10 Exclusive Photos From WWE WrestleMania 38 Weekend - Day One
WWE lands in Dallas, WaleMania takes over Texas, and a Cody Rhodes Tease At Axxess?!
“Three years is a long time”.
When Andre The Giant uttered those words to foreshadow the heel turn on Hulk Hogan that followed just a few short weeks later, he transformed everything about this time of year for WWE, and ultimately wrestling as a whole.
WrestleMania III had a transformative impact on how the mainstream populous viewed pro wrestling and indeed the branding and prestige of the ‘Show Of Shows’. A year later, WrestleMania IV’s Trump Plaza locale offered build-up events for punters wanting a little more than just WWE’s annual supercard. Further expansions over the decades grew WrestleMania into the event that took over a city, making good on the internal marketing that had sold it as the SuperBowl of the industry for a little longer than it perhaps deserved.
With wrestling fans (and the potential income they had to offer) subsequently came more wrestling, and by the 2010s, it was commonplace to have a week’s worth of events making the most of the captive audience keen to get even more bang for their WrestleMania buck.
All until 2020, when the pandemic bulldozed everything. And all until now when, for the first time since 2019, a location has become the grand destination for all things pro wrestling.
Three years is a long time - and those in Dallas for the biggest weekend of the year were glad it was over.
10. The WrestleMania Attire Hall Of Fame
As part of combining some of the fan experiences traditionally held at Axxess, WWE trotted out a series of old and new items in their WrestleMania legacy line-up. An exhaustive range featured something from just about every show including the above pieces from WrestleManias III and XI respectively.
It's a massive collection and growing impressively - particularly considering it's now bundled in for the punters at the megastore.