WWE WrestleMania 39 News: WWE Touts All-Time WrestleMania Success, Pat McAfee, More News

WWE Touts WrestleMania 39 as Most Successful WrestleMania Event of All Time

WWE recently announced that this past weekend’s WrestleMania 39 event in Inglewood, California broke several all-time event records in WWE history and was the most successful WrestleMania event in WrestleMania history.

Official press release:

MOST SUCCESSFUL WRESTLEMANIA® OF ALL TIME

WrestleMania 39 Smashes Viewership, Gate, Sponsorship, Merchandise & Social Records

STAMFORD, Conn., April 3, 2023 – WWE® (NYSE: WWE) today announced that WrestleMania 39 became the most-successful and highest-grossing event in company history. The two-night, sold-out event at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles set new records for viewership, gate, sponsorship, merchandise and social media.

WrestleMania 39 became the most social WrestleMania of all-time, with over 500 million views and 11 million hours of video consumed over the two days, a 42 percent increase over last year.

Night 2 of WrestleMania 39 surpassed the existing global viewership record by 33 percent, just one day after Night 1 of WrestleMania 39 surpassed the existing global viewership record by 28 percent.

WrestleMania 39 generated a gate of more than $21.6 million, breaking the previous record by 27 percent, with 161,892 in attendance at SoFi Stadium over the two nights.

In addition, WrestleMania 39 broke all-time sponsorship and merchandise records. Sponsorship revenue eclipsed $20 million, more than doubling the previous record. Merchandise sales were up 20 percent versus the record set in 2022.  


Pat McAfee Comments on His Surprise Appearance at WrestleMania 39

As noted before, this past Friday’s WrestleMania 39 Night 1 event featured Pat McAfee making his surprise return to WWE. McAfee competed and defeated The Miz in an impromptu match on the show. This was McAfee’s first appearance in WWE since this past January’s Royal Rumble 2023 event.

In a recent episode of The Pat McAfee Show podcast, host McAfee gave his thoughts about his surprise appearance at WrestleMania 39. McAfee also revealed that The Miz did not know beforehand that he would be his surprise opponent on the show.

“There were three people that knew, in the whole world, that was going to be a situation for a little bit. We needed the moment to pop up. Finally, when Miz said, ‘I sent out an open challenge.’ All parties were like, ‘Now is the time.’ Michael Cole had no idea I was there. He walked by the bus one time, actually seen him. Haven’t seen that guy in a long time, miss that guy, would like to talk to that guy. Can’t because we don’t know if the moment is going to come, and I don’t want to distract him. Obviously, Miz did not know until Saturday. For shoot. When my music hit is near when Miz found out. He might have thought, ‘is there somebody back there who wants to come dance?’ He never expected it to be me.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com


WrestleMania 39 News & Notes

Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that the United States Championship match between John Cena and Austin Theory at Night 1 of WrestleMania 39 ended up being way under its allocated time for the show. In regards to matches that went over its allocated time, it was reported that the SmackDown Women’s Championship match between Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair had went slightly over the amount of time that WWE officials had scheduled for the match.

NXT talent Sol Ruca recently revealed on Instagram that she was the person under the Cinnamoji mascot costume at WrestleManai 39. Ruca stated “Swipe to see my WrestleMania debut — What. A. Week. A little over a year ago I started at the wwe performance center. Last week I was in LA coaching a tryout. Total full circle moment being in my hometown and on the other side of the tryout. So thankful for all the opportunities and friendships I’ve gotten over the past year and SO STOKED I got to be the cinnamoji for @619iamlucha entrance.”

Indie wrestlers Vipress and Kayla Sparks recently revealed on Twitter that they were two of the people portraying the masked Asuka characters for Asuka’s entrance for her RAW Women’s Championship match against Bianca Belair at WrestleMania 39.

Asuka recently reflected on Twitter about her loss to Belair for the RAW Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 39 and her current WrestleMania winless streak. Asuka stated “I might as well go back to Japan… But I bet a lot of you guys my friends will miss me when I leave WWE? Now I need the power of your anger. Let’s bring chaos to the boring Women’s Division with me. Let’s bring chaos to the Women’s Division, let’s bring chaos to the WWE!

This past Sunday’s WrestleMania 39 Night 2 event featured a Hell in a Cell match between Edge and “Demon” Finn Balor. During the match, Balor suffered a head injury resulting in the match being paused due to Balor needing medical assistance. Balor suffered the injury following a spot where Edge threw a ladder hitting Balor in the head and busted him open. Following his match, Balor revealed on Twitter the severity of the gash he had suffered on his head.

This past Saturday’s WrestleMania 39 Night 1 event reportedly generated around 500,000 searches and a #2 ranking on Google for that night, according to the Wrestling Observer.

John Cena recently reflected on Twitter about his special entrance with several Make A Wish children for his match against Austin Theory at this past weekend’s WrestleMania 39 event. Cena stated “There are few things in entertainment that can rival seeing the @WWE Universe during a #WrestleMania entrance. Thankful I got share mine with some very special friends.