Steven Conway will update this guide with the latest information all the way up until the actual show.
When and where
Date: Saturday, Apr. 2 and Sunday, Apr. 3, 2022
Place: Arlington, TX
Venue: AT&T Stadium
Main card start time: 8 p.m. Eastern each night.
Night one Pre-show: 6 p.m. Eastern on USA Network.
Cards
April 2:
SmackDown Women’s Title match: Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Ronda Rousey
RAW Women’s Title Match: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Bianca Belair
Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio vs. The Miz and Logan Paul
Drew McIntyre vs. Happy Corbin
SmackDown Tag Team title match: Usos (c) vs. Rick Boogs and Shinsuke Nakamura
Seth Rollins vs. TBA
The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) vs. Ridge Holland and Sheamus
KO Show with Steve Austin
Apr. 3:
WWE Universal Title and WWE Title Unification match: Roman Reigns (Universal Champion) vs. Brock Lesnar (WWE Champion)
WWE Women’s Tag Team title (Four-way): Queen Zelina and Carmella (c) vs. Sasha Banks and Noami vs. Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan vs. Natalya and Shayna Baszler.
RAW Tag Team Title (Triple Threat): RK-Bro (c) vs. Street Profits vs. Alpha Academy
Edge vs. AJ Styles
Anything Goes Match: Johnny Knoxville vs. Sami Zayn
Pat McAfee vs. Austin Theory
Bobby Lashley vs. Omos
Supplemental content
Fight Game Media’s WrestleMania weekend schedule, covering the entire weekend, WWE and otherwise, like cheese on a pizza:
#WrestleMania week is on and poppin! Just want to thank everyone here for all the likes and RTs and thank the new Patreon subscribers as well. Looking forward to covering this week like few websites and podcast networks can. pic.twitter.com/tTkr7NJbX2
— Fight Game Media (@fightgamemedia) March 29, 2022
Steve Austin at WrestleMania
Austin has only had seven matches at WrestleMania…so far. But with only a few, he’s provided fans with some of the event’s most iconic battles. Read more.
Is Lesnar vs. Reigns one of the best rivalries in WrestleMania history?
This will be the third time the match has topped a WrestleMania card. That puts the matchup in exclusive company. Does it compare with Undertaker vs. HHH and Austin vs. The Rock? Read more.
What can we expect from Cody Rhodes?
Fans and those within the industry alike will be watching to see how Rhodes’ return to WWE goes. Read more.
NXT Stand and Deliver Preview
The brand that bills itself as WWE’s future has a major show coming up Apr. 2 at 1 pm EST on Peacock. We look at the card and its potential implications, including a re-christening of Bron Breakker as NXT Champion and a possible farewell to Tomasso Ciampa. Read more.
WrestleMania main events that never happened
GG takes a look at some dream matchups that could have been over the years, plus other topics from around the world of wrestling and MMA. Read more.
WWE Elimination Chamber 2022: It’s all a setup! (for WrestleMania)
WWE Elimination Chamber is the last major stop on the road to WrestleMania. This year’s show, which took place on February 19 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, was constructed specifically to get stars ready for April 2–3.
The wrestling Saturday was mostly good. While there were no real surprises, the card did its job. Everyone involved in the major WrestleMania matches were protected. Most were made to look as strong as possible. With an enormous AT&T Stadium to fill twice, it’s more important than ever for WWE to convince fans they will see a clashes of titans in April. Read more
How we got here
Roman Reigns Vs Brock Lesnar
This has been the company’s top rivalry for years now. In fact, this will be the third WrestleMania headlined by the match. Only the Rock versus Steve Austin and HHH versus the Undertaker have been in featured matches at WrestleMania three times so far.
The rivalry was re-ignited at SummerSlam, when Lesnar returned to WWE to confront Reigns. They met at Crown Jewel, with Reigns coming out on top, but Lesnar has been focused on Reigns since. The match was scheduled for Day 1, but Reigns tested positive for COVID-19, and was pulled from the event.
In the meantime, the story has taken a couple of twists. With Reigns out of the main event, Lesnar was put in a five-way match for the WWE title at Day 1. Lesnar won the title and immediately hinted he wanted to face Reigns for both championships.
That was derailed when Reigns interfered in Lensar’s match with Bobby Lashley at the Royal Rumble, causing Lesnar to lose the title. His advocate, Paul “Don’t Call Him a Manager” Heyman, turned on him as well. Lesnar then jumped into the Royal Rumble at number 30 (how lucky for him to draw that number, huh?) and promptly won it. He seized the chance to face Reigns again at WrestleMania, choosing that match even before he regained the WWE title at Elimination Chamber.
Reigns attacked Lesnar after his WWE title match victory over Austin Theory at Madison Square Garden on Mar. 5. This was recorded as an angle and shown on the following week’s RAW.
To add extra spice, WWE announced the titles will be unified at WrestleMania. This sets up the possibility of one champion being on both RAW and SmackDown going forward.
Ronda Rousey Vs Charlotte Flair
The more straightforward story here is Rousey came back to WWE to win the Royal Rumble. She chose Charlotte as her opponent for WrestleMania.
Becky Lynch Vs Bianca Belair
Belair won the Women’s Elimination Chamber match in Saudi Arabia, which earned her this shot at Lynch. This is another match in the feud between the two that goes back to Lynch’s return at SummerSlam last year. Lynch defeated Belair in a quick match on that show and Belair has wanted revenge since.
A Very Special Episode of the KO Show with Steve Austin
WWE is bringing back the biggest draw of them all for this Dallas-based WrestleMania. The writing has been on the wall for weeks, since Owens began trash talking the entire state of Texas. This went on for a few weeks as he and Rollins chased the tag team titles. After being on the cusp of winning the titles on the Mar. 7 RAW, but having the pinfall snatched away at the last moment by Riddle, Owens was distraught.
He returned to the ring at the end of the program and stated he wanted to have the biggest KO Show ever. He ran through a list of Texas wrestlers (JBL, Booker T, Shawn Michaels), rejecting them for various reasons (too lousy, too hypocritical and too screwjobby, respectively). Then he landed on Austin, and called him out.
Austin accepted the invitation the next day on social media.
OH HELL YEAH!@SteveAustinBSR has accepted @FightOwensFight's #WrestleMania 38 invitation! pic.twitter.com/7x5t41nDBg
— WWE (@WWE) March 8, 2022
The Mysterios Vs The Miz and Logan Paul
WWE often brings in special guests, and this year they’ve chosen someone who leans in hard to a heel persona. The Miz began a feud with the Mysterios by doing little more than act like a jerk in matches with them. When he needed a partner, he played up the Hollywood aspects of his character and said he needed another big star to face the Mysterios. Miz announced Paul was the choice, and Paul and Miz beat down the Mysterios on a Miz TV segment on the Feb. 21 RAW.
Paul has been a good sport in the past, putting over Kevin Owens as Sami Zayn’s special guest last year. And who doesn’t love seeing a Paul brother get beaten up?
Edge Vs AJ Styles
Edge appeared on RAW saying he wanted a major match at WrestleMania. He issued an open challenge for anyone to be his opponent. Styles answered the call but was attacked by Edge right away in a heel turn. It was a bit abrupt. Edge wasn’t this upset when Seth Rollins broke into his house. But still, the attack put this bout, which could be a show-stealer, in the grudge match category.
Seth Rollins Vs TBA
All indications are Cody Rhodes will make his WWE return here. There’s been an ongoing angle regarding Rollins not having a WrestleMania match. As silly as it sounds, they teased the idea of one of the biggest stars in the company not being in a match for weeks.
On Mar. 28, Rollins was called into Vince McMahon’s office. In a skit that aired first on social media and then later on RAW, McMahon told him all he had to do was ask. He’d have a match against a star of McMahon’s choosing at WrestleMania. No formal announcement has been made because they want the “surprise” pop on the big show Saturday.
RK-Bro Vs Street Profits Vs Alpha Academy
RK-Bro regained the RAW Tag Team titles on Mar. 7, defeating Alpha Academy and the team of Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens in a Triple Threat match. It was announced they will have a match at WrestleMania. On the Mar. 14 edition of RAW, the Street Profits challenged RK-Bro. During a match between Riddle and Montez Ford, Alpha Academy attacked both teams, keeping themselves in the picture.
The Triple Threat tag team title match was announced on Mar. 21.
Queen Zelina and Carmella Vs Sasha Banks and Naomi Vs Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan Vs Natalya and Shayna Baszler
There was no real angle to this. Banks and Naomi declared they were a team now and wanted a shot at the titles. Since there really are no other regular women’s tag teams, WWE figured, why not? The match was made.
On the Mar. 7 edition of RAW, Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan defeated Vega and Carmella in a non-title match. Carmella was distracted by her fiance, Corey Graves, for some reason and left Vega out to dry with the babyfaces. The victory earned the other newly-formed team a spot in the WrestleMania match.
A fourth team was added on the Mar. 18 SmackDown. Ripley and Morgan were facing Banks and Naomi when the combo of Natalya and Baszler attacked both teams. They proceeded to have a staredown with the champions and were added to the match by Sonya Deville later in the program.
Usos Vs Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs
The Usos demolished Boogs and Nakamura when they were on their way to the ring on the Mar. 4 SmackDown, clearing the way for Reigns to make an announcement. Unsurprisingly, that upset Boogs and Nakamura. The following week, they confronted the Usos, who said if Boogs could defeat Jey Uso in a singles match, Boogs and Nakamura would get a title shot at WrestleMania.
The Usos were under the impression they’d injured Boogs in the attack, but it turns out Boogs was playing possum in addition to playing guitar. Boogs defeated Jey and secured the title shot.
Johnny Knoxville Vs Sami Zayn
Zayn tangled with Knoxville at the Royal Rumble, at which Knoxville appeared as a guest entrant to promote his new movie, Jackass Forever. Zayn took the part of the wrestler annoyed at the celebrity invading the ring, but Knoxville did surprisingly well, taking some decent bumps. In response (and for some extra publicity for the angle), Zayn crashed the premier of Knoxville’s movie.
With that bit of corporate cooperation out of the way, Knoxville has shown up at SmackDown several times to torment Sami. Zayn captured the Intercontinental title from Shinsuke Nakamura on the taped episode that aired Feb. 18. Sami was a happy man, until Knoxville interrupted his title celebration the following week. Knoxville was laid out, but to gain some revenge, he turned up again a week later, distracting Zayn during his title defense against Ricochet. Zayn was pinned and lost the championship. A livid Zayn then challenged Knoxville to a match at WrestleMania, which Knoxville quickly accepted.
To allow some smoke and mirrors for Knoxville, who is not a trained worker, WWE added an Anything Goes stipulation on Mar. 18.
Okay @realjknoxville, we see you 👀! #SmackDown @SamiZayn @KingRicochet pic.twitter.com/An4hBKBczj
— WWE (@WWE) March 5, 2022
Drew McIntyre Vs Happy Corbin
McIntyre has been annoyed by Corbin and Madcap Moss going back to December when he didn’t like their comedy (who does?) as a guest on their talk show. Corbin defeated Moss at the Day 1 show, but Moss and Corbin injured McIntyre’s neck after the match. When McIntyre returned at the Royal Rumble after some time off, he went right after the pair. He beat Moss again at the Elimination Chamber show, and now finally gets his crack at Corbin.
Pat McAfee Vs Austin Theory
Vince McMahon went on McAfee’s podcast on Mar. 4. Most expected some kind of angle between the two, but what we got was something more low-key than expected. McMahon simply invited McAfee to have a match at WrestleMania. Naturally, McAfee was thrilled. McMahon, notably, did not say who his opponent would be.
The next night on SmackDown, McMahon’s hand-picked star, Theory, came to the announcer’s desk and told McAfee he’d be the opponent before smacking the headset off McAfee’s head.
This match comes as a big relief since the original reports hinted McMahon would be the one wrestling. This match has a much better chance to be good with Theory as McMahon’s proxy.
The New Day Vs Ridge Holland and Sheamus
This was added to the card after Xavier Woods returned from injury just after Big E suffered a broken neck on SmackDown. Big E was injured when Holland did an ill-advised delayed belly-to-belly to Big E on the floor. The former WWE Champion landed on his head and broke his neck. It was a dangerous situation and while there is no such thing as a good broken neck, Big E managed to come out of it a lot better than most would have. Still, he’ll be out of action an indefinite amount of time.
The company smartly pounced on the natural angle, and had Woods return to team with Kofi Kingston in an attempt to gain a measure of revenge for their fallen partner.
Omos Vs Bobby Lashley
This had no big angle. Lashley returned from a shoulder injury suffered at the Royal Rumble Mar. 28. He challenged Omos for a match at WrestleMania.
Podcasts
WrestleMania Preview (3/28)
Cody Rhodes to WrestleMania, Scott Hall Memories (3/21)
Decision Time for Cody Rhodes, Big E’s Injury (3/14)
The WrestleMania Tease Of It All (3/8)
