Republished from Wikipedia
WrestleMania 32 will be the thirty-second annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It will take place on April 3, 2016, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Production
Background
WrestleMania is considered WWE's flagship event,[1] having been described as the Super Bowl of sports entertainment.[2]
On January 20, 2015, WWE announced that WrestleMania 32 would be held at the AT&T Stadium in the city of Arlington on April 3, 2016.[3] On October 13, travel packages for WrestleMania 32 went on sale, which included tickets to WrestleMania, hotel room accommodation, and other activities includingWrestleMania Axxess, the NXT TakeOver: Dallas, the 2016 WWE Hall of Fameceremony, and the next Raw; the cheapest package cost $575 per person.[4]On November 6, individual tickets went on sale through Ticketmaster, with prices ranging from $18 to $1,180.[4] WrestleMania will be available for free to new subscribers on WWE's monthly subscription service, the WWE Network.[5]
The event will be the third WrestleMania to be held in the state of Texas after 2001 and 2009, and the first to take place in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex area.[6] There are five official theme songs for the event, "My House" by Flo Rida, "Hello Friday" by Flo Rida featuring Jason Derulo, "Hail to the King" by Avenged Sevenfold, "Sympathy for the Devil" by Motörheadand "Oh No" by Goodbye June.
Forbes has speculated that WrestleMania 32 could break the WWE wrestling attendance record of 93,173 set atWrestleMania III at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan. This record stood as the highest attendance for any indoor event until the 2010 NBA All-Star Game, also held at AT&T Stadium, drew 108,713.[7]
CNET wrote that WrestleMania 32 will feature the "culmination" of "the biggest story in WWE", which is "establishing Roman Reigns as the top babyface, the protagonist who will be the face of the company for -- if WWE has its way -- the next decade." "For the past two years, WWE has been moving heaven and earth" in an attempt to get Reigns to the "level of recognition" of "names like Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock and John Cena", but "its toughest opponent" is the "wrestling audience" which started a "fan rebellion" in opposition to WWE's support of Reigns, with fans preferring Dean Ambrose instead.[8] To combat this trend, WWE has taken measures including muting booing crowds and piping in cannedcheers during Reigns' appearances in 2016.[9][10] The A.V. Club concurred that "WWE has a serious Roman Reigns problem", due to "basically nobody wanting to see Roman Reigns in the main event" of WrestleMania.[11]
Storylines
See also: Professional wrestling
WrestleMania 32 will feature professional wrestling matches that involve wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds orstorylines that play out on WWE television. Wrestlers will portray heroes or villains as they follow a series of events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches.[12][13]
At Survivor Series 2015, Roman Reigns won the tournament for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship.[14]Reigns had earlier refused offers by Triple H to join The Authority, which would have automatically placed him in the tournament finals,[15] but Reigns fought in the whole tournament and after his victory, he speared Triple H, who was trying to congratulate him. Sheamus then cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and captured Reigns' title.[14][16] Then, Triple H gave Reigns a title rematch at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs,[17] which Reigns lost due to interference. Post-match, a chair-wielding Reigns attacked Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio, and Rusev, and then also Triple H, who came out to stop Reigns' rampage.[18] The following night on the December 14 Raw, WWE chairman Vince McMahon arranged a title vs. career match between Reigns and Sheamus, which Reigns won to regain the title.[19] After Reigns won yet another title rematch against Sheamus, it was decreed by McMahon that Reigns had to defend his title in the 30-man annual Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble event.[20] At the event, Triple H returned as the #30 entrant and eliminated Reigns en route to winning the title.[21] After evaluating each wrestler's performance on the January 25 Raw, The Authority set up the main event of Fastlane,[22] which saw Reigns beating Dean Ambrose and Brock Lesnar in a triple threat match to receive a WrestleMania title shot against Triple H.[23] On the February 22 episode of Raw, Triple H attacked Reigns during the latter's match against Sheamus and beat a bloodied Reigns before delivering a Pedigree onto the steel steps.[24] With Reigns absent due to a storyline injury, Triple H accepted Ambrose's title challenge and defeated Ambrose to retain the title atWWE Roadblock on March 12.[25][26][27] The next night on Raw, after Triple H beat Dolph Ziggler, a returning Reigns assaulted not only Triple H, but also referees and security staff.[11][28]
The night after Fastlane, Vince McMahon presented the inaugural "Vincent J. McMahon Legacy of Excellence" Award to his daughter Stephanie McMahon. As Stephanie was about to accept her award, Shane McMahon returned to WWE for the first time since 2009 to confront his father and sister in regards to the company's status. Vince and Shane discussed the status of Raw and how it was getting run down. Vince then made a deal with Shane that he would gain control of Raw if he could win a match of his choosing. After Shane accepted, Vince named The Undertaker as his opponent and made the match a Hell in a Cell match.[24] The Undertaker returned to Raw the following week to address the match, and said that Shane's blood would be on Vince's hands, not his.[25] On March 14 episode of Raw, Shane confronted The Undertaker and questioned his loyalty to Vince. Undertaker stated that no one, not even Vince can control him. After Shane insulted Undertaker for being one of Vince's "puppets", Undertaker and Shane brawled, ending with Undertaker chokeslamming Shane after Vince pushed Shane towards him. Undertaker then attempted to attack Vince but got away.[28][29]
In the triple threat match at Fastlane, Brock Lesnar had Roman Reigns in a kimura lock submission hold until Dean Ambrose attacked Lesnar with a steel chair; this incapacitated Lesnar long enough for Reigns to beat Ambrose.[23] The next day, before Raw aired, Lesnar attacked Ambrose as he arrived at the arena and Ambrose was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. On Raw, Paul Heyman issued a challenge to anyone on the roster to face Lesnar at WrestleMania. Ambrose returned in the ambulance to challenge Lesnar to a No Holds Barred Street Fight; Lesnar accepted.[24]
After defeating Becky Lynch controversially at the Royal Rumble to retain her WWE Divas Championship, Charlotte was ambushed by a returning Sasha Banks.[21] At Fastlane, Charlotte retained the Divas Championship against Brie Bella, while Lynch and Banks defeated Team B.A.D. (Naomi and Tamina) in a tag team match.[23] The following night after Lynch and Banks' match on Raw, Charlotte informed them that one of the two would face her at WrestleMania for the title.[24] On the February 29 episode of Raw, Lynch and Banks faced each other in a No. 1 Contender's match, but the match ended in adouble pin.[25] A rematch on the following episode of SmackDown ended in a no contest when Charlotte attacked both Lynch and Banks. Subsequently, Charlotte was scheduled to defend her title against both Lynch and Banks in a triple threat match at WrestleMania.[30]
On March 14, it was announced that the third annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal was scheduled for WrestleMania. As per tradition, the winner will receive the André the Giant Memorial Trophy.[31] On the March 17 episode ofSmackDown, Heath Slater, Curtis Axel, Adam Rose and Bo Dallas announced their participation in the match.[32]
On the February 8 episode of Raw, after defeating The New Day and Mark Henry, The Dudley Boyz attacked their teammate The Usos.[33] The following weeks, the two teams attacked each other. On March 14, it was announced that The Usos would face The Dudley Boyz at the event.
At Roadblock, WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day defeated The League of Nations members Sheamus and King Barrett to retain the titles.[27] The following night, The New Day defeated The League of Nations members Alberto Del Rioand Rusev to retain the titles. The League of Nations issued a challenged to The New Day to a match at WrestleMania.[28]On March 15, it was announced that The New Day would face The League of Nations in a 4-on-3 handicap match for theWWE Tag Team Championship.
After walking out on Big Show and Kane during their tag team rematch against The Wyatt Family causing them to lose on February 22 episode of Raw, Ryback became more aggressive by beating his opponents in squash matches. On March 14 episode of Raw after defeating Sin Cara that night, Ryback challenged United States Champion Kalisto to a match for theWWE United States Championship at WrestleMania. On the March 16, in an interview with Michael Cole, Kalisto accepted Ryback's challenge.
Matches
- ^ Announced participants: Heath Slater, Curtis Axel, Adam Rose and Bo Dallas.
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