WrestleMania 32

Background

WrestleMania is considered WWE's flagship event, having been described as the Super Bowl of sports entertainment.

The event was the third WrestleMania to be held in the state of Texas, after 2001 and 2009, and the first to take place in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area. The ticket sales went on dated on November 6, 2015, with individual tickets costing $18 to $1,180. On October 13, 2015, traveling packages with accommodation ranging from $575 to $6,625 per person were sold. New subscribers to the WWE Network could watch the event at no additional cost. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that WrestleMania 32 has broken the WWE's record for most tickets sold with at least 84,000 tickets sold. Forbes speculated that WrestleMania 32 could break the WWE attendance record of 93,173 set at WrestleMania III at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan. This record stood as the highest attendance for any indoor event until the 2010 NBA All-Star Game, also held at AT&T Stadium, drew 108,713. However, Dave Meltzer reported that the actual WWE attendance record before WrestleMania 32 was the 1992 SummerSlam's 79,127, and that WrestleMania III's actual attendance was around 78,000.

The five official theme songs for the event were "My House" (by Flo Rida), "Hello Friday" (by Flo Rida featuring Jason Derulo), "Hail to the King" (by Avenged Sevenfold), "Sympathy for the Devil" (by Motörhead), and "Oh No" (by Goodbye June). On March 21, 2016, it was announced that the American girl group Fifth Harmony will be performing the "America the Beautiful", during the WrestleMania kickoff pre-show.

WWE had been hobbled by real-life injuries to the wrestlers on its roster, rendering them unable to wrestle at WrestleMania 32. The injured list at the time included John Cena, Seth Rollins, Randy Orton, Cesaro, Neville, and Luke Harper. Meanwhile, Sting, Nikki Bella, and Tyson Kidd suffered neck injuries, with Kidd barely avoiding paralysis or death and Sting being forced to retire. Daniel Bryan was also forced to retire due to severe concussions. David Shoemaker, writing for ESPN, described that "it seems as if the talent left off the match lineup could sell more tickets than the one currently on it." Shoemaker also theorized possible reasons for injuries being firstly "WWE's grueling schedule", and secondly "the travel, the exhaustion, the lack of an offseason".

In March 2016, CNET wrote that WrestleMania 32 would see the culmination of "the biggest story in WWE", which is "establishing Roman Reigns as the top babyface". WWE's attempts to get Reigns the "level of recognition" of name like Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock and John Cena met its "toughest opponent" in the wrestling audience which started a "fan rebellion" in opposition to WWE's support of Reigns, with fans preferring Dean Ambrose instead. COED agreed that Reigns, whom WWE thought "has the most star power and wide-spread appeal", was "being feverishly rejected" with boos by WWE's audience. To combat this trend, WWE has taken measures including muting booing crowds and piping in canned cheers during Reigns' appearances in 2016. The A.V. Club commented that "WWE has a serious Roman Reigns problem", due to "basically nobody wanting to see Roman Reigns in the main event" of WrestleMania.

Storylines

The card included twelve matches that resulted from scripted storylines with results predetermined by WWE. Storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Raw and SmackDown.

The storylines leading into WrestleMania 32 were not received well by critics. Jason Powell of Pro Wrestling Dot Net lamented that "the build to WrestleMania has been a creative mess", and that WWE's injury-hit roster does not excuse "sloppy booking or storylines with massive holes and logic gaps". Jeff Hamlin of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter criticized, "There is no momentum for WrestleMania at all. The event sells itself purely on its brand name". Ben Tucker of Pro Wrestling Torch wrote, "Not since WrestleMania 13 has WWE's Super Bowl come together in such a bizarre fashion, with WWE making some of the most head-scratching decisions I've seen in ages". Kyle Fowle of The A.V. Club declared that WWE's "ship is headed straight for the rocks", and in particular "the [WWE] World Heavyweight Championship feud is a disaster".

At Survivor Series, Roman Reigns won the tournament for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Reigns had earlier refused offers by Triple H to join The Authority, which would have automatically placed him in the tournament finals, but Reigns fought in the whole tournament and after his victory, he speared Triple H, who tried to congratulate him. Sheamus then cashed in his Money in the Bank contract after a Brogue Kick and won the title. Triple H gave Reigns a title rematch at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, where Reigns lost when Alberto Del Rio and Rusev interefered. Post-match, a chair-wielding Reigns attacked Sheamus, Del Rio, Rusev, and then Triple H, who came out to calm Reigns down. The next night on the December 14 episode of Raw, WWE chairman Mr. McMahon arranged a title vs. career match between Reigns and Sheamus, which Reigns won to regain the title. After Reigns won yet another title rematch against Sheamus, Vince decreed that Reigns had to defend his title in the annual 30-man Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble, where Triple H returned as the #30 entrant, eliminating Reigns en route to winning the title. After evaluating each wrestler's performance on the January 25 episode of Raw, The Authority set up the main event of Fastlane, where Reigns defeated Dean Ambrose and Brock Lesnar in a triple threat match to face Triple H for the title at Wrestlemania. The following night on Raw, Triple H attacked Reigns during the latter's match against Sheamus and beat a bloodied Reigns and executed a Pedigree on Reigns onto the steel steps. With Reigns absent due to a storyline injury, Triple H accepted Ambrose's title challenge and defeated Ambrose to retain the title at Roadblock on March 12. On the next Raw, after Triple H beat Dolph Ziggler, a returning Reigns assaulted Triple H, referees and security staff. The next week, Reigns conducted another attack, this time while Triple H was picking his wife up from work. The final Raw before WrestleMania ended with Triple H and Reigns being separated by other wrestlers after brawling.

On the February 22 episode of Raw, Mr. McMahon presented the "Vincent J. McMahon Legacy of Excellence" Award to his daughter Stephanie McMahon. As Stephanie was about to do the acceptance speech about the award given to her, Shane McMahon returned to WWE for the first time since 2009, to confront his father and sister in regards to his role in the company. Vince then made a deal with Shane that he would gain control of Raw if he could win a match of his choosing but would relinquish a lockbox of Vince's secrets if he lost. After Shane accepted, Vince named The Undertaker as his opponent and made the match a Hell in a Cell match; Shane's last match was in May 2009. The following week, Undertaker returned to Raw and said that Shane's blood would be on Vince's hands, not his. On the March 14 episode of Raw, Shane questioned The Undertaker's loyalty to Vince and insulted him for being one of Vince's "puppets" and also his "bitch". In the subsequent brawl, Undertaker attacked Shane with a chokeslam and then tried to attack Vince, but the latter got away. The following week on Raw, Vince stated that if The Undertaker did not win, it would be his last WrestleMania. Undertaker and Shane then confronted each other on the last Raw before WrestleMania and brawled, which ended with Shane putting Undertaker through a broadcast table with a Leap of Faith, but Undertaker quickly recovered and taunted Shane. The storyline never explained why Undertaker would wrestle in a Hell in a Cell match to help Vince against Shane, given the lack of an alliance between Vince and Undertaker.

During the triple threat match at Fastlane, Brock Lesnar had Roman Reigns in the kimura lock submission hold, and at last minute, Dean Ambrose hit Lesnar with a chair; this incapacitated Lesnar long enough for Reigns to beat Ambrose. The next day before Raw aired, Lesnar attacked Ambrose as he arrived at the Joe Louis Arena and Ambrose was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. On Raw, Paul Heyman issued a challenge to anyone on the roster to face Lesnar at WrestleMania. Ambrose returned in the ambulance to challenge Lesnar to a No Holds Barred Street Fight; Heyman accepted on Lesnar's behalf. On the March 14 episode of Raw, hardcore legend Mick Foley gave Ambrose his signature barbed wire baseball bat. The next week on Raw, another hardcore legend, Terry Funk, gave Ambrose a chainsaw. On the March 24 episode of SmackDown, Lesnar challenged Ambrose to a fight, but instead The Wyatt Family entered. When The Wyatt Family was about to attack Lesnar, Ambrose came with a kendo stick and all five men brawled. The brawl ended with Lesnar giving an F-5 to Ambrose. On the next Raw, while Heyman cut an in-ring promo on Lesnar, Ambrose came down to the ring and put several weapons inside his wagon before leaving.

After defeating Becky Lynch controversially at the Royal Rumble to retain her WWE Divas Championship, Charlotte was ambushed by a returning Sasha Banks. At Fastlane, Charlotte retained the Divas Title against Brie Bella, while Lynch and Banks defeated Team B.A.D. (Naomi and Tamina) in a tag team match. The next night after Lynch and Banks' match on Raw, Charlotte told them that one of them would face her at WrestleMania for the title. On the February 29 episode of Raw, Lynch and Banks fought in a No. 1 Contender's match, but the match ended in a double pin. A rematch on the next episode of SmackDown ended in a no contest when Charlotte attacked both women. Subsequently, Charlotte was scheduled to defend her title against both ladies in a triple threat match at WrestleMania. On the WrestleMania kickoff pre-show, WWE Hall of Famer Lita said that the Divas Championship would be retired and that the winner of the triple threat match would be crowned the new WWE Women's Champion.

On the March 17 episode of SmackDown, Heath Slater, Curtis Axel, Adam Rose and Bo Dallas announced their participation in the André the Giant Memorial battle royal. On the March 21 episode of Raw, last year's winner Big Show and Kane were added to the match, before Tyler Breeze on the March 25 episode of SmackDown. and Darren Young, Damien Sandow, Fandango, Goldust, Jack Swagger, Konnor, Mark Henry, R-Truth and Viktor on the next episode of Raw.

On the February 8 episode of Raw, after defeating The New Day and Mark Henry in a tag team tables match, The Dudley Boyz turned heel and betrayed their teammates The Usos. Explaining that they did not come back to WWE to be a "nostalgia act" and reminding the fans that they are "the baddest tag team on the planet", The Dudley Boyz abandoned using their trademark tables. In the following weeks, The Usos saved wrestlers from post-match beatdowns by The Dudley Boyz, setting up a tag team match between the two teams for the event. The match was later moved to the WrestleMania 32 Kickoff pre-show.

During the 'Cutting Edge Peep Show at Fastlane, WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day showed signs of a face turn by mocking The League of Nations. Over the next few weeks, The New Day continued to mock The League of Nations in backstage segments. At Roadblock, The New Day retained the WWE Tag Team Championship against League of Nations members Sheamus and King Barrett. The New Day then defeated fellow League of Nations members Alberto Del Rio and Rusev the following night on Raw to retain the championship, causing The League of Nations to attack The New Day during the post-match and turning The New Day face, leading to a six-man tag team match between Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio and Rusev and The New Day at WrestleMania.

After walking out on Big Show and Kane during their six-man tag team rematch against The Wyatt Family, causing them to lose, on the February 22 episode of Raw, Ryback became more aggressive by defeating his opponents in squash matches. On March 14 episode of Raw, after defeating Sin Cara, Ryback challenged United States Champion Kalisto to a match for the United States Championship at WrestleMania, which Kalisto accepted two days later in an interview with Michael Cole. The match was later moved to the WrestleMania 32 Kickoff pre-show.

After weeks of feuding between each other, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, and Sami Zayn confronted Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens on the March 21 episode of Raw and challenged him for the title. Owens agreed to talk to The Authority about setting up a #1 contender triple threat match for a shot at his title, but the match instead included Zack Ryder, Sin Cara, and Stardust. Miz, Ziggler and Zayn all interfered in the match, which ended in no contest. Stephanie McMahon then set up a ladder match for the title at WrestleMania, with Owens defending the title against all six competitors.

After AJ Styles defeated Chris Jericho at Fastlane, both men in respect and formed a tag team known as "Y2AJ" and dominated the tag team division by defeating champions The New Day in two consecutive matches, leading to Y2AJ challenging them to a match for the WWE Tag Team Championship. However, Y2AJ failed to win the championship against The New Day on March 7 episode of Raw after Jericho was pinned by Big E. After the match, Jericho attacked Styles with three Codebreakers and shoved their Y2AJ shirt down his mouth, turning heel in the process. Jericho stated that he was tired of the fans chanting for Styles and not him. On the March 21 episode of Raw, during Jericho's match with Fandango, Styles distracted Jericho by chanting "Y2Jackass" at him, but Jericho won the match despite the distraction. Styles then challenged Jericho to a match at WrestleMania which Jericho refused, stating he would rather sit with the crowd at WrestleMania rather than face him. On the March 28 episode of Raw, during Jericho's match with Zack Ryder, Styles once again distracted Jericho by chanting "Y2Jackass" with the crowd while at ringside, causing Ryder to beat Jericho. Angered by this humiliation, Jericho accepted Styles's challenge, but warned him that WrestleMania 32 would be his first and last WrestleMania.

On the March 14 episode of Raw, Lana allied with Team B.A.D. (Naomi and Tamina) by helping them defeat Brie Bella and Alicia Fox. Lana then attacked Paige after the latter's victory over Summer Rae two days later on Main Event. On the following episode of Main Event, during a match between Paige and Naomi, Rae and Emma attacked Fox and Natalya (in Paige's corner at ringside), allowing Naomi to win. On the March 28 episode of Raw, Emma (accompanied by Naomi, Tamina, Lana and Rae) defeated Paige (accompanied by Brie, Fox and Natalya). Following the match, Eva Marie allied with Brie, Paige, Fox and Natalya. Subsequently, a 10-Diva tag team match between the two teams was scheduled for the WrestleMania 32 Kickoff pre-show.

Broadcasters

The two-hour WrestleMania Kickoff Show was hosted by Renee Young, with Booker T, Corey Graves, and Lita as analysts, while Tom Phillips and Cathy Kelley served as social media correspondents.

Michael Cole, John "Bradshaw" Layfield (main show), Mauro Ranallo, Jerry "The King" Lawler (pre-show), and Byron Saxton (all matches) served as the English commentators, while Spanish, German, French, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, and Japanese commentators also called the matches live at the stadium. Lilian Garcia and Eden Stiles served as the ring announcers.

Celebrities

As is tradition at WrestleMania, the show included the appearances by numerous celebrity guests. Fifth Harmony, who performed "America the Beautiful" at the start of Wrestlemania 32, E! News hostess Maria Menounos served as a backstage interviewer, and Snoop Dogg - who the night before was inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame - performed a live version for his cousin Sasha Banks' entrance theme as he accompanied her to the ring for her match.

Former long time Good Morning America co-host Joan Lunden was recognized as part of the 2016's WWE Hall of Fame class, as she won the Warrior Award for her public battle with breast cancer. NBA great Shaquille O'Neal was a surprise participant in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, eliminating Damien Sandow and having a standoff with fellow seven-footer Big Show before both of these two were eliminated by about ten other wrestlers, before Baron Corbin eliminated Kane to win the battle royal. The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders then made an appearance, as they were part of The Rock's grand entrance to the ring.

Pre-show

Three matches were contested on the two-hour long kickoff pre-show, which was broadcast on the WWE Network, WWE.com, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, and YouTube, with USA Network joining the live coverage for the second hour.

In the first match, Kalisto defended the United States Championship against Ryback. Kalisto won after executing a Salida Del Sol on Ryback, who had collided with an exposed turnbuckle.

In the second match, a 10-Diva tag team match pitted Team Total Divas against Team B.A.D. & Blonde. Brie Bella won the match for Team Total Divas by making Naomi submit to the Yes! Lock. Nikki Bella, who was inactive due to a neck injury, came out to celebrate with her sister and the rest of the team.

Next, WWE Hall of Famer Lita introduced a new WWE Women's Championship to replace the WWE Divas Championship, and revealed that the winner of the triple threat match between Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks later that night would be awarded the title. Finally, The Usos defeated The Dudley Boyz in a tag team match after The Usos performed a double Superkick on D-Von. After the match, The Usos performed Samoan Splashes through tables on The Dudley Boyz.

Main card

The actual pay-per-view opened with a seven-man ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship. Stardust used a black ladder with yellow polka dots to tribute his late father Dusty Rhodes, but that ladder was disposed of by Kevin Owens. Mid-match, Dolph Ziggler executed a series of superkicks, while Zack Ryder performed a Elbro Drop off a ladder onto The Miz. In the end, Owens powerbombed Ziggler off a ladder, then caused Sin Cara to fall off a ladder onto Stardust, who was lying on a ladder bridged between the ring apron and barricade. Owen's rival Sami Zayn took out Owens with a half and half suplex onto a ladder, and was in turn incapacitated by the Miz. Premature celebrations by the Miz allowed Ryder to shove him off a ladder and retrieve the belt to win the match. Post-match, Ryder's father joined Ryder in the ring for a celebration.

Next, Chris Jericho took on AJ Styles. After an evenly contested match (which saw Styles kick out of Jericho's Codebreaker, and Jericho kick out of Styles' Styles Clash), Jericho hid behind the referee and countered Styles' Phenomenal Forearm into a mid-air Codebreaker to score the pinfall victory.

WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) (who entered by coming out of a huge "Booty-O's" cereal box, while wearing Dragon Ball Z-inspired attire) then wrestled The League of Nations (Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio, and Rusev) in a six-man tag team match, with League teammate King Barrett at ringside. The League of Nations won the match following a Bull Hammer by Barrett to Woods when the referee was distracted and a Brogue Kick by Sheamus on Woods. After the match, Barrett bragged that no three men could beat the League of Nations. WWE Hall of Famers Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley, and Stone Cold Steve Austin, then came down and cleared the ring of The League of Nations. Austin then performed a Stunner on Woods, who had tried to persuade the Hall of Famers to dance with him.

Next was the No Holds Barred Street Fight between Brock Lesnar and Dean Ambrose. Lesnar execute a total of thirteen suplexes on Ambrose, while Ambrose used kendo sticks and chairs to try to keep Lesnar down (Ambrose also attempted to use a chainsaw, which did not start). After Ambrose threw numerous chairs in the ring, he brought in a barbed wire wrapped baseball bat to finish Lesnar off, but Lesnar delivered a german suplex to Ambrose, and executed an F5 on the pile of chairs to win the match. Afterwards, Lesnar sprayed the fire extinguisher on Ambrose.

After the 2016 WWE Hall of Fame class had been presented, Charlotte, Becky Lynch, and Sasha Banks (who had her cousin and newly-minted WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg perform her entrance theme while accompanying her to the ring) wrestled in a Triple Threat match. Originally promoted as being for Charlotte's WWE Divas Championship, the match would instead determine the new WWE Women's Champion as the Divas title would be retired. The ending saw Lynch execute a fisherman suplex from the top rope on Charlotte, who rolled to the floor. Banks then applied the Bank Statement on Lynch but Charlotte threw Banks out of the ring. Charlotte applied the Figure-Eight Leglock on Lynch while Ric Flair (Charlotte's father and manager) prevented Banks from intervening. Lynch submitted, giving the win and the WWE Women's title to Charlotte.

The Hell in a Cell match between The Undertaker and Shane McMahon was next. If Shane won, he would get control of Raw, while Undertaker would be banned from wrestling at future WrestleManias. Though Undertaker dominated the bulk of the match, McMahon fought back, finally getting an advantage by reversing Hell's Gate into a Sharpshooter. McMahon then placed a garbage can in front of Undertaker's chest and performed a Coast-to-Coast for a near-fall. Undertaker tackled McMahon through the side of the cell, and the two fought on the floor around ringside. After Undertaker countered a Sleeper Hold by slamming McMahon through a broadcast table, McMahon struck Undertaker with TV monitors and a metal toolbox to keep him down, and placed him across another broadcast table. McMahon then climbed to the top of the cell and attempted an elbow drop onto Undertaker, who moved, causing McMahon to crash through the broadcast table. Though McMahon motioned for Undertaker to "bring it", he had no strength left to fight. Undertaker executed a Tombstone piledriver to win the match. McMahon was taken out of the stadium on a stretcher (while showing a thumbs-up to the crowd) while Undertaker walked and smiled.

The André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal saw several surprise entrants in the match, including legends Diamond Dallas Page and Tatanka, NXT call-up Baron Corbin making his main roster debut and NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal as a celebrity entry. O'Neal and Big Show double chokeslammed Kane to start and the other wrestlers were then thrown aside (though not eliminated) by the two. After Fandango and Damien Sandow were eliminated by Show and O'Neal respectively, the two fought to the ropes, where the other participants eliminated them both. In the end, Corbin won the match by last eliminating Kane.

The Rock then made a grand entrance, which included the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and Rock using a flamethrower to set a big sign bearing his name ablaze. Rock announced that WrestleMania 32 had set the all-time attendance record with 101,763, when he was confronted by The Wyatt Family. After some verbal back-and-forth, Rock (who had his ring gear on underneath his street clothes) challenged them to a match. Wyatt Family member Erick Rowan accepted the challenge and was quickly defeated following a Rock Bottom. WWE recognized the match length as six seconds, though other sources reported seven seconds. This set a new WrestleMania record for the shortest match, besting the previous record (11 seconds) set by Kane and Chavo Guererro's match at WrestleMania XXIV. Enraged by this quick victory, the entire Wyatt Family then surrounded the Rock when surprisingly John Cena emerged and helped Rock clear the ring of the Wyatts. The segment ended when Rock and Cena walked up the ramp and Rock hugged his family before raising Cena's arm.

Main event

In the main event, Triple H defended the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Roman Reigns. The champion was introduced by his costumed wife Stephanie McMahon, who in a Game of Thrones style speech insulted the audience for their "pathetic lives" and commanded all to bow to Triple H, who then made his grand entrance followed by Stephanie and a group of masked men dressed in black with replica world title belts. After that, Reigns, the challenger, made his way down the entrance ramp to the ring.

After Reigns took control of the match, Stephanie distracted the referee, allowing Triple H to hit a low blow and target Reigns' nose. Reigns managed to Spear on Triple H through the barricade. Triple H targeted Reigns' left arm but Reigns recovered and speared him again only for Stephanie pulled the referee out of the ring, voiding the pinfall. Stephanie entered the ring to argue with the referee, and was inadvertently struck by Reigns' spear when Triple H avoided Reigns. Triple H executed a Pedigree on Reigns for a near-fall. Stephanie then handed Triple H his trademark sledgehammer but the referee warned him that he'd be disqualified if he used it. Reigns executed two Superman Punches on Triple H, dodged a sledgehammer shot, and executed a third spear to win the championship for a third time. A wide array of celebratory fireworks was released.

Reception

As predicted by multiple critics before the event, Reigns (despite playing a heroic character) was booed by the WrestleMania crowd during the main event and as the show went off the air with him as champion, with the result drawing angry reactions. To placate the angry crowd, WWE had Triple H play to the crowd after broadcasting had concluded. The main event also saw the disinterested crowd chanting for various wrestlers uninvolved in the match or storyline: Sami Zayn, Bayley, and Shinsuke Nakamura. Several reports emerged of WWE muting the crowd microphones at WrestleMania during and after the main event when Reigns was being booed.

Reportedly, some attendees were unhappy about the entrance into AT&T Stadium, which they described as long and messy. On the post-WrestleMania Raw, also held in Dallas but a day later, Vince McMahon asked the live crowd what they thought of WrestleMania 32. The crowd responded by booing and then booed even louder when Vince mentioned Reigns as the new world champion.

Attendance and revenue

On the day of the event, WWE claimed an attendance of 101,763 in the AT&T Stadium, which surpassed the previous WWE-claimed record of 93,173 for WrestleMania III in 1987. Also, WWE reported the event grossing $17.3 million for WWE's highest grossing live event, and surpassing the previous year's $12.6 million. However, journalist Dave Meltzer reported 93,730 as "the attendance as would be normally announced for an event" with a total 97,769 people in the stadium if one includes stadium personnel, WWE personnel, etc. Meltzer attributed the exaggeration due to WWE not wanting to let down their fans after WWE's promoting "from the start of drawing 100,000 people" to WrestleMania 32. The 93,730 figure would still be WWE's highest attended event, as according to Meltzer the previous record was the 1992 SummerSlam event at 79,127, while WrestleMania III did "more than 78,000". Meanwhile, Meltzer endorsed the grossing figure as "either accurate or very close".

In a conference call in February 2017, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon said, "We were proud to set our attendance record of over 100,000, which includes, by the way, ushers and ticket takers and all of that. It wasn't 101,000 paid, but nonetheless, it was a record for us."

Reviews

WrestleMania 32 received generally mixed reactions from critics, who criticized the event for its length and questionable booking decisions. Critics who reviewed both WrestleMania 32 and WWE's NXT TakeOver: Dallas event which occurred two days earlier concluded that the NXT event was a greatly superior "professional wrestling show" despite WrestleMania having more "spectacle"; also NXT's match of (the debuting) Shinsuke Nakamura versus Sami Zayn was praised as better than any moment or match from WrestleMania 32.

Troy L. Smith of cleveland.com wrote that "WrestleMania 32 was a night that defied low expectations, thanks in large part a ton of WWE nostalgia", but added that "some of that early goodwill was squandered by odd booking decisions". Smith felt that the main event was "extremely boring – one of the worst main events ever at WrestleMania", with the ending saw "WWE found itself stuck in a moment it couldn't get out of with more boos than cheers". Ultimately, Smith concluded that "WrestleMania 32 proves Zack Ryder (or anyone) is better than Roman Reigns".

Paul Tamburro of CraveOnline wrote that the show was characterized by "inexplicable booking decisions that actively undermined all storyline progression", adding that "WWE routinely swerved its fans with finishes to matches that were less exciting than what had been expected". He decried the main event as a "dull, slow-paced match" and described Reigns' babyface push as "absurd" and "an embarrassing failed experiment for the company", with "the crowd still being given no reason to feel anything for the guy outside of sheer ambivalence or venomous hatred". Tamburro was also critical of the Shane McMahon–Undertaker match, which he described as "thoroughly pointless", and of the booking of Dean Ambrose, writing that "him losing to Lesnar in such a disappointing manner puts a big dent in his value". He had further criticism for the company's over-reliance on past stars, writing that "while the implementation of these big names was a lot of fun, it still happened to the detriment of talent currently on the roster". In contrast, Tamburro praised the Women's Championship match, calling it "triumphant", and described Zack Ryder's unexpected win as "the feel-good moment of the show".

James Caldwell of Pro Wrestling Torch described the event as a "weird show". He rated the main event match 1.5 stars out of 5, questioning why "anyone wanted to sit through this long of a main event" and criticizing "the egos of the McMahon family" for booking the match. Caldwell went on to describe Reigns as "a pet project that would be laughed out of this spot in any other era". Caldwell chose not to rate the Hell in a Cell match, describing it as a "weird deal" with "Shane McMahon, a non-wrestler against Undertaker in one of Taker’s last WrestleMania matches". The women's title match was rated 3 stars, "strong" other than the finish, which puzzled Caldwell when apparently "Mania isn't a big enough event to pay off Flair's repeated interference with the face(s) conquering".

Nolan Howell of Canoe Sports described the show as "absurdly bizarre. Strange booking decisions and nothing seemed to be resolved at all, aside from the impromptu Shane vs. Undertaker story which could have been tied up any time". Howell wrote that while "the match quality was fine", the show was "spectacle without a lot of substance". He described the second half of the show as a "train wreck creatively", adding that "WWE just can't do anything right really". Howell described the Women's Championship match as the match of the night.

Dave Scherer of Pro Wrestling Insider commented on responses that WrestleMania 32 was "great", countering that "unless you are putting the framework in place for the future, you will reach a point where most of your assets are gone and you will be in a barren place". This was referencing that "the finishes and character development (or lack thereof)" resulting in older stars (Rock, Austin, Foley, Michaels and Jericho) shining at the expense of newer talent (Styles, The New Day, The League of Nations, and The Wyatt Family). Scherer also criticized Vince McMahon for ignoring the "clear edict" from fans against Roman Reigns as world champion.

Scott Keith of Sporting News wrote that WrestleMania 32 "ended up being a five-hour slog (seven hours with pregame show) and one of the worst WrestleManias when all was said and done". He wrote that "Roman Reigns showed once again that he's not the guy to be the top star despite Triple H's best efforts to get a 'classic' match out of him, and the Shane–Undertaker match ended up being a 30-minute snoozefest instead of the chaotic mess that everyone wanted". Keith praised the Women's Championship match and Zack Ryder for having his "WrestleMania moment".

Aaron Oster of Rolling Stone wrote that "fans witnessed a roller-coaster ride that brought the WWE Universe from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. Before looking at the bad, it's worth pointing out that there was also a lot of good". However, Oster felt that while WrestleMania 31 tried to "cater to disgruntled fans", WrestleMania 32 "felt like a six-hour attempt to piss off that same demo", especially the event's ending, which caused fans to feel "betrayed" after "dream endings" at WrestleMania XXX and 31.

In the 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards, WrestleMania 32 was voted the "Worst Major Wrestling Show" of the year.

Aftermath

Despite Shane McMahon failing to gain control of Raw with a loss to the Undertaker at WrestleMania 32, he was awarded control of the next four episodes of Raw anyway post-WrestleMania. The post-WrestleMania Raw on April 4 began with Vince McMahon dismissing the crowd as crazy, and bragging how no one had a hold on him since he received the lockbox. Shane McMahon interrupted for a handshake with Vince, then thanked fans. Jealous of Shane supposedly upstaging him with strong fan support, Vince allowed Shane to run Raw that night, as Vince (thinking that Shane would produce a "disaster") wanted to show the world how "ridiculous" it would be. Shane was then allowed to continue controlling Raw until the Payback pay-per-view "due to the overwhelming support of the WWE Universe on social media".

Also on the post-WrestleMania Raw, where commentators described the crowd as booing those they should cheer, and cheering those they should boo, new world champion Roman Reigns (repeatedly and heavily booed) declared he was now "the guy" and was ready for title contenders. Four men answered the challenge: Chris Jericho, AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn. The four brawled, ultimately leaving Jericho in the ring, where Reigns attacked him. Shane McMahon then arranged a fatal four-way match between the four to determine the next world title contender. After Owens attacked Zayn backstage with a powerbomb through a table, Zayn was unable to compete, so Shane replaced him with a returning Cesaro in the four-way match. Styles pinned Jericho to win and become number one contender.

Meanwhile, Zack Ryder's reign as the new Intercontinental Champion lasted just one day. On the post-WrestleMania Raw, Ryder was goaded into defending his title against the Miz. During the match, Ryder's father was slapped by Miz's wife, Maryse, in her return to WWE television. This distraction cost Ryder the match and the title.

A ceremony presenting Charlotte with the new WWE Women's Championship occurred on the post-WrestleMania Raw, with WWE Hall of Famer Lita and many of WWE's female wrestlers present in the ring. After Charlotte thanked her father, Ric Flair, and began bragging about her own success, most of the women left the ceremony, leaving Natalya to confront Charlotte and apply her signature Sharpshooter submission.

The post-WrestleMania episode of Raw included Raw debuts of Baron Corbin, Apollo Crews, Enzo Amore, and Colin Cassady. Corbin fought Dolph Ziggler to a double count-out, then laid Ziggler out post-match. Meanwhile, Crews defeated Tyler Breeze. Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady debuted by confronting the Dudley Boyz, who had just defeated the Usos in WrestleMania rematch, albeit in a tables match.

The New Day defended their WWE Tag Team Championship against Sheamus and King Barrett of The League of Nations. The New Day retained the titles after Kingston gained the pinfall over Barrett. Angered by the loss, the group turned on Barrett, labelling him the group's "weakest link", but were subsequently attacked by The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan, and Braun Strowman).

On April 11 episode of Raw, Shane McMahon announced a tag team tournament to decide the number one contender to The New Day's Tag Team Championships. The Dudley Boyz advanced by defeating The Lucha Dragons while The Usos defeated The Social Outcasts to advance. After the match, The Usos were attacked by the debuting Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson who are recognized as two members of the Bullet Club stable in Japan.

After helping Total Divas win their match at WrestleMania, Brie Bella announced that she was taking an extended break from wrestling on April 6, 2016, so that she could focus on starting a family with her retired husband Daniel Bryan.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that post-WrestleMania, Roman Reigns became more "reactive" against hostile crowds when "a camera isn't there to capture it", this included "yelling back and swearing at the vocal ringsiders". This was contrasted with John Cena, who "would laugh and smile at people who booed him." Reigns was again booed at the next pay-per-view, Payback, where he again won in the main event. As soon as broadcasting for that event stopped, Reigns reportedly turned on the crowd, yelling angrily at them. Meanwhile, WWE continued to try to hide the hostile reaction to Reigns, editing a fan sign for a photo on WWE.com for Payback's main event to remove a quote that Reigns "bores".