By Brian Argabright
So what does the photo with today’s column have to do with a major WWE announcement over the weekend? Well, here’s the deal.
Nearly six years ago, my cousin, Richard Becerra, and I took a trip to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas to be a part of the granddaddy of pro wrestling, WrestleMania. For me, it was my first trip to the biggest pro wrestling event in the world, and after years of wishing I could go he reached out to me and asked if I wanted to go as part of a cathartic journey for both of us. He and I each lost our fathers in 2015, and it was only right, in his mind, that we take a trip as a way to sort of help work our ways past the loss and celebrate their lives with something they helped nurture which was a love for pro wrestling.
This past Saturday, the WWE announced that WrestleMania would return to AT&T Stadium Sunday, April 3, 2022. The last time it was there in 2016, more than 100,000 fans were in attendance.
Now 2016 was the beginning of what would become a tradition for many independent wrestling companies as they teamed up to create what would be known as More Than Mania. It was a chance for independent stars, stars from the past and future stars to get noticed by the thousands of wrestling fans who descended on the host town for Wrestlemania through a variety of inexpensive, but wildly entertaining independent shows held in smaller venues.
And that brings me to the photo accompanying this week’s column. That’s me and current IWGP Heavyweight Champion and IWGP Intercontinental Champion Kota Ibushi posing for a photo prior to Evolve 58 at Eddie Deen’s Ranch in Dallas, just a short walk from the Kay Bailey Hutchison Center, site of NXT Takeover: Dallas that year.
Ibushi was just on site to take photos and sign autographs that day, but he wrestled the next day in a six-man tag match. However, Evolve 58 was a packed show that featured seven matches. Richard and I sat in the sixth row and paid $35 each for the tickets, and that was just walking up.
The list of wrestlers at that show included many current and former WWE, Impact and New Japan stars such as Johnny Gargano (NXT), Drew Galloway (current WWE Universal Champion Drew McIntyre), Tony Nese (former WWE Cruiserweight Champion), Timothy Thatcher (NXT), Matt Riddle (WWE Smackdown), Marty Scurll (formerly with Ring of Honor and New Japan), Fred Yehi, Sami Callahan (Impact), Ethan Page (former Impact Tag Team Champion), TJ Perkins (current Impact X Division Champion as Manik), Ricochet (WWE Raw), Zack Sabre Jr. (New Japan), Will Ospreay (New Japan), Drew Gulak (WWE Smackdown), Tracy Williams (Ring of Honor), Chris Hero (formerly of NXT) and Tommy End (known now as Aleister Black of WWE Smackdown).
If More than Mania returns in 2020, and you happen to be in Dallas, go and check out some independent shows. You won’t be disappointed.
