A seat at the show: Did WrestleMania live up to the hype?
This article originally appeared in the North Texas e-News.
Arlington, Texas — The stars of WWE make North Texas their home this weekend as WrestleMania heads to AT&T Stadium in Arlington. WWE’s biggest yearly event, now stretched across Saturday and Sunday, is a massive attraction which brings together professional wrestling fans from across the globe, all of whom will soon have their eyes firmly affixed on the region this weekend.
It should be no surprise then that the event is expected to deliver a major economic kick to North Texas. WrestleMania is expected to bring in $200 million to the local economy, Executive Director of the Dallas Sports Commission Monica Paul told the Dallas Morning News.
The company, which will also host its weekly television shows along with a special fan event from the American Airlines Center and Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center respectively, isn’t the only professional wrestling company hoping to attract major audiences this weekend however. A wide variety of other local and national professional wrestling companies have put together impressive shows in order to cash in on the international audience set to descend on North Texas.
In Garland, for example, longtime promotion Ring of Honor will make its return after a short hiatus prior to being purchased by the owner of WWE’s chief TV ratings rival, Tony Khan of All Elite Wrestling. The company, which played an integral part in the early careers of current WrestleMania headliners like Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins, will host their annual Supercard of Honor show from the Curtis Culwell Center on Friday at 6 P.M.
Additionally, a competing wrestling convention known as WrestleCon is set to bring professional wrestling promotions and competitors together from around the world, most notably including those based out of Japan and Mexico, for a series of live shows and autograph sessions starting Thursday and extending through Saturday.
On a more local scale, a number of independent wrestling promotions, many of which typically run monthly shows scattered around North Texas, will be hosting events injected with nationwide star power. New Texas Pro Wrestling is set to host a pair of alternative events to WrestleMania in Arlington on Saturday and Sunday, headlined in part by Texas native Bryan Keith facing off against former Impact Wrestling titleholder Josh Alexander. Additionally, Pro Wrestling Dallas will host a trio of events before and after WrestleMania on Sunday in Arlington, the chief among them under its VIP Wrestling promotion headlined by stars like WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi and international wrestling legend Minoru Suzuki.
All of these events together are set to make it one of the most exciting weekends of the year for professional wrestling fans and interested North Texas residents alike.
