The opening video for tomorrow’s WrestleMania has been revealed. Starring NCIS: Los Angeles actor and rapper LL Cool J, the opening pays homage to Silicon Valley and how mediums have changed apart from one thing: Us.
The video starts with footage of radios, to televisions, to old computers, and the Internet with LL Cool J narrating the story. Footage of clips from previous WrestleManias then play with Hogan/Andre to Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 12, to Rock vs Hogan, Rock vs Cena.
“Tonight, these men, these women, these athletes, these larger than life Superstars, will take the biggest stage in live entertainment,” LL Cool J says as images of the participants in this year’s WrestleMania show on screen as he walks towards the camera.
He continues, “Once again inspire us, move us, shape us, they will, connect us. Tonight, the world will be watching. This is WrestleMania.”
It’s a fantastic opening accompanied by some amazing visual effects, music, lights, and a great narration. You can see it below.
Saturday Night Live will be rocking tonight as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson hosts the show for the fourth time in his career on the eve of WrestleMania.
Johnson is fronting episode 16 of season 40, and have already hosted episode 17 of season 35 in 2009, episode 17 of season 27 in 2002, and episode 15 of season 25 in 2000.
The Rock has been posting photos on his Instagram of SNL rehearsals and noted today that he woke up at 4AM to sing and wake up hotel guests. Johnson has famously portrayed the character of The Rock Obama on SNL in the past.
The show kicks off live at 11:30PM EST on NBC. So that means he won’t be at WrestleMania tomorrow, right? Well, the former WWE World Heavyweight champion does have a private jet that can take him anywhere he wants whenever he wants and over the past few weeks he has dropped hints that he might appear on the show.
Stephanie McMahon streamed 40 minutes of the NXT live event in San Jose yesterday from her cell phone using the Meerkat app, which seems to be the “new” thing where everyone can stream live online using a simple app.
Steph was not at ringside so you won’t get to see the best view in the house but she was in the back along with other WWE officials and Triple H, who at one point when she turned the camera around to show “the man who made it happen,” Triple H says, “Developmental my ass!”
The video, which has been uploaded on YouTube, is great to see for crowd reaction, especially the entrance of WWE Diva-in-training Bailey, who received a tremendous pop being the hometown girl. Now that is something to look at, Tracfone phones displaying the video received mixed reactions from the users. All throughout social media, fans made noise. Even big names were involved with the livestream.
Speaking of NXT, a fan on Instagram posted a video of himself and a friend in a car with Scott Hall going to NXT. The fan said that the two of them were waiting for a cab to go to the NXT show and Hall, who was being driven in a car, saw them and stopped and gave them a ride to the San Jose State University where the show was being held.
“Can’t believe that just happened. It’s just too sweeet,” he wrote accompanied by another in-car selfie of all three of them.
Speaking to SFWeekly.com, former WWE World Heavyweight champion Daniel Bryan said that not main eventing WrestleMania this year was his “own personal failure,” but thanked fans for sticking with him because he’s not someone that WWE sees and says “Hey, this should be the top guy.”
Bryan said that if people didn’t do what they did last year, he would not have been in the main event of WrestleMania XXX. “In my situation, where I’m no John Cena, I’m no Roman Reigns, and no Randy Orton I need that help,” Bryan said. The fact that fans are chanting his name during Roman Reigns promos has not escalated the tensions between the two and Bryan remarked that Roman and him get along really well and he’s a great human being.
When asked if he’s hesitant about participating in the ladder match after all the injuries he suffered last year, Bryan said he’s not, but he is a little nervous thinking about it.
“Coming back I didn’t know how strong my neck was. I can do all the tests. I can go in to the performance center in Orlando and take a couple bumps, my neck holds up. Then a match at the performance center, my neck holds up. OK, now let’s see a live event — it held up. You just keep going into deeper water testing how much it will hold up,” he said.
The former champ also talked about his recovery and the method he chose, a method which raised eyebrows about how effective it will be in the long run. He said he’s only had two treatments – two straight hours of “relatively painful stuff” – but his strength has held up ever since and the last time he saw the doctor was in November. Bryan said that if he will have problems again, he will go to Denver again to see the same doctor, basically ruling out the “Hail Mary” surgery that was initially suggested.
Live tonight on the WWE Network, WWE presents the Hall of Fame 2015 induction ceremony from the SAP Center in San Jose, California. The Hall of Fame will feature eight inductions tonight plus one Warrior Award.
Macho Man Randy Savage will be inducted by Hulk Hogan and Randy’s brother Lanny Poffo will be there for the speech. Rikishi will be inducted by his two sons, Jimmy and Jey of the Usos. The Bushwhackers will be inducted by John Laurinaitis, while Larry Zbysko will be inducted by another Hall of Famer, Bruno Sammartino. Tatsumi Fujinami will be inducted by the Nature Boy Ric Flair, while Arnold Schwarzenegger will be inducted by Triple H. Former WWE Women’s champion Alundra Blayze will be inducted by Natalya and Kevin Nash will be inducted by his former tag team partner and longtime friend Shawn Michaels.
Dana Warrior and Daniel Bryan will also be inducting the first recipient of the Warrior Award, eight year old Connor “The Crusher” Michalek, who will be inducted posthumously just like Randy Savage. His father will be there to accept the award on behalf of the family.
The second and last WrestleMania Today broadcast of this year’s WrestleMania weekend was anchored by Renee Young who was joined by Bryon Saxton and Corey Graves on the panel.
The show started with a video recapping the Undertaker and Bray Wyatt feud which was followed by a discussion of if the Undertaker still has it and Wyatt’s plan. Then they showed a video of John Cena on Jimmy Kimmel, who cut a funny wrestling promo on Rusev. Cena as always looked like a great WWE ambassador.
The next segment had Tyson Kidd and Cesaro, the WWE Tag Team champions, join the panel. The two were sporting a new cool t-shirt of theirs which has Cesaro and the Swiss flag and Kidd and the Canadian maple leaf on them on the front and on the back the day they became a tag team. Kidd said there’s no better way to start a WrestleMania than with them in the match. The two cracked jokes with the rest of the panelists and then the next segment was introduced which was Byron Saxton sitting down with Romain Reigns for an interview. He can. He will.
The three on the panel then talk about what’s available at Axxess and how cool the Elimination Chamber structure is and Corey Graves talked about going to the Superstore.
A cool Bella Twins video aired which also included footage from the 2006 Diva Search contest. “What happens if we cut one of you?” a voice is heard saying off camera as both Bellas auditioned. “She becomes my assistant,” said Nikki, pointing towards her sister. Good one.
A very relaxed and normal looking Kane joins the panel and talks about the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. A video is shown of Hideo Itami winning the NXT mini tournament and Kane said it’s going to be a big day for Itami and there will be a lot of pressure on him. He said winning the battle royal will bring prestige as Andre is one of the biggest names in the history of this business. Renee Young jokingly said that Pete Rose is in the battle royal and Kane said he’ll take him out again.
The discussion then turned to the Rollins and Orton match and Kane feels that this match will take Rollins to the next level. It’s an important match for Seth and he showed he can deliver at this year’s Royal Rumble. Jane says that this might me the sleeper match of the night and can easily steal the show. A video recap of the Orton vs Rollins feud then aired.
The footage of the Ultimate Warrior bronze statue then is shown with comments from an emotional Dana Warrior. They show them also shaking the ropes like the Warrior used to do.
A Connor “The Crusher” Michalek video airs for the Hall of Fame Warrior Award and Corey Graves says that everyone speaks highly of Connor. Renee mentioned how last year he found her at Axxess and came running for a hug.
A Rusev/Cena feud video is shown and the panel talks about the match and how Rusev has been ruthless since Lana has not appeared with him over the past few weeks. Byron Saxton then sits down for an interview with John Cena.
Renee then tries to introduce the next segment, a video about the Intercontinental title, but the video doesn’t play so they just shoot from the hip for a little while until the video eventually plays.
Dolph Ziggler joins the panel and says ladder matches are crazy and people will get hurt since everyone tries to outdo the last ladder match. He said people now care about the IC title because they managed to create a backstory and he can’t wait to steal the show. Saxton says this will be Bryan’s redemption from last year’s WrestleMania and Ziggler immediately corrected him saying that Bryon won everything last year!
A video interview with Daniel Bryan and Michael Cole airs and then Ziggler says that he’s jealous of what everything Bryan has accomplished. He’s always been close but always comes up short. He said he’s ready to steal the show and dares anyone to try and follow it. He says it’s scary to do a ladder match in front of 80,000 people but people are willing to get hurt to prove they’re the best. He said this time it’s all about him and Daniel Bryan.
WWE Hall of Famer Mean Gene Okerlund interrupts the segment and Ziggler goes down next to him for a short interview. Ziggler says this is a dream come true as he’s never been interviewed by Mean Gene.
A WrestleMania Rewind video of Triple H’s win at WrestleMania X8 against Chris Jericho airs and serves as the intro of the next segment with Dusty Rhodes joining the panel.
Rhodes said that it’s been a great week so far and he loves the excitement that WrestleMania brings. He hopes Stardust brings the Intercontinental title home this Sunday. He said as a dad, it was cool to share the stage with his two sons. He then talked about Triple H vs Sting and said Sting better be prepared because Triple H is a bad man. He recounted how when they were in the NWA all of them said that none of them would go to WWE but eventually all of them did, except for Sting. He said Sting will have a very special moment when he goes through the curtain at WrestleMania.
A Triple H and Sting video is then aired and Dusty said that you don’t want to miss this. The money and the Hall of Fame ring are great but once you walk through the curtain nothing else matters except for delivering a great show.
Dusty then talked about Macho Man and his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame. He said he shared a feud with Savage back in the “polka dot era” and said he’s a special guy. The Savage Hall of Fame video then airs.
A discussion on the main event of WrestleMania then proceeds as the final segment of the show.
Phil Baroni, the 38 year old former mixed martial artist, wrote on Twitter that he’s on the way to WrestleMania to sign a WWE deal.
“Just got my flight and tickets to @Wrestlemania. I’m getting flown it to sign my contract and see what the @wwe and @Wrestlemania are about,” Baroni wrote yesterday.
Baroni fought for several different MMA organizations including the UFC, PRIDE, Strikeforce, ONE, and Bellator. His last fight was at Bellator 122 in July of last year. His last three fights were all losses. He has an MMA record of 15-18.
Baroni posted a photo on his Instagram which is a quote from Virgin Group founder Richard Branson which reads, “If someone offers you an amazing opportunity and you’re not sure you can do it, say yes – then learn how to do it later.” This is obviously regarding his lack of wrestling training but shows that he’s willing to learn the ropes.
Baroni will not be the only MMA fighter in town for WrestleMania. Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva are also expected to attend the show.
NXT did a non-televised live event last night in San Jose in front of a sold out crowd of nearly 5,000 at the San Jose State University as part of the WrestleMania weekend activities. Tickets for this show sold out immediately without any marketing, showing the power of the brand and the huge following the show has.
In the matches, Hideo Itami defeated Tyler Breeze; Jason Jordan defeated Bull Dempsey; Bayley and Alexa Bliss defeated Becky Lynch and Dana Brooke; Solomon Crowe defeated Kalisto; Baron Corbin defeated Rhyno; Murphy and Blake defeated The Vaudevillains and Enzo Amore and Colin Cassidy to retain the NXT Tag Team titles; Sasha Banks defeated Charlotte to retain the NXT Women’s title; Finn Balor defeated Adrian Neville in the main event.
Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens both appeared in the ring and had a segment before the main event started and Triple H addressed the rowdy crowd during intermission, noting that there are a lot of people backstage including Vince McMahon. Hideo Itami also hit the GTS for the first time at a WWE event with the crowd exploding when he hit it.
Jim Ross and his wife were sitting ringside at the NXT live event yesterday at San Jose State University and when Triple H pointed him out during intermission fans chanted “JR” and even got a couple of “Holy shit” chants from the NXT faithful.
This was the first time that JR attended a live WWE event since he was fired right after SummerSlam 2013 following a train wreck WWE 2K panel which Ric Flair basically took over and the script went out of the window.
Ross saw last year’s WrestleMania from his hotel room and has said that this year he will be watching the show from his home as he’s flying back home to Oklahoma after his one man show today.
“Helluva time at @WWENXT show. Over 5000 fans w/ amazing atmosphere,” Ross wrote on his Twitter after the show was over.
Triple H also acknowledged the chants from the show when JR was introduced, writing, “I hear you. I hear you LOUD and CLEAR. @WWENXT #NXTSanJose”
Ever since dropping out of the political scene, former WWE CEO Linda McMahon has stayed out of the spotlight and is still pretty much absent from WWE events. But not WrestleMania, as WrestleMania is the one show that Linda doesn’t miss!
The former Republican Senate candidate is currently in San Jose with the rest of her family – minus probably Shane – for the biggest event of the year. “So excited to be in San Jose, CA for this happening #WrestleMania weekend,” she tweeted earlier. Linda is always present at Hall of Fame ceremonies taking front row along with members of her family.
McMahon ran two campaigns for Senate – in 2010 and 2012 – spending nearly $70 million of her own money to fund her runs. On both occasions she lost to the Democratic Representatives.
WWE will present an NXT live show tonight in San Jose, taking advantage of the massive amount of fans who are in the area for WrestleMania.
The show will take place at The Event Center at San Jose State University at 10PM, giving fans enough time to move from Axxess which is being held a few blocks down. The arena holds around 5,000 fans and this will be the biggest audience the NXT brand has ever performed in front.
WWE sold out of the tickets immediately as they went on sale to the general public after the majority of them were snapped up in the pre-sale. No card has been announced for the show and NXT champion Kevin Owens will not be part of the in-ring action as he just underwent surgery.
WWE and Facebook today announced that they will be providing fans with exclusive content before, during and after WrestleMania 31, featuring WWE Superstar ring entrances, match clips, interviews, locker room commentary and training videos. The “Facebook Trending Experience” for WrestleMania will also allow fans to see comments and posts about WrestleMania 31 from celebrities, WWE Superstars and Divas, news outlets, influencers and friends. During the telecast, WWE’s on-air announcers will encourage fans watching WrestleMania on WWE Network and pay-per-view to participate in the experience, and fans attending live will be able to check in at Levi’s Stadium to join the conversation.
This marks the first time that WWE and Facebook have teamed up on WrestleMania to deliver fans near real-time event highlights, collaborate on in-venue activations, and drive fans to a social experience during a live event telecast. Additionally, WWE Superstar Zack Ryder will lead a “Hide and Like” promotion later today where fans will have the opportunity to find him in the San Jose area for a chance to win tickets to WrestleMania 31, WrestleMania Axxess and the 2015 WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.
“We are thrilled to partner with WWE to help connect the millions of WWE fans on Facebook with the excitement of what’s happening around WrestleMania 31 this weekend, whether they are at Levi’s Stadium, watching the telecast, or in line at the grocery store,” said Dan Reed, Facebook’s Head of Global Sports Partnerships. “From exclusive WWE video content on Facebook, to creative integrations of the fan experience both in-venue and for TV viewers, we think this partnership with WWE will bring the social conversation around WrestleMania 31 to a whole new level.”
“Facebook is a global leader and innovator in driving social conversation with the ability to reach a massive audience,” said WWE Chief Brand Officer, Stephanie McMahon. “Our social experience during WrestleMania will create opportunities for fans to further engage with WWE and provide them with more access to our Superstars than ever before.”
UFC President Dana White said that Vince McMahon “threw the vault” at Brock Lesnar to secure his signature and make him stay in WWE.
Speaking to Breitbart Sports, White said mixed martial arts is a young man’s sport and no one should be “hemming and hawing” about whether they want to come back or not. Lesnar admitted that when he went to UFC 184 a few weeks ago he expected to experience something to change his mind but that something was missing.
White said that Lesnar did something in the UFC that no one else thought he was capable of, including himself, and was also part of the the highest grossing fights ever in the company’s history.
“I’m happy for Brock Lesnar. I’m happy for his family. And I’m happy for Vince. I think it’s a win-win for all of them,” White added.
Wrestling journalist Bill Apter and owner of 1wrestling.com made a video to announce that Jerry “The King” Lawler will indeed host the Hall of Fame ceremony despite the report from PWInsider.com which said that Eva Marie will be hosting this year.
Apter, who is big friends with Lawler, texted him to ask him why he’s not hosting the gig this time around and Lawler apparently was unaware of the rumors, asking him where did he hear it. “BS rumor,” Lawler texted back, telling Apter to tell everyone to just enjoy the Hall of Fame on Saturday night.
The news of Eva Marie hosting the Hall of Fame did not go down very well with fans across social media and her name was trending on Twitter for quite a long time for all the wrong reasons.
PWInsider.com still has the story up and has not reacted to Apter’s video yet which disputes their story.
The Undertaker was completely absent from his WrestleMania 31 build with Bray Wyatt but the Phenom arrived in San Jose yesterday with his wife and former WWE Divas champion Michelle McCool.
The Undertaker arrived at the airport just like everybody else and with thousands of WWE fans descending upon the city for Mania weekend it was inevitable for him not to bump into fans. Uproxx.com posted some photos on their page which shows the Undertaker with a beanie hat and sunglasses on posing for some photos with fans who were waiting for their luggage with him.
Taker’s appearance at WrestleMania 31 will be the first one since he lost the streak last year against Brock Lesnar. You can see the photos below.
The WWE Network had its first WrestleMania week broadcast with WrestleMania Today live from Axxess in San Jose, California.
The show was anchored by Michael Cole and featured Booker T and Corey Graves on the panel as well.
The first item to cover was the Brock Lesnar news that he re-signed wit the WWE. They show the ESPN SportsCenter clip where Lesnar announced his new deal with WWE and the three talked about what it means for the company to have Lesnar around.
Next on the agenda was the Intercontinental title match at WrestleMania. They show a funny recap video of the whole saga and then Wade Barrett joins the panel live. He said that he brought prestige back to the IC title much like Randy Savage and the Ultimate Warrior did back in their days. Cole noted that the Intercontinental title changed hands at 9 different WrestleManias so the odds are not in his favor.
A long, long, recap video of the feud between Randy Orton and The Authority was then aired followed by a taped sit-down interview with Orton and Booker T.
The Kevin Nash Hall of Fame video was replayed along with a WrestleMania Rewind of John Cena and a Rusev/Cena recap video. The video of Sting from Raw a couple of weeks back was also played as an introduction for the next segment.
Hall of Famer Ric Flair joined the panel live at Axxess and reveals that he tried to get Sting to the WWE in 1993, “before making the mistake of going back to WCW” himself. Flair talked why Sting decided to come to WWE now and said win, lose, or draw, Sting will be a WWE Hall of Famer. Booker T said this will be a defining moment for Sting and it will show why WCW had the best wrestlers of all time! Flair picks Triple H for the win and notes that HHH already jobbed three WrestleManias in a row and he won’t lay down for the fourth one!
The Arnold Schwarzenegger Hall of Fame video then airs and the panel is joined by Miz and Mizdow to talk about the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Curtis Axel crashes the stage and Axelmania runs wild.
A WrestleMania 25 Rewind of the Undertaker and Shawn Michaels was played, followed by a recap of the Undertaker/Bray Wyatt feud so far. The panelists talk about the match and the Undertaker’s streak.
Live cuts to the WWE SupersStore and Wade Barrett signing at Axxess were then shown followed by a Seth Rollins taped interview conducted by Booker T.
Another video this time about the Divas tag team match airs and then Paige joins the panel live. She’s happy with what she accomplished over the past year and wants to continue doing that, and being the champion again. She hopes that one day she’ll be in the WWE Hall of Fame. She said she and AJ are the weirdos of the Divas division and both of them are OK with it.
Parts of the Brock Lesnar interview with Jonathan Coachman on ESPN was aired and the panelists discuss who will win. Cole says no way Reigns will win and Booker T says Reigns will walk out as the champion. Corey Graves says Lesnar will pick up the win.
Cole says goodbye to everyone as Smackdown was about to start and invited everyone to tune in tomorrow same time for the second WrestleMania Today show.
Variety is reporting that WWE Studios has teamed up with Gene Simmons to launch label Erebus Pictures to finance and produce horror movies.
“The horror genre continues to fascinate me as it proves to be endlessly thrilling and engaging for audiences,” said Simmons.
“Horror films fall into a genre that thrives on genuine passion, and I believe this partnership truly capitalizes on that sentiment and supports our vision,” said Michael Luisi, President of WWE Studios.
The deal starts with a three-picture co-production launching with the movie Temple, originally acquired and developed by WWE Studios.
An Ultimate Warrior life-size bronze statue was unveiled last night at WrestleMania Axxess with the Warrior’s family in the ring.
Triple H did the unveiling as Warrior’s widow Dana and their two daughters, Mattigan and Indiana, looked on in the ring.
“The legacy that he leaves behind is something I am so deeply proud of. I am also so proud of what he did here with all of you,” Dana Warrior said. “The Warrior fans really are the ultimate, and I want to thank you; thank you for taking the girls and I in, and loving us too because it has meant the world.”
After the unveiling, Dana, Mattigan, and Indiana grabbed the top rope and shook it just like Warrior used to do. The statue is on display at Axxess.
The Warrior family will be at Axxess meeting the legion of Ultimate Warrior fans and Dana will be presenting the Warrior Award tomorrow at the Hall of Fame ceremony.
WWE.COM has photos of the unveiling which you can see here.
Hideo Itami won the NXT mini tournament last night at Axxess to advance to the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal this Sunday at the WrestleMania Kickoff show.
The tournament had Finn Balor defeating Tyler Breeze and then Hideo Itami defeating Adrian Neville with the final Balor vs Itami which ultimately Itami won.
This will be Itami’s debut match at a televised live WWE event.
The Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal has been moved from the WrestleMania pay-per-view to the Kickoff show. The Kickoff show will now have two matches, the battle royal and the fatal four way for the WWE Tag Team titles.
The demotion of the match to the Kickoff show now leaves the pay-per-view with seven matches on the card. The move is likely due to time constraints with some matches set to last longer than expected and maybe with some addition of “filler” segments in between.
The announcement of the match moving to the Kickoff show was made by Michael Cole during the WrestleMania Today broadcast on the WWE Network.
