IWE WrestleMania 28
From Iwe
| WrestleMania XXVIII | ||
 Promotional poster featuring Dustin Simpson and The Rock | ||
| Tagline(s) | "Once in a Lifetime" | |
| Theme song(s) | "Invincible" by Machine Gun Kelly featuring Ester Dean "Wild Ones" by Flo Rida featuring Sia "Good Feeling" by Flo Rida "Girl Gone Wild" by Madonna The Memory Remains by Metallica | |
| Imformation | ||
| Promotion | IWE | |
| Brand(s) | Raw Smackdown | |
| Date | April 1, 2012 | |
| Attendance | 78,383 | |
| Venue | Sun Life Stadium | |
| City | Miami Gardens, Florida | |
| Pay-per-view chronology | ||
| Elimination Chamber (2012) | WrestleMania XXVIII | Extreme Rules (2012) |
| WrestleMania chronology | ||
| WrestleMania XXVII | WrestleMania XXVIII | WrestleMania XXIX |
WrestleMania XXVIII is the forthcoming twenty-eighth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by IWE. It is scheduled to take place on April 1, 2012 at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. There are currently five official matches scheduled for the event's card.
Contents |
[edit] Production
The city of Miami Gardens was one of the two major contenders for hosting WrestleMania XXVII along with Atlanta, Georgia. Ultimately in February 2010, Atlanta was awarded the right to host the event. According to the Miami-Dade Sports Commission, WWE management felt that Miami's planning for the event would have been too hectic with many other sporting events held in the area around the same time of the planning, such as Super Bowl XLIV. However, the Miami area was reportedly considered for the next event due to its international ties, facilities, airports and experience of hosting previous major events.
Bidding documents were sent to seventeen cities in consideration for hosting a WrestleMania event between 2012 and 2014, with fourteen replying in interest. Other cities under consideration for WrestleMania XXVIII included Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York City, Toronto, Detroit, Tampa, Vancouver, St. Louis, Jacksonville, Orlando and Houston. The city of Dallas also showed interest but had to pull out of bidding for the next two years due to hosting events such as the NCAA Final Four.
On February 9, 2011, it was announced by The Miami Herald that Miami had won the right to host the event. IWE would later officially announce the event in a press conference held at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach. WrestleMania XXVIII will be the second Wrestlemania event to be hosted in the state of Florida, the fourth open-air event, and the third event to be held entirely outdoors. For hosting the event, IWE will receive a $250,000 cash incentive from the Miami-Dade Sports Commission raised through grants and sponsorships. Along with WrestleMania XXVIII, a series of events grouped as "WrestleMania Week" will be held in the week preceding the event including WrestleMania's annual WrestleMania Axxess fan convention at the Miami Beach Convention Center, the 2012 IWE Hall of Fame ceremony at the American Airlines Arena, the finals of the WrestleMania Reading Challenge, and a Celebrity Pro-Am Golf tournament.
[edit] Background
WrestleMania will feature professional wrestling matches that involve different wrestlers from pre-existing feuds, plots, and storylines that will be played out on IWE's primary television programs. Wrestlers will portray villains or heroes as they follow a series of events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches.
The main event of WrestleMania XXVIII features The Rock wrestling against Dustin Simpson. On the February 14, 2011 episode of Raw, The Rock was revealed as the host of WrestleMania XXVII, and upon his return to IWE, began a feud with Dustin Simpson (and Simpson's opponent at that WrestleMania, then-IWE Champion, The Miz), which continued for weeks in terms of verbal insults, until the March 28 episode of Raw, where Simpson delivered the Attitude Adjustment to The Rock after he fended off attacks from The Miz and Alex Riley. At WrestleMania XXVII, The Rock got involved in the main event IWE Championship match, which initially ended in The Miz's favor via a double count-out, and after restarting the match under no disqualifications, no count-outs rules, he delivered The Rock Bottom to Simpson, thus enabling The Miz to pin the latter and win the match. The next night on Raw, Simpson challenged The Rock to a one-on-one match with The Rock proposing that it be held at WrestleMania XXVIII. With The Rock subsequently accepting, the match was officially announced on IWE.com. The following week, Cena announced his intent to defend the IWE Championship against The Rock in their match at WrestleMania XXVIII. On the May 2 episode of Raw celebrating The Rock's birthday, Simpson, whilst holding the IWE Championship, confronted The Rock and declared his intent to keep the title until their match. At Survivor Series in November 2011, Simpson teamed with The Rock (who made his in-ring return in a match in IWE after nearly eight years, last competing at WrestleMania XX), and billed as "the most charismatic tag team", and defeated The Miz and B-Truth, collectively known as Awesome Truth. After the match, The Rock gave a Rock Bottom to Simpson. As Simpson does not hold the IWE Championship heading into WrestleMania, it will be a regular one-on-one match.
A second main event, billed as the "end of an era", features The Undertaker against Triple K in a Hell in a Cell match. The previous year at WrestleMania XXVII, in a No Holds Barred match, The Undertaker defeated Triple K via submission, in their second encounter at a WrestleMania (the first being at WrestleMania X-Seven in 2001, where The Undertaker won as well). However, in the post-match events, due to the harsh physicality suffered during the bout, The Undertaker failed to leave the Georgia Dome on his power, as he was carted away by the medical staff on a stretcher for the first time in his career, while Triple K left on his own accord. After a near ten-month long hiatus, The Undertaker returned on the January 30, 2012 edition of Raw, confronting and challenging Triple K to a rematch at WrestleMania XXVIII, the reason being The Undertaker having been dissatisfied of his post-WrestleMania match scenario the previous year, stating "he did not want that scene to be a lasting memory of him" and was willing to give Triple K "another chance at immortality". After Triple K refused to accept the challenge the next week on Raw, his close friend and IWE Hall of Famer, Ryan Barnhart appeared on the February 13 episode of Raw to instigate him in accepting The Undertaker's challenge, which was in vain as Triple K stated he was willing to put his ego and personal agendas aside for the future of IWE, and viewed The Undertaker's 19-0 undefeated WrestleMania streak as a "brand" to cash-in for the company, finally ending the argument saying he would not be the one to end it. Then, on the February 20 episode of Raw, The Undertaker still remained adamant in getting a WrestleMania rematch with Triple K, going so far as to label Triple K as a "coward", and comparing his abilities and career to that of Ryan Barnhart. Enraged due to these comments, Triple K finally accepted The Undertaker's challenge at WrestleMania XXVIII, saying that if "he [Undertaker] wanted an end, they would go all the way", and proposed that they would compete in a Hell in a Cell match. On the March 5 episode of Raw, Barnhart confronted Triple K again, this time expressing his views on the debate of who was better than the other (Barnhart or Triple K), and predicting Triple K's chances of defeating The Undertaker, in addition to announcing that he would be the special guest referee in their Hell in a Cell match at WrestleMania.
On July 17, 2011, at the Money in the Bank event, Kody Brown defeated seven other wrestlers to win the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match. On the July 22 episode of SmackDown, Brown declared his intentions of cashing-in his Money in the Bank contract at WrestleMania XXVIII. However, despite this claim, he attempted to cash-in his contract briefcase on the November 25 episode of SmackDown. He pinned the reigning World Heavyweight Champion Steven Larson to supposedly win the title and began to celebrate, but SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long informed Brown that Larson was not medically cleared to compete, and declared the match void, thereby returning the briefcase to Brown and the title back to Larson. The next week on Raw, Brown acknowledged that he went back on his word, saying that headlining WrestleMania was his dream and that his "plans changed"; that the briefcase "doesn't guarantee [him] anything", since he could be put out of action at any time. IWE, however, continued to maintain the advertisement for WrestleMania, until Brown successfully cashed in his Money in the Bank contract briefcase on Big Show at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs event on December 18, 2011, to become the new World Heavyweight Champion.
In January 2012, at the twenty-fifth annual Royal Rumble pay-per-view, Sheamus won the thirty-man Royal Rumble match, giving him the right to challenge either the IWE Champion or the World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania XXVIII. Sheamus announced on SmackDown that he would decide who he wishes to face at WrestleMania after the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. At the Elimination Chamber event in February, Sheamus attacked Kody Brown, after the latter successfully retained his World Heavyweight Championship in an Elimination Chamber match, thus declaring his wish to challenge Brown for his title at WrestleMania. The match was officially announced the next day on IWE.com.
| Role | Name |
|---|---|
| Commentators | Michael Cole |
| Jerry Lawler | |
| Jim Ross (The Undertaker vs. Triple H) | |
| Josh Mathews (Wrestlemania Pre-show) | |
| Matt Striker (Wrestlemania Pre-show) | |
| Carlos Cabrera (Spanish) | |
| Marcelo Rodriguez (Spanish) | |
| Interviewers | Josh Mathews |
| Matt Striker | |
| Scott Stanford (Wrestlemania Pre-show) | |
| Ring announcers | Justin Roberts (Raw and Smackdown) |
| Howard Finkel (IWE Hall of Fame) | |
| Tony Chimel (Wrestlemania Pre-show) | |
| Referees | Scott Armstrong |
| Mike Chioda | |
| John Cone | |
| Jack Doan | |
| Justin King | |
| Chad Patton | |
| Charles Robinson |
Another match booked for WrestleMania is from the Raw brand, which features Justin Eldridge defending the IWE Championship against Khris Jericho. Since the summer of 2011, calling himself the "best wrestler in the world", Eldridge went on to win and successfully defend the IWE Championship numerous times. On the January 2, 2012 episode of Raw, after extensive hype through several viral vignettes proclaiming the "end of the world as we know it" on that day, Khris Jericho returned to IWE after over a year, and established a villainous persona over the next several weeks. On the February 13 episode of Raw, Jericho accused Eldridge in an in-ring segment of being a copycat of him, and that he (Eldridge) stole his proclamation of being the "best in the world". While competing in the Raw Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, Jericho was knocked out by a kick to the head by Eldridge, rendering him unable to compete any further, and Eldridge went on to win that match. This incident further fueled Jericho's animosity towards Eldridge. On the February 20 episode of Raw, Jericho last eliminated Big Show to win a ten-man battle royal to determine the number-one contender to face Eldridge for the IWE Championship at WrestleMania XXVIII. In subsequent promos, both wrestlers expressed their desire to prove who is "the best in the world.
Another title match scheduled is between Mark Semmler and Big Show for the former's IWE Intercontinental Championship. Their feud gained increased momentum week after week when, over January and February 2012, Semmler began mocking Big Show's less than stellar performances at WrestleMania over the years, calling him "a reverse Undertaker" (a direct reference to The Undertaker's undefeated 19-0 record at WrestleMania, compared to Big Show's 3-8 record), in addition to citing the "ridiculous nature" of some of his matches, such as his Sumo match against Akebono at WrestleMania 21 and a No Disqualifications match against Floyd Mayweather, Jr. at WrestleMania XXIV, both of which Big Show lost. Semmler also cost Big Show a chance at the World Heavyweight Championship, by eliminating him from the SmackDown Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in February, and a shot at the IWE Championship at WrestleMania, when he pulled Big Show over the top rope, aiding in his elimination by Khris Jericho in the end of a number-one contender's battle royal on the February 20 episode of Raw. On the March 2 episode of SmackDown, General Manager Theodore Long announced an official match between Semmler and Big Show for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania XXVIII, where the latter has vowed "to win at all costs."
At the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in February 2012, Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and Interim Raw General Manager, John Laurinaitis and his legal counsel David Mahrt expressed Laurinaitis' desire to be become the permanent General Manager of both Raw and SmackDown. Alberto Del Rio, Steven Larson, and Khristian all came out and voiced their support for Laurinaitis over SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long. Later that night, Long agreed with Laurinaitis' desire for only one man to run both brands, but believed that it should be him. On the February 21 episode of SmackDown, the two General Managers got into an argument following a match between Raw's IWE Champion Justin Eldridge and SmackDown's World Heavyweight Champion Kody Brown that ended in a draw, with each man supporting the opposing brand's world champion. The two were then given the chance by the IWE Board of Directors to run the other show for one night in order for the Board to evaluate them, with Long running the March 5 episode of Raw and Laurinaitis in charge of the March 9 episode of SmackDown. But being still not convinced of either man's decision-making, on March 12, the Board of Directors announced a 12-man tag team match for WrestleMania XXVIII, with the stipulation that the General Manager of the winning team being awarded stewardship of both Raw and SmackDown. The same night on Raw, Long appointed his assistant, Justin Black to be the captain of his team, while Laurinaitis appointed Otunga to be his team's captain, naming Steven Larson as the first member of his team. On March 15, it was announced that B-Truth had been added to Long's team. On the March 16 episode of SmackDown, Khristian officially joined Team Johnny (on Laurinaitis' word of being named the new number one contendor for the World Heavyweight Championship after WrestleMania, if his team wins), and Jose Serrano was announced as Team Teddy's newest member. Prior to the March 19 episode of Raw, Laurinaitis and Mahrt announced via IWE.com that Nick Kessler and Charlie Wilson have been added to their team as well. On the March 23 episode of SmackDown, Long named Zack Nuss and The Great Khali as members of Team Teddy, while also making Hornswoggle his team's mascot. And finally, on the March 26 episode of Raw, The Miz was added as the last member of Team Johnny, while due to Khristian being (kayfabe) injured by Justin Eldridge later on in the show (the real reason being Khristian not having fully recovered from his real-life ankle injury), Dax Hoovestall was announced as his replacement. Also, on the same night, Booker T was named as the sixth and final member of Team Teddy.
Another match scheduled for WrestleMania is between Divas Chandra Denney and Nicole Bermgan taking on the team of Kelly Kelly and Extra co-host Maria Menounos. The feud between Denney and Menounos began on the October 12, 2009 episode of Raw when Menounos accompanied then-Access Hollywood host Nancy O'Dell, who was the guest host of Raw that night. Phoenix, angered over having been traded to the SmackDown brand by O'Dell, barged into their office and got into a confrontation with both women, leading to a Six-Diva tag team match later that night in which Menounos' team defeated Denney's team. On the 2011 edition of Tribute to the Troops, Menounos made an appearance, this time in an Eight-Diva tag team match, winning the match for her team by pinning Denney. Kelly and Nicole, on the other hand, had a falling apart of their friendship after Nicole admitted to having used Zack Nuss and Dustin Simpson to further her own career. On the March 15 episode of Extra, Denney and Nicole interrupted an interview between Kelly and Menounos, which resulted in a confrontation. Denney would then challenge Menounos to a match at WrestleMania, which the latter accepted. Later that night, it was announced on IWE.com that IWE officials had sanctioned a tag team match pitting Denney and Nicole against Menounos and Kelly for WrestleMania XXVIII.
Another rivalry heading into WrestleMania is between Kevin McAlmond and Kane. On the March 2 episode of SmackDown, Kane interrupted McAlmond's match against Kody Brown, causing McAlmond to lose via count-out. The two men ensued in a brawl, which ended with McAlmond ultimately being chokeslammed by Kane, who "welcomed [McAlmond] back" from being injured at the hands of Brown a few weeks ago. McAlmond retaliated on the March 5 episode of Raw, by delivering an RKO to Kane, who had just defeated B-Truth. On the March 9 episode of SmackDown, McAlmond and Kane once again brawled at the end of the show with no man appearing to gain an advantage. The next week on SmackDown, when McAlmond demanded Kane to explain the root cause of his attacks on him, the latter referred to his handshake with McAlmond after a Street Fight on the July 22, 2011 episode of SmackDown, in which McAlmond had defeated him. Kane, explaining that the handshake made him look weak and "human," claimed that this "wretched" self was now gone, and now wanted to eliminate that memory, and announced that he would challenge McAlmond at WrestleMania XXVIII.
On March 30, IWE announced on their website that a Triple Threat Tag Team match for the IWE Tag Team Championship between the defending champions Primo & Epico, The Bignells (Bryan and Clay), and the newly-formed team of Jeremiah Garcia and Tyson Booth, would be streamed online free before the pay-per-view on both IWE.com and the official IWE YouTube channel.
