Sunday, March 25, 2007
ORLANDO -- Die-hard World Wrestling Entertainment fans filled Orlando City Hall to hear the big announcement.
"WrestleMania 24!" shouted Mayor Buddy Dyer as a black curtain behind him was opened, unveiling the WrestleMania logo in gold letters.
"Wrestling is the world," Rob "Freddy" Mercury, a local fan, said. Mercury and his "tag team partner," Jay, were dressed as if they could be Eminem's doppelgangers.
"We go every time," Mercury said. "We dress up -- my tag team partner -- we dress up every time."
Rob and Jay grabbed their tag team championship belts just to get a ringside seat to find out when Wrestlemania 24 is coming to O-town -- and they were not alone.
WWE fan Kyle Watkins came to the press conference dressed like former Superstar Brett "Hitman" Hart.
"The excellence of execution. The best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be," Watkins said.
WrestleMania's arrival in Orlando was expected to put a Samoan Spike on tourism. Over 65,000 fans were expected to drop kick into Central Florida over a five-day period in March 2008.
"I'll be there at Wrestlemania, with signs held high," said Martin Downey, a wrestling fan from Kissimmee.
The City was seeing dollar signs. The main event would not be cheap, and the fanatics were expected to do a Five Knuckle Shuffle with money in their hands, bringing in more than $25 million.
"It is the Super Bowl of wrestling," Downey said.
With Super Bowl prices -- tickets online for Wrestlemania 23 in Detroit have gone anywhere from $60 to $5,000. Fans said it was worth it. After all, it is family entertainment.
"His mother is really in to it. So, it was a good way to get in with the mother-in-law," said Downey's wife, Mary.
Tickets for Wrestlemania 24 were expected go on sale in the summer, but WWE planned to be in town before that. You can catch WWE's Friday Night SmackDown in Orlando more of the Raw Smackdown June 5, 2007. Tickets were expected to go on sale April 7.
There is more WrestleMania fever on Central Florida On Demand, Digital Cable Channel 300. Watch the entire press conference, plus see John talk with Vince McMahon and John Cena about accusations of steroid use in the WWE.
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