Leave it to Snoop Dogg to emerge as the Most Valuable Performer of WrestleMania 39.
During a weekend that saw World Wrestling Entertainment set a two-night attendance record for their signature event, the and Roman Reigns remaining the undisputed champion, the iconic rapper stepped up in an emergency.
Snoop Dogg was co-hosting a segment between matches on Sunday at SoFi Stadium with wrestler Mike 鈥淭he Miz鈥� Mizanin when he goaded Mizanin into an impromptu match with Shane McMahon, who made his appearance at a WWE event for the first time in 14 months. McMahon and Mizanin traded punches before McMahon tore his quad when he did a leapfrog maneuver while trying to avoid Mizanin.
Doctors checked on McMahon before he was helped out of the ring. into the ring to continue the match, as he punched 鈥淭he Miz鈥� twice, then stole a page from 鈥淭he Rock鈥� and landed a people鈥檚 elbow to secure the win.
鈥淢y hat鈥檚 off to Snoop, just picking it up and like, 鈥榦h man, he鈥檚 hurt? That鈥檚 alright, I鈥檒l fix that.鈥� Just a natural born entertainer,鈥� said WWE head of creative Paul 鈥淭riple H鈥� Levesque. 鈥淚鈥檝e known Snoop for years in this environment and what kind of a fan he is, but tonight he put himself on a different playing field and respect factor for me. I know a lot of guys that have been in business a long time; if that happened, they鈥檇 go, 鈥榳hat do we do?鈥� It was amazing.鈥�
The biggest surprise, though, happened less than eight hours after Reigns pinned Cody Rhodes in the main event when UFC owner Endeavor announced Monday morning it had signed an agreement with WWE to form a new company that will put UFC and WWE under one roof.
Levesque did not answer questions about Endeavor Sunday night, saying he wanted to focus on what happened over the weekend.
Outside the ring, attendance for both days was 161,892 and set stadium single-day records on both nights. The first WrestleMania in Los Angeles since 2005 generated a record gate of $21.6 million, breaking the previous record by 27%.
, more than doubling the previous record, while merchandise sales were up 20% over last year.
The Doggfather stepping in as a pinch wrestler continued the trend of celebrities coming in and not looking out of place.
Social media star Logan Paul participated in a WrestleMania match for the second straight year on Saturday. came out of the stands and was part of a match between former Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee and 鈥淭he Miz.鈥� Rapper Bad Bunny made a cameo during the match between the Mysterios.
鈥淭hey have no right to be this good,鈥� Levesque said of the celebrities stepping into the ring. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 awesome about it is the grind and the level of what they鈥檙e willing to put into this because they respect the business, respect for the WWE superstars and what we do and the people that came before them. It鈥檚 cool to see them do that, but also awe-inspiring to see how good they are at it and how it raises the bar for everyone else.鈥�
Besides co-hosting with 鈥淭he Miz鈥� both nights, Snoop drove Rey Mysterio out to the stage in a lowrider before his match against son Dominik Mysterio.
Paul, who lost to Seth Rollins, did high-flying stunts and moves as if he had performed for more than 10 years. McAfee was a WWE announcer for 17 months (April 2021-September 2022) and participated in a match at last year鈥檚 WrestleMania, while Kittle has been a long-time wrestling fan.
Bad Bunny, who took part in a tag team match at WrestleMania two years ago, will host WWE鈥檚 next premium live event on May 6, which will take place in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is the first time since 2005 that WWE is going to Puerto Rico.
Bad Bunny could also take part in a match that night. On Saturday, he was doing commentary in Spanish during Mysterio鈥檚 match when he stopped Dominik from using a steel chain he would hit his father with. Rey Mysterio capitalized on the distraction and would hit his finishing move to get the win and set up a possible storyline between Bad Bunny and the younger Mysterio.
as champion was mostly unexpected. Rhodes had all the momentum going into the match, and all indications pointed to a title change. Still, WWE鈥檚 creative forces have decided to continue Reigns鈥� dominance atop the company.
Barring injury or a giant surprise, Reigns will become the first WWE wrestler to reach 1,000 days as champion in early June. At this point, Reigns will likely keep the title through Summerslam in early August in Detroit, or he could still be the champion by next year鈥檚 WrestleMania in Philadelphia.
鈥淚 want somebody to step up and take this ball from us,鈥� Reigns said. 鈥淏ecause if you don鈥檛, we鈥檙e just going to keep a chokehold on this.鈥�
鈥擩oe Reedy, The Associated Press
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