WrestleMania XXX
WrestleMania XXX | |||
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Promotion WWE | | ||
Date | April 6, 2014 | ||
City | New Orleans, Louisiana | ||
Venue | Mercedes-Benz Superdome | ||
Attendance | 60,000-65,000[1] | ||
Buy rate | 684,000[2] | ||
Tagline(s) | Let the Good Times Roll | ||
WWE Network event chronology | |||
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WrestleMania chronology | |||
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WrestleMania XXX was the 30th annual
Seven
WWE claimed
Production
Background
WrestleMania is considered WWE's flagship pay-per-view (PPV) event, having first been held in 1985.[3] It is the longest-running professional wrestling event in history and is held annually between mid-March to mid-April.[4] 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".[5] The event has been described as the Super Bowl of sports entertainment.[6]
On February 18, 2013, WWE announced that WrestleMania XXX would be held at the
In addition to being sold as a pay-per-view through television providers (with prices ranging from $55–$70), WrestleMania XXX was the first WWE PPV event to be
The event was the first WrestleMania to be held in the state of Louisiana.[14] There were three official theme songs for the event, "Celebrate" by Kid Rock, "Legacy" by Eminem, and "In Time" by Mark Collie.[15] A promotional poster for the event was released through pay-per-view providers such as In Demand, with the tagline laissez les bons temps rouler.[16] The WrestleMania set was built by a crew of roughly 400 workers over two weeks, assembling equipment carried by 85 semi-trailer trucks.[17]
After the Royal Rumble event in late January 2014, CM Punk reportedly legitimately walked out on WWE while still under contract and WWE stopped promoting him for future events;[18][19] which Pro Wrestling Torch editor Wade Keller analysed as playing a part in Daniel Bryan's WrestleMania journey.[20] In May 2014, Bryan revealed in an interview that he also believed that WWE decided to give him the big WrestleMania spotlight only after Punk quit.[21]
Daniel Bryan entered the event as the bookmakers' favorite to walk out of WrestleMania as champion, while the biggest favorite to earn a victory was the Undertaker, which Forbes endorsed as "as close to a sure thing as you're going to find".[22]
Storylines
The event comprised eight matches, including one on the Pre-Show, that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed
When [Vince McMahon] had HHH call Bryan a B+ player, that is because Vince saw Bryan that way. Vince was just going to screw Bryan in the storylines and then push him down the card. It was so bad that Bryan was slated to wrestle fifth or sixth from the top against Sheamus at [WrestleMania XXX] until the fans said, loudly, "ENOUGH!" They hijacked shows until Vince had no choice but to change his plans...
— Dave Scherer of PWInsider.com's analysis of Daniel Bryan's feud with the Authority[25]
Daniel Bryan's eight-month road to WrestleMania began at SummerSlam in August 2013, when he started feuding with Triple H and Randy Orton. Since June, Bryan had been praised as one of the top performers in WWE by critics and veterans of the professional wrestling industry,[26][27][28] as his rise in status led him to a title shot at SummerSlam.[29] At SummerSlam, Bryan defeated John Cena to win his first WWE Championship with Triple H as the special guest referee. After the match, Triple H turned heel by attacking Bryan, which directly led to Orton using his Money in the Bank title opportunity for an immediate title shot. Orton pinned a downed Bryan to capture the WWE Championship.[30][31] After SummerSlam, Triple H claimed that it was a "business decision" to sabotage Bryan because Bryan did not fit the type of wrestler that the company was looking for as its champion; therefore, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon (later known as The Authority) instead endorsed Orton as the "face of the WWE".[32][33] Over the next few months, Bryan was constantly sabotaged in his attempts to gain and hold on to the WWE Championship. Bryan defeated Orton to regain the WWE Championship at Night of Champions,[34] but due to referee Scott Armstrong making a fast count, Triple H stripped Bryan of the title the next night on Raw.[35] At Battleground, a match between Bryan and Orton for the vacant title ended in a no contest when Big Show (who had been manipulated by the Authority in the weeks prior) attacked both men.[36][37] Bryan once again challenged Orton in a Hell in a Cell match for the vacant championship at Hell in a Cell; Triple H interfered in the match and was attacked by Bryan, resulting in special guest referee Shawn Michaels attacking Bryan, which led to Orton capturing the WWE Championship again.[38]
At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, WWE Champion Randy Orton defeated World Heavyweight Champion John Cena in a TLC match to unify the two titles into the new WWE World Heavyweight Championship.[39] In January 2014, Batista returned to WWE after having left in May 2010,[40] and promptly won the 2014 Royal Rumble match for a slot in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania XXX. Batista's win and Daniel Bryan's lack of participation in the Royal Rumble match was heavily booed by the live crowd at the Royal Rumble.[41] At Elimination Chamber, Randy Orton successfully defended his championship in the Elimination Chamber match to set up Orton versus Batista (who still received a negative fan reaction at Elimination Chamber when he defeated Alberto Del Rio) for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania XXX.[42][43] Daniel Bryan also participated in the Elimination Chamber match, but was the last wrestler eliminated due to interference by Director of Operations Kane, who was affiliated with the Authority.[42][44]
Frustrated over being constantly cost the WWE World Heavyweight Championship by the Authority, Bryan challenged Triple H to a match at WrestleMania XXX.
On the February 24 episode of Raw, Brock Lesnar and his manager Paul Heyman voiced their complaints about Lesnar not being in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania. Instead, the Authority offered Lesnar a contract to face anyone else at WrestleMania. They were interrupted by a returning Undertaker, in his first appearance since April 2013, who confronted Lesnar. While Lesnar signed the contract for a match at WrestleMania with The Undertaker as his opponent, The Undertaker accepted Lesnar's challenge by stabbing Lesnar with a pen and performing a chokeslam on Lesnar through a table.[47][48] This set up a match where Lesnar would attempt to break The Undertaker's 21–0 undefeated streak at WrestleMania.[49]
At the Royal Rumble, The Wyatt Family (Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, and Bray Wyatt) cost John Cena his match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Randy Orton.[41] At the Elimination Chamber event, the Wyatt Family attacked Cena during his Elimination Chamber match for the same championship, which directly led to Cena's elimination from the match.[42] Wyatt was motivated by a desire to end "this era of lies", beginning with Cena, because he wanted to expose to the world that Cena being an upholder of all that is moral and good and right was merely a hollow illusion.[50] Proving that Cena was a fraud would ruin his legacy, but Wyatt wanted to take it one step further by turning Cena into a monster.[51] On the March 10 episode of Raw, Cena issued Wyatt a challenge for a match at WrestleMania, which Wyatt accepted.[52]
Event
Role | Name |
---|---|
Host | Hulk Hogan |
English Commentators
|
Michael Cole |
Jerry Lawler | |
John "Bradshaw" Layfield
| |
Spanish Commentators | Carlos Cabrera |
Marcelo Rodriguez
| |
Ricardo Rodriguez | |
French Commentators | Christophe Agius |
Philippe Chéreau | |
Interviewer
|
Gene Okerlund |
Ring announcers | Lilian Garcia |
Justin Roberts | |
Howard Finkel (WWE Hall of Fame) | |
Referees | Charles Robinson |
Mike Chioda | |
John Cone | |
Ryan Tran | |
Chad Patton | |
Marc Harris | |
Rod Zapata
| |
Scott Armstrong | |
Pre-show panel | Josh Mathews |
Booker T | |
Alex Riley | |
Trish Stratus |
Commentary
Analysis was hosted by Josh Mathews with Mick Foley, Booker T, and Shawn Michaels; joining midway were retired National Football League linebacker Shawne Merriman, Jimmy Hart, Alex Riley, and Trish Stratus. Renee Young directed social media discussion, while Byron Saxton and Tom Phillips conducted backstage interviews.[53][54][55]
Pre-show
The WrestleMania Pre-Show was split into two segments, each an hour long; the first half could be watched for free on WWE.com, YouTube, and other social media outlets, while the second half (which had the pre-show match) was only available on the WWE Network.[56]
The Pre-Show match was a fatal four-way elimination tag team match for the
Miscellaneous
The English commentators for the event were
During the event, the 2014 WWE Hall of Fame inductees (
Preliminary matches
The pay-per-view event started when host Hulk Hogan came down to the ring for a segment, at one point accidentally calling the Superdome the "
In the first match on the pay-per-view, Daniel Bryan faced Triple H (who was accompanied by Stephanie McMahon) where the winner would be inserted in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship main event later that night.
Next,
After that, the battle royal for the
Next, John Cena faced Bray Wyatt (who was accompanied by Luke Harper and Erick Rowan). Wyatt started the match by kneeling down and imploring Cena to become the monster that he is and to finish him off, however, Cena refused. Wyatt then continued to taunt Cena which led to Cena's aggressive retaliation. As Cena was about to perform a
In the next match, Brock Lesnar (accompanied by Paul Heyman) faced The Undertaker. The match started out with Lesnar clotheslining Undertaker over the top rope, with the latter landing on his feet; both men went into early chokeslam and F-5 teases, but easily avoided the finishers. They then moved out of the ring; almost six minutes in, Lesnar slammed Undertaker onto the floor, resulting in a serious head concussion that would last throughout the match.[65] Lesnar then sent Undertaker onto a guardrail, before getting him back to the ring. After a few jabs from Lesnar, Undertaker hit him with a DDT off the ropes to buy some time. At 12 minutes, Undertaker put the Snake Eyes into a big boot and dropped the leg for a two-count, followed by a chokeslam, and then an attempted Tombstone Piledriver before Lesnar countered with an F-5, which Undertaker kicked out of. Undertaker applied the Hell's Gate on Lesnar, however, Lesnar broke the hold by lifting Undertaker up and powerbombing him. After some more Hell's Gates and Kimura Locks applied by both men, Lesnar countered an Old School attempt by Undertaker into another F-5 for a nearfall. Undertaker responded with a Last Ride powerbomb and a Tombstone Piledriver for a nearfall. As Undertaker attempted a second Tombstone Piledriver, Lesnar countered and performed an F-5 on Undertaker to win the match, ending the Undertaker's undefeated streak at WrestleMania. Heyman then "freaked out" at the result and WWE did not play Lesnar's theme music immediately after his victory, highlighting the reaction of a shocked and stunned crowd, just before Justin Roberts announced Lesnar as the winner. Instead, a graphic was displaying on the stadiums screens showing the Undertaker's WrestleMania record of "21-1". The crowd eventually booed Lesnar as he left. Undertaker was left in the ring, where he gathered himself. As he slowly walked up the entrance ramp, WWE's announcers gave him a standing ovation while the crowd chanted his name which was accompanied by various "thank you Taker" chants.[53][63][61]
The penultimate match was the 14-Diva single-fall
Main event
In the main event, Randy Orton defended the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Daniel Bryan and Batista. During the match, Orton began to target Bryan's injured arm to momentarily neutralize him. Later, as Bryan applied the Yes! Lock on Orton, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon emerged from backstage and pulled the referee out of the ring. Triple H then sent in referee
Reception
The event was a critical and commercial success. On the day of the event, WWE claimed that the event had drawn $10.9 million in ticket revenue at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans with an attendance figure of 75,167. WWE also claimed it was the fifth consecutive year that WrestleMania broke the host venue's highest-grossing entertainment event record.[70] Within a week of the event, WWE management and New Orleans city officials declared WrestleMania XXX to be a big success, with SMG general manager Alan Freeman declaring that New Orleans "certainly would like to host the event again ... anything after 2018 is probably open at this point".[71] WWE later claimed that WrestleMania XXX had a $142.2 million economic impact on New Orleans, generated $24.3 million in local taxes and that 79% of attendees were from outside of New Orleans. The figures were higher than those of the previous two WrestleManias.[72]
The day after the event, WWE revealed that the initial number of WWE Network subscribers was 667,287, therefore that was the maximum number of people who could have watched the event on the WWE Network.
The Associated Press article on WrestleMania XXX focused on Hulk Hogan's hosting of the event, commenting that "the Hulkster showed he can host, 30 years later." Hogan was "overseeing the mayhem for 75,000-plus fans, and countless more watching on TV ... and what a scene it was", referring to Cesaro winning the Andre the Giant battle royal "by heaving the sizeable Big Show over the top rope". Brock Lesnar's win over the Undertaker was simply described as "the night's shocker".[79]
Nolan Howell of
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter summed up WrestleMania XXX as a "very newsworthy show to say the least". Daniel Bryan's first match was described as a long technical one, and although Meltzer did not consider it "a match of the year or probably even the week", it "was the caliber of a good PPV main event". Triple H's post-match attack on Bryan was said to be a "very basic" storyline "but it's also exactly what they should have done". Bryan's second match in the main event was described as "really great" with many twists and turns, while the match result was "again exactly what they should have done" and "the crowd reacted the way you would expect". Meltzer thought that "the people just weren't into" the Undertaker's match as "nobody bought that Lesnar could win". Meanwhile, he felt that the Undertaker's departure was "certainly teased like a retirement". For the battle royal, Meltzer noted the lack of (surprise) entrants such as Rob Van Dam, Alexander Rusev, Christian, or Wade Barrett. In other notes, Meltzer described the strong fan support for Cesaro and also labeled Cena's win as a "genuine upset".[53]
Justin LaBar of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review summed up WrestleMania XXX as "shocking", but "one of the best". LaBar commented that he was "bored" with the Undertaker's match, just waiting for the final stretch as "Undertaker was going to win anyway". When Lesnar won, LaBar said that he had "never been part of a more real and emotionally driven moment". LaBar also commented that "Antonio Cesaro is here to stay" and described WWE as "the ultimate puppet master" because "Daniel Bryan finally wins the world title and it still isn't the top story from that event."[82]
Benjamin Tucker of the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter attended the event, and he scored the event 8.75 out of 10. He stated, that WrestleMania XXX "served as an event meant to respect the past while looking forward to the future" just like
For the rest of the event, Tucker commented that Wyatt "lost nothing by losing, but Cena certainly lost a lot by winning. The man shows no weakness". Tucker also noted that the segment involving Hogan, Austin and the Rock was "meaningless, surreal and a lot of fun". Tucker concluded by saying that the event was "easily one of the best Manias of the last ten years" and that "the future certainly does look bright. If only we could have said our good-byes properly".[83]
Reflecting in March 2016 just before WrestleMania 32, Luke Winkie of Sports Illustrated wrote that the WrestleMania XXX resulted in "pure, cathartic, we-have-this-moment forever joy".[84]
In 2019, Troy L. Smith of cleveland.com released a list of the "50 greatest wrestling pay-per-views of all time" from every professional wrestling promotion in the world, with WrestleMania XXX ranked at number 20.[85]
Critical analysis
The
Wilson Koch, a
Aftermath
The Ultimate Warrior's first WrestleMania appearance since WrestleMania XII,[88] headlining the unveiling of the 2014 Hall of Famers, would be his last. On April 8, the day after making his last public appearance on Raw to speak to the fans, Warrior suddenly collapsed and died at age 54 in Arizona.[89][90] WWE paid tribute to Warrior on the April 14 episode of Raw.[91]
WWE held an online charity auction centered around WrestleMania XXX from March 31 to April 8, 2014. It raised over $400,000 for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees's "The Brees Dream Foundation".[92][93]
The Undertaker was reportedly taken away from the Superdome in an ambulance,[94] which WWE later confirmed was due to him suffering a "severe concussion"; he was discharged the next day.[95] In May 2014, Shawn Michaels said that Vince McMahon made the final decision to end the Undertaker's streak about four hours before WrestleMania XXX.[96] McMahon confirmed in December 2014 that it was indeed him who made the final decision and that the Undertaker was initially shocked at the decision. The decision was made due to McMahon believing that it would make a huge deal out of Brock Lesnar to set up the next WrestleMania event. McMahon also said that he did not foresee other viable candidates on the roster to fill Lesnar's role within the near future.[97]
Short-term
During the post-WrestleMania Raw the next night, Triple H immediately used his authority as WWE COO to grant himself a title match against WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan later that night. As Stephanie McMahon tried to persuade Randy Orton, Batista, Kane, and the Shield to help Triple H in his title match, Kane inadvertently revealed that Triple H was the mastermind behind the attack on the Shield on the previous month's SmackDown. As a result, Bryan was attacked by Orton, Batista, and Kane just before his title match, which began anyway at the order of Triple H. However, the title match ended in a no contest with Bryan retaining the title when the Shield interfered, attacked and chased away Triple H, Orton, Batista, and Kane.[98]
The following week, Triple H, Orton and Batista reformed
The rivalry between John Cena and Bray Wyatt continued.
Also on the post-WrestleMania Raw, Cesaro was endorsed by Hulk Hogan, who presented him with the Andre the Giant battle royal trophy. Cesaro went on to reveal that he found a new manager in Paul Heyman, who would replace Zeb Colter. Cesaro was attacked by his former partner, Jack Swagger, who dismantled Cesaro's trophy.
On the post-WrestleMania Raw, as WWE Divas Champion AJ Lee celebrated her successful title defense at WrestleMania,
Long-term
Daniel Bryan announced on May 12 that due to injuries, he would require neck surgery,
At Payback, the Shield ended their feud with Evolution by defeating them in a six-man No Holds Barred elimination match.[108] On the next Raw on June 2, Batista quit WWE in the storyline as Triple H, in wanting to continue the feud with the Shield, refused to grant Batista a one-on-one match for the WWE World Heavyweight title. Later that night, Seth Rollins turned on his Shield teammates and allied himself with Triple H's Authority,[112] eventually winning the Money in the Bank briefcase.[109] The remaining members of the Shield, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns, went their separate ways by the end of June.[113] Cesaro ended his association with Paul Heyman in July on the night of Brock Lesnar's return.[110] By that time, Cesaro had failed to win title matches for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship,[109] the Intercontinental Championship and the United States Championship.[108][114]
At
In January 2015, Daniel Bryan returned to the ring having recovered from his injury.[116] That month at the Royal Rumble event, Brock Lesnar retained his title in a triple threat match against John Cena and Seth Rollins; the New Age Outlaws' return to the ring saw them lose to the Ascension, while Roman Reigns won the Royal Rumble match. The live audience booed Reigns' win and Bryan's early elimination from the match.[117][118] In February, Reigns defeated Bryan at Fastlane to receive a WrestleMania main event title match against Lesnar, while Cesaro and Tyson Kidd won the Tag Team Championship from the Usos.[119]
At WrestleMania 31 on March 29, 2015, the main event began as a singles match for champion Brock Lesnar against challenger Roman Reigns. More than ten minutes into the match, Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to make it a triple threat match; Rollins pinned Reigns shortly after to capture the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. In other matches, Daniel Bryan wrestled in the pay-per-view opener, a seven-man ladder match, and won the Intercontinental Championship from Bad News Barrett. Next, Rollins lost a singles match to Randy Orton. Then, Triple H defeated
The Undertaker reignited his feud with Brock Lesnar at
A fictionalised version of WrestleMania XXX was depicted in the film
Results
No. | Results | Stipulations | Times | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1P | Triple threat match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship[133] | 23:20[62] | |||||
|
- Goldust, Cody Rhodes, Rey Mysterio, Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio, Sheamus, and Big Show.
WWE Tag Team Championship Fatal 4-Way match eliminations
Eliminated | Team | Wrestler | Eliminated by | Method | Time[54] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Los Matadores | Diego | Jack Swagger
|
Submission | 5:40 |
2 | RybAxel | Curtis Axel | Cesaro | Pinfall
|
11:43 |
3 | The Real Americans | Cesaro | The Usos | 16:13 | |
Winners | The Usos (c) | — |
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