[4] 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".

Cena blamed Rock for sending his life into a downward spiral, citing events such as being attacked by Brock Lesnar on the post-WrestleMania Raw, Big Show turning heel and attacking him, being embarrassed by John Laurinaitis at Over the Limit, failing to cash in his Money in the Bank, losing to CM Punk multiple times and losing to Dolph Ziggler at TLC.

[15] At Elimination Chamber, World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio successfully retained his championship against Big Show.

Jack Swagger, Chris Jericho, and Mark Henry, who all made their return, earned spots in the six-man Elimination Chamber match, along with Daniel Bryan, Kane, and Randy Orton to become the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship.

CM Punk, Randy Orton, Big Show, and Sheamus all declared they wanted to face The Undertaker, prompting Raw's Managing Supervisor Vickie Guerrero to set a Fatal Four-Way match among the four later that night.

On the March 15 episode of SmackDown, The Shield (Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose) challenged Randy Orton and Sheamus to a six-man tag team match at WrestleMania 29.

After winning a match on the March 18 episode of Raw, Sheamus and Orton were about to be assaulted by The Shield, but then Big Show – who had also been brutalized by The Shield – came out to aid Orton and Sheamus, causing The Shield to retreat, and on SmackDown that week, Sheamus, Orton, and Big Show were teamed together by Booker T to test their teamwork in a six-man tag match against 3MB (Heath Slater, Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal), in which they were victorious.

On the March 18 episode of Raw, Dolph Ziggler defeated Kofi Kingston, with outside help from his bodyguard Big E Langston.

A minor rivalry between Chris Jericho and Fandango (the former Johnny Curtis from NXT) developed prior to Wrestlemania.

Fandango made numerous appearances, but he never competed in matches due to announcers and wrestlers repeatedly mispronouncing his name or did not say it with the right kind of "feel" he liked.

The Bella Twins and Team Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow) were scheduled to participate in an eight-person tag team match against Tons of Funk (Brodus Clay and Tensai) and The Funkadactyls (Naomi and Cameron) at WrestleMania, but the match was canceled due to time restraints[17] and instead took place the following night on Raw, where Tons of Funk and The Funkadactyls emerged victorious.

[18] During the WrestleMania XXIX Pre-Show, a panel consisting of Jim Ross, Kofi Kingston, Dusty Rhodes and Scott Stanford discussed the event's matches.

The actual pay-per-view opened with The Shield (Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose) facing Sheamus, Big Show, and Randy Orton in a 6-Man Tag Team Match.

Next, Alberto Del Rio defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Jack Swagger (accompanied by Zeb Colter).

In the first match of the triple main event, The Undertaker defended his 20–0 WrestleMania winning streak against CM Punk (accompanied by Paul Heyman).

The Undertaker cleared the Spanish broadcasting table and executed a guillotine leg drop on the ring apron on Punk.

Punk executed a flying double axe handle and then attempted to steal Old School again, but was thrown from the ring.

The Undertaker then ran the ropes in an attempt to perform his signature over-the-top-rope suicide dive but Heyman stepped onto the apron in his way.

Punk then performed a running high knee in the corner and short-arm clothesline followed by a diving elbow drop on The Undertaker for another count of two.

Prior to the match, Triple H suffered second-degree freeze burns due to a pyrotechnic malfunction, causing dry ice to be sprayed on to his chest and torso during his entrance.

In the end, Triple H performed a Pedigree on Lesnar onto the steel steps and got him down for the three-count securing his career and keeping his in-ring skills intact.

He praised the announcers for doing a "fine job" but said John "Bradshaw" Layfield stole the show during the advertisement for Power Slammers action figures.

He also praised Fandango's understated entrance but criticized the technical problems on the live stream that caused many watching through WWE.com to miss the opening match.

Wade Barrett invoked his rematch clause on Raw and defeated The Miz, reclaiming the Intercontinental Championship for his third reign.

Barrett was set to put the title on the line at Payback in a triple threat match against The Miz and Fandango.

Brock Lesnar returned to Raw on April 15, to challenge Triple H (who had suffered second degree burns to his torso and arms during his WrestleMania ring entrance when the stage sprayed dry ice on him[25][27]) to a steel cage match at Extreme Rules.

On the April 15 episode of Raw, CM Punk came out to talk about his match with The Undertaker and his historic WWE championship reign.

The Undertaker came out the next night on Raw to pay tribute to Paul Bearer, but was interrupted by The Shield, who tried to attack him, until Team Hell No made the save.

The same week, Undertaker wrestled his last match on SmackDown in a winning effort against Ambrose of The Shield by submission with Hell's Gate.

Afterwards, Undertaker made some defense against The Shield, but Roman Reigns speared him through the barricade in the timekeeper's area and with his teammates triple-powerbombed him through the broadcasting table.