[4] Despite the "Once in a Lifetime" tagline, the two would wrestle each other again at WrestleMania 29 in the main event for the WWE Championship, with Cena emerging victorious and winning the title from The Rock.

[9][12] The city of Dallas also showed interest, but had to withdraw from bidding for the next two years due to hosting events such as the NCAA Final Four.

[9] For hosting the event, WWE received a $250,000 cash incentive from the Miami-Dade Sports Commission raised through grants and sponsorships.

[17][18] The main event of WrestleMania XXVIII pitted The Rock wrestling against John Cena, billed as a Once in a Lifetime, face of the company generational match.

[19][20] At WrestleMania XXVII, The Rock got involved in the main event WWE Championship match between Miz and Cena, which initially ended in a double count-out.

[23] At Survivor Series in November, Cena teamed with The Rock (who wrestled his first WWE match in almost eight years, last competing at WrestleMania XX in 2004).

However, in the post-match events, due to the harsh physicality suffered during the bout, The Undertaker, for the first time in his career, was carted away from the Georgia Dome by the medical staff on a stretcher.

[21] After a near ten-month long hiatus, The Undertaker returned on the January 30, 2012, episode of Raw, confronting and challenging Triple H to a rematch at WrestleMania XXVIII.

[25] The Undertaker, having been dissatisfied of his post-WrestleMania match scenario the previous year, stated that he "did not want 'that scene' to be a lasting memory" of him and was willing to give Triple H "another chance at immortality".

After Triple H refused to accept the challenge the next week his close friend and WWE Hall of Famer, Shawn Michaels appeared on the February 13 episode to instigate him in accepting The Undertaker's challenge, which was in vain as Triple H stated he was willing to put his ego and personal agendas aside for the future of WWE, and viewed The Undertaker's 19–0 undefeated WrestleMania streak as a "brand" to cash-in for the company, finally ending the argument saying he would not be the one to end it.

[28] On the July 22 episode of SmackDown, Bryan declared his intentions of cashing-in his Money in the Bank contract at WrestleMania XXVIII.

The next week on Raw, Bryan 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.

[30] WWE continued to maintain the advertisement for WrestleMania, until Bryan successfully cashed in his Money in the Bank contract briefcase on Big Show at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs event on December 18, 2011, to become the new World Heavyweight Champion.

Since the summer of 2011, Punk had successfully defended the WWE Championship numerous times, calling himself the "best wrestler in the world".

On the January 2, 2012, episode of Raw, after extensive hype through several viral vignettes proclaiming the "end of the world as we know it" on that day, Chris Jericho returned to WWE after over a year, and established a villainous persona over the next several weeks.

On the February 20 episode of Raw, Jericho won a ten-man battle royal to determine the number-one contender to face Punk for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XXVIII.

Another title match scheduled was for the Intercontinental Championship between defending champion Cody Rhodes and Big Show.

[26][33] On the March 2 episode of SmackDown, General Manager Theodore Long scheduled a match between Rhodes and Big Show for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania XXVIII, where the latter has vowed "to win at all costs.

Alberto Del Rio, Mark Henry, and Christian all came out and voiced their support for Laurinaitis over SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long, who later that night put forth his own claim to run both shows.

Christian, who had joined the team in return for Laurinaitis promising him a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship after WrestleMania, was forced to leave the team due to being (kayfabe) injured by CM Punk on the March 26 episode of Raw (the real reason being Christian not having fully recovered from his real-life ankle injury) and was replaced by Drew McIntyre.

Later that night, WWE officials sanctioned a tag team match pitting Phoenix and Eve against Menounos and Kelly for WrestleMania XXVIII.

[27] On the March 9 episode of SmackDown, Orton and Kane once again brawled at the end of the show with no man appearing to gain an advantage.

[29][45] Kane, explaining that the handshake made him look weak and "human", that this "wretched" self was now gone, and now wanted to eliminate that memory, challenging Orton at WrestleMania XXVIII.

After receiving a good luck kiss from his (kayfabe) girlfriend AJ Lee, Bryan was surprised by Sheamus, who delivered a Brogue Kick and pinned him to win the title.

After suffering a Pedigree, a Sweet Chin Music, and multiple chair and sledgehammer shots, Undertaker came back and executed a Tombstone Piledriver; however, Triple H kicked out.

Triple H delivered one more Pedigree before The Undertaker kicked out, took back control, performed another Tombstone, and won the match to extend his undefeated streak to 20–0.

Eric Larnick of The Huffington Post praised the main event match giving it a verdict of good; he applauded Dwayne Johnson, opining that he worked "his butt off to prove that he can still go in the squared circle".

The post also praised the WWE Championship and Hell in a Cell matches, ranking them alongside the main event.

[49] The Baltimore Sun's Adam Testa led with a headline that WrestleMania XXVIII was unable to live up to the hype, while the main event did.

[63] On the April 10 episode of SmackDown, it was announced that a two out of three falls match between Daniel Bryan and Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Championship would take place at Extreme Rules.