WrestleMania XL will be happening live on Apr. 6 and Apr. 7 at 7 p.m. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and can be streamed on Peacock. WrestleMania is the World Wrestling Entertainment’s (WWE) biggest annual event where the most anticipated matches between rivals are battled out. Wrestlers compete to build their legacies, squash the beef, and most importantly they compete for championship titles.
In the main event for this year’s WrestleMania, the Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns, will be defending the WWE Universal Championship title against Cody Rhodes, the American Nightmare. Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns have had an ongoing rivalry since last year when Rhodes was defeated by Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania 39. WrestleMania XL will be Rhodes’ chance to reclaim the championship title and “finish his story.” Reigns and Rhodes will also compete against each other in a tag team match involving WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Seth “Freakin” Rollins, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins joined forces after Rhodes decided to fight Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship title, rather than facing Seth Rollins, in WrestleMania’s main event. Initially, Rhodes challenged The Rock to a one-on-one match at WrestleMania; however, after acknowledging Roman Reigns as the Tribal Chief and pledging to the Bloodline, The Rock proposed that Rhodes and Rollins fight him and Reigns in a tag-team match to decide whether the Bloodline will be allowed to interfere in the match for the Universal Championship title.
The Bloodline is an alliance consisting of the leader Roman Reigns along with Jimmy Uso, Solo Sikoa, The Rock, and former member Jey Uso, Jimmy’s brother, who are all a part of the Anoa’i family. Jey Uso split from the Bloodline at SummerSlam, the WWE’s second-largest event of the year, after his brother Jimmy Uso turned against him. Before that, the two fought many battles together as a tag-team duo called The Usos. However, with the rise in tensions between them, they will be facing each other at WrestleMania XL.
Other main events include a battle between Rhea Ripley, also referred to as Mami, and The Man Becky Lynch for the WWE Women’s World Championship title. Ripley has held the championship title for nearly a year since she beat Charlotte Flair for the belt during the Showcase of the Immortals. In addition to that, women’s champion IYO SKY will be defending the WWE Women’s Championship title against her former ally, Bayley. The relationship between these wrestlers fell apart when Bayley revealed that she understood Japanese and therefore was aware that her former teammates had been mocking her and decided that she would challenge IYO SKY for the women’s championship.
At WrestleMania XL, fans also anticipate the match between Sami Zayn and WWE Intercontinental champion Gunther for the championship title. Gunther has held the Intercontinental belt for about two years, defeating all of his opponents including Jey Uso and other wrestlers like Drew McIntyre and Sheamus. Sami Zayn has faced many challenges to get the opportunity to fight Gunther for the championship and must pull it together to dethrone Gunther as the champion.
Additional matches include a Triple Threat match between WWE United States Champion Logan Paul against Randy Orton and Kevin Owens where each man will fight for the title. There will also be a Six-Pack Tag Team Ladder match where six of the top wrestling duos will compete against Judgement Day, a team consisting of Finn Bálor and Damian Priest, for the WWE Tag Team championship title. There are other matches that are to be much anticipated at WrestleMania XL, where wrestlers will get the chance to build their legacies and earn championships.
By: Elaina Irving, Reporter