WWE has issued the following release including full details on their ‘takeover’ of the San Francisco Bay Area for Wrestlemania 31 week:
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 UsosTM and WWE Divas CameronTM and Eva MarieTM 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 MendesTM. In an effort to promote literacy, WWE partners with First Book for the WrestleMania Reading Challenge, delivering an innovative digital reading experience for children ages 4-12 and teens ages 13-18.
Be a STAR TM 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 TM and Darren Young®, WWE Diva Layla®, WWE announcer Renee Young™ and representatives from GLAAD and Facebook will deliver anti-bullying messages to 300 students at Joseph George Middle School (#BeaSTAR).
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. This year’s WrestleManiaAxxess will take place from 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.
WrestleMania 31 Media Event – Friday, March 27, The Fairmont San Francisco
WWE Superstars and Divas will visit some of San Francisco’s iconic landmarks on Friday, March 27, beginning with a media event at The Fairmont Hotel at 11 am PT. WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon will be joined by WWE Superstars John Cena®, Roman Reigns® and Daniel Bryan® at the famous hotel. Immediately following the media event, WWE Superstars Titus O’NeilTM, Darren Young, The Usos and WWE Diva Rosa Mendes along with WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler® will make several stops via cable car, including Union Square, The Embarcadero, Fisherman’s Wharf and Ghirardelli Square.Veteran Employment Panel and Networking Event – Friday, March 27, 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 SwaggerTM and Goldust™, WWE Diva TaminaTM and WWE Announcer Lilian GarciaTM 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 CameronTM will serve as honorary coaches and WWE Hall of Famer Howard FinkelTM will be the official commentator.
WWE 2015 Hall of Fame Red Carpet – Saturday, March 28, SAP Center
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 head up 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 5 pm PT 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 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 take on Triple H. In his first appearance since WrestleMania 30, Undertaker returns to take on Bray Wyatt. Plus, John Cena takes on Rusev for the U.S. Championship, and “The Viper” Randy Orton faces The Authority’s hand-picked face of the future, Seth Rollins. The stars of Total Divas, The Bella Twins take on the team of AJ and Paige, seven-men vie for the Intercontinental Championship in a ladder match, and 20-men will compete in the second annual Andre the Giant Battle Royal.
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 up, he can be seen hosting and producing the new show, Lip Sync Battle, on Spike TV premiering on Thursday, April 2.
For more information on WrestleMania 31, please 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 to WrestleMania 32 begins. WrestleMania 32 will take place at the AT&T Center in Arlington, Texas on Sunday, April 3, 2016.
About WWE
WWE, a publicly traded company (NYSE: WWE), is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family friendly entertainment on its television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE programming reaches more than 650 million homes worldwide in 35 languages. WWE Network, the first-ever 24/7 over-the-top premium network that includes all 12 live pay-per-views, scheduled programming and a massive video-on-demand library, is currently available in more than 170 countries. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Mexico City, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Dubai, Munich and Tokyo.
Additional information on WWE (NYSE: WWE) can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. For information on our global activities, go to http://www.wwe.com/worldwide/.
