4 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE WrestleMania 29

Jersey Royals.

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The penultimate WrestleMania before Vince McMahon deemed the event too old to show its age also betrayed the marketing - the New York aesthetic (and more on that later) was leaned upon heavily despite the event's actual New Jersey location. They'd follow this exact pattern with 2019's return to the venue, unabashed in their abandonment of New Jersey for the good of the tourist dollar.

That's what the show had morphed into by then anyway. Tourism fodder. A meeting place for lots of similar people with similar hobbies to meet for similar activities culminating in the 'Show Of Shows', as part of a wrestling tourist's dream holiday.

Just a year shy of the WWE Network launching and reframing the narrative yet again, 2013's event was another massive swing and even bigger miss for the even-more grandiose version of the 'Grandest Stage'. In 2012, the gamble paid off with a monster buyrate - the company couldn't replicate that either.

(Want more WrestleMania Ups & Downs? We got 'em: I, 2, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, 13, XIV, XV, 2000, X-Seven, X8, XIX, XX, 21, 22, 23, XXIV, 25, XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII)

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett