This year’s WrestleMania, the 29th annual wrestling extravaganza, is to be held at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA on April 7th. Several big matchups have already been announced and once again, WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) is pulling out all the stops.

Taking a look at the matches, this year’s main event will be a rematch from last year as Dwayne Johnson, better known in wrestling as “The Rock”, will be taking on the poster boy of the WWE for the last several years, John Cena, even though last year’s match was billed as “Once in a Lifetime”. But hey, this is wrestling and anything is possible. This match will be for the WWE Championship, a belt that The Rock won at The Royal Rumble in January, ending CM Punk’s title reign of 434 days as champion.

Many non-wrestling fans may be familiar with The Rock as he is now one of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood having appeared in such blockbuster movies such as The Scorpion King (2002), Tooth Fairy (2010) and the upcoming G.I. Joe: Retaliation, set for release on March 29th, 2013 (just about a week before WM 29) alongside Bruce Willis.

Cena earned his right to face the WWE Champion after winning the Royal Rumble match in which he outlasted 29 other men, being the last participant to remain in the match. The former ten-time champion has a score to settle with “The Great One” as he was defeated at last year’s WrestleMania after a year-long feud with The Rock.

Also on the card is the long awaited return of The Undertaker, who just recently reappeared for the first time since last year’s WM. This year he puts his undefeated WrestleMania streak on the line against the hottest WWE star today, CM Punk, who is looking to end The Dead Man’s  record at 20 - 1. Also announced is World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio taking on Jack Swagger and you can expect Triple H versus Brock Lesnar to be announced in the near future as well. The rest of the card should be announced soon in the weeks leading up to the event.

Besides the matches, each year WWE inducts several people into its Hall of Fame as well. This year’s class of 2013 includes former WWE champions Bob Backlund and Bruno Sammartino, hardcore icon and best-selling author Mick Foley, former Women’s Champion Trish Stratus and celebrity inductee, billionaire Donald Trump.

Each year WrestleMania is the biggest wrestling show of the year. Last year’s show drew more than 78,000 people in Miami with over 1.2 million watching live on PPV. The record for the largest audience ever in WM history was at WrestleMania III in 1987 when over 93,000 people witnessed Hulk Hogan body slam Andre the Giant. This year’s shows promises to be another blockbuster, but looming around the corner is WrestleMania XXX on April 6th, 2014, which already has been announced to take place at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for more great wrestling action, make sure to check out Fightbox’s choice selection of All Japan Pro Wrestling, New York Wrestling Connection, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Osaka Pro Wrestling and Ring of Honor. Check your local listings for times and availability.

Daniel Austin

daniel.austin@spiintl.com