The event received mixed to positive reviews from critics, who praised the Raw Women's Championship, Raw Tag Team Championship match, Johnny Knoxville vs. Sami Zayn, Edge vs. AJ Styles, Pat McAfee's and Logan Paul's performance, Cody Rhodes vs. Seth "Freakin" Rollins, and the in-ring return of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin while criticizing the main event for Night 2, Sheamus and Ridge Holland vs.

[9] The official theme songs for the event were "Sacrifice" by The Weeknd, "I Feel Good" by Pitbull, Anthony Watts, and DJWS, and "All Nightmare Long" by Metallica.

[12] In addition to airing on traditional pay-per-view, WrestleMania 38 was available to livestream on Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network in international markets.

[19][20] The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders also appeared on stage to cheer Pat McAfee to the ring for his match against Austin Theory on WrestleMania Sunday.

The week kicked off with a special "WrestleMania Edition" of Monday Night Raw, held at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

After Lesnar took a hiatus following WrestleMania 36 in April 2020, Heyman became the special counsel for Roman Reigns that August,[32] guiding him to win SmackDown's Universal Championship.

Due to his status as a free agent, Lesnar was instead added to Raw's multi-person WWE Championship match at Day 1[38] and won the title.

[49] On the February 25 episode of SmackDown, Sasha Banks and Naomi announced that they were challenging Queen Zelina and Carmella for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania 38.

[53] At SummerSlam in August 2021, Becky Lynch, who had been on maternity leave since May 2020, made a surprise return and defeated Bianca Belair in an impromptu match to win the SmackDown Women's Championship in 26 seconds.

Later backstage, Miz accused Rey of cheating due to Dominik and said he would find a tag team partner who was a "global superstar".

[48] On March 3, 2022, WWE Chairman and chief executive officer Vince McMahon made a rare media appearance for a live interview on The Pat McAfee Show.

[61] On the following night's episode of SmackDown, Raw's Austin Theory, who had been under the tutelage of McMahon for the past several weeks, revealed himself as McAfee's opponent at WrestleMania 38.

After failing to defeat Kevin Owens[67] and AJ Styles to take their respective spots,[68] Vince McMahon summoned Rollins into his office on the morning of March 28.

[73] On the February 25 episode of SmackDown, after The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Big E) won their match, they were confronted by Sheamus and Ridge Holland backstage.

[78] In the sixth match, Sheamus and Ridge Holland (accompanied by Butch) faced The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods).

In the closing moments, as Lesnar attempted an F-5, Reigns escaped and performed a fourth Spear on Lesnar to win the match and claim both titles to become recognized as the first-ever Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, as well as marking the sixth time a heel won the main event of WrestleMania, including two in a row for Reigns.

[1] The event received mixed to positive reviews from critics, who praised the Raw Women's Championship, Raw Tag Team Championship match, Johnny Knoxville vs. Sami Zayn, Edge vs. AJ Styles, Pat McAfee's and Logan Paul's performance, Cody Rhodes vs. Seth "Freakin" Rollins, and the in-ring return of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin while criticizing the main event for Night 2, Sheamus and Ridge Holland vs.

He concluded that "Given Austin's physical limitations—the impact of a long history of knee injuries was particularly clear throughout—you can't ask for a much better "walk and brawl" style match".

[87] Pro Wrestling Torch said that the match "was rather excruciating, but that was the point", and that "Knoxville played his part well and Sami was a delightful foil and spot on with his tone and mannerisms throughout".

CBS Sports called it "terribly short and pointless", and "it's not that the outcome was wrong so much as the match just felt smashed in after getting cut from Night 1".

[86] Bleacher Report stated that the match "was deemed expendable on Saturday, so it was never expected to be a memorable contest", and that "the same team that has won everything for the last two months scored another win that did nothing to elevate them or make the feud any more meaningful".

However, he also mentioned that "the post-match" "threatened to undo everything accomplished by the first match", stating that "the WWE chairman made the former NFL kicker look like a geek", but called it an "impressive turnaround".

[86] Bleacher Report also called the finish "anticlimactic", and that "the feud, the competitors and the audience deserved something a bit more definitive than that", but said that "the right guy went over and Reigns finally has his defining WrestleMania moment, something he and WWE have chased for years".

[108][109] Stephanie would resign as co-CEO and chairwoman on January 10, 2023, with Khan being named the sole CEO and Vince returning as Executive Chairman.

[92] At the event, despite Priest being banned from ringside, Edge again defeated Styles after interference from Rhea Ripley, who would join The Judgment Day.

[129] The following week, Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro (Randy Orton and Riddle) accepted the challenge and the match was scheduled for WrestleMania Backlash.

[103] After WrestleMania 38, the trio of Sheamus, Ridge Holland, and Butch would dub themselves as The Brawling Brutes and continued their feud with The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods), with one member of each team scoring a win over the other in singles matches.

[115] Flair returned on the December 30 episode of SmackDown, where she challenged and defeated Rousey in an impromptu match to reclaim the title for a record seventh time.

[141] On the June 17 episode of SmackDown, after Roman Reigns retained the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, he claimed that there was no one left to face him.

[142] At the event, Reigns, with interference from The Usos, Paul Heyman, and Theory, defeated Lesnar to retain the titles and end their rivalry.