Imagine being Fat Joe, a fan of wrestling since boyhood. You used to watch the likes of Mil Mascaras, Chief Jay Strongbow and your absolute favorite, Don Muraco, on WWF programming with your grandfather every week on TV. You grew up to become a hip-hop star — and before you know it, WWF has invited you to be their guest at the sport’s biggest event of the year, WrestleMania.
Joe and his best friend and fellow rap icon, the late Big Pun, took part in the festivities back in 1999, when they drove from New York to Philadelphia to watch WrestleMania 15. Joe remembers entering the VIP entrance at the First Union Center and nearly finding himself in an unsanctioned Mania match when Bob Backlund, a hero from Joe’s youth, put him in his dreaded finishing maneuver.
“We go toWrestleMania, me and Big Pun — we were so hype,” Joe recalled with a laugh on Monday. “As I’m walking in, I see the living legend, Bob Backlund. When I was a kid, Bob Backlund was the champ forever. I walk up to him and I go ‘Bobby Backlund!’ — and immediately he puts me in the ‘Cross Face Chickenwing’! And listen — it felt like if I moved either way, it would snap my neck.
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“I didn’t ask to be in the Chicken hold!,” he laughed at the memory. “He just felt like doing it!He taught me a lesson, quick.”
His and Pun’s night out was off to an unexpected but exciting start. “Pun loved WrestleMania!” Joe said. “He didn’t go many places, but the minute we had a chance to go to WrestleMania, he was up for it. That was dope.”
It’s been 25 years since WrestleMania last was hosted in Philadelphia, but last weekend was a triumphant return, with just over 145,000 tickets sold for the two nights. While Mania in 1999 (headlined by the Rock vs. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin) was a one-night event in an arena, it has grown so big that it takes place over several nights in hootball stadiums.
“I think [WrestleMania’s] transcended just wrestling and wrestling fans,” rapper T-Pain, who was seated in the front row on Sunday night, tells Variety. “It’s become part of the whole culture. I saw a lot of musicians out there last night, and billionaires. It’s crazy! WrestleMania’s become the f*ckin’ Super Bowl — most of the people that I saw at the Super Bowl this year, I saw WrestleMania last night. You go to the front row, it’s like all celebrity-reserved, and it’s a lot of people from my culture [hip-hop].”
Pain says he had a vested interest in this year’s Mania because he wanted to root for his friend, Cody Rhodes, who is at the center of one of the sport’s longest and most involved storylines. He was chasing the Universal Title, which has been held by Roman Reigns. Last year, Rhodes came up short after Reigns capitalized on outside interference from his real-life cousins, and wrestling faction the Bloodline, for help.
Rhodes earned another shot at the title this year, but faced an even bigger obstacle when Reigns’ other cousin, the Rock, tried to take the opportunity from Rhodes in the main event title match in this past February. After thousands of fans told WWE “We Want Cody” via social media and in chants at live events, the league pivoted: The Rock instead teamed with Reigns during Mania’s night one, where they were victorious. But on Sunday night, Rhodes finally won the belt, one-upping Reigns’ backup from the Bloodline with his own: Seth Rollins, the Undertaker and John Cena. The win ended Reigns’ nearly four-year reign as champion — the fourth-longest in history.
“This is my homie, I’ve gotta stay on his side now,” says Pain, who became friends with Rhodes when the wrestler was part of group that started another wrestling promotion, All Elite Wrestling. The two formed a bond while both were judges on the TV program “The Go-Big Show.”
“I got out of [wrestling] for a while,” Pain adds. “It wasn’t even because of the superstars changed or anything like that, it was more about having responsibilities and not being able to pay attention as much. I was like, ‘I’m not gonna be able to catch up.’” But when Rhodes moved from AEW to WWE, “Now he’s part of the big story, so I got back in,” Pain says. “Especially recently, when the Rock came back — that’s the most entertaining man in wrestling.”
WrestleMania XL night two featured Grammy-nominated duo the War and Treaty singing “God Bless America,” and the evening commenced with another video package featuring Philly native Meek Mill hyping the event.
“In this life, you either finish your story or somebody else gonna finish it for you,” Meek says in the clip. “Turn neon dreams into faded nightmares… Ain’t no better place to be, no better city to be in. Let’s get it!” Portions of his song “Dreams and Nightmare” played throughout the package.
Snoop Dogg — a member of WWE’s Hall of Fame —held down multiple duties at the event: He was a color commentator when “The Almighty” Bobb Lashley and the Street Profits were victorious against the Final Testament faction in a “Philadelphia Street Fight.” He also made an onstage appearance later in the evening, getting into the ring to toast the crowd and announce the attendance figures: 72,755 for Sunday, and more than 145.000 thousand for the weekend, confirming how far the sport has come since it was last in town, a quarter century ago.
