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THE UNOFFICIAL FANS' GUIDE TO WRESTLEMANIA XX WEEKEND
The weekend of March 14, 2004 will obviously be the biggest day of the professional wrestling calendar. With Wrestlemania XX scheduled, World Wrestling Entertainment will get the chance to celebrate twenty years of supremecy with their biggest grossing event ever in Madision Square Garden. It will truly be among the McMahon family's finest hour, especially for their bank accounts.
Fans from across the United States and the globe will all converge in New York City that weekend. They will hold up their Word Life foam fingers for John Cena, they will sing "You Suck" to Kurt Angle, they will cheer their heroes and boo their villians. They will be 20,000 strong.
So what do they do before Wrestlemania XX? Let's find out.
There are a number of events, WWE-sponsored and otherwise scheduled for the week of Wrestlemania XX.
Wrestlemania Week
There are a ton of things to do in New York City. If you are traveling by subway, buy the one week Metrocard for $17 and it allows you as many subway and/or bus rides as you need for the entire week. When the rides are $2 each, you can see how easy it is to add up rides.
Manhattan is easily accessible by train and there are tons of sites and areas to visit and go shopping. If you are in the Times Square area, you might want to hit some of the shops, including the world's largest Toys R Us which includes a Ferris wheel among other attractions. The wonderful thing about NYC is that it seemingly never closes, with bars and clubs going until much later than most other major cities. There are a number of historical sites including the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and many other attractions. If you want to take a free boat ride, head downtown and ride the ferry to Staten Island. You'll go right past the Statue of Liberty and it won't cost you a penny.
If you are renting a car, Raw will be at nearby Bridgeport, CT and Atlantic City, NJ will host Smackdown the week prior to Wrestlemania. Both cities are just an hour or two away, and in the case of AC, there's gambling, the Boardwalk and much more to check out.
Of course, there will be a number of WWE sponsored autograph signings that week with talent, and Madison Square Garden provides a "behind the scenes" one hour tour ($17) for those who want to take a look at the Mecca of sports-entertainment before the PPV. If you want to check out other major NYC sites, NBC (including the set of Saturday Night Live) and Radio City Music Hall have tours of their facilities as well. If you want to check out a local club or bar or a musical act, I suggest picking up a copy of free newspaper The Village Voice.
If you want to find video tapes of wrestling other than WWE in New York, your best bet is to head to Queens for the Ultimate Cards & Comics store owned by former ICW promoter Jac Sabboth. You can find their site at www.ICWZone.com.
By the way, it's true. Our bagels, hot dogs, and pretzels are the best. Hit a vendor on the corner and see for yourself!
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