The WWE is coming to New Jersey. First stop is the Prudential Center for WWE Theme Night next Tuesday when the Devils host the Boston Bruins (Get your tickets).
WWE will also hold its signature SummerSlam event over two nights at Metlife Stadium on August 2 and 3. The WWE previously held WrestleMania 35 at MetLife Stadium in 2019.
In honor of the WWE’s return to the Garden State and for the upcoming Devils’ WWE Theme Night, we take a look back at other premiere WWE events held in the great state of New Jersey.
WrestleMania IV (Atlantic City, March 27, 1988)
The first major WWE event held in New Jersey was WrestleMania IV in Atlantic City. A 14-man tournament was held with the winner claiming the vacant WWE Championship title. The tournament resulted in a matchup between “Macho Man” Randy Savage and “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase. Savage won the belt via pinfall.
WrestleMania V (Atlantic City, April 2, 1989)
WrestleMania returned to Atlantic City a year later for the fifth installment. The main bout featured Hulk Hogan facing “Macho Man” Randy Savage for the WWE Championship belt. Hogan reclaimed the title with a leg drop and pinfall.
Rick Rude claimed the WWE Intercontinental title by defeating the Ultimate Warrior. The Hart Foundation defeated Rhythm & Blues in a tag team match. The night also featured legendary talent Jake “the Snake” Roberts, Andre the Giant, Demolition, Shawn Michaels, Ted DiBiase, Bushwackers and Mr. Perfect.
SummerSlam (East Rutherford, August 28, 1989)
In the first-ever SummerSlam held in New Jersey at Brendan Byrne Arena, former home of the New Jersey Devils, the main event featured a tag matchup between Hulk Hogan and Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake against “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Zeus. The Ultimate Warrior pinned Rick Rude for the WWE Intercontinental Heavyweight Championships.
SummerSlam (East Rutherford, August 3, 1997)
SummerSlam returned to New Jersey for the first time in nearly a decade. In a classic main event, Bret Hart pinned the Undertaker to claim the WWE Championship with Shawn Michaels acting as special guest referee. Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Owen Hart and the Legion of Doom bested the Godwinns.
King of the Ring (East Rutherford, June 24, 2001)
The King of the Ring featured three wrestlers battling for the WWE Championship title. Stone Cold Steve Austin triumphed over Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho. The undercard King of the Ring tournament was won by Edge.
Summer Slam (East Rutherford, August 26, 2007)
The 20th SummerSlam was held in New Jersey at Continental Airlines Arena. Tickets for the event sold out in 40 minutes. The main event featured John Cena and Randy Orton, with Cena winning the match to retain the WWE Championship. The Great Khali retained the World Heavyweight title by defeating Batista.
Hell in a Cell (Prudential Center, Oct. 4, 2009)
The first WWE event held at Prudential Center was Hell in a Cell. It was also the initial Hell in a Cell event. The main events included D-Generation X defeating The Legacy, Randy Orton beating John Cena to win the WWE Championship and the Undertaker besting CM Punk to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
WrestleMania 29 (East Rutherford, April 7, 2013)
In a main event for the ages, John Cena defeated the Rock to win his record 11th WWE Championship and avenging a WrestleMania loss to the Rock the previous year. The Undertaken continued his undefeated streak by beating CM Punk, and Triple H defeated Brock Lesnar in a No Holds Barred match. All in front of 80,676 fans.
Extreme Rules (Prudential Center, May 22, 2016)
The second WWE event at Prudential center was also the final Extreme Rules night. Nine matches were conducted with Roman Reigns besting AJ Styles to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Backlash (Prudential Center, May 6, 2018)
The last WWE event held at Prudential Center was 2018’s Backlash. In the main event, Roman Reigns beat Samoa Joe. Seth Rollins successfully defended his Intercontinental Championship against the Mix.
The night featured Daniel Bryan’s first single match since Feb. 2015.
WrestleMania 35 (East Rutherford, April 7, 2019)
The main event featured the first-ever women’s main event match in WrestleMania history with Becky Lynch defeating Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey and SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair in a winner-take-all triple threat match.
Kofi Kingston also defeated Daniel Bryan to win his first WWE Championship. Seth Rollins won against Brock Lesnar to win his first Universal Championship.
