As a lifelong wrestling fan from the Tampa Bay Area, one goal in my life was to see Wrestlemania Live. With the announcement of Wrestlemania 36 being held at Raymond James stadium a few years back it seemed like one of my bucket list goals could finally be checked off. But unfortunately due to Coronavirus my boyhood dream won’t be coming true.
The saddest part of all this is WWE is still going to hold Wrestlemania but instead of being in a packed stadium it will be held at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, in front of no fans. That is the equivalent of playing the Super Bowl on a practice field in front of no fans. This might have been my last opportunity to see all time greats like The Undertaker and Goldberg wrestle. The Taker match is the most disappointing since he is wrestling AJ Styles, my all time favorite. Although both Taker and Goldberg are past their prime just the entrances alone are worth the price of admission.
As a whole this card was pretty stacked with John Cena vs The Fiend and Brock Lesnar vs Drew McIntyre both having big fight feels. I will still watch the event but it will still feel bitter sweet. With NXT Tampa as well as the WWE HOF also being cancelled this bizarro world we are living has finally infiltrated Vince McMahon’s universe. This will be a huge hit not only on the city of Tampa, which has a huge wrestling background but also on the wrestling business as a whole. Many independent promotions run shows during Wrestlemania weekend to capitalize off the hype, have been forced to cancel their events as well. Big companies like WWE can afford the financial hit but the smaller promotions could be really hurt by this.
I am hopeful that after all this Cornavirus stuff is over WWE will come back to the Tampa Bay Area. At this point my childhood dream of going to Wrestlemania has been put on hold but with the company frequently hosting the event in Florida. I might not have to wait a lifetime to experience “The Showcase Of The Immortals”.