When is WrestleMania 41? Date and start time for WWE’s showpiece event

WWE’s biggest event of the year, WrestleMania, is here at last.

This weekend, the two-night showpiece will take place in Las Vegas, and it will be the 41st edition of WrestleMania. Fans can expect most of the professional-wrestling company’s biggest stars to be involved, plenty of title matches, and cameos from WWE legends and celebrities here and there.

Right now, WWE counts Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns among its most high-profile performers, while Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has repeatedly returned to the company since his switch to acting in the early-mid 2000s. The Rock was a key fixture in WrestleMania season in 2024 and should be this year, too.

CM Punk made a huge return to WWE in late 2023 after 10 years away but missed WrestleMania 40 due to injury, and he will compete this year. Also, John Cena is on his ‘retirement tour’ and is scheduled to challenge Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE title.

Here’s all you need to know.

When is WrestleMania 41?

WrestleMania became a two-night event in 2020, and this year it will take place on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 April at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. In the US, each evening of action will begin at 4pm PT / 6pm CT / 7pm ET. In the UK, that works out to 12am BST on Sunday and Monday morning.

How can I watch it?

WrestleMania 41 will stream live on Netflix in the UK and most territories worldwide, as part of subscribers’ existing plans (at no additional cost, in other words). In the US, however, the event will air live on Peacock pay-per-view.

In January, all of WWE’s shows began streaming live on Netflix in the UK and most territories worldwide; in the US, every show except SmackDown (which remains on the USA Network) also airs on Netflix.

Confirmed matches

Night 1

War Raiders (World Tag-Team Champions) vs The New Day

Rey Mysterio vs El Grande Americano

Jade Cargill vs Naomi

LA Knight (United States Champion) vs Jacob Fatu

Tiffany Stratton (Women’s WWE Champion) vs Charlotte

Gunther (World Heavyweight Champion) vs Jey Uso

CM Punk vs Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins

Night 2

Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez (WWE Women’s Tag-Team Champions) vs Bayley and Valkyria

Logan Paul vs AJ Styles

Randy Orton vs TBA

Bron Breakker (Intercontinental Champion) vs Penta vs Dominik Mysterio vs Finn Balor

Drew McIntyre vs Damian Priest (‘Sin City Street Fight’)

Iyo Sky (Women’s World Champion) vs Bianca Belair vs Rhea Ripley

Cody Rhodes (Undisputed WWE Champion) vs John Cena

Will The Rock compete?

Last year, The Rock competed in the Night 1 main event of WrestleMania 40, teaming with Roman Reigns to beat Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins. He also interfered in the Night 2 main event: Reigns vs Rhodes. He is not advertised as competing this year, but expect him to feature in some capacity.

Why is John Cena a ‘bad guy’?

In pro wrestling, ‘good’ characters are called ‘babyfaces’ and ‘bad’ characters are ‘heels’. Cena spent most of his career as a babyface, having last been a heel in the early-mid 2000s – until February’s Elimination Chamber event, where he attacked Rhodes and joined forces with The Rock. This is part of a storyline in which Cena, during his final year as a pro wrestler, is desperate to win a record-breaking 17th world championship. Rhodes is WWE’s biggest babyface, while The Rock is a heel authority figure, given Dwayne Johnson’s real-life position on the board of TKO (WWE’s ownership group).

How much do WWE stars earn at WrestleMania?

The specifics of WWE contracts have long been hard to ascertain. However, WWE star-turned-executive Triple H (real name Paul Levesque) told The Athletic in 2022 that $250,000 is the minimum base salary for wrestlers in the company. That figure might have risen since, of course, and it reportedly only applied to members of the Smackdown and Raw rosters – not wrestlers on NXT, which is WWE’s developmental show.

However, wrestlers’ wages are boosted by merchandise sales and, it is believed, by cuts of pay-per-view sales as well. Of course, merchandise sales are likely to be significant on a WrestleMania weekend, as well as pay-per-view sales, so 19 and 20 April could be the most lucrative days of the year for most WWE wrestlers.

In 2023, The Mirror reported some of the highest WWE wages as these: Roman Reigns $5m per year; Randy Orton $5m per year; Seth Rollins $3.5m per year; Cody Rhodes $3m per year; Logan Paul $2m per year. These figures reportedly don’t include bonuses.