Tampa, rich in pro wrestling history and wrestlers, to host its first WWE WrestleMania

I-4 once again becomes the major roadway of choice for WWE WrestleMania goers, but this time (year 2020) all roads lead to Tampa, instead of cross-state city Orlando.

City Beautiful has successfully hosted two WrestleManias (24 and 33), but on Thursday, WWE announced Tampa - rich with pro wrestling history - as the winning bidder for WrestleMania 36.

That’s a first for Tampa, nestled on the Central West Coast of Florida.

Basically, the cities are parallel -- Orlando on the east; Tampa on the west -- separated by 85 miles across I-4.

WWE alums like Hulk Hogan, Jimmy Hart, Jerry Brisco and Steve Keirn as well as WWE Superstar John Cena call the Tampa area home. Many more pro wrestling talents -- i.e. current WWE Superstars Nattie Neidhart, Titus O’Neil and Roman Reigns -- also live there (and nearby), making it a hotbed of wrestling residency.

Hogan, Neidhart, O’Neil and Reigns along with Charlotte Flair and first WWE tag team champs Bayley and Sasha Banks participated in the press conference.

The women’s evolution was in full force.

Representatives from Amalie Arena, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, City of Tampa Bay, Florida Sports Foundation, Hillsborough County, Tampa Bay Buccanneers, Tampa Sports Authority, Tampa Bay Sports Commission and Visit Tampa Bay attended the festivities, celebrating the special announcement.

Speakers from WWE’s side included Flair, Hogan, O’Neil, Reigns, WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative Paul Triple H Levesque and Mr. WrestleMania (behind the scenes) John Saboor, WWE’s executive vice president of special events.

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan and Tampa Bay Sports Commission Executive Director Rob Higgins shared their thoughts at the press conference.

Tampa is a major sports town with the NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneers, MLB Tampa Bay Rays (in nearby St. Petersburg) and NHL Tampa Bay Lightning. Tampa knows how to orchestrate big time events, too, i.e. an NFL Super Bowl, a World Series and a Stanley Cup.

Collegiately, the University of South Florida is an NCAA Division I affiliate.

It’s a wonder why it took Tampa so long to land a WrestleMania.

When WWE brings WrestleMania to a city, a county, the company also features a week-long list of activities and shows that will canvas the area. WrestleMania Week in Tampa will include the interactive fan festival WrestleMania Axxess, the 2020 WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, NXT TakeOver, Monday Night Raw and SmackDown LIVE. WWE will also deliver more than a dozen community outreach events, including children’s hospital visits and Be a STAR bullying prevention rallies, designed to give back to the local region.

WWE already started that initiative by conducting a Be a STAR anti-bullying rally, after the press conference at the Garcia Salesian Boys & Girls Club, about three miles from Raymond James Stadium. Hogan, O’Neil and Bayley spoke to the kids, who were given Be a STAR T-shirts, and Dasha Fuentes was the emcee.

No official dates were revealed for other events, but WrestleMania Axxess will be at the Tampa Convention Center, just two blocks from the Amalie Arena, which will most likely house WWE Hall of Fame, NXT TakeOver, Raw and SmackDown Live.

SmackDown Live is moving to Fridays in October when it debuts on FOX. If SmackDown Live is Friday during WrestleMania Week 2020, then you could see the WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony and NXT TakeOver scheduling on Thursday and the other on Saturday. That means Monday Night Raw on the USA Network would end WrestleMania Week.

Keep posted for details.

This marks the fourth WrestleMania in Florida.

2008 - WrestleMania 24 - Citrus Bowl - Orlando (attendance 74,635)

2012 - WrestleMania 28 - Hard Rock Stadium/Joe Robbie Stadium - Miami Gardens (78,363)

2017 - WrestleMania 33 - Citrus Bowl - Orlando (75,245)

2020 - WrestleMania 36 - Raymond James Stadium - Tampa (capacity 75,000)

In the past 12 years, WrestleMania has generated more than $1.2 billion in cumulative economic impact for the cities that have hosted the event. This year, WrestleMania 35 occurs Sunday, April 7 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. and streams live around the world on WWE Network.

WrestleMania, this Super Bowl of pro wrestling/sports entertainment, rivals major sports and entertainment events, and globally is one of the top destination activities. It attracts more than 100,000 fans from 50 states and 67 countries to the host area.

XFL

WrestleMania isn’t the only Vince McMahon-led property to utilize Orlando and Tampa facilities.

Irony, Orlando housed an XFL team in 2001 at the Citrus Bowl. Next year, Tampa will field one at Raymond James Stadium.

The XFL will re-emerge on Feb. 8, 2020, six days after the NFL Super Bowl., which is in Miami Gardens at Hard Rock Stadium (Joe Robbie Stadium).

Tampa venues

Raymond James Stadium (seating 75,000) home of the NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the new XFL team (debuting 2020)

Amalie Arena (seating 19,800) home of the NHL Tampa Bat Lightning and Arena Football League Tampa Bay Storm

University of South Florida Sun Dome (seating 11,350) home of the NCAA USF basketball teams and concerts and events

Tropicana Field (seating 45,000) home of the MLB Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg

Steinbrenner Field (seating 10,400) spring training home of the MLB New York Yankees and FSL Tampa Yankees, across from Raymond James Stadium

Etc.

Tampa was the base for Championship Wrestling from Florida (1947-87) with WWE Hall of Famers Eddie Graham, Dusty Rhodes and Gordon Solie and so many other top tier talent.

FCW in Tampa was the developmental arm of WWE (October 2007-August 2012), before moving to Orlando, birthing the state-of-the-art WWE Performance Center and the company’s hot brand NXT.

WWE and CWF alum, former Hillsborough County politician and Cauliflower Alley Club President B. Brian Blair attended the press conference.

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This story was originally published March 8, 2019 at 8:59 AM.

Jim Varsallone

Miami Herald

305-376-3621

Jim Varsallone writes a high school sports column twice a week, featuring top performers in all varsity sports (boys and girls) in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. He also covers pro wrestling, something he’s done since his college days in the late 1980s. Now in his fifth decade of coverage, he currently follows WWE (Raw, SmackDown and NXT), AEW, Ring of Honor, TNA Impact Wrestling, MLW, WOW, NWA, and the South Florida indies, mainly CCW. He writes MMA, too -- mostly profile stories and video interviews with American Top Team and Sanford MMA fighters in South Florida. As for pro wrestling, he writes feature stories and profile pieces, updates upcoming show schedules in South Florida, photographs the action and interviews talent (audio and video) -- sharing the content here and via social media on his Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channel: jim varsallone (jimmyv3 channel). Support my work with a digital subscription