WrestleMania 40 takes place live from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania next week, April 6-7. There will be tons of WWE branded festivities to take part in during the entirety of the weekend, including WWE World (replacing WWE Axxes) where fans can meet superstars, get autographs, buy merchandise, attend live shows, and more. Ahead of WrestleMania night one which will see The Rock and Roman taking on Cody Rhodes and World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins in the main event, WWE will host a kickoff event.
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Much like the WrestleMania XL kickoff in Las Vegas, this event is free to attend and will take place ahead of SmackDown on Friday, April 5, outside of the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Later that evening, the Hall of Fame ceremony headlined by Paul Heyman will take place. Hosted by Michael Cole and Pat McAfee, the event will feature several WWE Superstars that will wrestle on the WrestleMania card — Rhodes, Becky Lynch, Rhea Ripley, Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, Rollins, Drew McIntyre, Sami Zayn and Gunther along with WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque.
If you can’t make it to Philadelphia for the weekend, the kickoff will stream live on Peacock and on WWE’s social pages starting at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT on April 5.
When Does WrestleMania 40 Start?
Unlike years past with WrestleMania, this year’s event has an earlier start time. Instead of the usual 8 p.m. ET start time, WWE aims to start the festivities slightly earlier with both nights beginning at 6:30. Doors to Lincoln Financial Stadium will open at 4:30 p.m. ET. With the amount of buzz behind an event like WrestleMania, this seems like a wise choice not just for the fans that will be traveling to the city and will likely get stuck in traffic but it allows breathing room for the matches each night so the stories can be told properly. Recent reports suggest that WWE may be aiming for seven matches each night. As it stands following last night’s SmackDown, there are currently 12.
WWE WrestleMania 40 Card
- Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Cody Rhodes
- WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins (c) vs. Drew McIntyre
- Bianca Belair, Naomi, and Jade Cargill vs. Damage CTRL’s Kairi Sane, Asuka, and Dakota Kai
- WWE Women’s Championship: IYO SKY (c) vs. Bayley
- Roman Reigns and The Rock vs. Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins
WWE Women’s World Championship: Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Becky Lynch - Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee vs. Dominik Mysterio and Santos Escobar
- WWE Intercontinental Championship: Gunther (c) vs. Sami Zayn
- Ladder Match – Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships: Damian Priest and Finn Balor (c) vs. Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa vs. The Miz and R-Truth vs. Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods vs. New Catch Republic vs. Grayson Waller and Austin Theory
- WWE United States Championship: Logan Paul (c) vs. Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens
- LA Knight vs. AJ Styles
- Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso
