Global InformationWrestleMania 38 information
| WrestleMania 38 | |||
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 Promotional poster featuring Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns | |||
| Promotion | WWE | ||
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| Date | April 2–3, 2022 | ||
| City | Arlington, Texas | ||
| Venue | AT&T Stadium | ||
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| Tagline(s) | "The Most Stupendous Two-Night WrestleMania in History"[2] | ||
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WrestleMania 38 was the 38th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event was held as a two-night event, taking place on April 2 and 3, 2022, at the AT&T Stadium in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex city of Arlington, Texas.
The event was the fourth WrestleMania to be held in the state of Texas (after X-Seven, 25, and 32) and the second in AT&T Stadium after WrestleMania 32 in 2016. It was the third WrestleMania to feature Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns in the main event (after 31 and 34). WWE billed the match as "The Biggest WrestleMania Match of All-Time", which was a Winner Takes All match for the promotion's two world championships, Raw's WWE Championship and SmackDown's Universal Championship, which were held by Lesnar and Reigns, respectively, going into the event. This would also be the last WrestleMania to take place under Vince McMahon's creative control, following his retirement on July 22; McMahon had served as chairman and chief executive officer of the company since 1982 and created WrestleMania in 1985, and although he returned to the company as Executive Chairman on January 10, 2023, he had no involvement in booking the event. McMahon’s involvement with the event in any capacity would come to an end as following a lawsuit in January 2024, McMahon resigned as Chairman of TKO Group Holdings, WWE’s parent company.
The card comprised a total of 16 matches, with seven on the first night and nine on the second. In an impromptu match that served as the main event for Night 1, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin defeated Kevin Owens in a No Holds Barred match, marking Austin's first match since WrestleMania XIX in 2003 and the final match of his career overall. This encounter had originally been advertised as a special edition of Owens' "KO Show" with Austin as the special guest. Other prominent matches saw a returning Cody Rhodes defeat Seth "Freakin" Rollins, Charlotte Flair defeated Ronda Rousey to retain the SmackDown Women's Championship, and Bianca Belair defeated Becky Lynch to win the Raw Women's Championship, beginning her record-setting reign at 420 days. In the main event for Night 2, SmackDown's Universal Champion Roman Reigns defeated Raw's WWE Champion Brock Lesnar to claim both titles and become recognized as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. In other prominent matches, Jackass's Johnny Knoxville defeated Sami Zayn in an Anything Goes match and Edge defeated AJ Styles. Night 2 also featured WWE chairman Vince McMahon defeating SmackDown commentator Pat McAfee in an impromptu match after McAfee had defeated Austin Theory, marking McMahon's first match since 2012 and the last match of his career. Also on Night 2, the team of Sasha Banks and Naomi won the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship in a fatal four-way tag team match; this was Banks and Naomi's final WWE pay-per-view match. Naomi later returned to WWE at the 2024 Royal Rumble.
The event received mixed to positive reviews from critics, who praised the Raw Women's Championship, Raw Tag Team Championship match, Johnny Knoxville vs. Sami Zayn, Edge vs. AJ Styles, Pat McAfee's and Logan Paul's performance, Cody Rhodes vs. Seth "Freakin" Rollins, and the in-ring return of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin while criticizing the main event for Night 2, Sheamus and Ridge Holland vs. The New Day, and panning Vince McMahon vs. McAfee.
- ^ Wrestling Observer Live (April 4, 2022). 2022-04-04 Wrestling Observer Live~! with Bryan Alvarez & Mike Sempervive. YouTube. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
- ^ "WrestleMania 38". AT&T Stadium. April 2, 2022. Retrieved April 3, 2024.