WrestleMania 38

WrestleMania 38 was the 38th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event was held as a two-night event, taking place on April 2 and 3, 2022, at the AT&T Stadium in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex city of Arlington, Texas.

The event was the fourth WrestleMania to be held in the state of Texas (after X-Seven, 25, and 32) and the second in AT&T Stadium after WrestleMania 32 in 2016. It was the third WrestleMania to feature Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns in the main event (after 31 and 34). WWE billed the match as "The Biggest WrestleMania Match of All-Time", which was a Winner Takes All match for the promotion's two world championships, Raw's WWE Championship and SmackDown's Universal Championship, which were held by Lesnar and Reigns, respectively, going into the event. This would also be the last WrestleMania overseen by WWE owner Vince McMahon as he retired later that year in July. McMahon had served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the company since 1982 and created WrestleMania in 1985.

The card comprised a total of sixteen matches, with seven on the first night and nine on the second. In an impromptu match that served as the main event for Night 1, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin defeated Kevin Owens in a No Holds Barred match, marking Austin's first match since WrestleMania XIX in 2003 and the final match of his career overall. This encounter had originally been advertised as a special edition of Owens' "KO Show" with Austin as the special guest. Other prominent matches saw a returning Cody Rhodes defeat Seth "Freakin" Rollins, Charlotte Flair defeated Ronda Rousey to retain the SmackDown Women's Championship, and Bianca Belair defeated Becky Lynch to win the Raw Women's Championship. In the main event for Night 2, SmackDown's Universal Champion Roman Reigns defeated Raw's WWE Champion Brock Lesnar to claim both titles and become recognized as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. In other prominent matches, '' Jackass''s Johnny Knoxville defeated Sami Zayn in an Anything Goes match and Edge defeated AJ Styles. Night 2 also featured then-WWE chairman Vince McMahon defeating ''SmackDown'' commentator Pat McAfee in an impromptu match after McAfee had defeated Austin Theory, marking McMahon's first match since 2012 and the last match of his career.

Production

Background

WrestleMania is considered WWE's flagship live event, having first been held in 1985. It is the longest-running annual professional wrestling event in history and is held between mid-March to mid-April. It was the first of WWE's original four pay-per-views (PPVs), including Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, which were originally dubbed the "Big Four", and as of October 2021, it is one of the company's five biggest events of the year, along with Money in the Bank, 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. WrestleMania 38 featured wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The official theme songs for the event were "Sacrifice" by The Weeknd and "I Feel Good" by Pitbull, Anthony Watts, and DJWS.

On January 16, 2021, in addition to announcing the date and location change of WrestleMania 37, which had to be rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the promotion revealed the dates and locations of the next two WrestleMania events. WrestleMania 38 was announced to be held at AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. It was originally scheduled to be held solely on April 3, 2022; however, on October 25, 2021, it was revealed that like the previous two WrestleMania events, WrestleMania 38 was expanded to take place over two nights: Saturday, April 2, and Sunday, April 3, 2022. It was the fourth WrestleMania to be held in the state of Texas (after X-Seven, 25, and 32) and the second to be held in this venue, after WrestleMania 32 in 2016, which set the attendance record for a WrestleMania event at 101,763, which was, however, disputed. Travel packages became available on November 8, 2021, while general tickets went on sale on November 12.

Broadcast outlets

WrestleMania 38 was available on traditional pay-per-view. It was also available through the online streaming services Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network in international markets. Additionally, WWE partnered with Fathom Events to air both nights of WrestleMania 38 in movie theaters across the United States.

Celebrity involvement

As is tradition at WrestleMania, celebrities from the entertainment field took part in the event in various capacities. Social media personality Logan Paul, who appeared at WrestleMania 37, participated in a tag team match on WrestleMania Saturday, teaming with The Miz against Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio (Paul later in the year would sign a full time WWE contract). '' Jackass'' actor and stuntman Johnny Knoxville competed in an Anything Goes match against Sami Zayn on WrestleMania Sunday. The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders also appeared on stage to cheer Pat McAfee to the ring for his match against Austin Theory on WrestleMania Sunday. Additionally, country music singers Brantley Gilbert and Jessie James Decker performed "America the Beautiful" to open the event on Saturday and Sunday night, respectively, while DJ Valentino Khan had musical performances on both nights.

Other WrestleMania Week events

As part of the WrestleMania festivities during the week of the event, WWE held a number of events throughout the week. On the Monday before WrestleMania 38, WWE aired a special "WrestleMania Edition" of ''Raw''. The night before WrestleMania 38 on April 1, WWE kicked off WrestleMania Weekend with a special "WrestleMania Edition" of ''SmackDown'', which hosted the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, won by Madcap Moss, as well as a triple threat match for the Intercontinental Championship. Immediately after ''SmackDown'', the 2022 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony commenced. The day of WrestleMania Saturday, WWE's NXT brand held its annual WrestleMania Week event, Stand & Deliver, which aired at 1pm Eastern Time. WrestleMania Week concluded with the ''Raw'' after WrestleMania on April 4. ''SmackDown'', the Hall of Fame ceremony, NXT Stand & Deliver, and the ''Raw'' after WrestleMania all aired live from the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Storylines

The event included matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, ''Monday Night Raw'' and ''Friday Night SmackDown.''

Main event matches

For many years, Paul Heyman had been the advocate for Brock Lesnar. After Lesnar took a hiatus following WrestleMania 36 in April 2020, Heyman became the special counsel for Roman Reigns that August, guiding him to win SmackDown's Universal Championship. After Reigns retained the title at SummerSlam in August 2021, Lesnar returned to WWE and confronted Reigns, also implying that Heyman was still his advocate. Two months later at Crown Jewel, Reigns defeated Lesnar to retain the Universal Championship with help from The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso). A rematch was scheduled for the New Year's event Day 1, and Reigns fired Heyman as he believed Heyman was working with Lesnar behind his back. The Day 1 match, however, was canceled as Reigns tested positive for COVID-19. Due to his status as a free agent, Lesnar was instead added to Raw's multi-person WWE Championship match at Day 1 and won the title. On the following ''SmackDown'', Lesnar, who reunited with Heyman, challenged Reigns to a champion vs. champion match, but Reigns declined. At the Royal Rumble, Lesnar lost his WWE Championship after interference from Reigns and a double cross from Heyman, who realigned with Reigns. Later that night, Lesnar entered into the Royal Rumble match and won to earn himself a world championship match of his choice at WrestleMania 38. On the following episode of ''Raw'', Lesnar announced that he would challenge Reigns for the Universal Championship. Still wanting it to be a champion vs. champion match, and also wanting a rematch for losing his title, Lesnar was also added to the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match at Elimination Chamber, which he won. With Reigns also retaining his title against Goldberg at the beginning of the event, it would be confirmed that their WrestleMania match would be a Winner Takes All match for the WWE Championship and Universal Championship, which was further stipulated as a championship unification match.

After weeks of disrespecting the state of Texas, on the March 7 episode of ''Raw'', Kevin Owens invited the "Texas Rattlesnake", "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, as a special guest on the "KO Show" at WrestleMania 38. A day later, Austin accepted and it was announced that the segment would occur on WrestleMania Saturday.

Undercard matches

At the Royal Rumble, Ronda Rousey, in her first appearance since WrestleMania 35 in April 2019, made a surprise return and won the women's Royal Rumble match to earn a women's championship match of her choice at WrestleMania 38. After pondering her choices due to having heated history with both reigning champions, on the following episode of ''SmackDown'', Rousey announced that she would challenge Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship.

At SummerSlam in August 2021, Becky Lynch, who had been on maternity leave since May 2020, made a surprise return and defeated Bianca Belair in an impromptu match to win the SmackDown Women's Championship in 26 seconds. Over the course of the next month, Lynch would continue to retain the championship against Belair using underhanded tactics before both were drafted to Raw in the 2021 WWE Draft; Lynch and Raw Women's Champion Charlotte Flair, who was drafted to SmackDown, traded their championships to keep the titles on their respective brands, thus Lynch became the Raw Women's Champion. After Belair failed to earn a title shot at the 2022 Royal Rumble and also failing to win the women's Royal Rumble match, Belair won the women's Elimination Chamber match at Elimination Chamber to finally earn a one-on-one match against Lynch for the Raw Women's Championship at WrestleMania 38. This in turn scheduled the only two women to win in the main event of WrestleMania against each other at WrestleMania (Lynch at WrestleMania 35 and Belair at WrestleMania 37 Night 1, respectively).

On the January 31 episode of ''Raw'', The Miz defeated Dominik Mysterio. The following week, Dominik and his father Rey Mysterio were guests on "Miz TV". Rey claimed that Miz cheated to defeat Dominik while Miz took issue that Rey had an opportunity to qualify for the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match while he did not and also that Rey was the cover star of the ''WWE 2K22'' video game. Miz also questioned if Rey was truly Dominik's dad, referencing the child custody battle that Rey had with Eddie Guerrero back at SummerSlam in 2005. Dominik then defeated Miz in a rematch. Rey then defeated Miz during the Elimination Chamber Kickoff pre-show. Later backstage, Miz accused Rey of cheating due to Dominik and said he would find a tag team partner who was a "global superstar". On the following episode of ''Raw'', as Miz teased the identity of his partner to face Rey and Dominik at WrestleMania 38, The Mysterios interrupted, stating it did not matter who Miz had chosen. Miz then revealed his partner as social media personality Logan Paul, after which, Miz and Paul attacked The Mysterios.

On the February 21 episode of ''Raw'', Edge made his first post-Royal Rumble appearance where he issued an open challenge for WrestleMania 38. The following week, Edge came out to see who would answer his challenge, which was accepted by AJ Styles. Edge then stated he was glad Styles accepted as it was a match he had been wanting; however, he wanted the "pitbull" AJ Styles who reigned as WWE Champion, not the AJ Styles who had been Omos' tag team partner for the majority of the past year. Edge then turned heel and attacked Styles, after which, a conflicted Edge performed two con-chair-tos on Styles.

On March 3, 2022, WWE Chairman and chief executive officer Vince McMahon made a rare media appearance for a live interview on ''The Pat McAfee Show''. During the interview, McMahon offered Pat McAfee a match at WrestleMania 38. McAfee primarily served as the color commentator on ''SmackDown'', but gladly accepted and McMahon stated that he would find him an opponent. On the following night's episode of ''SmackDown'', Raw's Austin Theory, who had been under the tutelage of McMahon for the past several weeks, revealed himself as McAfee's opponent at WrestleMania 38. This marked McAfee's first match since NXT TakeOver: WarGames in December 2020.

At Day 1, '' Jackass'' actor and stuntman Johnny Knoxville announced that he would be participating in the men's Royal Rumble match. Sami Zayn took issue of this, claiming that Knoxville was not qualified to compete, nor did he earn the opportunity. After Zayn lost his match on the following ''SmackDown'', Knoxville ran down to the ring and threw Zayn over the top rope, and ring announcer Mike Rome then announced that Knoxville had officially qualified for the Royal Rumble match, much to Zayn's displeasure. The two faced off in the Royal Rumble match where Zayn eliminated Knoxville. After Zayn had invited himself to the red carpet premiere of ''Jackass Forever'', for which he was kicked out, Knoxville then invited himself to Zayn's celebration for winning the Intercontinental Championship. Knoxville challenged Zayn for the title at WrestleMania 38, but Zayn declined. During Zayn's championship defense on the March 4 episode, Knoxville distracted Zayn, costing him the title. An enraged Zayn then challenged Knoxville to a match at WrestleMania 38, which Knoxville accepted. After Knoxville shared Zayn's phone number, causing a multitude of people attempting to contact Zayn, Zayn changed the stipulation to an Anything Goes match at WrestleMania and Knoxville accepted.

For weeks, Seth "Freakin" Rollins attempted to get a spot at WrestleMania. After failing to defeat Kevin Owens and AJ Styles to take their respective spots, Vince McMahon summoned Rollins into his office on the morning of March 28. McMahon stated that he would choose an opponent for Rollins to face at WrestleMania 38 and the opponent would be revealed at the event itself while Rollins was waiting in the ring on WrestleMania Saturday.

Event

Night 1

Preliminary matches

WrestleMania Saturday opened with The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) defending the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs. During the match, Boogs legitimately injured his right knee after attempting to lift both of The Usos on his shoulders. As Nakamura attempted to perform a Kinshasa on Jey, Jey countered with a Superlock. Jey tagged in Jimmy, who performed an Uso Splash on Nakamura for a nearfall. In the end, The Usos performed the 1-D on Nakamura to retain the titles. Following the match, medical personnel tended to Boogs.

Next, Drew McIntyre faced Happy Corbin (accompanied by Madcap Moss). During the match, Corbin performed an End of Days on McIntyre for a near fall, which was the first time that anyone kicked out of the End of Days. In the climax, Moss accidentally distracted Corbin which allowed McIntyre to perform a Claymore Kick on Corbin to win the match. Following the match, after Moss attempted to enter the ring, McIntyre stopped him with his sword and swung his sword toward Moss, slicing the top and middle ring ropes in the process.

In the third match, Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio took on The Miz and Logan Paul. Throughout the match, Paul disrespected Eddie Guerrero by successfully performing the Three Amigos and Frog Splash on Rey. In the end, after Rey and Dominik performed frog splashes on Paul, Miz tagged himself in and performed a Skull Crushing Finale on Rey to win the match. After the match, Miz turned on Paul and performed a Skull Crushing Finale on him.

Next, WWE executive Stephanie McMahon came out and thanked the fans in attendance. She then introduced WWE's newest signee, Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson.

In the fourth match, Becky Lynch defended the Raw Women's Championship against Bianca Belair. About one minute in the match, Lynch performed a Man-Handle Slam on Belair for a near-fall. During the match, Lynch applied the Dis-Arm-Her on Belair who reached the ring ropes to void the submission. Outside of the ring, Lynch performed a Man-Handle Slam on Belair on top of the steel stairs. Lynch then entered the ring hoping for a count out victory, however, Belair managed to enter the ring at the last second. In the end, Belair performed the Kiss of Death on Lynch to win the title.

Next, Seth "Freakin" Rollins came out for his match against an opponent who was pre-selected by Mr. McMahon. After Rollins waited impatiently, former All Elite Wrestling wrestler Cody Rhodes made his return to WWE as Rollins' opponent; Rhodes last performed in WWE in 2016 under the gimmick of Stardust. This was a back-and-forth match. Rollins performed the Pedigree on Rhodes for a near fall. Rhodes performed the Cross Rhodes on Rollins for a near fall. In the end, Rhodes performed two Cross Rhodes, the Bionic Elbow as a tribute to his father, Dusty Rhodes, and a third Cross Rhodes on Rollins to win the match.

Following the match, the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2022 were honored: The Undertaker, Queen Sharmell, and The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner) were introduced to the crowd, while posthumous inductees Vader and Warrior Award recipient Shad Gaspard were represented by family members.

In the penultimate match, Charlotte Flair defended the SmackDown Women's Champion against Ronda Rousey. During the match, Rousey applied the Armbar and Ankle Lock on Flair, however, Flair escaped. Rousey performed a Piper's Pit on Flair, however, Flair placed her foot on the bottom rope to void the pin attempt. As Flair attempted the Figure-Eight, Rousey countered by kicking Flair toward the referee, inadvertently incapaciting the referee. While the referee was down, Rousey applied the Armbar on Flair who tapped out, however, the referee was still incapacited. In the end, as Rousey attempted to revive the referee, Flair performed a Big Boot on Rousey to retain the title, ending Rousey's undefeated streak in singles matches.

Main event

In the main event, Kevin Owens came out to host a special edition of the "KO Show" with special guest "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. This was Austin's first WrestleMania appearance since WrestleMania 32 in 2016, coincidentally also in the same venue. During the segment, Owens claimed that he lied to Austin about having him as a guest and actually wanted to challenge Austin to a No Holds Barred match. Austin accepted, thus marking his first match since WrestleMania XIX in 2003. During the match, Austin and Owens fought in the crowd and Austin constantly taunted Owens by pouring cans of beer on Owens. Owens performed a Stunner on Austin for a nearfall. In the end, after Owens accidentally hit himself in the head with a chair (due to it bouncing off the ring ropes when Austin ducked), Austin performed a Stunner on Owens to win the match. Following the match, Austin performed a second Stunner on Owens, who was escorted out by Texas State Police. Austin then celebrated with commentator Byron Saxton, after which, he performed a Stunner on Saxton. Austin then celebrated with his brother to close out WrestleMania Saturday.

Night 2

Preliminary matches

WrestleMania Sunday opened with WWE executive Triple H making an appearance. Triple H, who 9 days prior had announced his retirement from wrestling due to a cardiac event, welcomed the fans to the second night of WrestleMania and symbolically left his wrestling boots in the center of the ring.

In the first match, RK-Bro (Randy Orton and Riddle) defended the Raw Tag Team Championship against Alpha Academy (Chad Gable and Otis) and The Street Profits (Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins) in a triple threat tag team match. In the end, after an evenly contested match between the three teams, Orton performed an RKO on Gable, who was mid-air, to retain the title. Following the match, RK-Bro and The Street Profits shared a drink alongside recent WWE signee, Gable Steveson. Chad Gable took offense to Steveson and slapped the drink out of Steveson's hand. This prompted Steveson to perform a belly-to-belly suplex on Gable, after which, Steveson celebrated with RK-Bro and Street Profits with a toast.

Next, Bobby Lashley faced Omos. Omos dominated Lashley almost throughout the entire match. In the closing moments, Lashley performed a vertical suplex and two spears on Omos to win the match, ending Omos' undefeated streak.

In the third match, Sami Zayn faced Johnny Knoxville in an Anything Goes match. At the start of the match, Zayn performed a helluva kick on Knoxville. Outside the ring, Knoxville obtained a fire extinguisher and sprayed it on Zayn. Zayn performed an exploder suplex on Knoxville through a table positioned in one corner of the ring. Later in the match, Zayn was attacked by a number of Knoxville's ''Jackass'' co-stars, including Wee-Man, who performed a bodyslam on Zayn. Knoxville knocked Zayn who was perched atop a turnbuckle onto a table. In the end, Knoxville and his allies obtained a large mouse trap from underneath the ring and trapped Zayn in the mouse trap. Knoxville pinned the trapped Zayn to win the match.

Next, Queen Zelina and Carmella defended the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship against Sasha Banks and Naomi, Natalya and Shayna Baszler, and Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan in a fatal four-way tag team match. In the end, Banks and Naomi performed a Wheel Barrow/Double knee combo on Carmella to win the title. This also marked Banks' first win at WrestleMania since making her WrestleMania debut at WrestleMania 32 in 2016 in the same venue, ending her 6 loss streak.

The fifth match was between Edge and AJ Styles. Styles kicked Edge off the apron and into the steel steps. As Styles attempted for a springboard 450° splash on Edge, Edge raised his knees. Styles performed a suplex on Edge into a turnbuckle. Styles performed a Rack Bomb on Edge for a nearfall. Edge performed a DDT on Styles for a nearfall. Edge performed a powerbomb on Styles. Styles performed a superplex from the top rope and followed up with a springboard 450° splash and a Styles Clash on Edge for a nearfall. In the end, as Styles attempted another Phenomenal Forearm on Edge, Damian Priest emerged to momentarily distract Styles, allowing Edge to perform a spear on Styles to win the match. Following the match, Edge and Priest celebrated the victory, leading into the formation of Judgment Day.

In the sixth match, Sheamus and Ridge Holland (accompanied by Butch) faced The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods). Outside the ring, Sheamus performed a Brogue Kick on Kingston. Sheamus then performed another Brogue Kick on Woods inside the ring. In the end, Holland performed the Northern Grit on Woods to win the match.

After this, Class of 2022 WWE Hall of Fame inductee The Undertaker came out for one more appearance to acknowledge the crowd before departing backstage.

Next, Mr McMahon came out to watch the match between Austin Theory and Pat McAfee. During the match, McAfee performed a hurricanrana on Theory for a nearfall. Theory and McAfee performed suplexes on each other. Outside the ring, McAfee poured a drink on Theory. McAfee performed a superplex off the top rope on Theory. In the end, McAfee countered an ATL from Theory with a roll-up to win the match.

Following the match, McAfee called out Mr. McMahon, followed by the latter removing his suit before heading into the ring for an impromptu match, marking McMahon's first match since October 2012 and first WrestleMania match since WrestleMania XXVI in 2010. It would also be his final match before he announced his retirement on July 22. Before the match began, Theory attacked McAfee. McMahon kicked a Dallas Cowboys football at McAfee's face before pinning him to win the match. At 76 years old, this made McMahon the oldest person to compete, and win, at WrestleMania. Following the impromptu match, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin made a surprise appearance and performed a stunner on Theory. After sharing beers with McMahon, Austin performed a Stunner on McMahon. Austin then signalled for McAfee and celebrated with him, after which, Austin performed a Stunner on McAfee.

Main event

In the main event, SmackDown's Universal Champion Roman Reigns (accompanied by Paul Heyman) faced Raw's WWE Champion Brock Lesnar in a Winner Takes All match. Lesnar performed three belly-to-belly suplexes and a clothesline on Reigns. Outside the ring, Heyman distracted Lesnar, allowing Reigns to perform a spear on Lesnar through the timekeeper barricade. Back in the ring, Reigns performed a second spear on Lesnar for a nearfall. As Reigns attempted a Superman Punch on Lesnar, Lesnar countered by performing five German suplexes on Reigns in quick succession. Reigns performed a third Superman Punch on Lesnar. Lesnar then executed an F-5 on Reigns for a nearfall. As Lesnar attempted a second F-5, Reigns countered by sending Lesnar into the referee, incapacitating him. Reigns took the opportunity to attack Lesnar with a low-blow and then strike Lesnar with the title for a nearfall. Reigns performed a Spear on Lesnar and as Reigns attempted another Spear, Lesnar countered and applied the Kimura lock on Reigns, Paul Heyman helped Reigns to void the submission. In the closing moments, as Lesnar attempted an F-5, Reigns countered into a fourth Spear to win the match and claim both titles to become recognized as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. Although WWE billed the match as a championship unification match, both titles remain independently active, with Reigns recognized as a double champion.

Reception

According to the analytics firm Conviva, WrestleMania accumulated a record 2.2 billion impressions across all social platforms, compared to 1.8 billion for Super Bowl LVI, and up 10% from the previous year. In addition, WWE amassed 1.1 billion video views (up 47% from the previous year) across various social media networks, 13.1 million hours of video watch time (up 29% from the previous year), and 87 million engagements over the weekend of the event. Furthermore, WrestleMania 38 generated $206.5 million for the Dallas/Arlington region, setting a company record and the first time that a WrestleMania generated more than $200 million in economic impact.

WWE reported that Night 1 of WrestleMania had an attendance of 77,899, and that Night 2 had an attendance of 78,453. Bryan Alvarez of the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' contested these numbers, saying they sold 65,719 and 65,653, respectively.

The event received mixed to positive reviews from critics, who praised the Raw Women's Championship, Raw Tag Team Championship match, Pat McAfee's and Logan Paul's performance, Rhodes vs. Rollins, and the in-ring return of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin while criticizing the main event for Night 2, Sheamus and Ridge Holland vs. The New Day, and panning McMahon vs. McAfee, which received a -2 star rating from Dave Meltzer.

Aftermath

Following his well-received performance at the event, Logan Paul would go on to sign with WWE on June 30 later that year. Seeking revenge, he faced and defeated The Miz in a match at SummerSlam.

Also, Sasha Banks and Naomi would successfully retain the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship against their WrestleMania opponents in regular tag team matches over the next few weeks. Their title defense on the May 13 episode of ''SmackDown'' would be their final televised WWE appearance, as on the May 16 episode of ''Raw'', they were scheduled to take part in a six-pack challenge to determine the number one contender for the Raw Women's Championship at Hell in a Cell, but due to legitimate creative frustrations, they walked out of the arena. They were subsequently suspended and stripped of their titles. This made WrestleMania 38 the last PPV and livestreaming event Banks and Naomi took part in.

WrestleMania 38 would be the last WrestleMania overseen by WWE owner Vince McMahon, as in July, McMahon announced his retirement from the company. In addition to creating WrestleMania, McMahon had served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the company since 1982. Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan took over as Co-CEOs, and the former also took over as Chairwoman of WWE.

Raw

Cody Rhodes opened the post-WrestleMania episode of ''Raw'', revealing that he returned to WWE to live the legacy of his late father, Dusty Rhodes, and win the WWE Championship. The following week, he wrestled his first match on ''Raw'' since May 2016 against The Miz in a winning effort. After the match, Seth "Freakin" Rollins challenged him to a rematch at WrestleMania Backlash which Rhodes accepted.

The rivalry between Edge and AJ Styles continued. On the April 18 episode of ''Raw'', Edge challenged Styles to a rematch at WrestleMania Backlash, and Styles accepted. Two weeks later, Styles defeated Damian Priest, banning him from ringside during the match.

On the following ''Raw'', MVP turned on Bobby Lashley and sided with Omos. Later that month, a rematch between Lashley and Omos was made official for WrestleMania Backlash.

SmackDown

On the following ''SmackDown'', Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns claimed he had nothing left to prove. However, he said that SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) needed to go to ''Raw'' and unify the Raw Tag Team Championship with their tag team titles so that The Bloodline would have all the gold. The following week, Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro (Randy Orton and Riddle) accepted the challenge and the match was scheduled for WrestleMania Backlash. However, on the April 29 episode of ''SmackDown'', the contract signing for the match ended with Reigns assisting The Usos in attacking RK-Bro and tearing up the contract in the process. Drew McIntyre then came out and joined forces with RK-Bro in driving off The Bloodline from the ring. Because of what had transpired, Reigns' special counsel, Paul Heyman, then met with WWE official Adam Pearce backstage where Heyman announced that the resulting tag team championship unification match was called off (and would later be rescheduled for the May 20 edition of ''SmackDown'') and instead, a six-man tag team match pitting The Bloodline against RK-Bro and McIntyre was scheduled for WrestleMania Backlash.

After failing to defeat SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair, Ronda Rousey appeared on the following ''SmackDown'' to challenge Flair to an "I Quit" match for the title. Flair declined, ordering Rousey to go back to the locker room. During ''Talking Smack'' the next day, however, the championship rematch was scheduled for WrestleMania Backlash.

After costing Happy Corbin a win at WrestleMania, Madcap Moss was attacked by Corbin. Later that month, a match between the two was scheduled for WrestleMania Backlash.

Results

References

External links

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