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Michael Cole kicks things off. WWE’s Chief Branding Officer Stephanie McMahon is introduced. She thanked everyone for joining. She talked about watching Andre The Giant bodyslamming Big John Studd and watched Mr. T and Hulk Hogan defeat Paul Orndorff and “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. She talked about the social events that go on during WrestleMania Week. She invited everyone to join them this Sunday at WrestleMania.
Michael Cole introduced Hulk Hogan. He main evented one third of all WrestleManias. He talked about how Hulkamania ran wild 30 years ago and said he’s back home for WrestleMania 30. He said WrestleMania is also about pushing for the future. He finished with the “Whatcha Gonna Go?” He tried to get them to chant along. I think Hulk didn’t realize that the room consists of mostly press people.
Triple H Paul Levesque is up next. Triple H noted that these press conferences are usually rowdier. He talked about how he started watching wrestling on his local TV station as a kid. He noted that WWE reaches 650 million homes, 15 million viewers in the U.S. and 300 million social media followers. He then talked about NXT and plugged the WWE Network. He noted that the Wyatt Family, The Shield, and Big E were in NXT. He talked about the Hall of Fame and WrestleMania being available on the network. He talked about his match and said that unfortunately for Daniel Bryan things are not going to work out so good. He said that only The Game is forever.
Up next is Daniel Bryan. He joked that the press doesn’t know what they’re supposed to do with the YES chant. He pointed out a guy in the audience wearing a plad shirt. He said that he’s more like him and not a guy that wears a suit. He talked about how the audience has more power than they think. He said that the 70,000 people have way more power than the people in the back. He did a YES chant but most of the press didn’t do it with him.
Batista is next. He joked that it’s quiet. He had something to read but said that whoever wrote his speech should be fired. He said he really doesn’t want to be there. He said that now that he has some time in between movies he’s back to win the WWE title. He was great. He said that his skinny jeans have a twitter page. He said that when he left WWE he didn’t want to but wanted to pursue some dreams outside of WWE. He said that WrestleMania is special to him. He says that it sucks that it turned into a triple threat. He said that that this is the last time everyone will see him as “non-WWE champion.”
Up next is Randy Orton. Orton said that he’s also the face of the WWE. He said that fans with even half a brain know that he will defend and retain his title. Short speech. They brought out Bryan, Triple H, and Batista, along with Orton for a photo op. Some fans finally got a YES chant going.
Up next is John Cena. He said that he spent the morning with Hulk Hogan. He told a story of a fan that walked up to Hulk and said that he was there at WrestleMania 3. He said that the event is 30 years old but it is truly one of a kind this year. He talked about honoring the past this year, being excited about the present, and looking forward to the future. He said this event on Sunday is revolutionary. He asked “Where are you gonna be brother this Sunday when you say I was there?” They did one last photo op with everyone.
Batista, Hogan, Orton, Stephanie, Triple H, Cena, Bryan posed for photos. They were joined on stage by Alberto Del Rio, Big Show, Summer Rae, Great Khali, Mark Henry, Naomi, Cameron, Natalya, and Eva Marie.
Recap by Greg Beck @ WrestlingNews.Co
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
