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As of this past weekend, we now know the start times for the weekend events and the likely runtimes for them:
- The 2024 WWE Hall of Fame will begin at 10PM EST on Friday, April 5 and will likely run for 2 hours. It will begin immediately following Smackdown.
- NXT Stand and Deliver 2024 will begin at 11AM EST on Saturday, April 6 and will likely run for 3 to 4 hours. It will be held in the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia (Home of the NBA's 76ers and the NHL's Fliers).
- Wrestlemania 40 Night 1 will begin at 5PM EST on Saturday, April 6 and will likely run for 5 to 6 hours. It will be held in Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia (Home of the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles).
- Wrestlemania 40 Night 2 will begin at 5PM EST on Sunday, April and will likely run for 5 to 6 hours. It will also be held in Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
All four events will of course be carried by Peacock. The same is true for the Wrestlemania Edition episodes of WWE's The Bump. The mid-weekend episode will air sometime Sunday afternoon with recaps of WM40 Night 1 and Stand and Deliver. Night 2's episode will likely air Monday afternoon with recaps of WM40 Night 2.
I am going to assume the first hour of Stand and Deliver and each night of WM40 will actually be the preshow which itself generally lasts a full hour. That means Stand and Deliver will actually begin at 12PM and each night of WM40 will begin at 6PM. Stand and Deliver lasting until 3PM means attendees who will go to both events on Saurday will then have two full hours to go to the stadium--which by the way is across the street from the arena--get through security and find their seats. The extra hour would certainly be helpful overall.
Lately, the number of people who go to both Stand and Deliver and Wrestlemania Saturday has been increasing. This year, both venues are next to each other so it wouldn't be a huge problem if Stand and Deliver's runtime was more than 3 hours. Giving people enough time to switch venues makes the most sense to me.
That brings me to the match card for each event starting with Stand and Deliver:
- NXT Tag Team Championship Match
- NXT Women's Championship Match: Roxanne Perez vs. Lyra Valkyria (Champion)
- NXT North American Championship Triple Threat Match: Dijak vs. Josh Briggs vs. Oba Femi (Champion)
- NXT Championship Match: Tony D'Angelo vs. Ilja Dragonov (Champion)
- Main Event: Carmelo Hayes vs. Trick Williams
Those are the matches that have been officially announced so far. There will also be a tag team championship match but the teams involved have not been finalized yet. I do not anticipate sixth match being added since only these matches have really been getting built.
If the Tag Titles change hands, this will be Bron Breakker's last NXT match. He recently signed with Smackdown on that note. I do get the sense the tag titles will for sure change hands so we'll see. Assuming the tag titles do change hands, it does raise the question of which singles title Baron Corbin will target next: The North American Championship or the NXT Championship. He could easily switch back to being a Heel with no build so we'll see.
If Perez doesn't win the NXT Women's Champion, she will likely be moving to the main roster. I think she's ready but giving her one more title run before moving on would give her a bit more polish. Dijak's getting cheered despite being a Heel is interesting. More so given Joe Gacey getting involved in the match is being teased. Dijak's contract is set to expire soon but if he does win the title, chances are good he'll be getting a new contract.
I could see D'Angelo beating Dragonov if he does, Dragonov is going to the main roster. If that does happen and the title changes hands, hopefully he goes to RAW so his legendary feud with Gunther (FKA Walter) from several years back is renewed. Melo vs. Trick as the main event is clearly being done to keep people for the whole show. It also heavily implies most if not all of the matches will run on the long side. We'll see.
I do plan to watch Stand and Deliver Sunday afternoon. I've said this before and I'll say it again but I can see match spoilers and still watch something after the fact.
As of now, only one match for each night is set:
Night 1:
- Main Event: Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns and The Rock*
* If Rhodes/Rollins win, The Bloodline will not get involved in Rhodes/Reigns on Night 2. If Reigns/The Rock win, it's "Bloodline Rules" for Rhodes/Reigns on Night 2.
Night 2:
- Main Event: Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns (Champion) for the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship
The following matches have been announced but have not been officially set for either night yet:
- World Heavyweight Championship Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins (Champion)
- WWE Women's Championship Match: Bayley vs. Iyo Sky (Champion)
- Women's World Championship Match: Becky Lynch vs. Rhea Ripley (Champion)
- United States Championship Triple Threat Match: Kevin Owens vs. Randy Orton vs. Logan Paul (Champion)
- Intercontinental Championship Match: Sami Zayn vs. Gunther (Champion)
- Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Six Pack Ladder Match
- LA Knight vs. AJ Styles
- Jimmy Uso vs. Jey Uso
That's a total of 10 matches combined. It's now been officially teased Chad Gable may be added to the Intercontinental Championship match. There is one more RAW before Wrestlemania so what makes the most sense to me would be for Gable to face Zayn in a match. If Gable wins, he's added to the match and it'll become a Triple Threat Match.
The timing for one match to look out for is McIntyre vs. Rollins. If it happens Night 1, it will happen before the main event tag team match he will be involved in. If it happens Night 2, it will then become a question of what shape he'll be in for Night 2. It's been heavily implied McIntyre vs. Rollins will happen Night 2 so we'll see.
As a reminder, Damien Priest still holds the 20223 Money in the Bank briefcase. IF he cashes in on Rollins, the time to do it would be right after the tag team main event in my book. If that happens, the championship match the next day becomes McIntyre/Priest instead. Another real possibility could be Priest cashes in on the winner of Rollins vs. McIntyre. More so if the tag titles change hands.
At least two, maybe four additional matches are being teased though:
- Women's Tag Team Championship Match: Naomi and Bianca Belair vs. The Kabuki Warriors (Champions)
- Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits vs. Karrion Kross and AOP
- LWO vs. Legado Del Fantasma
- Jade Cargill vs. ????
All of them involve Smackdown superstars so there's a pretty good chance at least two or more of them will be on the go-home edition of Smackdown. The two most likely to happen at Wrestlemania are the Women's Tag Team Championship match and Cargill's match.
As for who Cargill faces, it could be literally anyone. A surprise return would be a treat but it makes more sense to go with someone on the roster who can put her over. Nia Jax makes the most sense but if her health stays stable, Raquel Rodriguez would be a good match.
This year's WWE Hall of Fame continues the trend of emphasizing quality over quantity with only five entrants named so far, two posthumously:
- Bull Nakano
- The U.S. Express (Barry and Mike Rotunda)
- Paul Heyman
- Muhammad Ali (Celebrity Entrant)
- Thunderbolt Patterson
Mike Rotunda also had a solo run in the early 90s as IRS in WWE. He is also the father of the late Wyndham Rotunda aka Bray Wyatt. Although his son will not be inducted along with him this year, make no mistake Mike will talk about his son and thank the WWE Universe for especially supporting him in recent years.
Bull Nakano looks nothing like she did in the mid-90s now. Here she is with Alundra Blayze/Medusa:
The photo is actually recent on that note. I'd be surprised if Medusa isn't the one who inducts her on that note. Unlike the latter, Nakano has been retired for decades (Medusa considered herself "semi-retired").
The late Muhammad Ali was the official host of the very first Wrestlemania. What made his appearance so monumental was it was his first public event since he was disagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 1984. Little was known about the neurological condition at the time and despite that, Ali lived for 32 more years. Ali passed away in 2016.
Paul Heyman has prettymuch done it all over the last 40+ years. Pre-WWE, he founded this promotion called ECW. Perhaps you've heard of it?
When Heyman came over to WWE in 2001, he cut this promo on Vince McMahon that has been getting renewed looks given recent history (I qued it up to when he starts):
Commenting on it in interviews later on, Heyman explains Vince basically told him "make me money" before they went out and the rest is history. The fact that Vince McMahon trusted Paul Heyman enough to let him cut this shoot on him in 2001 speaks to how much of a national treasure Heyman is for this industry.
Just so you don't think I'm ad-libbing, check this out. It's from four years ago:
It's probably a safe bet to say Heyman will be get the main event slot. As for who will be the one to induct him, I can think of a LOT of people so we'll see.
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