WrestleMania XL

Background in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 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 PPV 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, featuring wrestlers from WWE's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. Along with Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and Money in the Bank, it is one of the company's five biggest events of the year, referred to as the "Big Five". WrestleMania was 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 WrestleMania. The official theme song for the event was "Gasoline" by The Weeknd, which marked the fifth consecutive year that a Weeknd song was used for WrestleMania. On July 27, 2022, it was announced that Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, would host WrestleMania 40 on Saturday, April 6, and Sunday, April 7, 2024. The event's logo was revealed on October 8, 2022, during the Extreme Rules Kickoff pre-show at the nearby Wells Fargo Center. Themed after the Liberty Bell and in the colors of the Philadelphia Eagles, it incorporated Roman numerals for the first time since WrestleMania XXX in 2014, thus officially stylizing the title as WrestleMania XL. Tickets for the event went on sale on August 18, 2023. Over 90,000 tickets were sold on the first day for both nights combined, breaking WWE's record set by the prior year's WrestleMania. set up for WrestleMania XL. From January 2023, there had been speculation that WWE had been placed up for sale. Hours before Night 2 of WrestleMania 39 began, CNBC reported via multiple sources that a deal between WWE and Endeavor, the parent company of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) via Zuffa, was imminent. The deal involved a merger of WWE with the UFC into a new publicly traded company, with Endeavor holding a 51% stake. The sale was confirmed the next day on April 3, 2023, and was finalized on September 12, with WWE merging with the UFC to become divisions of TKO Group Holdings. WrestleMania XL was in turn the first WrestleMania held in which WWE was not owned and controlled by the McMahon family, and subsequently the first WrestleMania under TKO. Broadcast outlets WrestleMania XL was broadcast live on traditional pay-per-view worldwide. Additionally, it was available to livestream on Peacock in the United States, Disney+ Hotstar in Indonesia, Disney+ in the Philippines, Binge in Australia, Abema in Japan, SonyLIV in India, Shahid and SSC in the Middle East and North Africa, and the WWE Network in all other countries. Additionally, the event streamed live on Netflix in New Zealand, as a technical stress test for when the promotion's new contract with Netflix came into effect in January 2025. As a result of said contract, all WWE Network content moved to Netflix in most countries where the former was still available as a standalone service, making WrestleMania XL the final WrestleMania event to livestream on the WWE Network in those areas. A select few territories still maintain the standalone WWE Network due to pre-existing contracts, but will eventually merge under Netflix once those contracts expire. Other WrestleMania week events As part of the WrestleMania festivities, WWE held a number of events throughout the week. WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker presented his 1 deadMAN Show on Thursday, April 4 at The Fillmore Philadelphia. From that same day through April 8 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, there was a fan convention called WWE World at WrestleMania. In partnership with Fanatics Events, the five-day event included interview panel sessions with WWE wrestlers, a WWE 2K24 gaming tournament, live podcast recordings, meet-and-greets with wrestlers, and a large merchandise store with various memorabilia honoring WrestleMania's 40-year history. WWE World replaced the WrestleMania Fan Axxess event that had been held at each year's WrestleMania prior to WrestleMania 36 in 2020. WWE commentator Pat McAfee also hosted live editions of his eponymous ESPN afternoon show at WWE World on Friday, April 5, and Monday April 8. The week kicked off with a special "WrestleMania Edition" of Monday Night Raw, held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The night before WrestleMania XL on April 5, WWE kicked off WrestleMania Weekend with a special "WrestleMania Edition" of Friday Night SmackDown, which featured the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, won by Bronson Reed. Immediately after SmackDown, the 2024 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony commenced. The afternoon of WrestleMania Saturday, WWE's NXT brand held its annual WrestleMania Week event, Stand & Deliver. WrestleMania Week concluded with the post-WrestleMania edition of Monday Night Raw on April 8. These events were held live at the nearby Wells Fargo Center. Between all of the WrestleMania Weekend events (SmackDown/HOF induction ceremony, Stand & Deliver, both nights of WrestleMania XL, and Raw), WWE announced a grand total attendance of 201,924. Celebrity involvement WrestleMania also features celebrity appearances from those outside of wrestling, who participated at the event in various capacities, such as rapper and Philadelphia native Meek Mill, who narrated the cold open for the event on both nights. On Night 1, Grammy Award winning R&B singer and actress Coco Jones opened the show by performing "The Star-Spangled Banner". Grammy winning rapper Lil Wayne also debuted his latest single during the event. Philadelphia Eagles offensive linemen Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson were involved in the Rey Mysterio and Andrade vs. Santos Escobar and "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio tag team match, aiding Rey and Andrade. Metalcore band Motionless In White appeared and performed the theme song of Rhea Ripley called "Demon In Your Dreams". On Night 2, Country music duo The War and Treaty performed "God Bless America" to open the show. WWE Hall of Famer and rapper Snoop Dogg was on commentary for the Philadelphia Street Fight, and returned later alongside the Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders to announce the evening's attendance. Rapper and YouTuber IShowSpeed accompanied Logan Paul to the ring for his WWE United States Championship defense (wearing a Prime bottle costume at the start and then revealing himself while the match was in progress). Storylines The event included 14 matches, split evenly between both nights, 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. Main event matches After Cody Rhodes made his return to WWE at WrestleMania 38 in April 2022, he declared he would finish his story by winning the WWE Championship, a title his father Dusty Rhodes never held. Also at WrestleMania 38, Roman Reigns became the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion by retaining the WWE Universal Championship and winning the WWE Championship. Rhodes subsequently won the 2023 Royal Rumble match but failed to defeat Reigns for the undisputed title at WrestleMania 39. A year later, prior to the 2024 Royal Rumble at Raw: Day 1 on January 1, The Rock made a surprise appearance and seemingly called out Reigns by asking if he should sit at the "head of the table", a reference to their relationship through the Anoaʻi family as for over three years, Reigns had claimed he was the Head of the Table and Tribal Chief of The Bloodline, a faction of wrestlers from the family that, at the time, included Reigns and his cousins Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa, managed by Paul Heyman. competed in his first match since WrestleMania 32 in 2016 when he teamed up with Roman Reigns to face Cody Rhodes and Seth "Freakin" Rollins in a tag team match on Night 1.|275x275px Rhodes again won the Royal Rumble match in 2024. With the introduction of the World Heavyweight Championship after WrestleMania 39, Rhodes received a choice of which world title to challenge for at WrestleMania XL. but on the January 29 episode of Raw, Seth "Freakin" Rollins argued that Rhodes should instead challenge him for Raw's World Heavyweight Championship. On that week's SmackDown, Rhodes announced that he would not challenge Reigns at WrestleMania and said that one of the individuals he took counsel from in making his decision knew Reigns very well. Rock then came out and stared down Reigns, with the clear implication that he would be Reigns's WrestleMania opponent instead. This decision drew intense fan backlash with the hashtag #WeWantCody trending on social media worldwide, which caused WWE to legitimately pivot their story plans. A WrestleMania XL Kickoff media event was then held on February 8 where Reigns and Rock declared that they would face each other for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in the main event of WrestleMania XL, which Rock dubbed as "the biggest match in the history of professional wrestling". However, Rhodes appeared and asserted that since he won the Royal Rumble, he earned the right to decide the main event and announced that he had reversed his decision and would challenge Reigns for the title at WrestleMania. After bringing up each other's families, Rock claimed that he and Rhodes now had issues and he slapped Rhodes in the face, turning heel for the first time since 2003. In the ensuing brawl, Rollins backed Rhodes. ' fourth consecutive defense of the WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania, and his second as Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. In main eventing both nights, Reigns set the record for most WrestleMania main event matches (nine). On the following SmackDown, WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H affirmed that the main event of Night 2 of WrestleMania XL would be Reigns defending the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Rhodes. On the February 12 episode of Raw, Rhodes claimed that it was because of the fans that he reversed his decision and decided to challenge Reigns. Rollins interrupted and stated that he understood Rhodes's decision and offered to be his backup due to Reigns always having his family in his corner. In response on that week's SmackDown, Rock officially joined The Bloodline and vowed that he would do everything in his power to ensure Rhodes did not finish his story. At Elimination Chamber on February 24, Rhodes challenged Rock to a one-on-one match at any time, and Rollins again asserted that he would be in Rhodes's corner in facing The Bloodline. On the following SmackDown, Rock rejected Rhodes's challenge and instead offered a counter: a tag team match featuring Rhodes and Rollins against Rock and Reigns in the main event of Night 1 of WrestleMania XL with an added stipulation that if Rhodes and Rollins won, then The Bloodline would be barred from ringside during the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match on Night 2; however, if Rock and Reigns won, then the championship match would be contested under The Bloodline's rules in which anything goes. Rhodes and Rollins appeared on the next week's episode where they accepted the challenge. Undercard matches At SummerSlam in July 2022, Bayley made her return from injury alongside Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky with the trio dubbing themselves Damage CTRL. Kairi Sane, who returned to WWE in November 2023 and who had previous issues with Bayley before her departure, forgave Bayley and joined with Damage CTRL, followed by Asuka joining the group, subsequently reuniting The Kabuki Warriors in the process. The group would attain success on SmackDown, including multiple WWE Women's Tag Team Championship reigns, as well as Sky winning the WWE Women's Championship. Bayley then won the 2024 women's Royal Rumble match, thus earning a women's championship match of her choice at WrestleMania XL. however, on the February 2 episode of SmackDown, after Bayley overheard Sky, Asuka, and Sane talking behind her back, Bayley revealed she understood Japanese and heard them making fun of her. Bayley was then kicked out of Damage CTRL after Asuka and Sane attacked her, turning face for the first time since 2019. After fighting off the rest of Damage CTRL, Bayley decided that she would challenge Sky for the WWE Women's Championship at WrestleMania XL. Concurrent to their feud with Bayley, Damage CTRL (Iyo Sky, Dakota Kai, Asuka, and Kairi Sane) were also feuding with Naomi and Bianca Belair. On the March 29 episode of SmackDown, following Belair's win over Kai, Damage CTRL engaged in a beatdown of Belair and Naomi. Jade Cargill, who was making her debut as an official roster member of the brand that night, made the save after weeks of teasing a feud with the faction. Later, it was announced that Cargill, Naomi, and Belair would face Damage CTRL (Kai, Asuka, and Sane) in a six-woman tag team match at WrestleMania XL Night 1. On the March 25 episode of Raw, it was announced that CM Punk, who had issues with both Rollins and McIntyre but had gotten legitimately injured at the Royal Rumble, would serve as a special guest commentator for the World Heavyweight Championship match. After several wrestlers declared their intentions to challenge Gunther for Raw's Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania XL, Raw General Manager Adam Pearce announced that a gauntlet match would be held on the March 11 episode of Raw with the winner facing Gunther for the title at WrestleMania. The gauntlet match was won by Sami Zayn, and the Intercontinental Championship match was later confirmed for Night 1. The two teams from SmackDown were determined by two tournament brackets, which were won by A-Town Down Under (Austin Theory and Grayson Waller) and New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate) on the March 29 episode of SmackDown. On the December 15, 2023, episode of SmackDown, AJ Styles made a return from injury and helped LA Knight in fending off The Bloodline, but then turned on Knight and attacked him with a steel chair. Styles later explained that he attacked Knight for taking his spot in a tag team match at Fastlane in October 2023, saying he "stepped over his dead body" to get ahead. Both then participated in a fatal four-way match for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble in January 2024, but were unsuccessful. which was later confirmed for Night 2. Jey then faced Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at SummerSlam that August, but Jimmy interfered and cost his brother the match. but was later reinstated as a member of the Raw roster. Despite being on different shows, Jimmy, who rejoined The Bloodline, would often appear on Raw and attack Jey or cost him matches. The two would also face off in the men's Royal Rumble match in January 2024 as the first two entrants. On the March 11 episode of Raw, fed up with his brother's actions, Jey challenged Jimmy to a match at WrestleMania XL, On the following episode of SmackDown, fellow LWO member Carlito accused Escobar of intentionally leaving the brass knuckles on the ring apron. Later that night, Escobar attacked Rey as he was checking on Carlito, injuring Rey's left knee and striking it with steel steps, turning heel and defecting from the LWO. One week later, Escobar and his Legado Del Fantasma stablemates thanked Dominik for his actions. Rey interrupted, introduced Dragon Lee as the newest member of the LWO, and Rey and Lee subsequently challenged Escobar and Dominik to a tag team match at WrestleMania XL, which was made official for Night 1. The two groups would continue feuding over the next couple of months and on the March 29 episode of SmackDown, The Final Testament attacked Lashley and B-Fab backstage, causing a distraction that cost The Street Profits (Dawkins and Ford) their tournament final match to qualify for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship match at WrestleMania XL. CM Punk, who after nearly 10 years made his return to WWE at Survivor Series: WarGames in November 2023, legitimately tore his right triceps during the men's Royal Rumble match. It was reported that his planned WrestleMania XL match was to challenge Seth "Freakin" Rollins for Raw's World Heavyweight Championship, but due to his injury, plans were changed. ==Event==

Night 1 Preliminary matches WrestleMania Saturday began with WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H welcoming and hyping up the fans for the event. In the first match, Rhea Ripley defended the Women World's Championship against Becky Lynch. During the match, Lynch performed a leg drop on Ripley, sending her out of the ring and a Beck-sploder on Ripley at ringside. Lynch applied the Dis-arm-her on Ripley, who escaped by performing three sit-out powerbombs on Lynch for a nearfall. Lynch attempted another leg drop on Ripley, who countered into a Prison Trap submission maneuver, however, Lynch escaped. As Ripley attempted the Riptide, Lynch countered into a Manhandle Slam on Ripley for a nearfall. Ripley performed a Riptide on Lynch for a nearfall. Lynch applied the Dis-Arm-Her on Ripley, which sent both of the ring and Ripley a powerbomb on Lynch to escape. Ripley performed a frog splash on Lynch for a near fall. In the closing moments, as Lynch attempted a second Manhandle Slam, Ripley countered and performed two Riptides on Lynch to retain the title. In the first match, Seth "Freakin" Rollins defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Drew McIntyre, with CM Punk as a special guest commentator. Immediately at the beginning of the match, McIntyre performed the Claymore Kick on Rollins for a nearfall. Outside the ring, McIntyre grabbed his cellphone and took a selfie with his wife, then took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and posted "Bored at work. LOL!". Following this, Rollins performed the Pedigree on McIntyre. The latter beat the count, but as he went back into the ring, Rollins immediately performed the Stomp for a nearfall. McIntyre turned his attention to Punk and mocked him by signaling for his finisher, the GTS, but Rollins countered into an inside cradle for a nearfall. McIntyre then performed another Claymore Kick on Rollins for a nearfall. In the climax, as Rollins kicked out of another Claymore Kick, McIntyre hit him with the maneuver again and pinned him to finally win a WWE world title in front of a live crowd. After the match, McIntyre let his wife hold the title, then walked over to the announce table to mock Punk, telling him not to come back, or he would end his career. After McIntyre did a crotch chop, Punk stood up and tripped McIntyre. Punk then removed the brace from his arm and hit McIntyre with it. 2023 Men's Money in the Bank winner Damian Priest then ran out to the ring with his briefcase, attacked McIntyre with it, and cashed in the contract. Priest immediately performed the South of Heaven on McIntyre and pinned him to win the title. This made him the first WWE world champion of Puerto Rican descent in over fifty years and only the second WWE world champion of Puerto Rican descent after Pedro Morales. This also made him the second person to cash in his briefcase at WrestleMania (after Rollins at WrestleMania 31 in 2015). McIntyre's reign lasted five minutes and 46 seconds. Next, The Pride (Bobby Lashley, Angelo Dawkins, and Montez Ford, accompanied by B-Fab) faced The Final Testament (Karrion Kross, Akam, and Rezar, accompanied by Scarlett and Paul Ellering) in a Philadelphia Street Fight match. WWE Hall of Famer and rapper Snoop Dogg was the special guest commentator for the match, and WWE Hall of Famer Bubba Ray Dudley was introduced as the special guest referee. In the end, Kross bickered with Dudley and shoved him. Dudley then pulled out his Hansen Brothers glasses and put them on and then signaled to "Get The Tables". Ford and Dawkins grabbed a table and set it up inside the ring. Ford then performed a Frog Splash on Kross through the table. Lashley then pinned Kross to win the match. After the match, Snoop Dogg joined The Pride and Dudley inside the ring and celebrated with them. After that, LA Knight faced AJ Styles. Before the match began, Knight and Styles ensued in a brawl. As Knight went for a superplex, Styles slipped under him and tripped him, causing Knight's head to hit the top turnbuckle pad. In the climax, Styles attempted the Phenomenal Forearm on Knight, who countered and performed the Blunt Force Trauma on Styles and pinned him to win his WrestleMania debut. In the next match, Logan Paul (accompanied by the Prime energy drink mascot) defended the United States Championship against Randy Orton and Kevin Owens. Throughout the match, Orton and Owens double-teamed Paul. As Orton and Owens attempted to pin Paul, both men traded punches to each other, giving Paul the opportunity to roll outside. Owens attempted the Stunner on Orton, only for the latter to counter into the RKO for a nearfall. Paul then hit Orton with his brass knuckles for a nearfall. Orton set up for the Punt Kick, but the Prime mascot pulled Paul outside the ring and revealed himself as IShowSpeed. Orton then performed the RKO on IShowSpeed through the announce table. Back in the ring, Orton countered Owens' Pop-Up Powerbomb attempt into the RKO. Paul then threw Orton out of the ring and performed the Frog Splash on Owens and pinned him to retain the title. became a two-time WWE Women's Champion by defeating Iyo Sky.|240x240px In the penultimate match, Iyo Sky defended the WWE Women's Championship against Bayley. During the match, Sky performed two consecutive bridge suplexes on Bayley for a nearfall. Sky applied the STF and transitioned into a crossface, in which Bayley escaped and performed the Bayley to Belly on Sky for a nearfall. Sky performed an Over The Moonsault, but Bayley kicked out. After hitting Sky with an elbow drop, Bayley performed the Rose Plant and pinned Sky to win the title for a second time. Main event In the main event of Night 2, Roman Reigns (accompanied by Paul Heyman) defended the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in a Bloodline Rules match against Cody Rhodes. During the match, Reigns and Rhodes fought into the crowd, where Rhodes suplexed Reigns on a table. Back in the ring, Reigns performed a back suplex and a fisherman's suplex on Rhodes for nearfalls. Outside the ring, Reigns performed a low blow on Rhodes before powerbombing him through an announce table. The two continued to fight back in the ring, where Rhodes performed the Cross Rhodes on Reigns, but as he attempted a second, Jimmy Uso attacked Rhodes. However, Jey Uso ran in. The two fought up the entrance ramp and Jey speared Jimmy off the ramp through tables. Reigns applied the guillotine choke, but Rhodes forced himself and Reigns out of the ring, where Rhodes speared Reigns through the barricade. Much like the previous year's WrestleMania, Rhodes performed the Cross Rhodes on Reigns twice, only for Solo Sikoa to appear and perform a Samoan Spike on Rhodes just before the third attempt. finished his story by dethroning Roman Reigns and winning the Undisputed WWE Championship for the first time in his career.|275x275px celebrating his title win with family and friends. However, even after a Samoan Spike/Spear combination by Sikoa and Reigns, Rhodes kicked out. John Cena, who had his own issues with The Bloodline, then ran down and hit Attitude Adjustments on both Sikoa and Reigns (the one on Sikoa being through the announce table). The Rock appeared and after a stare-down with his old rival, performed a Rock Bottom on Cena. The Shield's music hit, and Seth "Freakin" Rollins, who was wearing the stable's old gear, arrived with a chair, but before he could hit Rock with it, he was taken out by Reigns with a Superman Punch. Rock was about to attack Rhodes with the weight belt, but The Undertaker then appeared and took out Rock with a chokeslam. With chaos unfolding around the ring, Reigns had the opportunity to take out Rhodes with a chair, but instead decided to hit Rollins in the back with the chair (as deliberate revenge for Rollins betraying Reigns in the same way that caused the Shield's breakup 10 years prior) before throwing it away. Reigns attempted to spear Rhodes, but Rhodes countered the move and hit three successive Cross Rhodes and then pinned Reigns to finish his story of becoming WWE Champion, and also ending Reigns' 1,316 day reign as Universal Champion and 735 day reign as WWE Champion, respectively, the fourth and seventh longest world championship reigns in WWE history. After the match, Rhodes celebrated with many main roster wrestlers and WWE legends, as well as his family, and Brodie Lee Jr. ==Reception==

WrestleMania XL had an attendance of 60,036 for Night 1 and 60,203 for Night 2. and 72,755 respectively. Variety reported that the event was the most-streamed "entertainment event" ever on Peacock, viewed for 1.3 billion minutes over the weekend of April 6–7. The Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match between Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes was universally praised. Wade Keller of Pro Wrestling Torch called it "a mega-spectacle of a match", stating that the only downfall was that the near falls before the slew of interferences occurred "didn't really resonate as possible finishes since the Bloodline Rules advantage hadn't come into play yet", but "once it did, it delivered huge pops". Keller stated that he "loved the idea of other top babyfaces celebrating with Cody, as Dusty Rhodes did that when he won NWA World Titles". Chris Mueller of Bleacher Report and Brent Brookhouse of CBS Sports called it "overbooked in the best way". Brookhouse stated that there was a "plodding" beginning because "everyone knew the mess of interference" from The Bloodline would be coming, and that "Rhodes getting help from Jey Uso, Cena, Rollins and Undertaker was the kind of wild mess that only makes sense at WrestleMania". Philip Sledge of Cinemablend described the match, and the appearances by The Rock, John Cena, and The Undertaker, as being WWE's "Avengers: Endgame moment". John Canton of TJR Wrestling rated the Reigns-Rhodes match stars out of 5, calling it "a lot of fun to watch in person", and praising the chemistry between Reigns and Rhodes, the booking of the match, and the finish, stating that it was "main event WWE pro wrestling at its best". He rated the event as a whole an out of 10, giving the first night an and the second an , whilst calling the show "one of the best WrestleManias of all time". Writing for the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, for Night One, Dave Meltzer rated the Women's World Championship match a score of stars out of five, the Six-Pack Tag Team Ladder Match stars, the Mysterio-Escobar led tag team match stars, the Jey Uso-Jimmy Uso bout three-quarters of a star (the lowest score of the event), the six-woman tag team match two stars, the Intercontinental Championship match stars, and the main event receiving 4 stars. For Night Two, he gave the World Heavyweight Championship match between Rollins and McIntyre stars, the Philadelphia Street Fight stars, the LA Knight-AJ Styles match stars, the United States Championship Triple Threat match stars, the WWE Women's Championship match stars, and the Bloodline Rules main event between Reigns and Rhodes stars (the highest score of the event). ==Aftermath==

Raw as the World Heavyweight Champion after WrestleMania XL. Cody Rhodes, now recognized as the Undisputed WWE Champion, opened the post-WrestleMania episode of Raw, where he talked about his win. The Rock interrupted and congratulated Rhodes on winning the title before the two exchanged holding the others' titles. Rhodes then announced that Rock was his boss and the two teased a future match between each other. At Elimination Chamber: Toronto on March 1, Rhodes rejected Rock's offer, which then prompted John Cena, who had just won the Elimination Chamber match to earn a title shot against Rhodes at WrestleMania 41, to attack Rhodes and turn heel for the first time since 2003. On Night 2 of the event on April 20, Rhodes lost the title to Cena via interference from his ally, Travis Scott, and a low blow from Cena, ending his reign at 378 days. After WrestleMania XL, Seth "Freakin" Rollins was out of action with a knee injury. He returned on the June 17 episode of Raw, stating his intentions to reclaim the World Heavyweight Championship. Rollins was about to announce his participation in the Money in the Bank ladder match when Damian Priest interrupted. He said that out of respect, he had actually wanted to cash-in on Rollins at WrestleMania, and both noted their similarities on their first world title wins being Money in the Bank cash-ins at WrestleMania, with Rollins's occurring at WrestleMania 31 in March 2015. Priest then challenged Rollins to a match at Money in the Bank with the title on the line and Rollins accepted. At the event, Priest retained by pinning Drew McIntyre (who cashed-in his Money in the Bank contract, which he had won earlier that night, while the match was in progress) after McIntyre was attacked by CM Punk, which in turn meant that Rollins failed to regain the title. On the same episode, Giovanni Vinci (who would later be drafted to SmackDown) was kicked out of Imperium by Ludwig Kaiser, who had assaulted him after their scheduled match; afterward, Kaiser was fined. At the aftermath of the next week's Raw show, Gunther accepted Kaiser kicking out Vinci. After Kaiser and Gunther were kept on Raw during the 2024 WWE Draft, it was announced that Gunther would face off against a returning Sheamus in the first round of the King of the Ring tournament. On the May 6 episode, Gunther defeated Sheamus in what Sheamus deemed the last match between them. The next week, he defeated Kofi Kingston in a quarterfinal bout, then defeated Jey Uso in the semifinals on May 20, and finally Randy Orton in the finals at the King and Queen of the Ring event, albeit controversially, after Orton had a shoulder up during the match's ending crucifix pinfall, to win the tournament, earning a World Heavyweight Championship match at that year's SummerSlam event. On the July 15 episode of Raw, leading up to the match against then-champion Damian Priest, Gunther would prefer into Priest's personal life by referring to Priest (and later the entirety of The Judgment Day on the next week's episode of Raw) as "street trash", and stating that he had been "begged" to be signed by WWE. In the same segment on Raw, Priest would refer to Gunther as "boring", "conceited" and "privileged". At the event on August 3, Gunther defeated Priest to win the World Heavyweight Championship for the first time in his career, notably after interference from Judgment Day member Finn Bálor who costed Priest the match, leading to Priest being kicked out of The Judgment Day. Since winning the Intercontinental Championship, Sami Zayn then gave Chad Gable a title shot on the April 15 episode of Raw as a token of gratitude for assisting him in defeating Gunther, where Zayn successfully defended the title. As he was celebrating with his wife at ringside after the match, Gable would attack him in front of his wife, turning heel in the process. On the April 29 episode, Zayn defended his title against Bronson Reed, which he won by disqualification after Gable attacked him. One week later, Zayn attacked Gable during his match with Reed, causing another disqualification. Later that night, Zayn announced that he would defend his title against Gable and Reed in a triple threat match at King and Queen of the Ring, At Clash at the Castle, Zayn defeated Gable to retain the title, ending their feud. before losing to Breakker at SummerSlam. and the third and final match at Bad Blood in October, where Punk defeated McIntyre inside Hell in a Cell. Women's World Champion Rhea Ripley was attacked backstage by Liv Morgan After that, Lynch would take an extended hiatus from wrestling. Ripley would return on the July 8 episode of Raw to confront Morgan, which set up a match for the championship at SummerSlam. Morgan would retain the title after "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio betrayed Ripley, Morgan and Ripley would feud until the Raw debut episode on Netflix on January 6, 2025, where Ripley defeated Morgan to regain the title. The following week, Awesome Truth (R-Truth and The Miz) defeated #DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) to retain the title. Miz would turn on R-Truth on the September 30 episode of Raw, ending their stint as a tag team. SmackDown as the Undisputed WWE Champion after WrestleMania XL. After Roman Reigns lost the Undisputed WWE Championship, he went on a hiatus and Solo Sikoa, the group's enforcer, became the de facto leader of The Bloodline. The formation was changed on the April 12 episode of SmackDown, when Jimmy Uso was kicked out of the group and recruited Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa (formerly Camacho), and Jacob Fatu as the new members of the stable. At Backlash, Sikoa teamed up with Tama to defeat Randy Orton and Kevin Owens with the help of the returning Tonga Loa. After beginning a feud with Cody Rhodes at Clash at the Castle: Scotland, Sikoa along with Tama and Fatu defeated Rhodes, Orton, and Owens at Money in the Bank in a six-man tag team match with Sikoa pinning Rhodes. In the main event of the August 2 episode of SmackDown, the night before SummerSlam, Fatu and Tama defeated #DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) to win the WWE Tag Team Championship. At the event on August 3, Sikoa failed to win the title from Rhodes in a Bloodline Rules match after interference from the returning Reigns. The rivalry between the two iterations of The Bloodline continued until Survivor Series: WarGames, where Reigns's Bloodline defeated Sikoa's Bloodline; although the feud between Sikoa and Reigns culminated in a Tribal Combat on the Raw debut episode on Netflix where Reigns defeated Sikoa, reclaiming the Tribal Chief title and the Ula Fala. After Sikoa's defeat, the group stopped using "The Bloodline" name on-air when his faction was renamed to "MFT" (as is "My Family Tree") following the additions of JC Mateo and Talla Tonga and the exit of Fatu in mid-2025. During this time, LA Knight and AJ Styles won their respective triple threat matches to face each other in a WrestleMania rematch to determine Cody Rhodes' challenger for the Undisputed WWE Championship at Backlash France, This led to an "I Quit" match between the two for the title at Clash at the Castle: Scotland, where Rhodes retained once again. At SummerSlam on August 3, Bayley lost the title to Queen of the Ring winner Nia Jax, ending her reign at 118 days. At the event, Belair and Cargill defeated Asuka and Sane to win the titles. On the May 10 episode of SmackDown, SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis announced that Logan Paul would be the next opponent against Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and a Champion vs. Champion match was scheduled for King and Queen of the Ring. On the following episode, during the contract signing for the match, the contract stated that the match would be for both titles. However, when Paul was about to sign the contract, he tore it up, before bringing out his own contract, which stated that only Rhodes' title would be on the line. After Paul mocked Rhodes, he signed the contract, confirming that the match would only be for Rhodes' title. At the event on May 25, Paul failed to win the title from Rhodes after interference from special guest ring announcer Ibrahim Al Hajjaj. At SummerSlam on August 3, Paul lost the title to LA Knight, ending his reign at 273 days. ==Results==

Six-Pack Tag Team Ladder Match SmackDown Qualifier Tournament ==Notes==