WWE issued the following:
WWE Takes Over the San Francisco Bay Area for WrestleMania Week
STAMFORD, Conn., March 24, 2015 – Fans from all 50 states and nearly 40 countries will descend upon the San Francisco Bay Area for a week-long lineup of festivities in celebration of WrestleMania 31, taking place this Sunday, March 29, live on WWE Network and pay-per-view at 7 pm ET/4 pm PT, from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. WWE will also host a dozen community outreach events designed to give back to the local region. WrestleMania Week begins tomorrow, Wednesday, March 25, and includes the following events:
· Children’s Hospital Visits – Wednesday, March 25
Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford and Ronald McDonald House at Stanford
WWE Superstars Sin Cara and The Usos and WWE Divas Cameron and Eva Marie will visit the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford and Ronald McDonald House at Stanford. Mattel will donate WWE action figures for the WWE Superstars and Divas to distribute to the patients at these two facilities.
· WrestleMania Reading Celebration – Thursday, March 26
Horace Cureton Elementary School
More than 100 students at Horace Cureton Elementary School will participate in a Reading Celebration (#WWEReadingSuperstar) featuring WWE Superstars Sheamus and Hornswoggle and WWE Diva Rosa Mendes. In an effort to promote literacy, WWE partners with First Book for the WrestleMania Reading Challenge, delivering an innovative digital reading experience for children, age 4-12, and teens, age 13-18.
· Be a STAR Anti-Bullying Rally – Thursday, March 26
Joseph George Middle School
WWE’s anti-bullying program, Be a STAR (Show Tolerance And Respect), encourages young people to treat each other with tolerance and respect through education and grassroots initiatives. WWE’s Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon, WWE Superstars The Miz, Damien Mizdow and Darren Young, WWE Diva Layla and representatives from GLAAD and Facebook will deliver anti-bullying messages to 300 students at Joseph George Middle School (#BeaSTAR). The lovely and talented WWE announcer Renee Young will emcee.
· WrestleMania Axxess – Thursday, March 26 through Sunday, March 29
San Jose Convention Center
WrestleMania Axxess (#AXXESS) is the ultimate fan experience for the WWE Universe. WrestleMania Axxess will occur Thursday, March 26 through Sunday, March 29 at the San Jose Convention Center. Fans will have unprecedented access to meet their favorite WWE Superstars, Divas and Legends through a host of interactive fan experiences, including autograph signings and live matches. New this year, fans can experience the Elimination Chamber where they can take photos with WWE Superstars. The imposing structure takes eight hours to set up and is made of 16 frames of steel, each weighing 300 pounds. Famed wrestling artist Rob Schamberger will be outside Axxess, creating a Randy Macho Man Savage painting and meeting fans.
· Veteran Employment Panel and Networking Event – Friday, March 27
San Francisco 49ers Museum at Levi’s Stadium
WWE, in partnership with the 49ers Foundation, Hire Heroes USA and Orion International, will host a Veteran Career Panel and Networking Event giving veterans an opportunity to network with key employers from the Bay Area and receive one-on-one career coaching. The panelists include:
· Dave Bakkeby, VP of Business Development, Orion International
· Sean Cleary, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, WWE
· Sean Kundu, Director of HR and Employment Counsel, San Francisco 49ers
· Joel Lunenfeld, VP Global Brand Strategy, Twitter
· Brian Stann, CEO, Hire Heroes USA
· Pat Wadors, Senior Vice President, Global Talent Organization, LinkedIn
WWE Superstars Jack Swagger and Goldust, WWE Diva Tamina and WWE Announcer Lilian Garcia will be on-site to meet the veterans.
· Make-A-Wish Pizza Party – Friday, March 27
The Tech Museum of Innovation
WWE Superstar John Cena will host his annual Make-A-Wish pizza party at the Tech Museum in San Jose, where he will induct 25 wish kids into WWE’s Circle of Champions. As part of its 30-year alliance with Make-A-Wish, WWE will also host the wish kids and their families at WrestleMania 31. With more than 475 wishes and counting, Cena has granted more wishes than any celebrity or athlete in Make-A-Wish history.
· Special Olympics Basketball Game – Saturday, March 28
Peterson Middle School
WWE, a promotional partner of the 2015 Special Olympics World Games, along with Special Olympics Northern California, will host an exhibition basketball game at Peterson Middle School. Special Olympics athletes will participate in a basketball game where WWE Superstar Kofi Kingston and WWE Diva Cameron will serve as honorary coaches and WWE Hall of Famer Howard Finkel will be the official commentator.
· WWE 2015 Hall of Fame Red Carpet – Saturday, March 28
SAP Center
TV personality and former WWE WrestleMania competitor and WWE Hall of Fame presenter Maria Menounos hosts the most glamorous event on the WWE calendar. Superstars, Divas, Legends and a host of celebrities walk the red carpet and tell-all to Maria and her co-hosts.
· WWE 2015 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony – Saturday, March 28
SAP Center
Randy Macho Man Savage and Arnold Schwarzenegger headline the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2015 (#WWEHOF). The WrestleMania eve tradition will telecast live from the sold-out SAP center in in San Jose, Calif. at 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST on WWE Network. This year’s inductees also include The Bushwhackers, Rikishi, Alundra Blayze, Larry Zbyszko and Kevin Nash. In addition, WWE has created The Warrior Award, which will be presented each year to someone who has exhibited unwavering strength and perseverance, and who lives life with the courage and compassion that embodies the indomitable spirit of WWE Hall of Famer, The Ultimate Warrior. The inaugural award will be presented to Connor Michalek, a passionate WWE fan who passed away last year from cancer. The Ultimate Warrior’s widow, Dana Warrior, and WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan will present the award to Steve Michalek, Connor’s father.
· WrestleMania 31 – Sunday, March 29
Levi’s Stadium
More than 70,000 fans are expected to converge on the Levi’s Stadium for WWE’s annual pop-culture extravaganza, WrestleMania 31 (#WRESTLEMANIA).
Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman) defends his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against a Superstar on the rise, Roman Reigns.
After 14 years of anticipation, Sting steps into a WWE ring for the first time to battle Triple H.
In his first appearance since WrestleMania 30, Undertaker returns against Bray Wyatt.
Plus, John Cena challenges Rusev (with Lana) for the U.S. Championship, and The Viper Randy Orton wrestles The Authority’s hand-picked face of the future, Seth Rollins, (with Jamie Knoble and Joey Mercury).
The stars of Total Divas, The Bella Twins, face AJ and Paige.
Dean Ambrose, Bad News Barrett, Daniel Bryan, Luke Harper, R-Truth, Stardust, and Dolph Ziggler vie for the Intercontinental Championship in a ladder match.
Twenty-men will compete in the second annual Andre the Giant Battle Royal. Participants include The Miz, Curtis Axel, Ryback, Fandango, Adam Rose, Zack Ryder, Jack Swagger, Titus O’Neil, Darren Young, Big Show, Kane, Erick Rowan, Damien Mizdow, Sin Cara, Goldust, Heath Slater, Mark Henry, Konnor, Viktor, and the winner of the NXT WrestleMania Axxess Tournament. Inaugural winner Cesaro, a current WWE tag team champ, is competing on the pre-show.
The pre-show match will be a fatal four-way tag match for the WWE tag team titles with champs Tyson Kid and Cesaro (with Natalya) vs. Los Matadores (Diego and Fernando with El Torito) vs. The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston with Xavier Woods) vs. former champs The Usos (Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso with Naomi).
A medley of the WrestleMania 31 theme songs, “Rise” by David Guetta featuring Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Skylar Grey and “Money and the Power” by multi-platinum rapper Kid Ink will be performed live by Skylar Grey and Kid Ink, both joined by legendary drummer Travis Barker.
Grammy Award winner and entertainment icon LL COOL J will appear in the video opening of WrestleMania, titled “The Showcase of the Immortals.” He previously appeared on WWE’s flagship television program, Monday Night Raw in March 2014 with his “NCIS: Los Angeles” co-star Chris O’Donnell. LL recently partnered with Rouse Social, a social media aggregate app that brings all your favorites in music and sports to one place. Next, he can be seen hosting and producing the new show Lip Sync Battle on Spike TV premiering Thursday, April 2.
For more information on WrestleMania 31, visit
www.wrestlemania.com.
· Monday Night Raw – Monday, March 30
SAP Center
The night after WrestleMania, Monday Night Raw comes to the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. Fans can see their favorite WWE Superstars and Divas as the road toWrestleMania 32 begins. WrestleMania 32 will occur at the AT&T Center in Arlington, Texas on Sunday, April 3, 2016.
