WrestleMania 40 start time, full 2024 lineup details | The Rock, Cody Rhodes (2024)

WrestleMania 40 weekend is upon us as the two-day extravaganza will invade Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa., on Saturday (April 6, 2024) and Sunday (April 7, 2024). The pay-per-view (PPV) event will feature the highly-anticipated return of The Rock, who will team up with Roman Reigns to take on Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins in opening night’s main event. On night two, Reigns will defend the Universal Championship against Rhodes in a singles match.

What’s Hot:

Finally, The Rock has made his way back to WWE. For the time being, at least. Many were surprised when The Rock (a.k.a. Dwayne Johnson) decided to return to the WWE universe after enjoying a pretty successful run as a Hollywood box office star. Sure, he had some flops along the way, more noticeably Black Adam, which didn’t exactly sit well with major Hollywood execs, saying Johnson’s ego was to blame for the $400 million catastrophe. And since DCEU was trying to climb out of Marvel’s shadow at a time when Iron Man, Thor and Captain America were on hiatus — a perfect time to strike — the debacle was highlighted a bit more. Granted, The Rock still got his and was paid handsomely for his efforts — hopefully he didn't take a front-end pay cut for potential back-end profits — but the flop pretty much ended any hopes of the character to resurface down the line. And when you couple Henry Cavill’s exit as Superman — who made a late cameo in Black Adam to tease and eventual showdown — the chances of seeing The Rock put on the black tights again for the DC Universe are pretty slim.

That brings us to present day. Is The Rock hurting for cash? No. Is he struggling to get movie roles? No. He is still a mega-star, flush with cash and is still getting roles and will continue to do so. That said, he is back to his old stomping grounds and will compete for the first time in eight years, last taking part in a match at WrestleMania 32. In January of this year, The Rock was appointed to the Board of Directors of TKO Group Holdings, which was the beginning of his comeback trail. Not being content with sitting at that table, he wanted to sit at the “head of the table.” Indeed, The Rock was out to silence “The Tribal Chief,” Roman Reigns (who is also his cousin) to prove who the real leader of “The Bloodline is. But, that matchup went to dust (more on that later) and the two forces will now team up to face Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins. In Night 2’s main event, Rhodes will attempt to get revenge on Reigns, who defeated him last year. After winning the Royal Rumble earlier this year, Rhodes earned the title fight, which is the reason many were not too thrilled to see The Rock try to squeeze his way into the mix.

Original Card Vs. Actual Card:

The original plan was to have The Rock face Reigns for the Universal Championship, but after fans lashed out at WWE because of matchmakers throwing Rhodes by the wayside, robbing him of a championship rematch that was rightfully his, Triple H and the rest of the top brass had to reverse course and switch up the entire event. That prompted The Rock to go full heel, slamming all of the “Cody Crybabies,” as well as “The American Nightmare” himself. That is how The Rock/Reigns vs. Rhodes/Rollins tag team match came to be. If The Rock and Reigns prove victorious, they will have the right in implement “Tribal Rules” for the following night’s championship fight between Reigns and Rhodes, which means anything will go. Still, the flip of the script allowed to The Rock to go back to his heel ways which, to be honest, has been entertaining to see.

How The ‘Prelims’ Look:

In Night 1’s co-main event, Rhea Ripley will put her women’s World Championship on the line against former champion, Becky Lynch. The two women have a bitter beef that has been going on for some time, almost coming to blows on a recent appearance on The MMA Hour.

Plus, Logan Paul returns to defend his United States title in a triple threat match against Randy Orton and Kevin Owens. And for those of you who haven’t been following along for Paul’s wrestling adventure, you would be surprised because the kid is a natural— just look at the picture! Also, there will be a massive six-team tag match between champions The Judgment Day vs. DIY vs. Awesome Truth vs. The New Day vs. New Catch Republic vs. Austin Theory and Grayson Waller. That promises to be wild!

Who Needs A Win Badly:

The longest-reigning intercontinental champion, Gunther, will look to extend his streak — which has been going strong since 2022 — when he puts his strap on the line against Sami Zayn, who at one time was an honorary Uso, hanging with Roman Reigns and The Bloodline. That brought him a ton of the spotlight, but as a solo artist, Zayn hasn’t been doing much. He needs this win ... badly.

Interest Level: 8/10

WrestleMania is always a good time. Sure, it runs a bit long and the two nights can sometimes feel like overkill, but if you are a wrestling fanatic this is the weekend you have been waiting for all year. And when you add The Rock’s star power to the event, it only magnifies it. Many are waiting to see just how the whole dynamic with Reigns plays out, so don’t be too surprised to see someone get double-crossed. Furthermore, there are hopes that other former stars (like John Cena and Stone Cold Steve Austin) make surprise appearances, so that adds an entirely different level of intrigue to the event.

Will The Rock stick around and continue to make television appearances on the regular like he has the previous two months? That is highly doubtful because he still has some obligations in Hollywood to handle. That’s why there could be a potential amount of record-breaking viewers for this event, as it could very well be the last time The Rock competes (at least for a while). For now, wrestling fans will enjoy it while they can.

Full Wrestlemania 40 Fight Card:

Night One

• The Rock and Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes Seth Rollins
• Women’s World Championship Match: Champion Rhea Ripley vs. Becky Lynch
• Intercontinental Championship Match: Champion Gunther vs. Sami Zayn
• 6-Pack Ladder Match for Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship: Champions The Judgment Day vs DIY vs. Awesome Truth vs. The New Day vs. New Catch Republic vs. Austin Theory and Grayson Waller
• Jade Cargill, Naomi, and Bianca Belair vs. Damage CTRL
• Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee vs. Santos Escobar and Dominik Mysterio
• Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso

Night Two

• WWE Undisputed Universal Championship: Champion Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes
• World Heavyweight Championship: Champion Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre
• WWE’s Women’s Championship: Champion IYO SKY vs. Bayley
• United States Triple Threat match: Champion Logan Paul vs. Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens
• LA Knight vs. AJ Styles
• Bobby Lashley and the Street Profits vs. Final Testament in a six-man tag team Philadelphia street fight

For more WWE WrestleMania 40-related coverage click HERE.