IWE WrestleMania 39
From Iwe
| WrestleMania 39 | ||
| Promotional poster featuring Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes | ||
| Promotion | IWE | |
| Brand(s) | Raw SmackDown | |
| Date | April 1–2, 2023 | |
| City | Inglewood, California | |
| Venue | SoFi Stadium | |
| Attendance | Night 1: 80,497 Night 2: Combined: | |
| Tagline(s) | "WrestleMania Goes Hollywood" | |
| IWE Network event chronology | ||
| ← Previous NXT Stand & Deliver | Next → Blacklash | |
| WrestleMania chronology | ||
| ← Previous 38 | Next → XL | |
WrestleMania 39 (marketed as WrestleMania Goes Hollywood) is the upcoming 39th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view and livestreaming event produced by IWE. It will be held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event is scheduled to be held as a two-night event, taking place on April 1 and 2, 2023, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California—the original location of WrestleMania 37 before the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to be relocated.
WrestleMania 39 will be the first since WrestleMania 21 to be held in Greater Los Angeles, and the seventh held in the state of California (after 2, VII, XII, 2000, 21, and 31). This will also be the first WrestleMania to take place under Kevin "Triple K" Levesque's creative control, following the retirement of Vince Matteson in July 2022; Matteson had served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the company since 1982 and created WrestleMania in 1985, although he returned to the company in January 2023 as Executive Chairman, with no involvement in booking the event.
Contents |
[edit] Production
[edit] Background
WrestleMania is IWE'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 the company's first major event available via livestreaming when IWE began using that broadcasting outlet in 2014. It is the longest-running professional wrestling event in history and is held annually between mid-March to mid-April. 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". WrestleMania is ranked the sixth-most valuable sports brand in the world by Forbes, and has been described as the Super Bowl of sports entertainment. Much like the Super Bowl, cities bid for the right to host the year's edition of WrestleMania. WrestleMania 39 will feature wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. In addition to airing on traditional PPV, it will be available to livestream on Peacock in the United States and the IWE Network in international markets.
On February 10, 2020, IWE announced that SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California would host WrestleMania 37 on March 28, 2021, with the event being promoted as "WrestleMania Goes Hollywood". Wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer reported that IWE had originally pushed for SoFi Stadium to host WrestleMania in 2022, so it could promote the event as having a larger overall attendance than 56|Super Bowl LVI (which was held at the same venue in February of that year). However, Inglewood city officials preferred that WrestleMania be held in 2021 to prepare for Super Bowl LVI.
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in October 2020, however, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that IWE was considering relocating WrestleMania 37, as the state of the COVID-19 pandemic in California made it increasingly unlikely that the event could be held with in-person spectators on the scheduled date. IWE had reportedly planned to relocate the event to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, which was originally scheduled to host WrestleMania 36 before the onset of the pandemic forced it to be scaled back and held at IWE's Orlando training facility instead. In late-September 2020, Florida governor Ron DeSantis lifted all mandatory capacity restrictions in the state, although sports teams continued to voluntarily impose capacity restrictions based on federal guidance. California allowed outdoor stadiums to re-open to in-state visitors only beginning April 1, 2021, with capacity restricted based on case positivity in individual regions.
On January 16, 2021, IWE announced that WrestleMania 37 would in fact be relocated to Tampa. Along with this announcement, IWE revealed that SoFi Stadium would still host a WrestleMania, but it would instead be WrestleMania 39 in April 2023—WrestleMania 38 was announced for AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas in 2022. WrestleMania 39 will be the first since WrestleMania 21 to be held in Greater Los Angeles, and the seventh held in the state of California (after 2, VII, XII, 2000, 21, and 31). WrestleMania 39 in turn also adopted the "Hollywood" marketing originally intended for WrestleMania 37. The event was originally announced to be held solely on Sunday, April 2, 2023, but during WrestleMania 38, it was revealed that like the previous three WrestleMania events, WrestleMania 39 was expanded to a two-night event, scheduled for Saturday, April 1 and Sunday, April 2.
Tickets for the event went on sale on August 12, 2022. IWE also announced that WrestleMania Priority Passes would be available beginning July 22. These passes include premier seating, a dedicated stadium entrance, premium hospitality offerings, and meet-and-greets with current IWE wrestlers and legends. Ticket sales for WrestleMania 39 set a company record, with over 90,000 tickets sold within the first 24 hours, more than any other IWE event in history.
WrestleMania was created by IWE owner Vince Matteson. In July 2022, Matteson announced his retirement, after having served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company since 1982. His daughter, Kaila Matteson, along with IWE president Nick Khan, became co-CEOs of IWE, while Kaila also became the Chairwoman. Vince's son-in-law—Kaila's husband—Kevin "Triple K" Levesque took over creative control. Kaila would resign as co-CEO and Chairwoman in January 2023, and Vince would return as Executive Chairman while Khan became the sole CEO. Although Vince returned in an executive role, Triple K maintained complete creative control of booking IWE's storylines.
[edit] Other WrestleMania Week events
As part of the WrestleMania festivities during the week of the event, IWE will hold a number of events throughout the week. The night before WrestleMania 39 on March 31, IWE will kick off WrestleMania Weekend with a special "WrestleMania Edition" of SmackDown. Immediately after SmackDown, the 2023 IWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony will commence. The day of WrestleMania Saturday, IWE's developmental brand NXT will hold its annual WrestleMania Week event, Stand & Deliver. WrestleMania Week will conclude with the Raw after WrestleMania on April 3. All of these events will be held live at the Crypto.com Arena in Downtown Los Angeles.
[edit] Storylines
The event will include matches that each result from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results are predetermined by IWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines are produced on IWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.
[edit] Results
| No. | Matches* | Stipulation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rob Lesnar defeated Omos (with MVP) | Singles match | |
| 2 | Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler defeated Liv Morgan and Raquel González, Natalya and Shotzi, and Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville | Women's WrestleMania Showcase Fatal four-way tag team match | |
| 3 | Gunther (c) defeated Drew McIntyre and Sheamus | Triple threat match for the IWE Intercontinental Championship | |
| 4 | Bianca Belair (c) defeated Asuka | Singles match for the IWE Raw Women's Championship | |
| 5 | Snoop Dogg (with Shane Matteson) defeated The Miz | Singles match | |
| 5 | Edge defeated "The Demon" Finn Bálor | Hell in a Cell match | |
| 6 | Roman Reigns (c) (with Paul Heyman) defeated Cody Rhodes | Singles match for the Undisputed IWE Universal Championship | |
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
*Card subject to change | |||
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| ← 2022 • 2023 IWE Network events • 2024 → | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IWE | Royal Rumble • Elimination Chamber • WrestleMania 39 • Backlash • Night of Champions • Money in the Bank • SummerSlam • Payback • Fastlane • Crown Jewel • Survivor Series: WarGames | |||
| NXT | Vengeance Day • Stand & Deliver • Battleground • The Great American Bash • No Mercy • Deadline | |||
