23 Exclusive Photos From WWE WrestleMania 40 Weekend
WWE Superstars hit the indies, ECW comes back to life and all of WrestleMania's hidden highlights
There is nothing quite like WrestleMania weekend.
For better and worse pending your preferences, WWE has managed over forty years and five decades to make their promotional bluster real - it is in every sense the biggest thing in the wrestling business, regardless of if Vince McMahon professed not to be in the field. Annual stadiums from 2007 onwards transformed the narrative around the 'Show Of Shows', making it a destination for audiences to travel to from all over the world and the host city part of the company's lore.
The brand-building reached its apex in the 2010s, when locations began entering into bidding wars to get the coveted event, safe in the knowledge that the revenue generated would more than justify having pop culture's most insane circus in town. And despite WWE's best efforts, the rest of the industry has been able to benefit too. Away from the bright lights and big banners trumpeting the market leader's biggest event, there are side-streets loaded shows and signings for the cream of the independent crop to make their mark in front of delighted captive audiences. WrestleMania isn't a two night premium live event; it's a week-long pro wrestling extravaganza.
And here's what it looked like...
23. The Flex Express
As always, there were a few wrestlers that claimed this year's WrestleMania as "theirs", and The Rock was perhaps the biggest name of the lot until the last seconds of the last night. And when it wasn't WWE splashing him all over town it was ZOA Energy. Billboards, banners and this massive bus were regularly spotted throughout Philadelphia as anticipation for the return of 'The Final Boss'.