PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Finally, WrestleMania is coming back to Philadelphia. World Wrestling Entertainment announced that it would be bringing its signature event to Lincoln Financial Field in 2024. It’s a pleasant surprise for a passionate fanbase and veterans of the industry who are from the area.
“The Super Bowl, the World Series, the World Cup of professional wrestling coming right here into our town? There’s nothing like it!” said Bill Apter, senior editor of the website Sportskeeda. The Montgomery County resident has been a fixture in the professional wrestling business, which he has been covering for more than five decades. He has been to more than 30 WrestleManias since the event was established in 1985.
Three WrestleManias have taken place in the region. WrestleMania 4 and 5 were at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1988 and 1989. The only WrestleMania in Philadelphia was the 15th iteration of the event in 1999, featuring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in the main event. It has been quite a while and so the decision to bring WrestleMania 40 to Philadelphia was a surprise to Apter and Philadelphia native Brian Heffron.
“It seemed like a pipe dream,” said Heffron, a ring veteran who wrestling fans know as “The Blue Meanie.”
Even though the region has one of the more passionate pro wrestling fanbases in the country and a rich history of supporting the business, the WWE has mostly shied away from picking a place like Philly to host its flagship event.
Since 2007, WrestleMania has taken place in stadiums. With the exception of two shows at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the host locations have been warm weather cities like Tampa, Orlando and Miami, Florida and Santa Clara, California — or places with domed stadiums like Arlington, Texas, Atlanta and New Orleans.
“I was just recently saying to a friend, ‘Hopefully when the Eagles rebuild a stadium they get a dome so we can get a WrestleMania!’ So, when the announcement came out I was overjoyed,” Heffron said.
The evolution of WrestleMania — moving from arenas to stadiums and going from a single day show to two-day spectacles — has led to a competitive bidding process and greater financial benefits for cities that are selected. The WWE said the economic impact has been a combined $1.25 billion for host cities during the last decade. Independent wrestling promotions, looking to capitalize on the volume of fans flocking to a single location, also hold shows and conventions in the host city during WrestleMania week.
“When I cover WrestleManias I meet people from Asia, from the Latin American countries, from (all over the United States), from Europe. I mean just about everywhere. It’s just a worldwide event,” Apter said.
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Because the spotlight is so bright and the stadium crowd is so large, many performers look to create a “WrestleMania moment.” Fittingly for Heffron, his time to shine happened when the show was last in Philadelphia more than 20 years ago.
“It was a dream come true,” he recalled to KYW Newsradio. Heffron managed fellow wrestler Goldust — the son of wrestling icon Dusty Rhodes — in a four-way match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at what was then the First Union Center.
“I made sure the announcers at least said my name once or twice — running around like my hair was on fire!” Heffron said. “The moment I walked through the curtain you could tell how excited I was because I outran the camera shot!”
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As for predictions for 2024, Apter said it is possible that a megastar makes an appearance.
“The Rock may show up,” he speculated. “Who knows? Rock always loved Philadelphia. Remember, he went to school and played football in the Lehigh Valley.”
And could the world get another “Meanie Mania Moment?” Heffron would not rule it out. However, he said WrestleMania week in Philadelphia would be the perfect setting to recognize the wrestlers that he bled and sweated with in the ‘90s, when they were with the highly influential Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) based out of South Philly.
“If there’s not a Meanie in WrestleMania, I would love to see an ECW class go into the WWE Hall of Fame,” Heffron said.
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