Kyle Smedley is a freshman journalism and telecommunications major and writes for The Daily News. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the newspaper.
WrestleMania is a big deal.
When I think of wrestling, I think of WrestleMania. Those who don't follow professional wrestling fans know the name, but I don't why 'The Show of Shows' is largely dismissed by our culture.
Although wrestling gained momentum into the mainstream in the late 1990s and early 2000s, WrestleMania wasn’t attractive to sports fans who didn't follow wrestling.
However, the script flipped in 2015, when the World Wrestling Entreatment (WWE) received coverage from ESPN and other major sports outlets.
'The Grandest Stage of Them All' is treated more seriously by the mainstream, but I continue hearing people dismiss WrestleMania like they dismiss the entirety of professional wrestling.
WrestleMania is as big, if not bigger, than the Super Bowl. I don't see a difference between the two.
WWE superstars make appearances on talk shows and travel to WrestleMania host cities. During the week of the Super Bowl, the National Football League (NFL) has its superstar players and coaches flock to the host city each year.
During WrestleMania Week, fans are given opportunities to meet their favorite WWE superstars, attend the WWE Hall of Fame following Friday Night SmackDown and watch a two-day stretch of WrestleMania.
WrestleMania is full of matches involving WWE’s hottest and most important feuds, and it features something for each audience. There are superstars who specialize in wrestling participating, but also personalities like former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) wrestler Ronda Rousey, celebrity Logan Paul and former Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee.
There are 14 announced segments for WrestleMania, including Stone Cold Steve Austin's return to WWE and a possible match between Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins.
In addition to wrestling, WrestleMania’s presentation feels huge. This year, it's being held at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys. WrestleMania 37 took place at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, and drew 40,806 in attendance.
WWE is the perfect mixture of sports and entertainment, and WrestleMania deserves to be treated as the large sporting event it is.
I can't wait to experience the spectacle of professional wrestling's biggest event April 2-3.
Contact Kyle Smedley with comments via email at kyle.smedley@bsu.edu or on Twitter @smedley1932 .
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