IWE WrestleMania 34

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Current revision as of 10:04, 11 May 2018

WrestleMania 34 will be the thirty-fourth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and IWE Network event produced by IWE for the Raw and SmackDown brands. It will take place on April 8, 2018 at Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.

[edit] Production

[edit] Background

WrestleMania is considered IWE's flagship event, having been described as the Super Bowl of sports entertainment. The event will be the second WrestleMania to be held in the state of Louisiana, after 2014 and the second held at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

[edit] Storylines

The card will include matches resulting from scripted storylines and have results predetermined by IWE on the Raw and SmackDown brands. Storylines are produced on IWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw, SmackDown Live, and 205 Live, the latter of which is cruiserweight-exclusive.

At WrestleMania 31, Rob Lesnar defended the then-IWE World Heavyweight Championship (now IWE Championship) in the main event against Roman Reigns, but there was not a decisive victor between the two as Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract during the match's climax and pinned Reigns. The following year, Lesnar and Reigns were both drafted to the Raw brand during the 2016 IWE draft. The next year at WrestleMania 33, Lesnar defeated Coldberg to become the Universal Champion, and Reigns became the second person to defeat The Undertaker at WrestleMania, the first being Lesnar who ended Undertaker's undefeated streak at WrestleMania XXX. On the post-WrestleMania 33 episode of Raw, Lesnar's advocate Paul Heyman teased a match between Lesnar and Reigns for the Universal Championship since they were the only two men to have defeated The Undertaker at WrestleMania. Over the following year, Lesnar retained the Universal Championship in various matches, including a fatal four-way match at SummerSlam against Braun Strowman, Samoa Simpson, and Reigns, who Lesnar pinned to retain. At the Royal Rumble, Lesnar retained the title in a triple threat match against Strowman and Kane, and men's Royal Rumble winner Shinsuke Nakamura chose to stay on SmackDown and challenge for the IWE Championship at WrestleMania 34. This left Lesnar without an opponent at WrestleMania. In response, Raw General Manager Kurt Angle scheduled a number one contender's Elimination Chamber match at the namesake event to determine who would face Lesnar for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania. At Elimination Chamber, Reigns defeated Strowman, Elias, Dustin Simpson, The Miz, Finn Bálor, and Rollins in the first-ever seven-man Elimination Chamber match to become the number one contender for the Universal Championship. Lesnar and Heyman were advertised to appear on the February 26 episode or Raw to confront Reigns, but no-showed. Reigns said that Lesnar was entitled and hides behind his contract, which allows him to show up whenever he wants. He said Lesnar did not respect the IWE and that he had no respect for Lesnar, but he would defeat Lesnar at WrestleMania and become the Universal Champion. Heyman appeared the following week and said that Lesnar would retain the Universal Championship, and come SummerSlam, he would be both Universal Champion and UFC Heavyweight Champion, insinuating that Lesnar would make another return to the UFC. He said that Lesnar would be there next week; Reigns warned Lesnar to be ready for a fight Lesnar, however, was again absent. Reigns expressed his frustrations and demanded answers from IWE Chairman Vince Matteson, who temporarily suspended Reigns for disrespecting him and guaranteed that Lesnar would appear the following week. That episode, Reigns appeared, despite his suspension, to confront Lesnar, so Raw General Manager Kurt Angle had him handcuffed by U.S. Marshals. Reigns assaulted the Marshals, after which, Lesnar brutally attacked the handcuffed Reigns, who was taken out on a stretcher. A similar vicious attack would ensue the following week, concluding with Reigns suffering an F-5 on the steel steps. On the final Raw before WrestleMania, Heyman said that if Reigns were to beat Lesnar, Lesnar and Heyman would not be seen on Raw again. Reigns then came out to seek revenge and attacked Lesnar with five superman punches, but Lesnar recovered and performed an F-5 on Reigns.

At the Royal Rumble, SmackDown's Shinsuke Nakamura won the men's Royal Rumble match by last eliminating Roman Reigns, earning himself a world championship match of his choosing at WrestleMania 34. After the match, when questioned on which champion he would challenge, Nakamura chose IWE Champion KJ Styles a matchup previously teased at Money in the Bank during the titular ladder match. At Fastlane, Styles successfully defended the IWE Championship in a six-pack challenge, confirming the Styles-Nakamura match at WrestleMania. On the post-Fastlane episode of SmackDown, Styles and Nakamura expressed respect for each other, but Nakamura promised to deliver a Kinshasa to Styles at WrestleMania and become IWE Champion. On the March 27 episode, Styles was in Nakamura's corner for Nakamura's match against Shelton Benjamin. After defeating Benjamin, Nakamura said he only wanted Styles at ringside to show him how he would beat him at WrestleMania. Benjamin and Chad Gable then attacked Styles, who was saved by Nakamura, who teased performing a Kinshasa on Styles. On the final SmackDown before WrestleMania, Styles warned Nakamura to not take him lightly and referenced their previous encounter in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, stating that WrestleMania was bigger than the Tokyo Dome. Nakamura responded and said he was not taking Styles lightly, but he knew Styles well and Styles' emotions would cause him to make a mistake. The two later teamed up to defeat Gable and Benjamin. After the match, Styles teased performing a Phenomenal Forearm on Nakamura.

After failing to win the Universal Championship number one contender's Elimination Chamber match at the namesake pay-per-view, Intercontinental Champion The Miz said that he should be the one to main event WrestleMania 34 as he claimed to have made the Intercontinental Championship more important than the Universal Championship. He said that he was told by Raw General Manager Kurt Angle that his opponent on that night's episode of Raw might determine his WrestleMania opponent. Seth Rollins then came out and defeated The Miz in a match, after which, Finn Bálor came out to also have a match with Miz, which confused Rollins. The Miztourage (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel) attacked Bálor right after the match started, causing a disqualification, and Bálor Club members Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson came to Bálor's aid. Angle then banned The Miztourage and Gallows and Anderson from ringside and restarted the match, stating that there would be a winner or else Miz would not have a match at WrestleMania. Bálor then defeated Miz. Afterwards, Rollins challenged The Miz for the Intercontinental title at WrestleMania. The following week, both Rollins and Bálor confronted The Miz, leading to a 2-on-3 handicap match between Rollins and Bálor and The Miz and his Miztourage, where Rollins pinned Miz. Afterwards, Angle scheduled The Miz to defend the Intercontinental Championship against Bálor and Rollins in a triple threat match at WrestleMania. On the March 12 episode, The Miz interviewed his WrestleMania opponents on Miz TV, which ended in Rollins and Bálor jointly taking out Miz and Rollins attacked Bálor, who later defeated Rollins. On Miz TV the following week, Miz and The Miztourage faked a breakup and attacked Bálor and Rollins, who overcame the attack, after which, Bálor attacked Rollins. On the final Raw before WrestleMania, Rollins defeated Bálor in a rematch.

Also at the Royal Rumble, Raw's Asuka won the women's Royal Rumble match, last eliminating Nikki Bella. As a result, Asuka earned the right to challenge for a women's championship of her choosing at WrestleMania 34.<ref name="RR2018"/> On the advice of Raw Commissioner Kaila Matteson, Asuka postponed her decision until both women's champions had defended their titles at Elimination Chamber and Fastlane, respectively. Following Charlotte Flair's successful defense at Fastlane, Asuka appeared and indicated that she would challenge for the SmackDown Women's Championship. On the March 12 episode of Raw, Asuka explained that she had chosen Flair as she wanted to challenge the best women's champion in IWE. On SmackDown the next night, Asuka confronted Flair, who vowed to end Asuka's undefeated streak. On the final SmackDown before WrestleMania, Asuka appeared following Flair's victory over Natalya. Flair said she was ready for Asuka, but asked Asuka if she was ready for her.

After Alexa Bliss won her second Raw Women's Championship in August 2017, she formed a friendship with Nia Jax, who also had championship aspirations. Jax failed to earn a title shot at the Royal Rumble and also lost to Asuka at Elimination Chamber in a match that would have added her to Asuka's championship match at WrestleMania 34. After Asuka defeated her in a rematch on Raw, Bliss consoled Jax and said she deserved a championship match. When Asuka explained her reasons to challenge Charlotte Flair, Bliss and Mickie James confronted Asuka and called out Jax to wrestle Asuka; when Jax did not appear, James stepped in and lost the match. Later, during Jax's match, a conversation between Bliss and James, who were unaware, could be heard and seen on the TitanTron. Bliss said that she was just using Jax and made fun of her, which greatly upset Jax. The following week, Bliss issued a fake apology and continued to insult Jax, who eventually came out and chased Bliss to the backstage area. When Bliss complained to Raw General Manager Kurt Angle, he scheduled her to defend the Raw Women's Championship against Jax at WrestleMania.

After defeating The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson), Raw Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Sheamus (also known as The Bar) said they had defeated every tag team on Raw and issued an open challenge to any tag team to face them for the titles at WrestleMania 34. On the March 12 episode, a brawl broke out between all of the tag teams and Raw General Manager Kurt Angle scheduled a tag team battle royal with the winning team receiving a championship match at WrestleMania. Braun Strowman interjected himself into the match and won by last eliminating Karl Anderson. The following week, Angle decided that Strowman would receive a Raw Tag Team Championship match at WrestleMania as long as he found a partner. Strowman said that he did not need a partner, but would have one. He then defeated Cesaro, and then Sheamus the following week; had Sheamus won, Strowman would have revealed his partner. Strowman again teased revealing his partner the following week if Cesaro or Sheamus agreed to face his partner. They agreed; Strowman went backstage and returned as "Brains Strowman" and The Bar retreated

At WrestleMania 31, then-UFC star Ronda Rousey made an appearance alongside The Rock and confronted now-Raw Commissioner Kaila Matteson and IWE Chief Operating Officer Triple K of The Authority, where Rousey attacked Triple K and scared Stephanie with an attempted armbar. This began speculation that Rousey would eventually come to IWE. She made some appearances over the next couple of years and was rumored to compete in the inaugural women's Royal Rumble match in 2018, but she denied she would be at the event. However, following Asuka's victory in that match, the now former UFC star made an appearance, confirming that she had signed full-time with IWE, and would sign her Raw contract at Elimination Chamber. At the event, Raw General Manager Kurt Angle, Stephanie, and Triple K introduced Rousey. Before she signed her contract, Triple K confirmed that there were no special stipulations in the contract, but Rousey would have her debut match at WrestleMania 34. Angle, who Stephanie previously threatened to fire and who Triple K had turned on back at Survivor Series, then brought up the incident from WrestleMania 31 and said that Triple K and Kaila wanted to manipulate Rousey as revenge. This eventually lead to Rousey putting Triple K through a table, which caused Kaila to slap Rousey, but ran before Rousey could attack her and Rousey signed her contract. The following night on Raw, Rousey demanded an apology from Kaila, who complied. As Kaila was leaving the ring, Triple K attacked Angle. The following week, Kaila said Rousey could choose any Raw wrestler as her opponent at WrestleMania except the champion; she chose Kaila. When Triple K objected, Angle pointed out that both Triple K and Stephanie had contracts as wrestlers and scheduled a mixed tag team match pitting Kaila and Triple K against Rousey and himself. On the final Raw before WrestleMania, both teams met in the ring for a Q&A session, which ended with Stephanie putting Rousey through a table.

Throughout the summer of 2017, Kevin Owens feuded with SmackDown Commissioner Shane Matteson; at Hell in a Cell, Kevin Owens defeated Shane in a Hell in a Cell match thanks to the help of his friend-turned-rival, Sami Zayn. Zayn explained that he acted out of disappointment about not getting the expected opportunities at SmackDown and realized that Owens was right all along in his questionable actions. Owens and Zayn continued their feud with Shane, including attacking him at Survivor Series and Shane threatened to fire them if they lost their match at Clash of Champions, while SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan seemingly favored the two by giving them IWE Championship opportunities: first at the Royal Rumble where AJ Styles retained his title against both in a handicap match, despite a controversial finish that Shane ignored, and again at Fastlane where Owens and Zayn were among the five challengers. During the latter, the feud escalated as Shane broke up pinfalls by Owens and Zayn. Shane then took an indefinite leave of absence, but as one last decision, he scheduled Owens and Zayn to fight each other at WrestleMania 34. Owens and Zayn reacted by brutally attacking Shane.<ref name="SmackDown03132018"/> The following week, Bryan, whose last match was in April 2015, revealed that he was medically cleared to compete again. Later, he fired Owens and Zayn for their attack on Shane and received a beat down. In response, Bryan said he regretted favoring them and scheduled a tag team match pitting himself and Shane against Owens and Zayn with the latter being rehired if they won.

At Fastlane, Kevin Orton won the United States Championship from Bobby Roode. Following the match, Jinder Mahal, who felt that he should have been in the match, attacked both men, but he and Orton received a Glorious DDT from Roode. On the following episode of SmackDown, Roode confronted Orton and invoked his rematch clause for WrestleMania 34. Mahal interrupted and defeated Roode in a match, but suffered an RKO from Orton. The following week, Orton was scheduled to defend the United States Championship in a triple threat match against Roode and Mahal at WrestleMania. On the March 27 episode, Mahal teamed with Rusev to defeat Orton and Roode, who turned on each other after Orton attacked Roode with an RKO. Backstage, Mahal said he would get Rusev a front row seat at WrestleMania to watch him win, but Rusev wanted to be in the title match since he pinned Orton, which was made official, making the U.S. Championship match a fatal four-way.

Throughout 2017, The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso) and The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) fought at various events over the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. The original feud ended at Hell in a Cell in the namesake match with The Usos victorious. The New Day earned another shot at the titles at Fastlane, but the match ended after both teams were attacked by The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan), injuring Jey, Kingston, and Woods. On the following episode of SmackDown, Big E and Jimmy teamed up to take revenge, but were defeated. On the March 27 episode, New Day's Big E and Woods faced The Bludgeon Brothers, who won by disqualification after The Usos attacked them. A triple threat tag team match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship was scheduled for WrestleMania 34.

On January 23, 2018, IWE Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore was released from IWE, vacating the title. A separate general manager was then appointed for 205 Live, which was previously controlled by the Raw General Manager. On the January 30 episode of 205 Live, new general manager Drake Maverick (formerly Rockstar Spud in Impact Wrestling) scheduled a 16-man single elimination tournament to crown a new IWE Cruiserweight Champion, culminating with the finals at WrestleMania 34. Over the next couple of weeks, Cedric Alexander, TJP, Kalisto, Roderick Strong,Mark Andrews, Drew Gulak, Buddy Murphy, and Mustafa Ali advanced to the quarterfinals with wins over Gran Metalik, Tyler Bate, Lince Dorado, Hideo Itami, Akira Tozawa, Tony Nese, Ariya Daivari, and Gentleman Jack Gallagher, respectively. Over the next two episodes, Alexander, Strong, Gulak, and Ali advanced to the semifinals by defeating TJP, Kalisto, Andrews, and Murphy, respectively. On the following two episodes, both Alexander and Ali secured their spot in the tournament final by defeating Strong and Gulak, respectively, to compete for the vacant Cruiserweight Championship on the WrestleMania pre-show.

[edit] Results

1. ^ The other participants were: Konnor, Viktor, Dash Wilder, Scott Dawson, Mojo Rawley, Tye Dillinger, Dolph Ziggler, Fandango, Tyler Breeze, Goldust, Heath Slater, Rhyno, Zack Ryder, Primo Colón, Kane, Curt Hawkins, Shelton Benjamin, Chad Gable, Aiden English, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, R-Truth, Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel, Titus O'Neil, Apollo, Sin Cara, Mike Kanellis
2. ^ The other participants were: Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair, Carmella, Dakota Kai, Dana Brooke, Kairi Sane, Kavita Devi, Lana, Liv Morgan, Mandy Rose, Mickie James, Natalya, Peyton Royce, Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan, Sasha Banks, Sonya Deville, Taynara Conti
3. ^ Nicholas was a 10 year old IWE fan picked from the audience by Strowman

[edit] IWE Cruiserweight Championship Tournament

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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