The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania Thread

[Boner Kawanger 0]

Terry Funk versus Chris Jericho in a Family Friendly Barbed Wire Texas Death Match (with no blood!)

[Diamonddust 0]

Anyone want to speculate on where Wrestlemania 26 will be held?

 

I'm guessing one of the following cities:

 

-Las Vegas, Nevada (They've apparently looked here when deciding on previous Wrestlemania sites over the past few years)

-Glendale, Arizona (University of Phoenix Stadium would fit in with the current trend of running it out of major indoor stadiums)

-Indianapolis, Indiana (See above... has benefit of already being a host city)

-Atlanta, Georgia (I was almost certain they were going to run Wrestlemania 17 here... it's a shock they haven't done one here in the Georgia Dome considering the built-in Georgia wrestling history)

-St. Louis, Missouri (Has a huge wrestling history + the dome)

 

[ChrisMWaters 0]

If Atlantic City had a good place for it, I'd love or one there again.

[Promoter 0]

Clearly the Earth's promotional department are slacking off too.

 

Worldwide phenomenon

[RepoMan 0]

I think I remember hearing that it's going to be at Sam Boyd Stadium in Vegas (birthplace of the XFL btw.)

[Diamonddust 0]

Well... the whole Mickey Rourke angle just had a little luster taken off of it... Sean Penn got the Oscar.

 

Although, now that I think about it... Jericho should use this as cannon fodder during his promo tomorrow night.

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! 0]

Does anybody really want to see Mickey Rourke at WrestleMania, Oscar or not? I sure as shit am not interested in it.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Las Vegas doesn't have an arena large enough for that. WWE events there are held in the university basketball arena, and it's the largest venue (which isn't saying much) and pretty old. NBA did the All-Star Game there the other year and basically had to bring in their own generators and infastructure and then left saying "thanks, but no thanks." Boyd is another college field, you wouldn't hold an NFL game there and you wouldn't hold Mania.

 

Basically, the lack of an arena is also why they don't have any pro teams, and arenas are just a pie in the sky dream right now. The gambling thing used to scare leagues away, but the various governments have made enough concessions to put those fears away. The problem is the lack of a building.

 

Personally, I'd like to see it go to San Diego, but that's just me.

[Diamonddust 0]

Las Vegas doesn't have an arena large enough for that. WWE events there are held in the university basketball arena, and it's the largest venue (which isn't saying much) and pretty old. NBA did the All-Star Game there the other year and basically had to bring in their own generators and infastructure and then left saying "thanks, but no thanks." Boyd is another college field, you wouldn't hold an NFL game there and you wouldn't hold Mania.

 

Basically, the lack of an arena is also why they don't have any pro teams, and arenas are just a pie in the sky dream right now. The gambling thing used to scare leagues away, but the various governments have made enough concessions to put those fears away. The problem is the lack of a building.

 

Personally, I'd like to see it go to San Diego, but that's just me.

 

I brought Vegas up because it has been in the hunt, at least for WWE officials. When articles detailed how Orlando got Wrestlemania, they mentioned how Vegas was in consideration as a host city. I agree with what you are saying about the arenas, but I think the WWE would be at least willing to consider running the show there in an arena smaller than the ones they have in the past. It's also why I listed Indy and Phoenix as the other two alternatives... I really think one of those three cities will be the host next year.

[The Tino Standard 0]

I think if they could make it work at the older-than-time-itself Citrus Bowl, then I don't see why they couldn't do the same out in Vegas. They had a TitanTron for the XFL games there. A WM would be more complex, but it's almost certainly feasible.

[Slickster 0]

Sam Boyd Stadium would seat only ~40,000 for Mania if you factor in the giant set/ring setup. That's too small for WM except for MSG.

 

I think the grassroots support for WrestleMania XXVI that started in late 2007 will ultimately give PHX the event. Remember, Orlando got Mania because they were the first city to actively campaign for the event...and Phoenix has got WAYNE GRETZKY to promote the bid. It's becoming like an Olympic bid where city officials and local celebrities are meeting at Titan Towers to bid for the event. Given WrestleMania's proven economic impact on the host city each year, that's no surprise.

 

I expect XXVI to go to Phoenix, while XXVII will be held somewhere in the Northeast. After all, it will have been seven years since Mania was held in the old WWE stomping grounds, so I expect XXVII to be held at the New Meadowlands Stadium which will open in 2010 and seat 82,500.

 

XXVI = University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ

XXVII = New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ

XXVIII = Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN

XXIX = Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA or Rogers Centre in Toronto, ON

XXX = Madison Square Garden in New York, NY

[Diamonddust 0]

Sam Boyd Stadium would seat only ~40,000 for Mania if you factor in the giant set/ring setup. That's too small for WM except for MSG.

 

I think the grassroots support for WrestleMania XXVI that started in late 2007 will ultimately give PHX the event. Remember, Orlando got Mania because they were the first city to actively campaign for the event...and Phoenix has got WAYNE GRETZKY to promote the bid. It's becoming like an Olympic bid where city officials and local celebrities are meeting at Titan Towers to bid for the event. Given WrestleMania's proven economic impact on the host city each year, that's no surprise.

 

I expect XXVI to go to Phoenix, while XXVII will be held somewhere in the Northeast. After all, it will have been seven years since Mania was held in the old WWE stomping grounds, so I expect XXVII to be held at the New Meadowlands Stadium which will open in 2010 and seat 82,500.

 

XXVI = University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ

XXVII = New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ

XXVIII = Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN

XXIX = Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA or Rogers Centre in Toronto, ON

XXX = Madison Square Garden in New York, NY

 

Yeah, I was doing some reading on an article from last year about how Phoenix/Glendale officials made a pitch for Wrestlemania either for this year or 2010 (The article that had the bit about Gretzky wearing the Wrestlemania in Phoenix shirt).

 

As for future locations, I do know that their criteria is doing it in an event/destination city with good transportation access (Much like Superbowl sites). This is from an article detailing how Orlando made the pitch to get WM24:

 

Plus, WWE wanted WrestleMania 24 in a tourist destination. So Orlando was on a list with Miami, Tampa, Atlantic City and Las Vegas. Until Collins approached them, nobody in Orlando seriously considered hosting WrestleMania.

 

(Source - http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/cust...0,188934.story)

 

It is surprising they considered Atlantic City again due to the fact that they really don't have a good venue to host a major event like this. The new model, along with hosting the event in the major stadium, is also hosting possibly the Smackdown taping before Wrestlemania, the Hall of Fame Ceremony, and then the Raw the night after (Vegas and Phoenix/Glendale would have no problem doing this).

 

East Rutherford, along with a lot of other Northeastern venues, has a major strike against it in that it will not have a roof. They will not run Wrestlemania in the end of March/beginning of April in the New York area in an outdoor setting. As a result, I do think that makes Indianapolis a favored choice in the future (Although the "destination city" requirement might hurt it - it still has experience hosting major sporting events, not to mention already hosting a Wrestlemania.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

I dunno. As a person who lived in Vegas for three years and relied on mass transit to get around, there's a reason all the tourist sites are basically plopped along one road. You wouldn't want to go too far off the Strip in either direction, Boyd is small and off in the suburbs. I see only two options for them there:

 

1) A WrestleMania 2 style setup between MGM Grand (numerous WCW PPVs, a 14,000-ish seat building ripping off MSG) and Mandalay Bay (slightly smaller than that, usually hosts concerts and used to host boxing matches before they all went to MGM Grand after they merged.) Maybe throw in the T&M (their usual venue on UNLV) if you really need to.

 

2) Rent the NASCAR track and modify the fuck out of it for a wrestling show. The oval is pretty huge (Wikipedia lists a capacity of 142,000 but I think that's basically if you packed the stands and the circuit itself) and, if you cut off the edges to put backstage stuff and other needed facilities you could make a pretty good wrestling venue out of it if you were willing to spend the money to do so. Mass transit frequently runs special event routes there and would happily play along, and you're right next to Nellis AFB so arranging a fly-over wouldn't be hard.

 

If this was their plan, they should have done it this year instead of going to Houston because the room rates are cheap and the city is desperate for tourism. If they did the #2 option this year, they could have even gotten a blimp to show up and fly around overhead since a newly-opening casino is using it to draw interest.

[Taxman 0]

Granted they were just there in '05, what about the LA Coliseum? They couldn't fill it for 7, I'm sure they could fill it now.

[Slickster 0]

The LA Coliseum is even more of a decrepit dump than the Citrus Bowl is, so I highly doubt WWE would want to consider that venue. It would probably be better to use Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.

[The Buzz 0]

I would have enjoyed a well-planned match between Jericho and Rourke. Hell, they probably could have gotten a rematch at Summerslam out of Rourke to return the job to Jericho, but now that Rourke is listening to his agents and what not I know it won't happen. It'd be cool to see Jericho vs Piper, Austin, or Hogan. If and only if the three I mentioned were in shape. Piper brought a good promo the other night, but if he wrestled again I'd hope he would atleast be in WCW shape.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

26 - Phoenix (seems like its settled already)

27 - New Orleans (Mardi Gras is 03/08/11 but they could still do a Mardi Gras theme with it going a couple weeks later)

28 - Indianapolis (20 years since VIII)

29 - Toronto (seems like they go every 12 years and this is as close as that gets)

30 - MSG (obviously)

 

Other people mentioned St. Louis which I think would be good. Minnesota would be a spot too but they'd have to go next year since it seems they're going to tear down the Metrodome and replace it with two open air stadiums.

 

 

 

[Jobber of the Week 0]

I imagine if they go to Canada it would be the Olympic Stadium of Montreal. (Provided it can be cleaned up and the roof doesn't fall down)

 

It would also line up with Shawn Michaels' retirement, pretty much ensuring that he goes out with a shit-ton of heat.

[RepoMan 0]

I think the Carrier Dome in Syracuse would make a good WM venue. It might be a small market, but it's the only stadium show they could pull off in the Northeasten USA. It'd be a resonable enough drive from WWE Meccas like NYC, Boston, Toronto and Montreal. Syracuse has experience holding major events like NCAA East regionals for basketball. I due think the Univesersity had banned WWE from campus during the Attitude era b/c of the violence against woman, but I'm sure the new Adminstration and City offecials would reverse that for the badly needed tourist $ and national attention.

[Angles Broken Fricken Neck 0]

http://www.wwe.com/content/media/wallpaper...tlemania25.html

 

austins removed from the wallpaper

[bob_barron 0]

It's Phoenix

[Diamonddust 0]

It's Phoenix

 

Yup... here's the link:

 

http://www.prowrestling.net/artman/publish...le1004704.shtml

[Promoter 0]

1) A WrestleMania 2 style setup between MGM Grand (numerous WCW PPVs, a 14,000-ish seat building ripping off MSG) and Mandalay Bay (slightly smaller than that, usually hosts concerts and used to host boxing matches before they all went to MGM Grand after they merged.) Maybe throw in the T&M (their usual venue on UNLV) if you really need to.

 

I may be the only guy who actually liked WrestleMania 2's set up, so I would like to see this. I always wondered if they could pull off a show on three different continents with this set up too. That would make Mania look really world-class and big.

[Papacita 0]

28 - Indianapolis (20 years since VIII)

 

I have nothing to add to this thread other than to note how scary it is to think that Wrestlemania 8 was damn near TWENTY years ago.

[TheFranchise 0]

I was just discussing that recently with another forum member, it's been seventeen years since Ric Flair won the Rumble.

 

Time certainly does fly.

[Diamonddust 0]

1) A WrestleMania 2 style setup between MGM Grand (numerous WCW PPVs, a 14,000-ish seat building ripping off MSG) and Mandalay Bay (slightly smaller than that, usually hosts concerts and used to host boxing matches before they all went to MGM Grand after they merged.) Maybe throw in the T&M (their usual venue on UNLV) if you really need to.

 

I may be the only guy who actually liked WrestleMania 2's set up, so I would like to see this. I always wondered if they could pull off a show on three different continents with this set up too. That would make Mania look really world-class and big.

 

That would be the logistical nightmare from hell.

[Ed Wood Caulfield 0]

It's Phoenix

 

Yup... here's the link:

 

http://www.prowrestling.net/artman/publish...le1004704.shtml

 

I've been reading people's comments about WrestleMania coming to Phoenix at an Arizona-themed blog. Not surprisingly, the majority of the comments are people bitching about this announcement.

 

Which leads me to ask the question: When did the "Only rednecks watch professional wrestling" stereotype start? Maybe I'm just ignorant about pro wrestling history, but rednecks and wrestling have just never gone hand in hand with me. Kids? Yeah. Idiots. Sure. I get those stereotypes. But I've always wondered how watching professional wrestling became something only rednecks are supposed to watch. Is it because wrestling is as arty as a Larry The Cable Guy show?

[Diamonddust 0]

It's Phoenix

 

Yup... here's the link:

 

http://www.prowrestling.net/artman/publish...le1004704.shtml

 

I've been reading people's comments about WrestleMania coming to Phoenix at an Arizona-themed blog. Not surprisingly, the majority of the comments are people bitching about this announcement.

 

Which leads me to ask the question: When did the "Only rednecks watch professional wrestling" stereotype start? Maybe I'm just ignorant about pro wrestling history, but rednecks and wrestling have just never gone hand in hand with me. Kids? Yeah. Idiots. Sure. I get those stereotypes. But I've always wondered how watching professional wrestling became something only rednecks are supposed to watch. Is it because wrestling is as arty as a Larry The Cable Guy show?

 

Probably so. Most people see wrestling as "low-brow" entertainment... the type rednecks would enjoy. The fact a large portion of the industry, although not the entire portion, has history in the south adds to the stereotype (People do tend to forget or not even know that the biggest wrestling company out there is located in the heart of Yankee-land.)

[Ed Wood Caulfield 0]

Forgot to mention, the other stereotype is that only scumbags and lowlives watch professional wrestling. For example, in 2 different movies (Lawnmower Man and Natural Born Killers), the scumbag characters are watching the WWF on their TVs (and both get killed while they're watching it).

 

I've just never gotten how professional wrestling is somehow lower on the totem pole of entertainment than reality TV. Like apparently, watching Rock of Love is not as bad as watching a professional wrestling match. Apparently watching professional wrestling makes me the scum of the earth, but if I were to watch Living With The Kardashians, that would be okay. The venom and hatred some people have for wrestling surprises me.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

The NWA basically begged rednecks to watch. For one thing, the bible belt was effectively their territory. For another thing, they basically wrote stories to appeal to rednecks.

 

I mean, Ric Flair was supposed to be the Snake Oil Salesman From The Big City who smiles and melts the heart of lasses (whose name was usually only one word long or a bad pun) from the good ol' boys with bad teeth they were dating beforehand. Who do you think saw Dusty Rhodes as a hero, anyway? Almost every good guy was Clean Cut American White Bread with varying degrees of the trailer park in their blood. Steamboat and Sting were more the exception. And that was pretty much the end, you look way back in the 80s, and NWA is very trailer trash.

 

Meanwhile, the WWF actually was big city entertainment. You don't get much more big city than Madison Square Garden, yeah? But all the characters were horrible cartoon quality gimmicks and the show was going for a Saturday Morning demographic.

 

What's funny about the trailer park stuff is that the workrate was actually much better than the Greatest Show On Earth stuff that Vince was putting on, so they couldn't get into the WWF. NWA was actually putting on a much more convincing athletic performance than Hogan VS The World, so they'd watch NWA. Even if it was about whether Precious would stay with Billy Joe or leave him for that fancy boy who went to college.

 

So there you have your two stereotypical wrestling markets: Rednecks, and children. Of course, the WWF went on to scare all the children's parents away, and WCW dragged nearly the whole WWF down south to job out their own talent to Hogan & Friends and thus lost the rednecks.

 

Meanwhile, in Canada, they preferred a product with believable participants and a high quality workrate, so of course their feds would not last long at all. Vince quickly bought out Tunney in Toronto and Hart in Calgary, turning the country into simply another region.