I'm about to start a marathon on my toes (or at least try to)
I’m going to review EVERY WrestleMania in history.
“You’re what?!” Well, let me explain.
I became a WWE fan in late 2001, at the age of six going onto seven. My friends got me into it and I sadly never looked back into this never-ending soap opera.
Jump to March 2002 and I was introduced to this event known as ‘WrestleMania’, which so happened to be in my hometown of Toronto at what was then known at the time as SkyDome. I was in awe watching this event that was recorded for me on VHS as I saw 68,237 fans in attendance having the time of their lives.
I’m not sure what it was that got my attention and eventually hooked on to this yearly event. It was the 18th edition and I told myself “I guess this is a big deal”. From the capacity crowd, screaming for their favorite superstars, to the stage set and the long ramp to help signify this is a big event, it simply jumped out to me.
Now for those that are reading this and are not completely into WWE or wrestling as a general topic, you may laugh and wonder what’s wrong with me. It’s alright, I’ve heard it before many times.
But as a kid growing up, watching WrestleMania every year, became bigger to me than a Super Bowl or a World Series. In fact, it was my first big sporting (if you want to call it a sport, your opinion) event that I saw as a kid. It became my quote on quote “Super Bowl”.
The event consistently grew and solidified its status as a “worldwide spectacle”. Even today, I’ll still round up my friends over to my place and continue my yearly tradition of watching WrestleMania.
Until I told myself, it’s time to stop being that person who sits on their couch and watches a WrestleMania with said friends on TV (sorry gents, hope you understand. WrestleMania 36, my place, same time).
At the end of WrestleMania 18, as a seven-year-old kid, I promised myself that there will be a day when I attend a WrestleMania. I knew as a kid it wasn’t going to happen right away. I’d hope it would come back to Toronto between now and then. That didn’t work out.
Fast forward 17 years later, and the dream will finally become a reality. In what practically felt like a lifelong wait, it’s great to say that I’m headed to WrestleMania 35 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The emotions that came over me were overwhelming when my friend, Andrew Woltman in New York, texted me to say, “We got the tickets”.
So that brings us to today, this very moment, and you reading this post of mine.
At the time of this piece, we are exactly 35 days away from the big day. To help share my excitement with you all on this road to WrestleMania, I decided I’ll take a glance at every event to date and share my thoughts on each of them.
The countdown begins tomorrow with a look at WrestleMania 1, and continue all the way until April 6th, which reviews last year’s show, WrestleMania 34, and is the night before the 35th edition.
Now, of course, these shows have ranged from roughly two hours long, to what’s now five nonstop hours (and that’s not including the two-hour preshow).
I won’t be reviewing every match on the card or get to the smaller details of a show. This is more for me to highlight and summarize what the event entailed or remembered for, as well as giving some critique.
This can range from matches that stood out, or moments outside of the ring that was cemented in the show’s legacy. In 35 years, you can expect there’s a thing or two that had fans on their feet.
I’ve always wanted to watch every single WrestleMania up to date. Since I already have seen nearly all of them, I figured why not continue to practice my writing while watching a show that means a ton to me.
It’ll be a long grind, but I hope you stick along for the ride.
Let the madness begin!
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