6 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE WrestleMania 40 - Night 1 (Results & Review)

UPS…

6. E-A-G-L-E-S, EAGLES!

Apologies to any non-fans of American football, but positive marks have to be given to WWE for finding a perfect way to play off their location for WrestleMania 40, by involving one of Philadelphia’s most famous and recognizable sports figures.

Mania is emanating from Lincoln Financial Field, home of the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles. The team’s uber-popular star center Jason Kelce just announced his retirement this spring, but he remains the face of the franchise. During the lucha tag match, two large masked men interceded toward the end of the match to prevent Dominik Mysterio and company from cheating, thwarting their efforts and helping Rey Mysterio and Andrade pick up the victory.

Eagles fans immediately recognized one of the men, who unmasked to reveal it was indeed Kelce (it’s worth noting that Jason’s brother Travis is the football star currently dating Taylor Swift, so there’s a connection for everyone) and fellow Eagle Lane Johnson.

In an otherwise forgettable tag match with relatively low stakes, this was a perfect opportunity to weave in a celebrity appearance, and it played perfectly with hometown fans in attendance.

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Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.