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WrestleMania Fan Axxess

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WrestleMania Axxess
WrestleMania XXVIII Axxess in 2012
StatusActive
GenreProfessional wrestling
CountryUnited States
Inaugurated1988
Organized byWWE
Filing statusCorporate

WWE World at WrestleMania, formerly known as WrestleMania Axxess, is a professional wrestling fan convention held by WWE during the week of WrestleMania. The event typically runs for four to five days—from Thursday to Sunday or Monday—and features WWE talent and alumni autograph signings, interviews, fan activities, memorabilia displays, meet-and-greets, and matches. WrestleMania Axxess was briefly discontinued from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but was relaunched as WWE World at WrestleMania beginning with WrestleMania XL in 2024.

History

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The first event happened in 1988, when the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE) in association with The Trump Organization prepared a small festival to celebrate WrestleMania IV. It included autograph signings, a brunch, and a five kilometer run; the event was held again in 1989 for WrestleMania V. In 1992, a festival was held the day of WrestleMania VIII which included a WWF wrestler look-alike contest and a tournament for the WWF WrestleFest arcade game. In 1993, the WWF held a "WrestleMania Brunch" the day of WrestleMania IX at Caesars Palace, during the course of which Lex Luger attacked Bret Hart. In 1994, the WWF offered "Fan Fest" for the weekend of WrestleMania X, which allowed fans to step inside a WWF ring, participate in games, meet wrestlers, and purchase merchandise; the event was followed up in 1995 with another "Fan Fest" for WrestleMania XI. In 1999, the WWF held its first Saturday pre-WrestleMania event taking place on March 27, 1999. WrestleMania Rage Party, as it was known, was televised live on the USA Network from 10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. (EST). The event was to be held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The idea of the event was "...to celebrate the final WrestleMania of the millennium..."[1][2]

The following year, the WWF held its first WrestleMania Axxess event at the Anaheim Convention Center expanding upon the party idea of WrestleMania Rage Party. The event included autograph signings and mementos of inductees of the WWE Hall of Fame. There were also activities where fans could enter a wrestling ring and commentate a wrestling match.[3] In 2001, WrestleMania Axxess was held at the Reliant Hall which expanded upon the event by adding numerous activities including areas where attendees could buy special merchandise, see a production truck, and check out special WWE vehicles.[4] In 2002, WrestleMania Axxess was extended to a three-day event and was held at the Skydome (now Rogers Centre).[5][6] The three-day event included similar activities to that of the one-day line-up.[6] In 2007, WrestleMania Axxess went on tour around cities in both the United States and Canada. In recent years, Axxess has become a four-day event, with one session on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, and three sessions on Saturday.

Since 2013, NXT matches have been held at WrestleMania Axxess, and since 2017, matches from various independent promotions have been held, such as Insane Championship Wrestling, Progress Wrestling, and Evolve.[7][8] In 2018, WWE held four invitational tournaments for NXT championship matches. The winners of the WWE United Kingdom Championship Invitational, NXT North American Championship Invitational, NXT Tag Team Championship Invitational, and NXT Women's Championship Invitational tournaments received matches for the respective titles on April 8.[8]

WWE cancelled the traditional WrestleMania Axxess events since 2020 due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently announced that the 2022 event during WrestleMania 38 weekend will be replaced by a Superstore Axxess shop with superstar panels and premium experiences. Unlike previous events, no live wrestling matches and only a limited amount of autograph signings were involved for the 2023 event.[9][10]

For WrestleMania XL in April 2024, WWE relaunched the event under a new name of WWE World at WrestleMania, which was done in partnership with Fanatics Events and held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.[11] The event runs from Thursday, April 4 until Monday, April 8. The five-day event includes interview panel sessions with WWE wrestlers, a WWE 2K24 gaming tournament, live podcast recordings, meet-and-greets with wrestlers, and a large merchandise store with various memorabilia honoring WrestleMania's 40-year history.[12]

WrestleMania Superstore

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Merchandise shop at WrestleMania XXVIII Axxess

Every year during the week leading up to WrestleMania, the WrestleMania Superstore is open at WrestleMania Axxess. The WrestleMania Superstore has "the largest selection of WrestleMania and WWE merchandise under one roof". It has over 700 items and includes exclusive Superstore-only merchandise. The store is open to the public, and no ticket is required.[13]

WWE Superstar statue

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See also: WWE Hall of Fame

Beginning in 2013, WWE has honored a Legend Superstar by unveiling a real-size statue at WrestleMania Axxess. This has not occurred every year, with no statue being unveiled in 2018 and 2023. (Excluding 2020 and 2021 when there was no convention following the COVID-19 pandemic.)[14]

Date Location Venue Statue WrestleMania Ref
April 3, 2013 East Rutherford, New Jersey Izod Center André the Giant
(André Roussimoff) 		29 [15]
April 3, 2014 New Orleans, Louisiana Ernest N. Morial Convention Center Bruno Sammartino XXX [16]
March 26, 2015 San Jose, California San Jose Convention Center The Ultimate Warrior
(James Brian Hellwig) 		31 [17]
March 31, 2016 Dallas, Texas Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dusty Rhodes
(Virgil Runnels Jr.) 		32 [18]
March 30, 2017 Orlando, Florida Orange County Convention Center Ric Flair
(Richard Morgan Fliehr) 		33 [19]
April 4, 2019 Brooklyn, New York Pier 12 "Rowdy" Roddy Piper
(Roderick George Toombs) 		35 [14]
March 31, 2022 Dallas, Texas Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center The Undertaker
(Mark Calaway) 		38 [20]
April 6, 2024 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Convention Center Bray Wyatt
(Windham Lawrence Rotunda) 		XL [21]

See also

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to WrestleMania Axxess.

References

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  1. ^ "WrestleMania Rage Party Kicks Off WrestleMania XV On Saturday, March 27 to be Televised Live From 10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. On USA Network". Stamford, Connecticut, United States: WWE. 1999-03-26. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
  2. ^ "WrestleMania XV Facts/Stats". WWE.com. Archived from the original on 2005-11-29. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
  3. ^ Oliver, Greg (2000-04-01). "Fans get Axxess to WWF stars". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on August 3, 2012. Retrieved 2010-11-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ^ Oliver, Greg (2001-03-31). "Access improved at WWF Fan Axxcess". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved 2010-11-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^ "WrestleMania X-8 to be held at Toronto's SkyDome on March 17, 2002". Corporate.WWE.com. 2001-09-03. Archived from the original on March 3, 2005. Retrieved 2010-11-06.
  6. ^ a b Powell, Jon (2002-03-17). "Axxess ends with a whimper not a bang". SLAM Wrestling!. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012. Retrieved 2010-11-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^ "PROGRESS and ICW Talent to Appear at WM33 Axxess". Pro Wrestling Sheet. March 21, 2017. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  8. ^ a b WWE.com Staff (April 2, 2018). "WrestleMania Axxess to feature four invitational tournaments, PROGRESS and EVOLVE Wrestling action and more". WWE.com. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  9. ^ "411Mania".
  10. ^ "WWE Advertising "Surprise Guest" for WrestleMania 38 Weekend Superstar Panel". 18 March 2022.
  11. ^ Powell, John (February 19, 2024). "WWE World replacing WrestleMania Fan Axxess". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
  12. ^ Carey, Ian (February 19, 2024). "WWE, Fanatics reveal details of 'WWE World' at WrestleMania". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
  13. ^ "WrestleMania Superstore". WWE.com. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  14. ^ a b "WWE Hall of Fame statue to be revealed at WrestleMania Axxess". WWE. April 3, 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  15. ^ WWE (3 April 2013). "Triple H Reveals Life Size Statue of Andre the Giant" – via YouTube.
  16. ^ "Triple H reveals Bruno Sammartino statue at WrestleMania Axxess".
  17. ^ "Ultimate Warrior statue revealed at WrestleMania Axxess | WWE".
  18. ^ "Dusty Rhodes statue unveiled at WrestleMania Axxess".
  19. ^ "Ric Flair Statue Being Made For WrestleMania 33 Axxess". 24 January 2017.
  20. ^ "The Undertaker's statue revealed at WrestleMania Axxess". 31 March 2022.
  21. ^ "Bray Wyatt statue World at Wrestlemania 2024".
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