WWE WrestleMania 30 Replay Draws a Fantastic Rating on ESPN

With almost every major sport canceling/postponing their season due to the coronavirus pandemic, [...]

By Connor Casey

With almost every major sport canceling/postponing their season due to the coronavirus pandemic, ESPN aired a special replay of WrestleMania XXX on Sunday night. And even though the show is six years old, the replay brought in an impressive 839,000 overnight viewers and a 0.31 rating in the target 18-49 demographic. That rating was the best ESPN posted all night, and that viewership beats every episode of NXT since the Dec. 4 episode on the USA Network.

The show famously featured Daniel Bryan beating Triple H in the show opener to earn a spot in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match, John Cena derailing Bray Wyatt's momentum with a clean win and Brock Lesnar putting a shocking end to The Undertaker's undefeated streak at 21-1. The show's finale was one of the best in recent memory, as Bryan beat both Randy Orton and Batista to become world champion.

ESPN will continue its deal with WWE by airing WrestleMania 32 on March 29 and WrestleMania 35 on April 5.

As for this year's WrestleMania, WWE has confirmed the show will take place on April 4-5 at the WWE Performance Center (along with a few closed sets) with no audience in attendance. The show was originally supposed to take place at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, but was moved due to the ongoing pandemic.

On Tuesday WWE confirmed that NXT TakeOver: Tampa Bay, originally scheduled for April 4 in Tampa, has been scrapped altogether. The matches that were supposed to take place at that show will instead occur on NXT television, starting on April 1. The WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, which was also scheduled for that weekend, has reportedly been moved to SummerSlam weekend.

Here's the WrestleMania 36 card as of now:

  • WWE Championship: Brock Lesnar vs. Drew McIntyre
  • WWE Universal Championship: Goldberg vs. Roman Reigns
  • Edge vs. Randy Orton [Last Man Standing]
  • John Cena vs. "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt
  • NXT Women's Championship: Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair
  • Raw Women's Championship: Becky Lynch vs. Shayna Baszler
  • Raw Tag Team Championships: The Street Profits vs. Andrade & Angel Garza
  • SmackDown Women's Championship: Bayley vs. Lacey Evans vs. Tamina vs. Naomi vs. Sasha Banks
  • SmackDown Tag Team Championships: The Miz & John Morrison vs. The New Day or The Usos
  • The Undertaker vs. AJ Styles (Boneyard Match)
  • Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins
  • Aleister Black vs. Bobby Lashley
  • Elias vs. King Corbin
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