50 Things You Learn Binge-Watching Every WWE WrestleMania
28. 22 Was Tinged With Sadness
This is going to sound strange, but there was a splash of sadness when running through all of these events knowing 22 was the last in a traditional arena. WrestleMania's III, VI, VII, X-Seven, X8 and XIX had all been held in stadiums or domes, so this wasn’t out of the blue, but 22 remains the last WWE has run in front of a regular scale arena crowd. That made it one of the most fascinating looking back.
WWE was entering a new era with 'Mania. Suddenly, the show had reached Super Bowl-esque levels. Or, it might be the Olympics that's a better comparison. Cities were willing to bid on the company's biggest event because they knew how much it'd bring to the local economy. That's big business. 'Mania 22, held in Chicago's Allstate Arena, was the last of its kind then. Fans would never see another show quite like this.
36 was relegated to the tiny Performance Center due to COVID in 2020, but that's different. From 2007 on, the WrestleMania brand towered above everything else as a juggernaut government officials desperately wanted to get their hands on. It was a money making status symbol that boosted governance, and you can't honestly say that about a lot of wrestling shows.
In comparison to stadia like AT&T in Dallas or Reliant in Houston, the Allstate Arena felt minuscule. That only made 'Mania 22 a more interesting watch; knowing WWE was about to make the annual powerhouse even bigger gives the event an end of era atmosphere. Only in retrospect, to be fair.