WrestleMania XXVIII

The city of Miami Gardens was one of the two major contenders for hosting WrestleMania XXVII along with Atlanta, Georgia. Ultimately in February 2010, Atlanta was awarded the right to host the event.^[5][6][7] According to the Miami-Dade Sports Commission, WWE management felt that Miami's planning for the event would have been too hectic with many other sporting events held in the area around the same time of the planning, such as Super Bowl XLIV.^[7] However, the Miami area was reportedly considered for the next event due to its international ties, facilities, airports and experience of hosting previous major events.^[5]

Bidding documents were sent to seventeen cities in consideration for hosting a WrestleMania event between 2012 and 2014, with fourteen replying in interest.^[7][8][9] Other cities under consideration for WrestleMania XXVIII included Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York City, Toronto, Detroit, Tampa, Vancouver, St. Louis, Jacksonville, Orlando and Houston.^[5][8] The city of Dallas also showed interest but had to pull out of bidding for the next two years due to hosting events such as the NCAA Final Four.^[8]

On February 9, 2011, it was announced by The Miami Herald that Miami had won the right to host the event.^[5] WWE would later officially announce the event in a press conference held at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach.^[4][9] WrestleMania XXVIII will be the second Wrestlemania event to be hosted in the state of Florida, the fourth open-air event, and the third event to be held entirely outdoors.^[5] For hosting the event, WWE will receive a $250,000 cash incentive from the Miami-Dade Sports Commission raised through grants and sponsorships.^[9] Along with WrestleMania XXVIII, a series of events grouped as "WrestleMania Week" will be held in the week preceding the event including WrestleMania's annual WrestleMania Axxess fan convention at the Miami Beach Convention Center, the 2012 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony at the American Airlines Arena, the finals of the WrestleMania Reading Challenge, and a Celebrity Pro-Am Golf tournament.^[4][9][10]

WrestleMania will feature professional wrestling matches that involve different wrestlers from pre-existing feuds, plots, and storylines that will be played out on WWE's primary television programs. Wrestlers will portray villains or heroes as they follow a series of events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches.^[11]

On the April 4, 2011 edition of Raw, following The Rock's involvement in the WWE Championship match at WrestleMania XXVII between the champion The Miz and John Cena that resulted in Cena's defeat, John Cena challenged The Rock to a match at WrestleMania XXVIII. With The Rock subsequently accepting, the match was officially announced on WWE.com.^[12] The following week, Cena announced his intent to defend the WWE Championship against The Rock in their match at WrestleMania XXVIII, and thus challenged the reigning WWE Champion The Miz. A five-man gauntlet match was arranged by the Raw brand General Manager involving Cena, Randy Orton, R-Truth, John Morrison, and Dolph Ziggler to determine the number one contender to face The Miz at the 2011 Extreme Rules event. Though the gauntlet match ended in disqualification due to interference from Miz and protégé Alex Riley, the title match at Extreme Rules became a triple threat Steel Cage match between Cena, R-Truth and Miz.^[13] On May 1, 2011 at Extreme Rules, Cena defeated The Miz and John Morrison (who had subsequently defeated R-Truth for his number one contender spot), thus winning the WWE Championship for the eighth time.^[14] On the May 2 edition of Raw celebrating The Rock's birthday, John Cena confronted The Rock and declared his intent to keep the title until their match. However, as of January 2012, Cena does not hold the WWE Championship.^[15]

On July 17 at Money in the Bank, Daniel Bryan defeated seven other wrestlers to win the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match.^[16] On the July 22 edition of SmackDown, Bryan declared he would cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase at WrestleMania XXVIII.^[17] Despite this claim, on the November 25 edition of SmackDown he attempted to cash the briefcase in. He won the title from then-champion Mark Henry and began to celebrate. The celebration was cut short as soon after as SmackDown General Managaer Teddy Long informed Bryan that Mark Henry was not medically cleared to compete and declared the match void and returned the briefcase to Bryan and the title back to Mark Henry. Bryan, the following Monday on Raw, acknowledged that he went back on his word, saying that headlining WrestleMania was his dream and that his "plans changed"; that the briefcase "doesn't guarantee [him] anything", since he could be put out of action at any time.^[18] WWE, however, continued to maintain the advertisement for WrestleMania until Daniel Bryan successfully cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Big Show at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 18, 2011, to become the new World Heavyweight Champion.^[19]

At January's Royal Rumble pay-per-view, Sheamus won the Royal Rumble match, giving him the right to challenge either the WWE Champion or the World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania.^[20] Sheamus announced on Smackdown that he would announce who he wishes to face at Wrestlemania after the Elimination Chamber PPV.^{[citation needed]}

• Official WrestleMania website

Template:WrestleMania venues