WrestleMania 35

Background in East Rutherford, New Jersey. 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 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". 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. Announced on March 15, 2018, WrestleMania 35 was scheduled to be held on April 7, 2019, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, near New York City. It featured wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brands. It was the fourth WrestleMania to be held in the state of New Jersey (after IV, V, and 29) and the sixth in the New York metropolitan area (after I, 2, X, XX, and 29). There were two official theme songs for the event: "Love Runs Out" by OneRepublic, which served as the main theme, and "Work" by Chris Classic, which served as a secondary theme. There was also a theme song for the main event, "White Flag" by Bishop Briggs. On November 5, 2018, traveling packages for the event were sold while tickets went on sale on November 16, 2018. On the March 11 episode of Raw, current wrestler Alexa Bliss was revealed as the host of WrestleMania 35. On the following episode, Elias announced that he would have a musical performance at the event. Multiple celebrities took part in the event. On the March 4 episode of Raw, Colin Jost and Michael Che of Saturday Night Live were introduced as special correspondents for the event, and were later entered into the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Joan Jett performed her song "Bad Reputation" live for Ronda Rousey's ring entrance. Gospel music star and syndicated radio host Yolanda Adams performed "America the Beautiful" to begin the main show. Storylines The event comprised 16 matches, including four on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw, SmackDown Live, and the cruiserweight-exclusive 205 Live. Main event match won the 2019 Women's Royal Rumble match and chose to face Ronda Rousey for the Raw Women's Championship at WrestleMania 35. She was replaced by Charlotte Flair, but found her way back into the match, which became Winner Takes All after Flair won the SmackDown Women's Championship. At SummerSlam, Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair were involved in a triple threat match for the SmackDown Women's Championship against defending champion Carmella, which Flair won. Afterwards, Lynch attacked Flair, ending their friendship. Lynch defeated Flair for the championship at Hell in a Cell and successfully defended her title against Flair in a Last Woman Standing Match at the inaugural all women's pay-per-view Evolution. At Survivor Series, Lynch was originally scheduled to face Raw's Ronda Rousey in a non-title match, but was replaced by Flair due to a legit injury; during the match, Flair brutally attacked Rousey with weapons. Rousey then interfered in a tables, ladders, and chairs championship match between Lynch, Flair, and Asuka at the namesake event, costing both Lynch and Flair the match. Lynch failed to regain the title at the Royal Rumble, but won the women's Royal Rumble match by last eliminating Flair, despite injuring her own knee, and chose to face Rousey for the Raw Women's Championship at WrestleMania. Lynch was then suspended for refusing a medical examination on her knee. After getting medically cleared, however, Vince McMahon suspended her again and introduced Flair as Rousey's WrestleMania opponent. Over the following weeks, Lynch continued to violate her suspension and attacked both Rousey and Flair until the suspension was lifted. At Fastlane, Lynch defeated Flair by disqualification when Rousey attacked Lynch. Per the stipulation, Lynch was added back into the championship match at WrestleMania to make it a triple threat match. After Flair defeated Asuka for the SmackDown Women's Championship, the WrestleMania match was made Winner Takes All with both titles on the line. The match was also confirmed as the first-ever women's match to main event WrestleMania. On the April 1 episode of Raw, Rousey, Lynch, and Flair won a six-woman tag team match; the first person to betray the other would have been removed from the match. After the match, all three brawled, even while handcuffed, and were taken out by police. On the February 12 episode of SmackDown, Kofi Kingston replaced an injured Mustafa Ali in a gauntlet match to determine who would enter last in the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber; during the bout, Kingston pinned Bryan in the first part of the gauntlet. At the event, Bryan retained the title by last eliminating Kingston. however, Vince McMahon replaced Kingston with the returning Kevin Owens. On the SmackDown following Fastlane, The New Day (Big E, Kingston, and Xavier Woods) confronted Mr. McMahon for tricking Kingston into believing that he was added back into the title match at Fastlane. Mr. McMahon decided that if Kingston won a gauntlet match, he would receive a WWE Championship match against Bryan at WrestleMania. On the March 26 episode, The New Day teased leaving WWE and once again confronted Mr. McMahon, who decided that Kingston would in fact receive the championship match if Big E and Woods won a tag team gauntlet match, which they subsequently did. Kingston stated that after he won the title, he would restore the WWE Planet's Championship as the WWE Championship. Batista then attacked fellow Evolution member Ric Flair before the latter's 70th birthday celebration on the February 25, 2019, episode of Raw, seeking Triple H's attention. Batista demanded a final match against Triple H at WrestleMania; Triple H accepted and made the stipulation a No Holds Barred match. and demanded that Triple H put his career on the line and Triple H agreed. had his farewell match at WrestleMania 35 against Baron Corbin.|left On the March 11 episode of Raw, WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle began his farewell tour, culminating with his farewell match at WrestleMania. Following this, The Miz and Shane formed a tag team. They won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at the Royal Rumble, After failing to recapture the titles at Fastlane, Shane attacked Miz and Miz's father, who was seated in the front row. The following week, Miz challenged Shane to make their match falls count anywhere and Shane agreed. returned on the February 25, 2019, episode of Raw and stated that his leukemia was in remission. At Elimination Chamber, Finn Bálor defeated Bobby Lashley and Lio Rush in a handicap match to win Lashley's Intercontinental Championship. Pre-show matches On the February 19 episode of 205 Live, General Manager Drake Maverick scheduled an eight-man tournament with the winner facing Buddy Murphy for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship on the WrestleMania 35 Kickoff pre-show. Over the next few weeks, Tony Nese, Drew Gulak, Oney Lorcan, Cedric Alexander, Kalisto, The Brian Kendrick, Humberto Carrillo, and Akira Tozawa competed in the tournament, which was won by Nese. On the March 4 episode of Raw, Braun Strowman was confronted backstage by Saturday Night Lives Colin Jost and Michael Che; Jost questioned the legitimacy of professional wrestling, resulting in Strowman choke lifting him. The following week, Che and Jost apologized and gifted a brand new car to Strowman only for Strowman to dismantle the car. On the March 25 episode, Strowman challenged Jost to join him in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Che agreed on Jost's behalf, who in turn agreed that Che would also participate. == Event ==

Pre-show Four matches were contested on the two-hour WrestleMania 35 Kickoff pre-show. In the first match, Buddy Murphy defended the WWE Cruiserweight Championship against Tony Nese. In the end, Nese performed a "Running Kneese" on Murphy, who was seated in the corner, to win the title. After that, Baron Corbin faced Kurt Angle in Angle's farewell match. During the match, Corbin performed a Deep Six on Angle for a nearfall. Angle applied an Ankle lock, but Corbin was able to escape and send Angle into a turnbuckle. In the closing moments, Angle performed three German Suplexes and went for a moonsault, but Corbin moved out of the way and performed the "End of Days" on Angle to win the match. Following the match, Angle delivered a short retirement speech, thanking the fans. In the penultimate match, Bobby Lashley (accompanied by Lio Rush) defended the Intercontinental Championship against Finn Bálor in his "Demon" persona. Lashley performed a spear on Bálor through the ropes and then again in the ring for a near-fall. In the climax, Bálor performed a powerbomb and the "Coup de Grâce" on Lashley to regain the title for a second time. Main event defeated Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair in the main event to become Raw and SmackDown Women's Champion. The main event was the first women's main event match in WrestleMania history; Becky Lynch faced Raw Women's Champion Ronda Rousey and SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair in a Winner Takes All triple threat match for both titles. Rousey dominated the start of the match. This continued until Flair and Lynch lifted Rousey over the top rope. While Rousey was still applying an armbar on Flair, Lynch kicked her off, causing her to have a hard landing. Flair and Lynch exchanged blows until Rousey broke it up. After a pinning attempt by Flair on Rousey resulted in a nearfall, Flair countered an armbar attempt by Rousey into a Boston Crab, but Lynch performed a bulldog on Flair. Lynch then performed DDTs on Flair and Rousey simultaneously for nearfalls. Lynch then performed an Exploder suplex on Flair from the middle rope for a nearfall. Lynch and Flair then performed three powerbombs on Rousey. Flair threw Lynch out and covered Rousey for a nearfall. Lynch then applied the Dis-arm-her on Rousey, who made it to the ring ropes, but Lynch still kept the submission applied. Flair then performed a Spanish Fly on Lynch for a nearfall. Flair then applied the figure-four leglock on Rousey around the ring post. Flair then sent Lynch into the ringside barricade. Rousey countered a figure-four attempt by Flair into a roll-up for a nearfall. Flair locked in the "Figure-Eight Leglock" on Rousey, only for Lynch to break up the hold. Lynch then retrieved a table, but Rousey tossed it away. Flair then performed a Spear on Lynch and Rousey at the same time, but it resulted in nearfalls. In the closing moments, Flair performed another Spear on Lynch for a nearfall. Flair went for the same move, but Lynch and Rousey put Flair through a table. Lynch and Rousey then went after each other, and Rousey got the upper hand. Rousey then performed the "Piper's Pit" on Lynch, who countered into a crucifix – Rousey's first pinfall loss – to win both the Raw and SmackDown Women's Championships—her first Raw Women's Championship and record-tying third SmackDown Women's Championship. The match began after midnight Eastern Time, thus Lynch won the match on April 8. == Reception ==

The event received fairly positive reviews from critics and viewers alike. Much criticism, however, was drawn towards the overall runtime of the event. Including the pre-show, the event clocked in at 7.5 hours, making it the longest pay-per-view the company ever produced prior to the introduction of two-night WrestleManias. Brian Campbell of CBS Sports directed praise towards the WWE Championship match between Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston, saying "After 11 long years, there is no trouble at all for Kingston, only paradise. The WWE veteran and one-third of The New Day pulled off an inspiring victory for the ages to cap off an amazing bit of storytelling following an unlikely and organic bid. Crowning Kingston as just the second male African-American WWE champion in the promotion's history certainly wasn't on the books as recently as two months ago but the combination of Kingston's in-ring performances and the undying support of the crowd made it the right thing to do". He also directed praise towards the Falls Count Anywhere match between Shane McMahon and The Miz, saying "As far as car wrecks go, this one was an artistic masterpiece. Not only did The Miz bring enough hatred and aggression to match the angle of protecting his father from McMahon, the creative use of the stadium for the match stipulation turned out to be brilliant". Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer stated that the main event was "good", but the controversial way the match ended lead him to believe "that Rousey will be back for at least another show because Corey Graves was pointing out how this wasn't the way he'd want WrestleMania to end." He noted that the Styles-Orton match wasn't "as good as you'd expect from these two", calling it a "slow deliberate match" that "never reached a fever pitch." However, Meltzer loved the Kingston-Bryan match, calling it a great match stating, "this blew away everything" at that point. He also liked the Rollins-Lesnar match stating that, despite its short length, "this tore down the house with the quick all big moves match like a Lesnar-Goldberg style." Meltzer felt the SmackDown Tag Team Championship match "could have been a classic if given more time", praising the Cesaro Swing to Ricochet, the tower of doom superplex spot and the Double Superfly splash in the end. Meltzer also felt the Reigns-McIntyre match "wasn't much" and that it was McIntyre doing most of the heavy work. He also stated that "Reigns looked tons better at Fastlane". Joshua Needelman of The Washington Post said the fans "got the result they wanted" for the main event match, but stated that the ending "felt anticlimactic. It was Rousey's first time being pinned in WWE, yes, but it was hardly a definitive pin". Needleman noted in the Kingston-Bryan match that the crowd "exploded, bouncing up and down in their seats, as Big E and Xavier Woods...stormed the ring to celebrate". He also felt that Ric Flair's interference in the Triple H-Batista match felt "poetic, given the beef started when Batista beat up Flair on the legend's 70th birthday". Needelman praised the superplex spot at the end of the Miz-McMahon match, stating it "was a shocking moment, one made for highlight reels". He gave special praise to Ricochet in the SmackDown Tag Team Championship match stating that "Ricochet provided an array of jaw-dropping moves in the short match". He stated that the Styles-Orton match was "a true clash of wrestling personalities" and that both men "delivered an entertaining match that was slow early but picked up as the action wore on". Wade Keller of Pro Wrestling Torch called the main event "a hell of a match" claiming it had "great pacing throughout" and was "non-stop drama". He stated the Universal Championship match was "not much of a match at all, which is always disappointing". He also stated that the crowd cheered, not really for the match, but rather for the "end of the Universal Title being around the waist of someone who they have been swayed to believe doesn't want to be there". Keller felt that the SmackDown Tag Team Championship match had "lots of action", but concluded that with that many wrestlers, "it's more about the spots than telling a usual story". Keller also loved the Kingston–Bryan match calling it "straight forward, with the heel getting a sustained beatdown and eventually the babyface scoring a clean win with a finishing move". Keller noted that there was a lot of indifference from the crowd during Reigns–McIntyre match and that it was "paced in a way that reenforced that indifference". He concluded that the match "did nothing to get fans who weren't really excited about Roman any more excited that this is some new chapter for him". == Aftermath ==

Raw The following night on Raw, new Raw and SmackDown Women's Champion Becky Lynch thanked the fans for their support and warned Ronda Rousey that she would be waiting for a rematch when Rousey returned from her post-WrestleMania hiatus. Lynch was subsequently attacked by Lacey Evans, who was drafted to Raw during the Superstar Shake-up and defeated Natalya to become the number one contender for the Raw Women's Championship at Money in the Bank. Charlotte Flair also earned a rematch for the SmackDown Women's Championship at the same event by defeating new SmackDown draftee Bayley. New Universal Champion Seth Rollins proclaimed that, unlike Brock Lesnar, he would be a fighting champion. He was then interrupted by The New Day; new WWE Champion Kofi Kingston challenged Rollins to a "Winner Takes All" match that Rollins accepted, but the match ended in disqualification when The Bar (Sheamus and Cesaro) attacked Kingston. This led to a tag team match where Rollins and Kingston defeated The Bar. while Kevin Owens began a feud with Kingston, leading to a WWE Championship match at the same event. Before Money in the Bank, former WWE Champion Daniel Bryan received a rematch for the title on the May 6 episode of Raw, but was unsuccessful in regaining the title–although the two were SmackDown wrestlers, Vince McMahon introduced a "wild card rule" allowing up to four wrestlers to appear on the opposing brand's show by invitation going forward. At Money in the Bank, Brock Lesnar was a surprise entrant in the men's Money in the Bank ladder match at the titular event, and won the match. He then successfully cashed in his contract on Seth Rollins at Extreme Rules to win the Universal Championship for a third time. This led to one more rematch at SummerSlam, where Rollins was victorious. Baron Corbin boasted about defeating Kurt Angle, who interrupted him. Angle feigned to wish Corbin luck and then performed the Angle Slam and an Ankle Lock on Corbin. NXT's Lars Sullivan then made his main roster debut and attacked Angle. SmackDown's Ali (formerly Mustafa Ali), Andrade, Randy Orton, and new draftee Finn Bálor were also entered into the ladder match. Elias was then transferred to SmackDown in the Superstar Shake-up, along with Roman Reigns, and the two began a feud leading to a match at Money in the Bank. WrestleMania 35 host Alexa Bliss taunted The Boss 'n' Hug Connection for losing their WWE Women's Tag Team Championship and claimed she could defeat either of them and proceeded to defeat Bayley on Raw. On Raw during the Superstar Shake-up, as Sasha Banks was absent, Bayley teamed with new Raw draftee Naomi and defeated the champions in a non-title match. Murphy was then transferred to SmackDown during the Superstar Shake-up. NJ Transit had expected from 8,000 to 13,000 riders; instead 33,000 headed for the trains after the event. NJ Transit officials blamed WWE for not telling them until the event had run later than scheduled that it would end after 10:30; some fans agreed with the railroad, recalling that WrestleMania 29 (the last WrestleMania held at MetLife Stadium) had ended around 10p.m. and there were no problems with the trains. WWE officials responded that they do not plan specific ending times. The failure drew comparisons to similar rail delays that accompanied Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium in 2014, which had attracted almost the same number of fans to the Meadowlands. New Jersey elected officials dismissed the transit agency's response. Upon hearing that NJ Transit had not adequately explained the reason for the delays to the waiting fans, Governor Phil Murphy, who has made a priority of reforming the agency, called that "completely, utterly, dog-ate-my-homework unacceptable." State senator Paul Sarlo of nearby Wood-Ridge, who chairs that body's Budget and Appropriations committee, said the delays hurt the state's reputation. "It sends a bad message that imperils our ability to attract and retain the sports and entertainment events that deliver economic benefits." He suggested that the state could alleviate these problems in the future by completing the loop intended to take event attendees from Secaucus Junction to the Meadowlands; currently trains that take the spur from the Pascack Valley Line to the Meadowlands station must back out of it since the line ends there, causing delays when passenger volume is high. == Results ==

WWE Cruiserweight Championship #1 Contender's Tournament == References ==