World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) made an official announcement that Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida will host WrestleMania 36 on April 5, 2020.
WrestleMania is the pro wrestling’s version of the Super Bowl. The inaugural WrestleMania occurred on March 1, 1985 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Initially the brainchild of promoter Vince McMahon, WrestleMania is an annual affair and WWE’s flagship event. It ties in storylines from Monday Night Raw, SmackDown Live, and 205 Live.
WrestleMania 35 will take place next month at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Former UFC star Ronda Rousey will be featured in one of the main bouts on the card.
WrestleMania 36
The Tampa Bay Sports Commission had been courting Vince McMahon for a decade. However, after ten years, the city finally landed WrestleMania. Director Bob Higgins previously pulled off major sporting events in Tampa Bay such as the Super Bowl, Frozen Four, and March Madness.
“It’s probably the biggest event that we haven’t had the opportunity to host yet,” said Bob Higgins. “This is why this is such an incredible announcement for our hometown.”
In the days leading up to WrestleMania 36, the Tampa Convention Center will host various side events. WrestleMania Axxess, a fan-friendly environment, is the SuperBowl’s equivalent to the NFL Experience. The convention center will also host the WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Official HOF inductees will be named later.
“We are now a true seven-day-long celebration,” said John Saboor, vice-president of special events from the WWE.
WrestleMania 36 in Tampa is expected to boost tourism because of a week-long schedule of festivities.
“Over the past 12 years, WrestleMania has generated more than $1.2 billion in cumulative economic impact for our host cities,” said Saboor. “We’re incredibly bullish on Tampa Bay given the strength of the destination. We’d expect to meet or even exceed our most recent economic impact result in 2020.”
Florida will host the biggest event of the year for only the fourth time in WrestleMania history. Orlando first hosted WrestleMania XXIV in 2008. Most recently, Orlando hosted WrestleMania 33 as the only city in Florida to host it twice. In 2012, Miami hosted WrestleMania XXVIII on April Fool’s Day.
WrestleMania 35
The announcement for WrestleMania 36 dropped a month before WrestleMania 35. The upcoming WrestleMania returns to the New York City tri-state area on April 7, 2019. MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey will be the hub for all things wrestling. Colin Jost and Micheal Che from “Saturday Night Live” will be special guest correspondents.
Above all, the big event at WrestleMania 35 is a potential triple-threat match between Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair. Charlotte is the daughter of ‘Nature Boy’ Ric Flair. Rousey, a former UFC star pivoted to pro wrestling. Rousey made her WWE debut at WrestleMania 34 in 2018.
Secondly, the Main Event is WWE Universal Championship title bout. Brock Lesnar of UFC fame will defend his belt against Seth Rollins.
The other major fight on the card will be WWE Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy. Murphy will be defending his title against the winner of the Cruiserweight Championship Tournament. Oney Lorcan, Cedric Alexander, Drew Gulak, or Tony Nese are still alive.
King Kong Bundy, who passed away last weekend. Bundy gained notoriety for a cage match against Hulk Hogan in WrestleMania 2.