WrestleMania 32 was a 2016 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was the 32nd annual WrestleMania and took place on April 3, 2016, at the AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. This was the last WrestleMania held before the reintroduction of the brand extension in July, which introduced another world championship, the WWE Universal Championship, thus it was also the last WrestleMania to feature one world championship. It was also the third WrestleMania to be held in the U.S. state of Texas, after WrestleMania X-Seven in 2001 and WrestleMania 25 in 2009.
Twelve matches were contested at the event, including three on the Kickoff pre-show. Four matches were particularly considered to be the marquee attractions. In the main event, Roman Reigns defeated Triple H to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. In other prominent matches, The Undertaker defeated Shane McMahon in a Hell in a Cell match, Brock Lesnar defeated Dean Ambrose in a No Holds Barred Street Fight, and Charlotte defeated Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks to win the inaugural WWE Women's Championship, which replaced the WWE Divas Championship that Charlotte held going into the event and had been retired during the Kickoff show. The event was also notable for having the shortest WrestleMania match ever, when The Rock defeated Erick Rowan in an impromptu match. The André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal included the surprise participation of former National Basketball Association player Shaquille O'Neal; the match was won by NXT's Baron Corbin in his main roster debut.
According to WWE, WrestleMania 32 set multiple records for the company, including grossing US$17.3 million and a claimed attendance record of 101,763. However, independent reports listed an attendance of 80,709, making it the third most attended wrestling event in the history of the medium. WWE Chairman Vince McMahon later admitted the attendance record "wasn't 101,000 paid" as it included "ushers and ticket takers and all of that".
Despite its commercial success, critics gave mixed-to-negative reviews for WrestleMania 32, and rated it worse than the NXT TakeOver: Dallas event WWE held two days prior. Praise went towards the opening ladder match, AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho, and the Women's Championship match; criticism was focused on the main event, Ambrose vs. Lesnar, the Hell in a Cell match, the overall length of the event, and what were seen as questionable booking decisions, which were focused on the amount of heel victories outside of the opening match and main event. The show was voted as the "Worst Major Wrestling Show" of 2016 in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards, and readers of WrestleCrap, which chronicles the worst moments in professional wrestling, gave it the Gooker Award for the worst wrestling event of any kind in 2016. The main event title match drew particular criticism and resulted in negative and angry crowd reactions.
Contents
Production
Background
WrestleMania is WWE's flagship professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, having first been held in 1985. It was the company's first pay-per-view produced and was also WWE's first major event available via livestreaming when the company launched the WWE Network in February 2014. It is the longest-running professional wrestling event in history and is held annually between mid-March to mid-April. It was the first of WWE's original four pay-per-views, which includes Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, referred to as the "Big Four". The event has been described as the Super Bowl of sports entertainment. Much like the Super Bowl, cities bid for the right to host each year's edition of WrestleMania. As part of bidding process, Texas offered WWE US$2.7 million in subsidies.
Announced on January 20, 2015, WrestleMania 32 was scheduled to be held on April 3, 2016, at the AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. It was the third WrestleMania to be held in the U.S. state of Texas (following X-Seven in 2001 and XXV in 2009) and the first to take place in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area. Tickets went on sale on November 6, 2015, with individual tickets costing from $18 to $2,360. On October 13, 2015, traveling packages with accommodation ranging from $575 to $6,625 per person were sold. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that WrestleMania 32 broke WWE's record for most tickets sold with at least 84,000 tickets sold.
Jesse Lawrence of Forbes speculated that WrestleMania 32 could break the WWE attendance record of 93,173 set at WrestleMania III at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan. This record stood as the highest attendance for any indoor event until the 2010 NBA All-Star Game, also held at AT&T Stadium, drew 108,713. However, Meltzer reported that the actual WWE attendance record before WrestleMania 32 was the 1992 SummerSlam's 79,127, and that WrestleMania III's actual attendance was around 78,000.
The five official theme songs for the event were "My House" by Flo Rida, "Hello Friday" by Flo Rida featuring Jason Derulo, "Hail to the King" by Avenged Sevenfold, "Sympathy for the Devil" by Motörhead, and "Oh No" by Goodbye June. On March 21, 2016, it was announced that the American girl group Fifth Harmony would be performing "America the Beautiful" during the WrestleMania 32 Kickoff pre-show.
WWE had been hobbled by real-life injuries of its wrestlers, rendering them unable to perform at WrestleMania 32. The injured list at the time included John Cena, Seth Rollins, Randy Orton, Cesaro, Neville, and Luke Harper. Meanwhile, Sting, Nikki Bella, and Tyson Kidd suffered neck injuries, with Kidd barely avoiding paralysis or death and Sting being forced to retire. Daniel Bryan was also forced to retire due to severe concussions. David Shoemaker, writing for ESPN, described that "it seems as if the talent left off the match lineup could sell more tickets than the one currently on it". Shoemaker also theorized possible reasons for injuries being firstly "WWE's grueling schedule", and secondly "the travel, the exhaustion, the lack of an offseason".
Celebrity involvement
As is tradition at WrestleMania, the show included appearances by numerous celebrity guests. Fifth Harmony, who performed "America the Beautiful" at the start of WrestleMania 32, Maria Menounos served as a backstage interviewer, and Snoop Dogg – who the night before was inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame – performed a live version for his cousin Sasha Banks' entrance theme as he accompanied her to the ring for her match.
Joan Lunden was recognized as part of the 2016's WWE Hall of Fame class, as she won the Warrior Award for her public battle with breast cancer. National Basketball Association (NBA) player Shaquille O'Neal was a surprise participant in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, eliminating Damien Sandow and having a standoff with fellow seven-footer Big Show before both of them were eliminated by about 10 other wrestlers, before Baron Corbin eliminated Kane to win the battle royal. The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders also made an appearance as part of The Rock's entrance to the ring.
Storylines
The event comprised 12 matches, including three on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Raw and SmackDown.
The storylines leading into WrestleMania 32 were not received well by critics. Jason Powell of Pro Wrestling Dot Net lamented that "the build to WrestleMania has been a creative mess", and that WWE's injury-hit roster does not excuse "sloppy booking or storylines with massive holes and logic gaps". Josh Hamlin of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter criticized, "There is no momentum for WrestleMania at all. The event sells itself purely on its brand name". Ben Tucker of Pro Wrestling Torch wrote, "Not since WrestleMania 13 has WWE's Super Bowl come together in such a bizarre fashion, with WWE making some of the most head-scratching decisions I've seen in ages". Kyle Fowle of The A.V. Club declared that WWE's "ship is headed straight for the rocks", and in particular "the WWE World Heavyweight Championship feud is a disaster".
At Survivor Series, Roman Reigns won a tournament for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Reigns had earlier refused offers by Triple H to join The Authority, which would have automatically placed him in the tournament final, but Reigns fought in the whole tournament and after his victory, he speared Triple H, who tried to congratulate him. Sheamus then cashed in his Money in the Bank contract after a Brogue Kick and won the title. At TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs the next month, Reigns faced Sheamus in a TLC match, but lost when Alberto Del Rio and Rusev interfered. Post-match, Reigns attacked Sheamus, Del Rio, Rusev, and then Triple H with a chair. The next night on Raw, Reigns regained the title from Sheamus in a title vs. career match. Vince McMahon then forced Reigns to defend the title in the annual 30-man Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble event with Reigns entering at #1. At the Royal Rumble, Triple H returned as the #30 entrant and eliminated Reigns en route to winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. At Fastlane, Reigns defeated Dean Ambrose and Brock Lesnar in a triple threat match to face Triple H for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania. The following night on Raw, Triple H attacked Reigns during the latter's match against Sheamus and beat a bloodied Reigns and executed a Pedigree on Reigns onto the steel steps. However, Reigns returned on the March 14 episode of Raw and assaulted Triple H.
On the February 22 episode of Raw, Mr. McMahon presented the "Vincent J. McMahon Legacy of Excellence" Award to his daughter Stephanie McMahon. As Stephanie was about to do the acceptance speech about the award given to her, Shane McMahon returned to WWE for the first time since 2009, to confront his father and sister in regards to his role in the company. Vince then made a deal with Shane that he would gain control of Raw if he could win a match of his choosing but would relinquish a lockbox of Vince's secrets if he lost. After Shane accepted, Vince named The Undertaker as his opponent and made the match a Hell in a Cell match; Shane's last match was in May 2009. The following week, Undertaker returned to Raw and said that Shane's blood would be on Vince's hands, not his. Vince stated that if The Undertaker did not win, it would be his last WrestleMania.
Event
Pre-show
Three matches were contested on the two-hour long WrestleMania 32 Kickoff pre-show, which was broadcast on the WWE Network, WWE.com, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, and YouTube, with USA Network joining the live coverage for the second hour. In the first match, Kalisto defended the WWE United States Championship against Ryback. Kalisto won after executing a Salida Del Sol on Ryback, who had collided with an exposed turnbuckle.
In the second match, a 10-women tag team match pitted Team Total Divas (Alicia Fox, Brie Bella, Eva Marie, Natalya, and Paige) against Team B.A.D. & Blonde (Emma, Lana, Naomi, Summer Rae, and Tamina). Bella won the match for Team Total Divas by making Naomi submit to the Yes! Lock. Nikki Bella, who was inactive due to a neck injury, came out to celebrate with her sister and the rest of the team.
Next, WWE Hall of Famer Lita introduced a new WWE Women's Championship to replace the WWE Divas Championship, and revealed that the winner of the triple threat match between Charlotte, Becky Lynch, and Sasha Banks later that night would be awarded the title.
Finally, The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) defeated The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) in a tag team match after The Usos performed a double Superkick on D-Von. After the match, The Usos performed Samoan Splashes through tables on The Dudley Boyz.
Preliminary matches
The actual pay-per-view opened with the Ladder match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, with Stardust, Zack Ryder, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Sin Cara, The Miz, and Dolph Ziggler as the participants. Stardust used a black ladder with yellow polka dots to tribute his late father Dusty Rhodes, but that ladder was disposed of by Owens. Mid-match, Ziggler executed a series of superkicks, while Ryder performed an elbow drop off a ladder onto The Miz. In the climax, Owens powerbombed Ziggler off a ladder, then caused Sin Cara to fall off a ladder onto Stardust, who was lying on a ladder bridged between the ring apron and barricade. Owen's rival Zayn took out Owens with a half and half suplex onto a ladder and was in turn incapacitated by The Miz. Premature celebrations by The Miz allowed Ryder to shove him off a ladder and retrieve the belt to win the match. Post-match, Ryder's father joined Ryder in the ring for a celebration.
Next, Chris Jericho took on AJ Styles. After an evenly contested match (which saw Styles kick out of Jericho's Codebreaker, and Jericho kick out of Styles's Styles Clash), Jericho hid behind the referee and countered Styles's Phenomenal Forearm into a mid-air Codebreaker to win the match.
After that, The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods), who entered by coming out of a huge "Booty-O's" cereal box (while wearing Dragon Ball Z-inspired attire, with Woods's outfit modeled after Vegeta), then wrestled The League of Nations (Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio, and Rusev) in a six-man tag team match, with League teammate King Barrett at ringside. The League of Nations won the match following a Bull Hammer by Barrett to Woods when the referee was distracted and a Brogue Kick by Sheamus on Woods. After the match, Barrett bragged that no three men could beat the League of Nations. WWE Hall of Famers Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley, and Stone Cold Steve Austin, then came down and cleared the ring of The League of Nations. Austin then performed a Stunner on Woods, who had tried to persuade the Hall of Famers to dance with him.
Next was the No Holds Barred Street Fight between Brock Lesnar (accompanied by Paul Heyman) and Dean Ambrose. Lesnar executed thirteen suplexes on Ambrose, while Ambrose used kendo sticks and chairs to try to keep Lesnar down. Ambrose also attempted to use a chainsaw, which did not start. After Ambrose threw numerous chairs in the ring, Lesnar attempted an F-5, only for Ambrose to counter and execute Dirty Deeds on Lesnar onto the pile of chairs for a near fall. In the end, Ambrose brought in a barbed wire-wrapped baseball bat to finish Lesnar off, however, Lesnar delivered a German suplex and an F-5 on Ambrose on the pile of chairs to win the match. Afterwards, Lesnar sprayed Ambrose with a fire extinguisher.
Main event
In the main event, Triple H (accompanied by Stephanie McMahon) defended the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Roman Reigns. During the match, Triple H was cheered despite being the heel whereas Reigns was heavily booed despite being the face. While Reigns was taking control of the match, Stephanie distracted the referee, allowing Triple H to execute a low blow and target Reigns's nose. Reigns performed a Spear through the barricade on Triple H. Triple H began to target Reigns's arm but Reigns recovered and executed another Spear, only for Stephanie to pull the referee out of the ring, voiding the pinfall. Stephanie argued with the referee and was inadvertently struck by a Spear from Reigns. Triple H executed a Pedigree on Reigns for a near-fall. Stephanie then handed Triple H his trademark sledgehammer but the referee warned him that he'd be disqualified if he used it (although he would retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship). In the end, Reigns executed two Superman Punches on Triple H, dodged a sledgehammer shot and executed the third spear to regain the championship for a third time. A wide array of celebratory fireworks was released.
Reception
As predicted by multiple critics before the event, Reigns (despite playing a heroic character) was booed by some of the WrestleMania crowd during the main event and as the show went off the air with him as champion, with the result drawing angry reactions. To placate the angry crowd, WWE had Triple H play to the crowd after broadcasting had concluded. The main event also saw the uninterested crowd chanting for various wrestlers uninvolved in the match or storyline: Sami Zayn, Bayley, and Shinsuke Nakamura. Several reports emerged of WWE muting the crowd microphones at WrestleMania during and after the main event when Reigns was being booed.
Reportedly, some attendees were unhappy about the entrance into AT&T Stadium, which they described as long and messy. On the post-WrestleMania Raw, also held in Dallas but a day later, Vince McMahon asked the live crowd what they thought of WrestleMania 32. The crowd responded by booing and then booed even louder when Vince mentioned Reigns as the new world champion.
Attendance and revenue
On the day of the event, WWE claimed an attendance of 101,763 in the AT&T Stadium, which surpassed the previous WWE-claimed record of 93,173 for WrestleMania III in 1987. Also, WWE reported the event grossing $17.3 million for WWE's highest-grossing live event, and surpassing the previous year's $12.6 million. However, journalist Dave Meltzer initially reported 93,730 as "the attendance as would be normally announced for an event" with a total 97,769 people in the stadium if one includes stadium personnel, WWE personnel, etc. Meltzer attributed the exaggeration due to WWE not wanting to let down their fans after WWE's promoting "from the start of drawing 100,000 people" to WrestleMania 32. The 93,730 figure would still be WWE's highest attended event, as according to Meltzer the previous record was the 1992 SummerSlam event at 79,127, while WrestleMania III did "more than 78,000". Meanwhile, Meltzer endorsed the grossing figure as "either accurate or very close". The actual fan attendance was later clarified as being 80,709, a figure supported by Fightful who were provided the turnstile count by the Arlington Police Department.
In a conference call in February 2017, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon said, "We were proud to set our attendance record of over 100,000, which includes, by the way, ushers and ticket takers and all of that. It wasn't 101,000 paid, but nonetheless, it was a record for us."
Reviews
WrestleMania 32 received generally mixed-to-negative reactions from critics, who criticized the event for its length and questionable booking decisions. Some critics and fans would even consider this one of the worst WrestleManias of all time. Critics who reviewed both WrestleMania 32 and WWE's NXT TakeOver: Dallas event which occurred two days earlier concluded that the NXT event was a greatly superior "professional wrestling show" despite WrestleMania having more "spectacle"; NXT's match of (the debuting) Shinsuke Nakamura versus Sami Zayn in particular was praised as better than any moment or match from WrestleMania 32.
Troy L. Smith of cleveland.com wrote that "WrestleMania 32 was a night that defied low expectations, thanks in large part a ton of WWE nostalgia", but added that "some of that early goodwill was squandered by odd booking decisions". Smith felt that the HHH-Reigns main event was "extremely boring – one of the worst main events ever at WrestleMania", with the ending saw "WWE found itself stuck in a moment it couldn't get out of with more boos than cheers". Ultimately, Smith concluded that "WrestleMania 32 proves Zack Ryder (or anyone) is better than Roman Reigns".
Paul Tamburro of CraveOnline wrote that the show was characterized by "inexplicable booking decisions that actively undermined all storyline progression", adding that "WWE routinely swerved its fans with finishes to matches that were less exciting than what had been expected". He decried the HHH-Reigns main event as a "dull, slow-paced match" and described Reigns's babyface push as "absurd" and "an embarrassing failed experiment for the company", with "the crowd still being given no reason to feel anything for the guy outside of sheer ambivalence or venomous hatred". Tamburro was also critical of the Shane McMahon–Undertaker match, which he described as "thoroughly pointless", and of the booking of Dean Ambrose, writing that "him losing to Lesnar in such a disappointing manner puts a big dent in his value". He had further criticism for the company's over-reliance on past stars, writing that "while the implementation of these big names was a lot of fun, it still happened to the detriment of talent currently on the roster". In contrast, Tamburro praised the Women's Championship match, calling it "triumphant", and described Zack Ryder's unexpected win as "the feel-good moment of the show".
James Caldwell of Pro Wrestling Torch described the event as a "weird show". He rated the HHH-Reigns match 1.5 stars out of 5, questioning why "anyone wanted to sit through this long of a main event and criticizing "the egos of the McMahon family" for booking the match. Caldwell went on to describe Reigns as "a pet project that would be laughed out of this spot in any other era". Caldwell chose not to rate the Hell in a Cell match, describing it as a "weird deal" with "Shane McMahon, a non-wrestler against Undertaker in one of Taker’s last WrestleMania matches". The women's title match was rated 3 stars, "strong" other than the finish, which puzzled Caldwell when apparently "Mania isn't a big enough event to pay off Flair's repeated interference with the face(s) conquering".
Aftermath
Despite Shane McMahon failing to gain control of Raw with a loss to the Undertaker at WrestleMania 32, he was awarded control of the next four episodes of Raw anyway post-WrestleMania. The post-WrestleMania Raw on April 4 began with Vince McMahon dismissing the crowd as crazy, and bragging how no one had a hold on him since he received the lockbox. Shane McMahon interrupted for a handshake with Vince, then thanked fans. Jealous of Shane supposedly upstaging him with strong fan support, Vince allowed Shane to run Raw that night, as Vince (thinking that Shane would produce a "disaster") wanted to show the world how "ridiculous" it would be. Shane was then allowed to continue controlling Raw until the Payback pay-per-view "due to the overwhelming support of the WWE Universe on social media".
Also on the post-WrestleMania Raw, where commentators described the crowd as booing those they should cheer, and cheering those they should boo, new world champion Roman Reigns (repeatedly and heavily booed) declared he was now "the guy" and was ready for title contenders. Four men answered the challenge: Chris Jericho, AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn. The four brawled, ultimately leaving Jericho in the ring, where Reigns attacked him. Shane McMahon then arranged a fatal four-way match between the four to determine the next world title contender. After Owens attacked Zayn backstage with a powerbomb through a table, Zayn was unable to compete, so Shane replaced him with a returning Cesaro in the four-way match. Styles pinned Jericho to win and become number one contender. Two weeks later, a match between Zayn and Owens was scheduled for Payback.
Meanwhile, Zack Ryder's reign as the new Intercontinental Champion lasted just one day. On the post-WrestleMania Raw, Ryder was goaded into defending his title against the Miz. During the match, Ryder's father was slapped by Miz's wife, Maryse, in her return to WWE television. This distraction cost Ryder the match and the title. A championship rematch took place on the following SmackDown, where The Miz again retained.
A ceremony presenting Charlotte with the new WWE Women's Championship occurred on the post-WrestleMania Raw, with WWE Hall of Famer Lita and many of WWE's female wrestlers present in the ring. After Charlotte thanked her father, Ric Flair, and began bragging about her own success, most of the women left the ceremony, leaving Natalya to confront Charlotte and apply her signature Sharpshooter submission. Natalya and Charlotte faced each other for the WWE Women's Championship the following week, where Ric pulled the referee out of the ring while Charlotte submitted, causing a disqualification win for Natalya, but Charlotte retained. A rematch between the two was later scheduled for Payback, where the referee awarded the match to Charlotte despite Natalya never submitting. A submission match between the two was later scheduled for Extreme Rules with Ric banned from ringside, where Charlotte retained after interference from Dana Brooke. Afterwards, Charlotte turned on Ric as she felt like she no longer needed him, and aligned herself with Brooke.