WrestleMania XXVII was a 2011 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was the 27th annual WrestleMania and took place on April 3, 2011, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. This was the first WrestleMania held in the U.S. state of Georgia and the second to be held in Southeastern United States, after WrestleMania XXIV in 2008 in Florida. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson served as the host of the event.
The event's card consisted of eight matches, including three main matches. The final match of the event was the main match from Raw, where The Miz defeated John Cena to retain the WWE Championship thanks to help from The Rock, setting up the main event of WrestleMania XXVIII between Rock and Cena. SmackDown's main match saw Edge defeat Alberto Del Rio to retain the World Heavyweight Championship—this would be Edge's final match until 2020. In the other marquee match, The Undertaker defeated Triple H in a No Holds Barred match to extend his undefeated WrestleMania streak to 19–0. This was the first and so far only WrestleMania in which no championships changed hands.
Tickets for the event commenced sale to the public on November 13, 2010. According to WWE's second-quarter earnings report, WrestleMania XXVII generated 1,059,000 PPV buys, up roughly 30% domestically and 15% internationally from the previous year. The event grossed US$6.6 million in revenue with 71,617 in attendance, making it the third highest-grossing event in WWE behind WrestleMania 25 and the next year's event WrestleMania XXVIII. It generated $62.1 million in economic impact for Atlanta, a $17 million increase from the previous WrestleMania event, and also generated approximately $7.8 million in local, state, and county taxes.
Critically, the event received a mixed reception. Praise went towards the World Heavyweight Championship match, Mysterio vs. Rhodes, Punk vs. Orton, and Triple H vs. The Undertaker. Criticism went towards the tag matches, and the main event. This was the final WrestleMania held during the first brand extension, which ended in August, but was reinstated in July 2016. This was also the company's final event to be promoted under the full name of World Wrestling Entertainment, as immediately following this event, the company strictly began to refer to itself solely by the WWE abbreviation.
Production
Background
WrestleMania is considered World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) flagship professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event, having first been held in 1985. It has become the longest-running professional wrestling event in history and is held annually between mid-March to mid-April. It was the first of WWE's original four pay-per-views, which includes Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, referred to as the "Big Four". WrestleMania XXVII was scheduled to be held on April 3, 2011, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia and featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brands.
In September 2009, it was reported that the city of Atlanta was seeking to host WrestleMania XXVII at the Georgia Dome. Atlanta's main rival bid came from the city of Miami, Florida, which proposed to host the event at Sun Life Stadium along with WrestleMania Axxess at the Miami Beach Convention Center and the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony at the American Airlines Arena. Miami would eventually become the host for WrestleMania XXVIII. Atlanta was formally announced as the site at a press conference on February 1, 2010. According to WWE's senior vice president of special events, John Saboor, Atlanta was ultimately chosen for, among other reasons, "their track record of success with large events, rich in its tradition with the WWE, and great infrastructure". The event marked the first time WrestleMania was held in the U.S. state of Georgia.
Along with WrestleMania XXVII, a series of events grouped as "WrestleMania Week" was held in the week preceding the event including WrestleMania's annual WrestleMania Axxess fan convention, the 2011 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony, the fourth annual WrestleMania Art exhibition and auction, and a Celebrity Pro-Am Golf tournament. WrestleMania Axxess was held at the Georgia World Congress Center, while the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony took place at the Philips Arena. It was the first pay-per-view event under WWE's promotional rights deal with Kmart. Under the deal, Kmart was the official sponsor for all of WWE's live events in the United States for the rest of 2011. As another part of the promotion for the event, WWE Magazine released a "Guide to WrestleMania XXVII" app for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, offering information about the upcoming event as well as trivia from past events.
"Written in the Stars" by Tinie Tempah was the theme song for the event. "Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom)" by Shinedown served as the secondary theme song, while R&B singer Keri Hilson performed "America the Beautiful" at the start of the show. Celebrities and former wrestlers that appeared in WrestleMania XXVII segments include Snoop Dogg, Pee Wee Herman, Gene Okerlund, Mae Young, and Roddy Piper. In addition, the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2011 inductees made an appearance, including the headliner Shawn Michaels, Jim Duggan, The Road Warriors, Sunny, Bob Armstrong, Abdullah the Butcher, and celebrity Drew Carey.
On August 13, 2011, a one-hour special including the opening segment, the Triple H vs. Undertaker match, and the post-WrestleMania confrontation between The Rock and John Cena was broadcast on NBC under the title WrestleMania XXVII: The World Television Premiere.
Storylines
The event included matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Raw and SmackDown.
The predominant rivalry for the Raw brand involved Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, John Cena, and the reigning WWE Champion, The Miz. On the February 14 episode of Raw, The Rock was announced as host for WrestleMania XXVII. In his first appearance in a WWE ring in seven years, The Rock publicly mocked both The Miz and Cena. At the following week's Elimination Chamber event, Cena won the Raw brand's annual Elimination Chamber match to earn himself a WWE Championship opportunity against The Miz. One night later on Raw, both Cena and The Miz derided The Rock's previous comments, with Cena producing a rap questioning The Rock's true commitment to WWE over his acting career. Via satellite, The Rock responded to Cena's rap on the February 28 episode of Raw, citing that he started a movie career to help open the door for other wrestlers to go to Hollywood, including The Miz and Cena himself. On the March 28 episode, The Rock and Cena confronted each other face to face before WrestleMania, until The Miz came out. The Miz and his protégé, Alex Riley, attacked The Rock, who managed to fight back both men. After the assault, Cena performed an Attitude Adjustment on The Rock to end the show.
Starting from the January 31 episode of Raw, mysterious vignettes began promoting the return of a mysterious wrestler on "2.21.11". On the February 21 episode, The Undertaker was revealed as the mysterious figure, who made his return after a four-month absence. However, The Undertaker's return was interrupted by a returning Triple H. The two men stared each other down and both peered at the WrestleMania sign, teasing a possible challenge at WrestleMania XXVII. The match was confirmed four days later on WWE's official website. This match marks the second time the two would face each other at a WrestleMania, the first being WrestleMania X-Seven ten years earlier. Before their WrestleMania match, both men had a face to face encounter on the March 28 episode of Raw, only to be interrupted by Shawn Michaels, who criticized Triple H for believing that he could defeat The Undertaker at WrestleMania, something that Michaels wasn't able to do at the previous years' event. After The Undertaker stated that Michaels was history, Michaels attempted to perform a Superkick on him, but The Undertaker retaliated with a Chokeslam that was stopped by Triple H, who then asked Michaels why he is going to defeat The Undertaker at WrestleMania. Michaels, however, left the ring, unable to give Triple H an answer, believing that Triple H couldn't defeat The Undertaker at the event.
Since 1993, the winner of the annual Royal Rumble match at the January event of the same name has won the opportunity to fight for a world championship at WrestleMania. Alberto Del Rio won the match in 2011 and challenged Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship. This led to a series of assaults from Del Rio to Edge in the following weeks. However, Edge was joined by the returning Christian, who aided Edge from Del Rio and his bodyguard Brodus Clay, and proceeded to be in Edge's corner at WrestleMania.
In December 2010, Raw color commentator Jerry Lawler began a feud with fellow announcer Michael Cole when the anonymous Raw General Manager gave Lawler a WWE Championship match in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match against defending champion The Miz. As Lawler started to climb the ladder to retrieve the belt, Cole interfered and prevented Lawler from winning the match. On the February 21 edition of Raw, Cole mocked Lawler for losing his rematch against The Miz at Elimination Chamber as well as his dreams of having a WrestleMania match, going as far as even mentioning Lawler's mother who died weeks earlier. Lawler responded by challenging Cole to a match at WrestleMania, which Cole denied before running through the crowd. A week later, Cole accepted Lawler's challenge under two conditions – that his trainer Jack Swagger would be in his corner, and that he could choose a special guest referee – which Lawler accepted. The following week, Cole revealed John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) as the special guest referee. However, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, who made his return that night, interfered in the contract signing by delivering a Stone Cold Stunner to JBL and signing the contract himself, thereby becoming the special guest referee of their match. Cole continued to insult Lawler on the following weeks, even bringing Lawler's son Brian Christopher, who insulted Lawler, and calling him a bad father, before slapping him in the face and leaving. After that, Jim Ross, Lawler's best friend, confronted Cole and called him a "rat bastard", for which Swagger attacked Ross, and later Lawler, who attempted to save Ross.