WrestleMania 38

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, including Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, which were originally dubbed the "Big Four", and as of August 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. Much like the Super Bowl, cities bid for the right to host the year's edition of WrestleMania. 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, "I Feel Good" by Pitbull, Anthony Watts, and DJWS, and "All Nightmare Long" by Metallica.

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. It was also the second WrestleMania since the Pontiac Silverdome (WrestleMania III) to be hosted in a FIFA World Cup venue as it is one of the venues hosting matches for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Travel packages became available on November 8, 2021, while general tickets went on sale on November 12.

Broadcast outlets

In addition to airing on traditional pay-per-view, WrestleMania 38 was available to livestream on 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. 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. The week kicked off with a special "WrestleMania Edition" of Monday Night Raw, held at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The night before WrestleMania 38 on April 1, WWE kicked off WrestleMania Weekend itself with a special "WrestleMania Edition" of Friday Night 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. All of the weekend events were held live from the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Storylines

The event consisted of 16 matches, with seven on the first night and nine on the second, that resulted from scripted storylines. 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.

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 Raw, Lesnar reunited with Heyman. On that week's SmackDown, Lesnar challenged Reigns to a champion vs. champion match, but Reigns declined. At the Royal Rumble, Lesnar lost his WWE Championship to Bobby Lashley 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 at the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber, it was confirmed that their WrestleMania match would be a Winner Takes All match for the WWE Championship and Universal Championship. On the following episode of SmackDown, during the contract signing for the match, the match was further stipulated as a Championship Unification match, and scheduled for the main event of Night 2.

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.

Event

Night 1

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 Superkick. Jey tagged in Jimmy, who performed an Uso Splash on Nakamura for a nearfall. In the end, The Usos performed the 1D on Nakamura to retain the titles. Following the match, medical personnel tended to Boogs.

Next, Drew McIntyre faced Happy Corbin (accompanied by Madcap Moss). Corbin dominated most of the match until McIntyre performed a suicide dive on Corbin and Moss. McIntyre performed a suplex on Moss before returning to the ring. In the climax, Corbin performed an End of Days on McIntyre for a nearfall, which was the first time that anyone kicked out of the End of Days. Following this, McIntyre performed a Future Shock DDT and 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 a double 619 and frog splashes on Paul, Miz tagged himself in, slammed Dominik on Rey, 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 nearfall. During the match, Lynch applied the Dis-Arm-Her on Belair, who reached the ring ropes to void the submission. In the climax, 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. Lynch attempted the Manhandle Slam again, but Belair countered by kicking off the middle turnbuckle and performed the Kiss of Death on Lynch to win the title.

Night 2

WrestleMania Sunday opened with WWE executive Triple H making an appearance. Triple H, who nine 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 closing moments, after an evenly contested match between the three teams, Dawkins performed a suicide dive on Otis outside the ring. Ford attempted a From the Heavens on Orton, however, Riddle performed an RKO on Ford. Orton then performed an RKO on Gable, who was mid-air, to retain the titles. 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 titles for the first time as a team, the first time for Naomi, and a record-tying third time for Banks. This also marked Banks' first win at WrestleMania since making her WrestleMania debut at WrestleMania 32 in 2016 in the same venue, ending her six loss streak.

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 reported the actual numbers as being 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, Johnny Knoxville vs. Sami Zayn, Edge vs. AJ Styles, Pat McAfee's and Logan Paul's performance, Cody Rhodes vs. Seth "Freakin" 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 Vince McMahon vs. McAfee, which received a -2 star rating from Dave Meltzer.

The Raw Women's Championship match was praised. Brent Brookhouse of CBS Sports gave the match an A+ grade, the highest grade of the event, stating that the match "stole the show", was "fantastic", and that "the crowd was absolutely mad for the finish". He also mentioned that Belair "is the next wrestler to have an Undertaker-style "streak" at WrestleMania". Chris Mueller of Bleacher Report also gave the match a grade of A+, stating that "a lot of fans were expecting this to be similar to SummerSlam, but with Belair winning this time", but "WWE gave them big entrances and more than enough time to make sure this was a great match". He also said that the match "felt more like a fight with a lot of aggression", and concluded that "this was the first bout that felt truly worthy of being on the WrestleMania card. Everything about it was as close to perfect as you can get". Wade Keller of Pro Wrestling Torch gave the match 4.5 stars, calling the match "excellent", and that Becky Lynch's dominance "felt like it was ultimately giving away a Belair win". He also said that the counters "were really well executed", the "facial expressions and body language in between moves took the match to another level", and that "it felt like real redemption for Belair, even if Becky came across as being a notch better than her throughout most of the match". Dave Meltzer gave the match 4.5 stars.

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, Paul stated on a video that he would be coming for The Miz. He then appeared on the July 18 episode of Raw to confront The Miz, setting up a match between the two at SummerSlam, where Paul won.

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, and their match at a WWE Live event on May 15 proved to be their final WWE match, as on the May 16 episode of Raw, Banks and Naomi 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 WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event Banks and Naomi took part in. In December 2022, it was reported that contract negotiations with Banks fell through during the summer and she was done with WWE. Banks then debuted for both New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and World Wonder Ring Stardom at Wrestle Kingdom 17 on January 4, 2023, changing her ring name to Mercedes Moné. Additionally, on March 23, 2023, Naomi confirmed on her Instagram page that she was no longer with WWE. Naomi would later make her return to WWE at the 2024 Royal Rumble event.

WrestleMania 38 would be the last WrestleMania to take place under Vince McMahon's creative control. On July 22, Vince 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. Vince's son-in-law Stephanie's husband, Paul "Triple H" Levesque, took over creative control. Stephanie would resign as co-CEO and chairwoman on January 10, 2023, with Khan being named the sole CEO and Vince returning as Executive Chairman. Although Vince returned in an executive role, Triple H maintained complete control of booking WWE's storylines.

Raw

Cody Rhodes opened the post-WrestleMania episode of Raw, revealing that he returned to WWE to continue 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, where he defeated The Miz. After the match, Seth "Freakin" Rollins confronted Rhodes, setting up a rematch between the two at WrestleMania Backlash, which Rhodes won. On Raw the next night, Rollins cost Rhodes a championship match. This would lead to a third match between the two at Hell in a Cell, this time as a Hell in a Cell match, where Rhodes, despite suffering a legitimate torn pectoral muscle before the event, managed to defeat Rollins again.

The Judgment Day (Edge and Damian Priest) would also continue their rivalry with AJ Styles, leading to a rematch between Styles and Edge at WrestleMania Backlash. At the event, despite Priest being banned from ringside, Edge again defeated Styles after interference from Rhea Ripley, who would join The Judgment Day. At Hell in a Cell, The Judgment Day defeated Styles' team in a six-person mixed tag team match, thus ending their feud with Styles. On Raw the following night, Finn Bálor was added to The Judgment Day. Afterwards, however, Bálor, Priest, and Ripley turned on Edge, kicking him out of the group. At Clash at the Castle in September, The Judgment Day recruited Dominik Mysterio. Edge then continued his feud with The Judgment Day over the next few months and into 2023. The rivalry would go all the way to a Hell in a Cell match between Bálor's "Demon" persona and Edge at Night 2 of WrestleMania 39, which was won by Edge.

On the following Raw, Bobby Lashley's manager, MVP, turned on Lashley, lambasting him and siding with Omos. The following week, MVP stated that he did so because Lashley celebrated his WrestleMania moment without him. This would lead to a rematch between Lashley and Omos at WrestleMania Backlash, with Omos winning. On the May 16 episode of Raw, Lashley defeated Omos again, this time in a Steel Cage match. The following week, a 2-on-1 handicap match pitting Lashley against MVP and Omos was scheduled for Hell in a Cell, which Lashley won, ending the feud.

Following his embarrassment by "Stone Cold" Steve Austin at WrestleMania 38, on the April 11 episode of Raw, Austin Theory was told by Vince McMahon that he would just be known as "Theory", as the name "Austin" did not suit Theory. During Clash at the Castle, Theory would revert to his Austin Theory ring name again.

SmackDown

On the following SmackDown, Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns claimed he had nothing left to prove, but 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, the match was changed to a six-man tag team match pitting The Bloodline against RK-Bro and Drew McIntyre, which was won by The Bloodline. The tag team championship unification match was rescheduled to the May 20 episode, where The Usos won to become the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions.

After WrestleMania 38, the trio of Sheamus, Ridge Holland, and Butch would dub themselves as The Brawling Brutes and continued their feud with The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods), with one member of each team scoring a win over the other in singles matches. This eventually led to a tables match pitting Sheamus and Holland against Woods and Kingston on the May 6 episode of SmackDown, where Sheamus and Holland won after interference from Butch. After two more weeks of the teams trading wins in singles matches, on the May 27 episode, Drew McIntyre joined The New Day in defeating The Brawling Brutes in a six-man tag team match. The following week, The Brawling Brutes defeated The New Day and McIntyre in a rematch to end the feud.

After Madcap Moss cost Happy Corbin his match at WrestleMania 38, dissension arose between the two, with Corbin blaming Moss for his loss. Over the coming weeks, the two continued to taunt each other, leading to a match at WrestleMania Backlash, where Moss won. On the following SmackDown, Corbin attacked Moss, slamming his André the Giant Memorial Trophy on the chair wrapped around his neck, leading to Moss suffering a (kayfabe) cervical contusion. Moss returned on the June 3 episode, where he lost to Corbin via disqualification after using a steel chair, setting up a No Holds Barred match between the two at Hell in a Cell, where Moss won. The two had one further match on the June 17 episode as a "Last Laugh" match, which was won by Moss, thus ending their feud.

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. At the event, Rousey defeated Flair to win the title for the first time. Afterwards, it was announced that Flair had (kayfabe) broken her radial bone in her forearm, putting her out of action for several months. Flair returned on the December 30 episode of SmackDown, where she challenged and defeated Rousey in an impromptu match to reclaim the title for a record seventh time.