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WrestleMania 40: The Rock, John Cena involved in 'best' WWE event

Jared Evitts & Riyah Collins - BBC Newsbeat
·3 min read
The Rock and John Cena at WrestleMania 40. The Rock is a 51-year-old black man with a muscular physique and tattooed arms and chest. He has a shaved head and wears sunglasses and an embellished white, black, red and gold sleeveless jacket with matching trousers. He stares down John Cena, a 46-year-old white man with brown hair slicked back. John is shirtless, exposing his muscular physique, and wears blue jeans and blue and orange sweat bands on his wrists. He holds his right hand to his head as he faces off with The Rock.
Hollywood heavyweights The Rock and John Cena came face to face [Getty Images]

Fans watching WrestleMania were thrilled as iconic WWE characters returned for the company's biggest box office event.

The Rock, John Cena and The Undertaker were in the ring for the two-day show, which saw Cody Rhodes end Roman Reigns' three-year title streak on Sunday.

Viewers described being left "speechless" by the Philadelphia event.

WWE's chief content officer Paul 'Triple H' Levesque said it was "the biggest WrestleMania of all time".

The Rock, also a board member of TKO - the company formed when WWE merged with UFC - said Saturday night was the "highest selling single night" in the history of WWE.

Before his defeat, Roman Reigns also confirmed his ongoing treatment for leukaemia.

Roman was first diagnosed almost 20 years ago and told reporters he is on oral chemotherapy which he says he expects to remain on "my entire life".

He previously announced in 2018 he was taking a break for treatment, before returning to the company in 2019.

"That's just a part of my personal battle," the 38-year-old said. "Thank God, I'm still able to perform."

Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns face off. Cody is a 38-year-old white man with short, bleached blonde hair and Roman is a 38-year-old Samoan man with long, curly brown hair. Both wrestlers are shirtless exposing their muscly chests - Roman's chest is covered in a large tattoo while Cody has one on the right side of his neck. Cody's shorts are the red, white and blue of the US flag complete with stars while Roman's are black.
Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns faced off in the main event on Sunday [Getty Images/WWE]

But he was beaten by Cody Rhodes in the culmination of the bloodline saga - one of WWE's biggest storylines - and Cody says "what we do next has to be extremely special".

The Rock, real name Dwayne Johnson, made his return to the event, which was held in Philadelphia, more than 25 years after his wrestling debut.

He partnered with Roman Reigns to take on Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins in a tag-team match in the main event of the first night.

At 51, "he's still moving like a cruiser-weight," says fan Joe Clarkson, 22.

"I thought he was absolutely fantastic and can clearly still run a main event scene in the WWE," says Joe.

"Considering all the build-up that went into this and him not performing since 2016, a lot of pressure was on his shoulders to deliver and that main event was absolutely fantastic.

"It was 45 minutes of pure cinema."

Fans took to social media to praise him, with one on X saying "The Rock is the GOAT of WWE" and another commenting that his entrance to the ring was "the greatest" in history.

Cody Rhodes holds the winner's belt aloft after his victory. Cody is a 38-year-old white man with bleached blonde hair. He wears red, white and blue trousers and is shirtless, exposing his muscles. He's pictured surrounded by the WrestleMania audience in front of the event staging, which is lit green.
Cody Rhodes "completed his story", leaving WrestleMania as champion [Getty Images/WWE]

Elsewhere over the weekend, Philadelphia Eagles NFL stars Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson made a surprise appearance at their home ground, becoming involved as Rey Mysterio and Andrade beat Dominik Mysterio and Santos Escobar.

Rhea Ripley also retained the Women's World Championship against Becky Lynch while Bayley claimed the new WWE Women's Champion title against Iyo Sky and Intercontinental champion Gunther lost his title to Sami Zayn.

YouTuber Logan Paul was also in action against Randy Orton and Kevin Owens.

Bayley holds her winner's belt aloft after winning WWE Women's Champion at WrestleMania. Bayley is a 34-year-old white woman with long brown hair. She wears a blue and gold crop top with matching blue trousers and black boots.
Bayley became the new WWE Women's Champion [WWE]

Wrestlemania 40 has been described by many fans as the "best WrestleMania ever", with one fan on X describing the Cody Rhodes-Roman Reigns main event as the "best I've ever seen".

Speaking of Cody's victory, Triple H said it was "an incredible moment" but saved most of his praise for Roman.

"If he is not the, he is one of, absolutely for certain the greatest of all time," he said.

A wide shot of the crowd and the stage of Wrestlemania on Saturday night. In the background of the stage, there are fireworks being set off in the night sky during Night One of WrestleMania 40 at Lincoln Financial Field.
Wrestlemania 40 took place in front of an packed crowd at Lincoln Financial Field, which has a capacity of almost 70,000 [WWE]

From next year, fans will only be able to watch pay-per-view events including WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Royal Rumble exclusively on Netflix.

It's after bosses signed a deal which comes into force from January 2025.

Earlier this week, it was announced that WWE will host its first event in Scotland this summer, as Clash at the Castle will take place in Glasgow in June.

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