WrestleMania is Coming to Tampa
The WWE announced on Thursday that Raymond James Stadium in Tampa would be the location of WrestleMania 36 on April 5th, 2020. This will be the fourth time that the annual event has been held in Florida (Orlando in 2008 & 2017, Miami in 2012), but the first time it will emanate from one of the most important cities in the history of the sport.
As if to magnify the city’s importance, native son (and self-avowed racist) Hulk Hogan led off the press conference for the historic announcement. “This is my hometown. This is where I fell in love with wrestling,” said the excited 65-year-old WWE Hall of Famer. “Everybody here is going to get to experience that. A new generation of young wrestling fans are going to get to experience that.”
Hogan was followed by a litany of Tampa officials (including outgoing mayor Bob Buckhorn) and WWE luminaries, including Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events, and Creative, Paul Levesque (aka Triple H). Levesque spoke mainly of his passion project, NXT, and how it began in Tampa. “A lot of people don’t realize, though, is that the genesis of the Performance Center (in Orlando) started right here, just down the road on Dale Mabry.”
In recent years, WrestleMania has become a week-long affair, featuring not only WWE shows (including Raw, Smackdown Live, and NXT Takeover), but also shows from a multitude of other wrestling promotions, both local and national. The host city for WrestleMania becomes the epicenter for all wrestling activity during that week, including conventions, autograph signings, and live podcast tapings. According to a Forbes article from last year:
“In total, WrestleMania 33 generated $181.5 million in economic impact for Central Florida during the festivities according to a study completed by Enigma Research Corporation.”
Will you be making the trip to Raymond James Stadium next year? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
