My wife and I wrapped up our WrestleMania 42 weekend, where it began, at the AMC 18 at San Diego’s Fashion Valley Mall.
Our pre-show scene mirrored Saturday, as we spent time talking with wrestling fans, many of whom I had interviewed on opening night. A group of friends I’d met during past theater showings of WWE PLEs showed up on Sunday, and we recognized each other instantly and traded warm greetings.
Figuring out who was most over was tough, as Oba Femi, Rhea Ripley, and Roman Reigns drew the loudest
reactions. Brock Lesnar also got a heartfelt response from the 100-plus fans in Auditorium 15, as it felt like he was calling it a career. I looked over at my wife and saw she was in tears.
Me? I was conflicted.
We know what’s out there, and if you don’t, you can catch up here. My wife knows too, which made her reaction all the more puzzling to me. When I asked why she was crying, she said it was sad. As she put it, it’s the end of a character. If we keep it strictly pro wrestling, man, what a character “The Beast” was.
There was a time I wanted to be a wrestler, and Lesnar was exactly who I imagined I’d be. A Lesnar fact that surprised me is that we’re the same age, our birthdays only days apart. Watching him step away made me think about my own mortality, and it reminded me of what Apollo Creed said in Rocky III: It’s too bad we gotta get old.
I’ve written before that Rhea Ripley might be WWE’s most popular superstar. Her merch dominated the Survivor Series Superstore in San Diego. She got a massive pop there and kept drawing huge reactions at each of the last three PLEs I’ve watched in theaters.
WrestleMania Sunday was no exception. The kids seated next to me went crazy when she won the WWE Women’s Championship. It was as if Santa Claus had made all their Christmas wishes come true. The same could be said of a young lady seated a few rows down from us. Her joy was infectious, as my wife and I smiled from ear to ear.
As for her opponent, Jade Cargill had the best match of her career and is clearly making strides. Still, in my opinion, the biggest superstar should always be the champion. Thus, Ripley going over was the right call.
Earlier, I mentioned Oba Femi. To show how loose the crowd was, people were doing the Oba strut. One guy tried to start a group walk. I couldn’t let him go solo, so I followed behind him. Credit to him for circling the theater and going full Femi.
Always go full Femi.
The main event delivered high drama and ended as I had predicted, hoped, and prayed. Few characters bring out the kid in me, and Roman Reigns is one of them.
Now, remember what I said about how the biggest superstar should be champion? Well, with a larger crowd on Sunday than Saturday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, a more favorable reception of Mania’s two main events, and thunderous OTC chants, it’s clear who the face of WWE is.
And now that Tom Brady is back, SmackDown’s Matt Cassel’s next play should be to hand the ball off to Roman Reigns.
Overall, WrestleMania weekend at the AMC was a blast. From what I heard, I’ll probably see many of the same fans again. Many enjoyed the theater atmosphere more than watching at home, and WrestleMania 42 weekend, for better and worse, was no exception.
