WrestleMania 41, also promoted as WrestleMania Vegas, was a 2025 two-part professional wrestling premium live event produced by WWE, held for wrestlers from the promotion's main roster brands, Raw and SmackDown. It was the 41st annual WrestleMania and took place as a two-night event on Saturday, April 19, and Sunday, April 20, 2025, at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada.
This was the second WrestleMania to take place in the Las Vegas Valley, after WrestleMania IX in 1993, which was held at Caesars Palace. This was the first WrestleMania to livestream on Netflix in most international markets as the platform began a 10-year rights deal with WWE in January 2025 as well as the last WrestleMania to livestream on Peacock in the United States as ESPN's direct-to-consumer streaming service began a five-year rights deal with WWE, starting in September 2025.
The card comprised a total of 14 matches, evenly divided between each night. In the main event on Night 1, which was a cross-promotional match, Raw's Seth Rollins defeated Raw's CM Punk and SmackDown's Roman Reigns in a triple threat match, which saw Paul Heyman turn on both Punk and Reigns to side with Rollins. In other prominent matches, Tiffany Stratton defeated Charlotte Flair to retain SmackDown's WWE Women's Championship, and in the opening bout, Jey Uso defeated Gunther by submission to win Raw's World Heavyweight Championship.
In the main event on Night 2, John Cena defeated Cody Rhodes to win SmackDown's Undisputed WWE Championship, marking his record 17th WWE world championship. In other prominent matches, Dominik Mysterio won Raw's WWE Intercontinental Championship in a fatal four-way match, and Iyo Sky defeated Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley in a triple threat match to retain Raw's Women's World Championship.
The event received mixed-to-positive reviews, with the Night 1 main event and the Women's World Championship match being singled out for acclaim, whilst the World Heavyweight Championship match, the Sin City Street Fight, the Intercontinental Championship match, AJ Styles vs. Logan Paul, and the United States Championship match also garnered positive reviews. Criticism was directed mainly towards the World Tag Team Championship match, the Women's Championship match, and the Night 2 main event, with its finish in particular being described as "anti-climactic" by many fans and critics.
Production Background
WrestleMania is WWE's flagship professional wrestling premium live event, having first been held in 1985. It was the company's first pay-per-view (PPV) produced and was also WWE's first major event available via livestreaming when the company launched the WWE Network in February 2014. It is the longest-running event in WWE history and is held annually between mid-March to mid-April, featuring wrestlers from WWE's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. It is one of the promotion's original four PPVs, along with Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, referred to as the "Big Four",Ian Hamilton. Wrestling's Sinking Ship: What Happens to an Industry Without Competition (p. 160) and is considered one of the "Big Five" with the elevation of Money in the Bank in 2021. WrestleMania was ranked the sixth-most valuable sports brand in the world by Forbes in 2019, and has been described as the Super Bowl of sports entertainment. Similar to the Super Bowl, cities bid to host WrestleMania.
On May 4, 2024, during NBC's pre-race coverage for the 150th Kentucky Derby, it was announced that Allegiant Stadium in the Las Vegas district of Paradise, Nevada would host WrestleMania 41 on Saturday, April 19, and Sunday, April 20, 2025, marking the first WrestleMania to be held during Easter weekend. This was subsequently the second WWE event to be held at the venue after SummerSlam in 2021. This was also the second WrestleMania held in the Las Vegas area, after WrestleMania IX in 1993, which was held at Caesars Palace, with the event in turn marketed as "WrestleMania Vegas". Two-day combo tickets went on sale on October 25, 2024, while single day tickets went on sale from January 24, 2025. One of the official theme songs for the event was "Timeless" by The Weeknd and Playboi Carti, marking a record sixth consecutive year that a Weeknd track had served as a theme song for a WrestleMania. "Fein" by Travis Scott featuring Playboi Carti was also an official theme song.
Minneapolis, Minnesota was also a finalist to host the event at U.S. Bank Stadium. Its proponents said they had been informed that the decision to place the event in the Las Vegas area was driven by a "change in direction by new ownership", following the 2023 merger of WWE and Las Vegas-based Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) as TKO Group Holdings, controlled by UFC's previous sole owner Endeavor. U.S. Bank Stadium would in turn get SummerSlam for 2026.
Broadcast outlets In addition to airing on traditional pay-per-view worldwide, WrestleMania 41 was available to livestream on Peacock in the United States, Netflix in most international markets, and the WWE Network in any remaining countries that had not transferred to Netflix due to pre-existing contracts. This marked the first WrestleMania to livestream on Netflix following the WWE Network's merger under the service in January 2025 in those areas. The select few territories that still had the standalone WWE Network eventually merged under Netflix once the pre-existing contracts expired in early 2026.
Other WrestleMania week events As part of the WrestleMania festivities, WWE held a number of events throughout the week. The week kicked off with a special "WrestleMania Edition" of Monday Night Raw, held at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. On April 17, Netflix presented WaleMania X from the Brooklyn Bowl. The night before WrestleMania 41 on April 18, WWE kicked off WrestleMania Weekend with a special "WrestleMania Edition" of Friday Night SmackDown, which featured the annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, won by Carmelo Hayes. After SmackDown, the 2025 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony commenced. During the afternoon of WrestleMania Saturday, WWE's NXT brand held its annual WrestleMania Weekend event, Stand & Deliver. After WrestleMania Saturday's conclusion, WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker hosted his 1deadMAN show. After WrestleMania Sunday's conclusion, there was a comedy event, "The Roast of WrestleMania Featuring Tony Hinchcliffe & Friends". On April 21 the Raw after WrestleMania took place, with all WrestleMania week events concluding with NXT on April 22. SmackDown, Stand & Deliver, and Raw were held live at the nearby T-Mobile Arena, while the Hall of Fame ceremony, 1deadMAN Show, Roast of WrestleMania, and NXT were held live at the nearby Fontainebleau Las Vegas in the BleauLive Theater. Also as part of WrestleMania 41 week, WWE partnered with independent wrestling promotions Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) and Future Stars of Wrestling (FSW) to co-promote the opening rounds of the WWE ID Championship and WWE Women's ID Championship tournaments at the Palms Casino Resort and FSW Arena in Las Vegas.
In partnership with Fanatics Events, WWE also hosted the second annual WWE World at WrestleMania, a five-day fan convention held at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The event began on Thursday, April 17 and ran through Monday, April 21. It included interview panel sessions with WWE wrestlers, live podcast recordings, meet-and-greets with wrestlers, and a large merchandise store with various memorabilia honoring WrestleMania's 41-year history. WWE World also hosted the Slammy Awards during the afternoon of April 20. Also, throughout April, WWE partnered with Clash of Clans with various superstars featured in the game, and included an "enhanced match sponsorship" at WrestleMania 41. On Friday, April 18 and Monday, April 21, WWE commentator Pat McAfee hosted his eponymous ESPN afternoon talk show live from WWE World.
Celebrity involvement As is tradition at WrestleMania, various celebrities from outside of wrestling participated in various capacities. UFC President Dana White narrated the cold open for Night 1. Country singer Jelly Roll performed "God Bless America" to kick off Night 1. In a cross-promotion for the 2025 video game Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, disc jockey Salvatore Ganacci opened for Jey Uso's entrance, which also had involvement from the Las Vegas Raiderettes cheerleading squad. Meteorologist Jim Cantore from The Weather Channel was part of Jade Cargill's entrance. Living Colour played their song "Cult of Personality" for CM Punk's entrance in the main event of Night 1. Pop singer Ava Max performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" to kick off Night 2. Slayer guitarist Kerry King played for Damian Priest's entrance. Travis Scott also got involved in the Night 2 main event match.
Storylines The event included a total of 14 matches, split evenly between both nights, that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.
Main event matches
At Money in the Bank in 2024, John Cena revealed that he would retire from professional wrestling at the end of 2025, and also announced that he would compete at WrestleMania 41. After losing the men's Royal Rumble match at the eponymous event in February, Cena entered himself into the men's Elimination Chamber match for one last chance to challenge for a world championship at WrestleMania 41, citing that main-eventing his last WrestleMania and becoming a record 17-time WWE world champion would be "best for business". Also around this time, TKO board member Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson tried to bribe SmackDown's reigning Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes to be his corporate champion, claiming that they had become friends following their clash at the prior year's WrestleMania XL and that he could elevate Rhodes's career. At Elimination Chamber, Cena won the eponymous match, earning a title match against Rhodes at WrestleMania. Following the match, Rhodes appeared to congratulate Cena followed by The Rock to get Rhodes's answer to his offer. Rhodes declined and Cena embraced Rhodes; however, Cena then viciously attacked Rhodes, siding with Rock, turning heel for the first time since 2003. In the weeks following, Cena berated the audience, claiming they had mistreated him for the last 20+ years, and that he turned on Rhodes because he was disgusted by him. Rhodes chastised Cena and told him he wanted to face the real Cena at WrestleMania 41, not this "whiny" version. Cena also claimed that after he won the title, he would take it with him when he retired. It was later confirmed that the match would be the main event on Night 2.