets

Other WrestleMania week events

Storylines

Main event matches

Undercard matches

Matches

References

Notes

External links

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