WWE World at WrestleMania, formerly known as WrestleMania Fan Axxess or simply WrestleMania Axxess, is a professional wrestling fan convention held by WWE during the week of WrestleMania. The event typically runs for four to five days—from Thursday to Sunday or Monday—and features WWE talent and alumni autograph signings, interviews, fan activities, memorabilia displays, meet-and-greets, and matches. WrestleMania Axxess was briefly discontinued from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but was relaunched as WWE World, in partnership with Fanatics Events, at WrestleMania beginning with WrestleMania XL in 2024.
History The first event happened in 1988, when the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE) in association with The Trump Organization prepared a small festival to celebrate WrestleMania IV. It included autograph signings, a brunch, and a five kilometer run; the event was held again in 1989 for WrestleMania V. In 1992, a festival was held the day of WrestleMania VIII which included a WWF wrestler look-alike contest and a tournament for the WWF WrestleFest arcade game. In 1993, the WWF held a "WrestleMania Brunch" the day of WrestleMania IX at Caesars Palace, during the course of which Lex Luger attacked Bret Hart. In 1994, the WWF offered "Fan Fest" for the weekend of WrestleMania X, which allowed fans to step inside a WWF ring, participate in games, meet wrestlers, and purchase merchandise; the event was followed up in 1995 with another "Fan Fest" for WrestleMania XI. In 1999, the WWF held its first Saturday pre-WrestleMania event taking place on March 27, 1999. WrestleMania Rage Party, as it was known, was televised live on the USA Network from 10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. (EST). The event was to be held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The idea of the event was "...to celebrate the final WrestleMania of the millennium..."
The following year, the WWF held its first WrestleMania Axxess event at the Anaheim Convention Center expanding upon the party idea of WrestleMania Rage Party. The event included autograph signings and mementos of inductees of the WWE Hall of Fame. There were also activities where fans could enter a wrestling ring and commentate a wrestling match. In 2001, WrestleMania Axxess was held at the Reliant Hall which expanded upon the event by adding numerous activities including areas where attendees could buy special merchandise, see a production truck, and check out special WWE vehicles. In 2002, WrestleMania Axxess was extended to a three-day event and was held at the National Trade Centre (now Enercare Centre). The three-day event included similar activities to that of the one-day line-up. In 2007, WrestleMania Axxess went on tour around cities in both the United States and Canada. In recent years, Axxess has become a four-day event, with one session on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, and three sessions on Saturday.
Since 2013, NXT matches have been held at WrestleMania Axxess, and since 2017, matches from various independent promotions have been held, such as Insane Championship Wrestling, Progress Wrestling, and Evolve. In 2018, WWE held four invitational tournaments for NXT championship matches. The winners of the WWE United Kingdom Championship Invitational, NXT North American Championship Invitational, NXT Tag Team Championship Invitational, and NXT Women's Championship Invitational tournaments received matches for the respective titles on April 8.
WWE cancelled the traditional WrestleMania Axxess events since 2020 due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently announced that the 2022 event during WrestleMania 38 weekend will be replaced by a Superstore Axxess shop with superstar panels and premium experiences. Unlike previous events, no live wrestling matches and only a limited amount of autograph signings were involved for the 2023 event.
For WrestleMania XL in April 2024, WWE, in partnership with Fanatics Events, relaunched the convention under a new name of WWE World at WrestleMania and was held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The event ran from Thursday, April 4 until Monday, April 8. The five-day event included interview panel sessions with WWE wrestlers, a WWE 2K24 gaming tournament, live podcast recordings, meet-and-greets with wrestlers, and a large merchandise store with various memorabilia honoring WrestleMania's 40-year history.
WrestleMania Superstore
Every year during the week leading up to WrestleMania, the WrestleMania Superstore is open at the convention. The WrestleMania Superstore has "the largest selection of WrestleMania and WWE merchandise under one roof". It has over 700 items and includes exclusive Superstore-only merchandise. The store is open to the public, and no ticket is required.
WWE Superstar statue
Beginning in 2013, WWE has honored a Legend Superstar by unveiling a real-size statue at WrestleMania Axxess. This has not occurred every year, with no statue being unveiled in 2018 and 2023. (Excluding 2020 and 2021 when there was no convention following the COVID-19 pandemic.) In 2024 Bray Wyatt got two statues, one which shows him being the normal Bray Wyatt and one which shows him in the updated ”The Fiend” Bray Wyatt gear that he never got to use to wear in ring. DateLocationVenueStatueWrestleMania RefEast Rutherford, New JerseyIzod CenterAndré the Giant(André Roussimoff)New Orleans, LouisianaErnest N. Morial Convention CenterBruno SammartinoSan Jose, CaliforniaSan Jose Convention CenterThe Ultimate Warrior(James Brian Hellwig)Dallas, TexasKay Bailey Hutchison Convention CenterDusty Rhodes(Virgil Runnels Jr.)March 30, 2017Orlando, FloridaOrange County Convention CenterRic Flair(Richard Morgan Fliehr)April 4, 2019Brooklyn, New YorkPier 12"Rowdy" Roddy Piper(Roderick George Toombs)March 31, 2022Dallas, TexasKay Bailey Hutchison Convention CenterThe Undertaker(Mark Calaway)April 6, 2024Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPennsylvania Convention CenterBray Wyatt(Windham Lawrence Rotunda)April 18, 2025Las Vegas, NevadaFontainebleau Las VegasTriple H (Paul Michael Levesque)April 17, 2026Las Vegas Convention CenterHulk Hogan (Terry Gene Bollea)42
Wrestling shows WrestleMania Date(s) Venue Location Main event Notes Ref16April 1, 2000Anaheim Convention CenterAnaheim, CaliforniaN/A17March 31, 2001Reliant AstroHallHouston, TexasN/A18March 14-15, 2002National Trade CentreToronto, Ontario, CanadaCrash Holly vs. Tommy DreamerHardcore Holly vs. Maven25April 2-5, 2009Reliant CenterHouston, TexasJimmy Wang Yang vs. Paul BurchillCryme Tyme (JTG and Shad) vs. Ezekiel Jackson and Brian KendrickGoldust vs. Mike KnoxDolph Ziggler vs. Sim Snuka26March 26-27, 2010Phoenix Convention CenterPhoenix, ArizonaJustin Gabriel vs. Michael TarverJimmy Wang Yang vs. Vance Archer27March 31-April 2, 2011Georgia World Congress CenterAtlanta, GeorgiaDaniel Bryan vs. Ted DiBiase Jr.Rob Dyrdek and Roddy Piper vs. Tyson Kidd and Zack RyderDrew McIntyre vs. Chris Masters28March 29-April 1, 2012Miami Beach Convention CenterMiami Beach, FloridaThe Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) vs. Epico and Primo in a non title matchSeth Rollins vs. Antonio CesaroSantino Marella vs. Dolph Ziggler in a falls count anywhere matchBig E. Langston, Bo Dallas, and Husky Harris vs. Antonio Cesaro, Damien Sandow, and Kenneth Cameron in a six man tag team match29April 4-6, 2013IZOD CenterEast Rutherford, New JerseyEzekiel Jackson and Yoshi Tatsu vs. Camacho and HunicoSasha Banks vs. Audrey MarieR-Truth vs. Heath SlaterSami Zayn vs. Corey Graves30April 5-6, 2014Ernest N. Morial Convention CenterNew Orleans, LouisianaPaige (c) vs. Charlotte for the WWE NXT Women's ChampionshipAdrian Neville (c) vs. CJ Parker vs. Tyler Breeze in a triple threat match for the WWE NXT Championship31March 26-29, 2015San Jose McEnery Convention CenterSan Jose, CaliforniaN/AFeatured a qualifier tournament for the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal which aired on NXT on April 8, 2015.Hideo Itami vs. Finn BalorAdrian Neville and Baron Corbin vs. CJ Parker and Mike Rawlis32March 31-April 3, 2016Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention CenterDallas, TexasColin Cassady and Enzo Amore (w/Carmella) vs. Blake and Murphy (w/Alexa Bliss)Apollo Crews vs. Elias SamsonMatches were taped as part of NXTPatrick Clark and Tye Dillinger vs. Blake and MurphyAdrian Neville and Baron Corbin vs. CJ Parker and Mike Rawlis33March 30-April 2, 2017Orange County Convention CenterOrlando, FloridaTJ Perkins vs. Gran MetalikMacey Estrella vs. Daria BerenatoRiddick Moss and Tino Sabbatelli vs. The Ascension (professional wrestling) (Konnor and ViktorTyler Bate (c) vs. Pete Dunne for the WWE United Kingdom Championship34April 5-April 8, 2018Ernest N. Morial Convention CenterNew Orleans, LouisianaKairi Sane vs. Bianca Belair in a WWE NXT Women's Championship invitational first round matchFeatured wrestlers from World Wrestling NetworkPete Dunne vs. Morgan WebsterChris Dickinson & Jaka (w/Stokely Hathaway) (c) vs. Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan for the Evolve Tag Team ChampionshipAdam Cole (c) vs. Akira Tozawa for the WWE NXT North American Championship35April 4-8, 2019Brooklyn Pier 12Brooklyn, New YorkRoderick Strong vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Ariya Daivari vs. Dave Mastiff vs. Dominik Dijakovic vs. Drew Gulak vs. Eric Bugenhagen vs. Fabian Aichner vs. Humberto Carrillo vs. Joe Coffey vs. Ligero vs. Mark Coffey vs. Matt Riddle vs. Rinku Singh vs. Saurav Gurjar vs. Steve Cutler vs. Brian Kendrick vs. Travis Banks vs. Tyler Bate vs. Wesley BlakeFeatured tapings for the Worlds Collide specialsJordan Devlin vs. Akira TozawaTyler Breeze vs. Roderick StrongWALTER vs. Jordan Devlin in a non title matchToni Storm (c) vs. Bianca Belair vs. Nikki Cross in a triple threat match for the WWE NXT UK Women's Championship41April 17-21, 2025Las Vegas Convention CenterLas Vegas, NevadaMyles Borne (w/Wren Sinclair) vs. Harlem LewisNo Quarter Catch Crew (Myles Borne and Tavion Heights) (w/Wren Sinclair) vs. The Culling (Brooks Jensen and Niko Vance)Myles Borne vs. Harlem LewisFraxiom (Axiom and Nathan Frazer) vs. The Culling (Brooks Jensen and Niko Vance)Hank and Tank (Hank Walker and Tank Ledger) (c) vs. No Quarter Catch Crew (Myles Borne and Tavion Heights) for the WWE NXT Tag Team Championship42April 16-19, 2026Fraxiom (Axiom and Nathan Frazer) vs. Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin)Matches were streamed live on YouTubeErik vs. Psycho ClownLos Americanos (Bravo Americano and Rayo Americano) vs. Myles Borne and Shiloh Hill
See also
List of professional wrestling conventions
References