Back in November when my friend Steve and my brother told me of plans to go to WrestleMania again, I almost thought it was too good to be true. Every day they kept talking about how cool it would be to head to Dallas for the show and I was just as interested as them but still didn't think it would actually happen. But when I finally got the call from my friend Steve and heard the words, "We're going to WrestleMania again!!" it really started to set in.
Not only would we be going to WrestleMania again, but we were going to Dallas, Texas, journeying across the country to see the biggest spectacle that the WWE would create yet. We were also going to be a part of the biggest crowd that the WWE ever had, with over 100,000 people gathering to see this event. By Royal Rumble time, I could no longer contain my excitement. We were going to WRESTLEMANIA!!! We were going to DALLAS, TEXAS! How could you not be excited for that? I remember setting the countdown on my phone until the day arrived.
The journey began that Friday as we woke up early leaving our house at 7 AM sharp to make the drive to La Guardia airport to catch a flight from New York straight to Dallas. Making great timing, we stopped for a nice breakfast before beginning our journey. With our stomachs satisfied and after a three and a half hour flight we made it to Dallas. After getting off the plane we waited a bit for our first of many Ubers to show up.
As we waited, my friend Steve noticed the two women standing behind and once my brother took notice they both realized that these two women were actually Shayna Belzer and Jessamyn Duke from UFC. Upon making the realization, he made the bold step and walked up and got a picture with both of them. This said to me that everyone and I mean EVERYONE was in town for WrestleMania weekend and knew that we were in for a hell of a time.
Our Uber dropped us off at our home for the weekend, the beautiful Hyatt Hotel. Our room was so nice two bed rooms, a pullout couch, three TVs in each room, a kitchen, and a pool outside, can't get any better than that. Our first stop of the weekend was NXT Takeover: Dallas a bit of a warm up show to get us ready for WrestleMania on Sunday.
We took our next Uber there in the company of a man who came all the way from Sydney, Australia. He told us his life story and told us about how crazy the roads are in Texas (he even showed us at one point, but thankfully we survived). We even saw WWE Legend Honky Tonk Man walking into his hotel as we passed by. My brother called out to him and he responded with, "Shake and bake brother!!"
For dinner we visited this nice little restaurant named Ellen's and it was the highlight of the trip in terms of finding food. The chicken fried chicken that I got was the closest thing to the perfect meal that I have ever experienced. Filled me up just enough to satisfy my stomach. Not too full and not too much room left either. After dinner we ventured around town a little before making our way to the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention for NXT Takeover.
Before the show, we took a little visit to the WWE Superstore inside the building packed with fans and every piece of WWE merchandise anyone could get their hands on. I made out of that store with a couple of souvenirs of the trip including a cowboy hat, I mean it's Texas how could I not? That night we were treated to a great night of wrestling from watching the gifted tag team of American Alpha win the NXT Tag Team Titles for the first time, to seeing a new Women's champion being crowned to seeing an all out classic between Japanese superstar Shinsuke Nakamura and the heart and soul of NXT, Sami Zayn. They had a match for the ages and by far the best match of the whole weekend. A great kick off to an even greater weekend.
The next day we took the time to do some sight seeing around the city of Dallas which included a visit to the site of the John F. Kennedy assassination in Dealey Plaza. There we saw the former Texas School Book Depository with the window still open from where Oswald shot the president. We took a tour of the Grassy Knolls and saw where Abraham Zapruder stood and shot footage of the assassination as it unfolded.
We then ventured on to the Dallas World Aquarium where we saw many different animals including otters, monkeys, sloths, toucans, penguins and of course fish, lots and lots of fish. After that we went for lunch at the well known food trucks in Dallas and discovered some good Asian tacoes. Highly recommend. After our sight seeing we went back to the hotel to rest and then went back out to Torchy's Taco, one of the more well known taco places in Dallas for dinner. After fun filled day we returned to our room to rest in preparation for the big day...WrestleMania.
As we woke up the next day, it finally hit me, today is WRESTLEMANIA!!! My excitement went through the roof as I put on my New Day shirt (yes the Booty-O's shirt) and got ready for the drive to one of the biggest stadiums in the world!
As we arrived at the stadium, I was amazed at how many people there were and also by small we all looked compared to the venue. There were over 100,000 people in attendance all brought together by a common love for WWE. I got a snap of the front of the building as I waited in anticipation to get inside.
After waiting about an hour for the doors to open, we finally made our way inside. As we got closer and close to our seats it was really hitting me that we were here. The biggest WrestleMania of all time, the biggest crowd of all time and we were a part of it. I remember catching a glimpse of Jonathan Coachman talking to a couple of fans as we made our way to our seats. Once we found our seats, I was amazed at how great our seats were. We had the perfect view of everything. The stage, the ring, the big jumbo tron, everything! I had to take a picture to really soak in the moment.
Finally the show started and we were treated to about five hours of pure spectacle. We saw great action in the opening ladder match and even surprise watching Zack Ryder get his WrestleMania moment and become the new Intercontinental Champion. We witnessed a well fought contest between veteran Chris Jericho and newcomer to WWE, AJ Styles. A highlight of the night took place with the New Day's special entrance coming out of a giant box of Booty-O's (you can thank my friend Steve for that one) as they entertained the audience like they always did. We were also treated after the match with the surprise appearances of WWE Hall of Famers, Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley, and Stone Cold Steve Austin!
The show continued with a great performance by three very talented women in Charlotte, Sasha Banks, and Becky Lynch who poured their hearts out in the ring and proved that the women can be just as good if not even better than the male wrestlers. This also included an appearance by Snoop Dogg who performed a rap for his cousin Sasha Banks as she made her way to the ring.
Afterwards came the highly anticipated Hell in a Cell match between The Undertaker and Shane McMahon complete with a cool by Shane O'Mac featuring his sons dancing with their dad and also money falling from the ceiling (no it wasn't real money). The match was topped off with Shane O'Mac throwing caution to the window and jumping almost/about 20 feet from the top of the cell crashing through the announce table.
After that emotional roller coaster, we were treated to an appearance by The Rock featuring a flame thrower as the Great One announced that we had broken the all time WrestleMania attendance record at 101,763! Only to be interrupted by the mysterious Wyatt Family, which included a cool affect with the whole stadium holding their phone flash lights in the dark to light up the whole arena as well as a surprise appearance by John Cena.
We were also treated to a surprise appearance by basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal who entered the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and squared off with the world's largest athlete the Big Show. The whole show was topped of by a cool entrance by Triple H, as he defended his title against the upstart Roman Reigns. The arena was filled with boos as the hated Reigns came out on top (and for the record he was supposed to be the good guy in this match).
As the show came to an end, I left the building that night thinking to myself wow, what an amazing show and I got to be a part of that. A great ending to a great trip. Although the show itself was not well received by most fans and critics, I still think it was a great show to experience and will always look back on it fondly. I can definitely say that this experience exceeded all expectations that I had and is something I am very happy that I got to be a part of. This will definitely be a moment I will never forget and one that I would definitely like to do again.
