By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WrestleMania XL Night One Kickoff Show
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at Lincoln Financial Field
Streamed April 6, 2024 on Peacock/WWE Network and WWE social media pages
This will not be a full-on recap of the Kickoff Show with listings of all the video packages or the match predictions from the hosts. Rather, I’ll stick to listing any notable developments from the two-hour show.
-Michael Cole, CM Punk, Big E, and Pat McAfee hosted the show from an elevated desk outside the stadium with fans behind them. They spoke about the weather and the wind being a factor.
-Jackie Redmond was stationed in front of the Bloodline dressing room. Byron Saxton drew the short straw and stood next to the fire hazard known as Cody Rhodes’ tour bus. Kayla Braxton checked in while outside of Seth Rollins’ locker room.
-Footage aired from earlier in the week of Paul “Triple H” Levesque being interviewed by Megan Morant at WWE Headquarters. Levesque spoke about the TKO merger causing them to look at things outside the box. He said it’s been different and fun.
Levesque spoke about The Rock showing up. He said the best stories are when they blend reality and fiction. He said he thinks they’ve blurred those lines and have kept their ear to the ground to take the best path that is the most intriguing to the fans.
Levesque was asked about his relationship with Rock. He said their careers have gone wildly different and yet somewhat parallel. He said Rock is one of the biggest stars in the world and yet he still sees him as the same guy.
Levesque said he does not miss the physical aspect now that his in-ring career is over. He said he has fun collaborating with a lot of amazing people. He said he thinks it’s actually more rewarding than his actual career was. Levesque said they are an entertainment company and it’s supposed to be fun. He said that if they are having fun making it, then the fans are having fun watching it.
In a teaser for part two of the interview that will be shown on Sunday, Levesque said there were a lot of emotions that went into bringing Punk back. He said there were a lot of private conversations.
-Cole said he thinks this show be known as the Triple H Era. Cole noted that Punk and Levesque had a long history together. Punk said everyone asks him how WWE is and whether it’s different than ten years ago. Punk said it’s shockingly different. Punk said he’s having a ball and acknowledged that he nearly slipped and dropped an F-bomb. Punk said he wonders whether he wasted time and whether he should have left. He said Big E told him that he had to leave when he did. Punk said Levesque is a great coach. Cole agreed and said they want to work for him.
-Peter Rosenberg and Braun Strowman checked in for a sponsored segment from a local bar.
-Sami Zayn was interviewed backstage by Redmond, who asked him where his head is at heading into his match with Gunther. Zayn said it was different than it was an hour ago and would probably be different if she asked him again in an hour. Zayn said he was nervous. He said he was the type of nervous that a person becomes when they are preparing to go to war. Zayn said he is riding and acknowledging his nerves because he was ready to go to war.
-The hosts had some fun over Punk never seeing the Rocky movies. “Is that the one with Eric Stoltz?” Punk asked. Funny, Stoltz played Rocky Dennis in Mask.
-Trish Stratus was interviewed backstage by Cathy Kelley. Trish said Becky Lynch is the best she’s been in the ring with, but she doesn’t know if she can overcome Rhea Ripley. Kelley asked if we could see Trish back in the ring again. Stratus said you never know.
-JBL was interviewed by Kayla Braxton on a backstage set. JBL spoke about the growth of WrestleMania and said what happens at WrestleMania makes wrestlers immortal. He had some fun putting over Dominik Mysterio and also expressed excitement over the night one main event.
-Journalist Tom Rinaldi checked in from the entrance ramp and set up a video that chronicled Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive lineman Trey Smith comforting a child after the shootings that occurred at the team’s championship parade. Smith was holding a commemorative championship belt that was gifted by WWE. Smith handed the belt to the child Joey, 9, to calm him down. Joey and his family were also interviewed for the touching piece. They cut back to the stadium where Rinaldi spoke with Smith and Joey while adding that Joey was able to meet his favorite wrestler Rey Mysterio.
-Jackie Redmond and Wade Barrett replaced Cole and McAfee at the desk. Punk and Big E stuck around.
-Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Damian Priest and Finn Balor were interviewed in the Judgment Day clubhouse by Kelley. Priest said they were pissed about being forced to face five teams in a ladder match. Balor said keep lining them up and they’ll keep knocking them down.
-The panel spoke about Bianca Belair, Naomi, and Jade Cargill being three powerful Black women. Big E acknowledged Jacqueline and Jazz as Black women who paved the way and didn’t get the same opportunities.
-Smackdown general manager Nick Aldis joined the panel and said they are building a dynasty at WWE. He said Jade Cargill is at the top of the list.
-A video aired on the original WrestleMania that was written and narrated by Michael Cole. He recalled visiting a local theater to watch the closed circuit broadcast of the event when he was 18. He recalled Hulk Hogan and Mr. T hosting Saturday Night Live the night before they main evented WrestleMania.
Powell’s POV: Just so I don’t run out of time before I slide over to my live review, I must say that this has been the company’s best Kickoff Show. The hosts have done a nice job and they really kept things moving. The Levesque interview, the piece of the Chiefs player and the young child, and Cole’s video on the first WrestleMania were all standout moments. I honestly expected to have a handful of notes when I started this recap and I normally half-watch the WWE pre-shows, but this one has actually been enjoyable.
-Natlaya was interviewed by Kelley. Natalya said the match she’s most looking forward to is Yeet vs. No Yet (Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso). She said she loves a good story about sibling rivalries.
-Dominik Mysterio and Santos Escobar were interviewed on a backstage set by Braxton. They spoke briefly about their match against Rey Mysterio and Andrade. Punk said Dom and Escobar should team up to go against whoever cut their hair. Punk recalled Mysterio scalping him at Cobo Hall, then conceded that it occurred at Joe Louis Arena and said he just wanted to claim he wrestled at Cobo Hall. Funny.
-A video package aired that included footage of Redmond interviewing Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes. Rollins got emotional while talking about the late Dusty Rhodes and said that he believed in him at a time when no one else did. Cody said his father would be proud that his fingerprints are all over WrestleMania in 2024 perhaps more than anyone else’s.
Redmond shifted to talking about The Bloodline. Cody said Rock tried to embarrass him when he attacked him on Raw. Cody said he’d like to see what would happen if he had a fair fight with Rock. Cody said that if you’re a betting person, bet everything on him and Rollins in the tag team main event. Redmond asked about the stipulation and what a loss would mean. Cody said it was basically Bloodline Rules last year. Cody said they must win.
-The hosts spoke while split-screen shots showed the entrances of the broadcast team.
Powell’s POV: The hosts seem to be closing things out for the pre-show, so I’ll make the switch over to my live review. I hope you’ll do the same.
Join me for my live review of WrestleMania XL night one in a separate story available via the main page.
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