WrestleMania 32

WrestleMania 32
Promotional poster featuring Triple H and Roman Reigns
PromotionWWE
DateApril 3, 2016
CityArlington, Texas
VenueAT&T Stadium
Attendance80,709[1][2]
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WrestleMania 32 was the 32nd annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on Sunday, April 3, 2016, at the AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. This was the last WrestleMania to be held before the reintroduction of the brand extension in July, which introduced another world championship, the WWE Universal Championship, thus it was also the last WrestleMania to feature one world championship. It was also the third WrestleMania to be held in the state of Texas (after X-Seven and XXV).

Twelve matches were contested at the event, including three on the Kickoff pre-show. Four matches were particularly considered to be the marquee attractions.[3][4][5][6] In the main event, Roman Reigns defeated Triple H to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. In other prominent matches, The Undertaker defeated Shane McMahon in a Hell in a Cell match, Brock Lesnar defeated Dean Ambrose in a No Holds Barred Street Fight, and Charlotte defeated Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks to win the inaugural WWE Women's Championship, which replaced the WWE Divas Championship that Charlotte held going into the event and had been retired during the Kickoff show. The event was also notable for having the shortest WrestleMania match ever, when The Rock defeated Erick Rowan in an impromptu match. The André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal included the surprise participation of former National Basketball Association player Shaquille O'Neal; the match was won by NXT's Baron Corbin in his main roster debut.

According to WWE, WrestleMania 32 set multiple records for the company, including grossing $17.3 million and a claimed attendance record of 101,763. However, independent reports listed an attendance of 80,709, making it the third most attended wrestling event in the history of the medium.[2][1] WWE Chairman Vince McMahon later admitted the attendance record "wasn't 101,000 paid" as it included "ushers and ticket takers and all of that".[7]

Despite its commercial success, critics gave mixed to negative reviews for WrestleMania 32, and rated it worse than the NXT TakeOver: Dallas event WWE held two days prior. Praise went towards the opening ladder match, Styles vs. Jericho, and the Women's Championship match; criticism was focused on the main event, Ambrose vs. Lesnar, the Hell in a Cell match, the overall length of the event, and what were seen as questionable booking decisions, which were focused on the amount of heel victories outside of the opening match and main event. The show was voted as the "Worst Major Wrestling Show" of 2016 in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards, and readers of WrestleCrap, which chronicles the worst moments in professional wrestling, gave it the Gooker Award for the worst wrestling event of any kind in 2016.[8] The main event title match drew particular criticism and resulted in negative and angry crowd reactions.

  1. ^ a b Dave Meltzer [@davemeltzerWON] (July 10, 2023). "That number was everyone in the building. The 80,709 was the number of fans who went into the building" (Tweet). Archived from the original on September 3, 2023. Retrieved September 3, 2023 – via Twitter.
  2. ^ a b Thurston, Brandon Howard (March 16, 2017). "Exclusive: WrestleMania 32 Had Just Over 80,000 Fans In Attendance". Fightful. Archived from the original on January 30, 2019. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  3. ^ "AT&T Stadium pic – WM32". Archived from the original on April 1, 2016.
  4. ^ Burkholder, Denny (March 26, 2016). "Dean Ambrose's wild ride from rejection to WrestleMania 32 star". CBSSports. Archived from the original on March 29, 2016.
  5. ^ Labar, Justin (March 31, 2016). "LaBar: Lesnar vs. Ambrose will steal WrestleMania". Triblive. Archived from the original on April 4, 2016.
  6. ^ "WrestleMania 32 T-shirt - Shop WWE". Archived from the original on August 12, 2016.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference wasnt101000 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Reynolds, RD (January 26, 2017). "Induction: WrestleMania 32 - 2016 Gooker Award Winner". WrestleCrap. Retrieved February 16, 2019.