WWE WrestleMania 38 Live: Lineup, Start Time, How To Watch; Women’s Title Matches, ‘Stone Cold’ Highlight Night 1 – The Athletic

• Raw women’s championship: Becky Lynch (champion) vs. Bianca Belair
• SmackDown women’s championship: Charlotte Flair (champion) vs. Ronda Rousey
• The KO Show with Kevin Owens: Special guest, Stone Cold Steve Austin
• Seth Rollins vs. TBD (opponent will be revealed Saturday)
• Drew McIntyre vs. Happy Corbin
• SmackDown tag team championship: The Usos (champions) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs
• The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) vs. Sheamus and Ridge Holland
• Rey and Dominik Mysterio vs. The Miz and Logan Paul

The Athletic Staff

• Vince McMahon inducted The Undertaker on Friday, probably with the longest speech he’s given on camera in WWE in ages. It was obvious the amount of respect, both personally and professionally, he has for Mark Calaway, who’s been affiliated with the company for more than three decades.
• Very audible “I love you” from Undertaker to Vince as he got on stage. Even louder applause and “You deserve it!” and “Thank you, Taker!” chants from the crowd as Undertaker got choked up before he began to speak.
• Can’t recall a Hall of Fame speech that included as many props as this one. Four iterations of Undertaker’s gear (coat, hats, etc.) are in the ring.
• Funny quip about how Kane (Glenn Jacobs) insists on Undertaker calling him “Mr. Mayor” now. Jacobs is the mayor of Knox County, Tennessee.
• Undertaker shouted out several superstars, but he got a little emotional when discussing Triple H, who recently announced his retirement from the ring after heart surgery last year.
• He ended his speech by putting on one of the hats and coats on stage and saying, “Never say never.” … One more match, perhaps?

Tyler Batiste·

Managing Editor, NBA

• Great to see Rick and Scott Steiner inducted into the Hall of Fame. They were one of my favorite tag teams growing up, along with the Road Warriors. Also nice to see Rick’s son, NXT superstar Bron Breakker, induct them. And of course, it’s always interesting to see and hear Scott with a mic. Breakker jokingly called giving Scott a live mic, “the biggest risk of his career.”
• Queen Sharmell always yelled “ALL HAIL, KING BOOKER!” when accompanying her husband, Booker T, to the ring back in the day. He returned the favor as she walked down the aisle for her HOF speech: “ALL HAIL … QUEEN SHARMELL!”
• Choked up a couple of times during Shad Gaspard’s induction. If you’re not familiar with his story, read about it here.
• I remember Vader, first, as a pro wrestler. I’m sure a lot of folks my age remember him from “Boy Meets World.” He was great at both.

Tyler Batiste·

Managing Editor, NBA

• Madcap Moss won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, last eliminating Finn Balor.
• Ricochet retained the intercontinental title in a triple threat match vs. tag team partners Angel and Humberto
• Sasha Banks and Naomi beat women’s tag team champions Queen Zelina and Carmella
• A few solid video packages hyping Charlotte Flair vs. Ronda Rousey, Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar and Stone Cold Steve Austin’s appearance on The KO Show

The Athletic Staff

WWE rarely misses when it comes to video packages, and Friday was no different.

The package that aired during “SmackDown” hyping the Charlotte Flair-Ronda Rousey match worked pretty well, even though the build to the match itself has been hit or miss. Flair, of course, is the daughter of Ric Flair and a multi-time champion in her own right, and Rousey is one of the most famous MMA fighters of all time. There’s probably more than a hint of reality to the conflict that the video was pushing — these huge names and generational talents in their respective industries being challenged by each other from afar before finally being on the same stage. We’ll see if the actual match delivers Saturday night.

Tyler Batiste·

Managing Editor, NBA

Ahead of The Undertaker’s WWE Hall of Fame induction Friday night, Windham Rotunda (aka Bray Wyatt) paid tribute to the longtime WWE mainstay.

Wyatt and The Undertaker faced each other in a match at WrestleMania 31.

Tyler Batiste·

Managing Editor, NBA

Paying my respects to @undertaker

The word legend is thrown around a lot these days, but no one owns that title like The Deadman does. It was an honor every time I stepped in the ring with him. For my money he is the best to ever lace ‘em up. I’m happy for you man! Well deserved

— Windham (@Windham6) April 1, 2022

Tyler Batiste·

Managing Editor, NBA

Tyler Batiste·

Managing Editor, NBA

Before we go further, this could mean absolutely nothing. Could be a joke. Or not.

BUT it looks like Windham Rotunda (aka Bray Wyatt aka The Fiend) is in Dallas, according to his Instagram account.

Hmm.

Wyatt was released by WWE last summer and hasn’t really been in the public eye since. And it should be noted that WrestleMania weekend features a lot more pro wrestling than just WWE, with events and appearances put on by smaller promotions scattered across the area. But there is, technically, a TBA opponent for Seth Rollins on Saturday’s card.

Ah, it’s fun to wonder, isn’t it?

Tyler Batiste·

Managing Editor, NBA

Chris Vannini·

Staff Writer, CFB

It’s always interesting to see what spin WWE puts on the WrestleMania set each year. On Thursday, we saw what this year’s stage will look like in AT&T Stadium.

Check it out right here.

Tyler Batiste·

Managing Editor, NBA

The wily veterans always garner the most respect. For Edge, who turns 49 in October, all ears open wide when he speaks. And rightfully so, because he’s done so much in the WWE.

Damian Priest told The Athletic that Edge is one of the first people he chats with on the road when he needs advice or is looking for positive words. It’s never a situation where Edge is too busy for him.

“I always pick his brain as much as I can. He’s extremely helpful, not just to me but to everyone,” Priest said. “He’ll give everybody time to chit-chat and tell him the deal. Not telling anyone to change anything, but just how to improve what you have.”

Damon Sayles·

Staff Editor, NBA

A life-sized statue of The Undertaker was unveiled Thursday night, the day before the pro wrestling legend’s induction into the WWE Hall of Fame.

The Undertaker retired from in-ring competition in 2020 after a nearly three-decade career in WWE. His last match was a “Boneyard match” victory over AJ Styles at WrestleMania 36.

The Undertaker (real name Mark Calaway) is the headliner of this year’s class, which includes Vader, Queen Sharmell, the Steiner Brothers and Warrior Award recipient Shad Gaspard.

(Photo: Amer Hilabi / AFP via Getty Images)

Tyler Batiste·

Managing Editor, NBA

I’ve spent the past two days at WWE’s tryout in Dallas, and it’s eye-opening to see how many resources the company is putting into developing this new pipeline. The shift from hiring indie wrestlers for NXT to developing existing athletes is very real. I’ll have a behind-the-scenes story on this soon. It’s not some dig at indie wrestling. I had an interview with Triple H that will be part of the story as well, talking college athletics, NXT and AEW.

Around 50 people are at this tryout, nearly all of them college athletes, narrowed down from a much larger applicant pool. What WWE is essentially doing is creating its own wrestling school. This gets people in the WWE system at a younger age, but even bigger, it gets more athletes into pro wrestling period. Whether or not they work out, the end result is going to mean there are a ton more wrestlers simply out there, and many will surely end up in AEW or something at some point too. That’s good for the profession.

Chris Vannini·

Staff Writer, CFB

Some leftovers that didn’t quite make this story on “Monday Night Raw” color commentator Corey Graves:

• Turns out, Graves and his fiancee, WWE women’s tag team champion Carmella, live about two blocks from where I did for seven years until this past June. Further proof that Pittsburgh ain’t really that big.
• Graves, like many Pittsburghers, had some thoughts on the Steelers’ offseason: “I’m willing to give (Mitch Trubisky) a chance. … He obviously at some point had all the tools to be drafted as high as he did. I’m not getting overly excited. I’m not gonna say he’s the answer, but I’m willing to give him a chance. I’m more excited about Myles Jack.
• And on the Pirates? “I think I’m one of the six remaining pirates fans in Pittsburgh. Despite my logic and everything that the game has taught me in my lifetime, since 1992, when Sid Bream broke our hearts. I’m the one guy who is like, you know, we might have a chance this year.”
• Favorite match or moment he’s ever called? “What stands out to me a few years back was when The Shield reunited because those guys … were my closest friends. We used to travel together in developmental, and they had split and all gone their own separate ways. And I was ringside with (Michael) Cole and I had no idea … I like to be surprised. I like to bite just like the crowd does when something spectacular happens. And when I heard The Shield’s music come out, and seeing my three friends again back doing what they did best … That one always stands out to me.”

Tyler Batiste·

Managing Editor, NBA

Here’s the lineup for Night 1 of WrestleMania:

• Raw women’s championship: Becky Lynch (champion) vs. Bianca Belair
• SmackDown women’s championship: Charlotte Flair (champion) vs. Ronda Rousey
• The KO Show with Kevin Owens: Special guest, Stone Cold Steve Austin
• Seth Rollins vs. TBD (opponent will be revealed Saturday)
• Drew McIntyre vs. Happy Corbin
• SmackDown tag team championship: The Usos (champions) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs
• The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) vs. Sheamus and Ridge Holland
• Rey and Dominik Mysterio vs. The Miz and Logan Paul

And Night 2:

• Winner takes all: Brock Lesnar (WWE champion) vs. Roman reigns (Universal champion)
• Edge vs. AJ Styles
• Raw tag team championship: RK-Bro (champions) vs. The Street Profits vs. Alpha Academy
• Women’s tag team championship: Carmella and Queen Zelina (champions) vs. Sasha Banks and Naomi vs. Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan vs. Natalya and Shayna Baszler
• Pat McAfee vs. Austin Theory
• Anything goes match: Johnny Knoxville vs. Sami Zayn
• Bobby Lashley vs. Omos

Tyler Batiste·

Managing Editor, NBA