When talking about the week of WrestleMania, there is a radical difference between what it was, and what it is today.

For the first three WrestleManias, there was just the event.  No festivals, no special activities.  That would change in 1988. 

During the week of Wrestlemania IV, there were a few events taking place in and around Atlantic City.  There were receptions inside of Trump Plaza, a five kilometer run on the boardwalk, and on the day of the event, the Bacon Bagels & Biceps Brunch.

In some form, these activities continued as the years went on.  WrestleManias X and XI had FanFest, WrestleManias XII and 13 had the Slammys, WrestleMania XIV had a public workout, and WrestleMania XV had the Rage Party.

Then in 2000, these special events were taken to the next level with Axxess.  A multi-day expo, where fans can meet and great with superstars, buy merchandise, call a match, step inside of a ring, and even catch some live action.  And it's a tradition that continues to this day.

And from there, the week blossomed from a single event, into a week long celebration.  Added in 2004 by the WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony, in 2016 by NXT TakeOver, and of course, the Monday and Tuesday after Mania with RAW and SmackDown.

And it's not just WWE taking over a city for the week.  As of recently, numerous independent promotions made the pilgrimage as well.  Putting on shows and conventions in and around the city, turning WrestleMania Week into a week long celebration of the industry as a whole.

So the question today is simple.  Outside of WrestleMania, what is your favorite part of the whole week leading up to it?

I don't really have a particular favorite part but I do like how Wrestlemania has become A Big Thing. Hall of Fame...Axxess(?)...NXT...All those indie shows running. I think it's really cool and good for wrestling. Wish it had been that big back in, like, 95-03 when I was a wrestling fanatic. Then I would have HAD to go at some point and make a whole weekend out of it.

Nowadays the only way I'm ever likely to hit up a 'Mania is if they happen to come to Baltimore. And maybe Philly or DC. Hall of Fame would be a must unless the class is somehow really, really weak. And there would surely be an indie show or two worth checking out. Last year had the Broken Hardys in ROH. This year somebody booked PCO and Teddy Hart.

I like how the week is marked by a lot of independent wrestling shows. There are so many events to watch out for and usually they're competing with Mania for show of the weekend. My first proper exposure to that was 2012 where ROH had this two-day event which led to this star-making performance for Michael Elgin against Davey Richards. Then last year we had the Hardy Boyz taking on the Young Bucks in a ladder match which was really the last big match the Hardy Boyz could ever have together.

This year we've got...

Matt Riddle vs. Low Ki
Matt Riddle vs. Zack Sabre Jr
Matt Riddle vs. Daisuke Sekimoto
Travis Banks vs. Shane Strickland
Austin Aries vs. Penta El OM
Jeff Cobb vs. Minoru Suzuki
Zack Sabre Jr vs. WALTER
Nicole Savoy vs. Mercedes Martinez
Trevor Lee vs. ACH

I also really enjoy listening to Observer radio around this time of year because Meltzer and Alvarez are usually out and about giving you a sweet blow by blow about what's happening. Then there's usually the press events which are great, especially if somebody like Heyman is on since he just seems to have fun with it.

Apr 3, 2018 10:19:06 GMT Big Pete said:

I like how the week is marked by a lot of independent wrestling shows. There are so many events to watch out for and usually they're competing with Mania for show of the weekend. My first proper exposure to that was 2012 where ROH had this two-day event which led to this star-making performance for Michael Elgin against Davey Richards. Then last year we had the Hardy Boyz taking on the Young Bucks in a ladder match which was really the last big match the Hardy Boyz could ever have together.

This year we've got...

Matt Riddle vs. Low Ki
Matt Riddle vs. Zack Sabre Jr
Matt Riddle vs. Daisuke Sekimoto
Travis Banks vs. Shane Strickland
Austin Aries vs. Penta El OM
Jeff Cobb vs. Minoru Suzuki
Zack Sabre Jr vs. WALTER
Nicole Savoy vs. Mercedes Martinez
Trevor Lee vs. ACH

I also really enjoy listening to Observer radio around this time of year because Meltzer and Alvarez are usually out and about giving you a sweet blow by blow about what's happening. Then there's usually the press events which are great, especially if somebody like Heyman is on since he just seems to have fun with it.

This right here. Wrestlemania draws wrestling fans of all kinds, and the draw works wonders for everyone, not just the WWE. Everyone goes all out this week and tries to put on the best show they can because they know it's very likely that there's a new set of eyes on them that wasn't there a week ago. It isn't just the WWE on everyone's mind, it's the spectacle of wrestling in general.

Genesis was great on Sunday, Supercard of Honor this weekend has some pretty good matches on it, and NXT: Takeover (even though it's the WWE cashing in on the indy atmosphere and will probably steal some eyes from ROH) is going to be fantastic.

...

I don't know what current Wrestlemania weekend is like, or how expensive it is, but I've heard it gets pretty costly and is pricing out the average fan. That kind of upsets me, if it's true (I don't know for sure). I went to Wrestlemania 18 in Toronto and myself and a couple friends sprung for Fan Axxess tickets the day before as well. It was a bit of a clusterfuck, but it was still a worthwhile experience because the tickets didn't bankrupt us and it didn't cost any extra to meet people.

The clusterfucky part came in because of the way they set it up. There were several signing tables sprawled throughout the building and you basically had to decide who you wanted to see the most, then stand in that line for 2 hours and hope they didn't leave before you got to them. That resulted in me only getting 2 autographs, and one was Crash Holly who I just bumped into. He was talking to a security guard and I recognized him. He was dope as hell to talk to.

The other autograph was Triple H. I was standing in line for Chris Jericho, my all-time favourite, and they put up the "if you're reading this sign you just stood in line for no reason, fuck you" sign about 8 people ahead of me. We were pissed off, but then at the next table over Triple H suddenly stood up on it and spit water all over everyone while his music blasted. We all stampeded to that line and I only had to wait about 20-30 minutes to get to him.

He was a dickhead though. At least he shook my hand, even if he didn't speak to me.

Anyway...the fact they make this a week-long celebration with a 3-day weekend of awesomeness from the Hall of Fame to the event itself, is really great.

Also I've got to hand it to WWE.com and their YouTube channel. They're posting a ton of 'on location' videos which really make you feel like you're there. It's really easy to get into the spirit, especially when Jeff Jarrett is booking into his hotel and he's being forced to spell out his name.

Apr 6, 2018 17:23:11 GMT Big Pete said:

Also I've got to hand it to WWE.com and their YouTube channel. They're posting a ton of 'on location' videos which really make you feel like you're there. It's really easy to get into the spirit, especially when Jeff Jarrett is booking into his hotel and he's being forced to spell out his name.

Agreed. I watched a bunch of those Jarrett videos this morning.