LG
02-26-2013, 06:02 AM
An enormous amount of forethought and planning goes into WWE’s most important event of the year, and WrestleMania is typically a slick, crowd-pleasing spectacle.
But what if WrestleMania 29 becomes a rain-slicked, crowd-soaking spectacle? Would a rainstorm dampen spirits and leave the 2013 incarnation all washed up?
It could happen.
Obviously, the vast majority of fans will be watching the event on pay-per-view, so the only way they’ll get soaked is if they accidentally douse themselves in Pabst Blue Ribbon during an exciting moment.
But the live audience plays a huge role in how the television audience perceives an event. A rabid crowd can lend a special magic to a match (see Hogan vs. Rock at WrestleMania 18). A quiet, listless crowd can kill the vibe for home viewers (Crimson versus Matt Morgan, anyone?).
The weather gods have smiled upon WWE in the past, keeping the vast majority of large outdoor shows warm and dry. But those shows have typically been in climates not prone to rain – at least not at the time of the events.
The Tribute to the Troops shows are typically held in deserts, so rain isn’t a concern (scorpions and mortar fire, maybe). Rain was highly unlikely to hit Miami for last year’s WrestleMania, or even muggy Orlando for WrestleMania 24.
But bad weather can happen anywhere, and New Jersey is much more prone to April showers than previous locales of outdoor WWE events.
A little meteorology: the probability of precipitation on the average April day in New Jersey is approximately 37 percent – a one-in-three chance of rain. The chance of thunderstorms is around 15 percent.
Newark, just down the road from WrestleMania 29’s home at East Rutherford’s MetLife Stadium, gets an average of 46.25 inches of rainfall a year – with about a tenth of that falling in April.
Compare that to Las Vegas – home of the sun-drenched WrestleMania 9 – which gets only an average of 4.5 inches a year.
WrestleMania 29 has the highest odds of any major event in the company’s history of getting rained upon. There’s even a chance of snow, or just frigid temperatures.
The show must go on, of course. It would take a hurricane, or perhaps the apocalypse itself, to force WWE to cancel the event, or even issue a rain delay.
Previous outdoor WrestleManias have been well equipped for the possibility of rainfall. Prior to WrestleMania 24 in Orlando, Vince McMahon stated publicly that the event would take place regardless of weather. In WWE Magazine that year, set designer Jason Robinson explained the elaborate steel structure with a tarpaulin roof that would keep the ring dry, even if the fans got all wet.
You can be sure that WrestleMania 29 will be equipped with a similar rig – likely even more elaborate — since the MetLife Stadium, sophisticated as it is, does not have the benefit of a retractable roof.
Even if the ring remains dry, however, a soaking-wet audience could give WrestleMania an entirely different vibe. Instead of seeing colorful signs in the audience, might we see a sea of colorful umbrellas? Would a downpour cause people to scurry for cover? Would tempers flare, creating a volatile situation?
Weather has hampered a few outdoor WWE events in the past. Most famously, a 1985 WWF show in San Juan, Puerto Rico was hit by a torrential rainstorm, resulting in one of the most awkwardly hilarious shows of all time.
An earlier Puerto Rican event in 1977 saw Andre the Giant and Gorilla Monsoon square off in a boxing match (nobody seems quite sure why) immediately after a tropical storm. It ended with Andre dropping the aptly named Monsoon into an enormous ringside puddle.
In 1972, Bruno Sammartino and Pedro Morales wrestled to a 75-minute draw – which sounds dull by today’s standards, but was billed as the Match of the Century at the time – on a miserably cold and rainy afternoon in Chicago. The Big Event in 1986 was held on an unseasonably chilly August evening in Toronto.
Those events continued in spite of the weather, and WrestleMania 29 will too. But by playing roulette with the weather at an outdoor stadium in the American northeast, WWE is taking a calculated gamble.
A sopping-wet audience — or slippery entrance ramp, drenched pyro equipment, and so on – could throw a wet blanket on WWE’s biggest event.
Then again, a force of nature could make for an unprecedented and memorable experience. Just think of 70,000 people chanting in unison: “We are soaking, clap-clap-clapclapclap!”
WNZ
But what if WrestleMania 29 becomes a rain-slicked, crowd-soaking spectacle? Would a rainstorm dampen spirits and leave the 2013 incarnation all washed up?
It could happen.
Obviously, the vast majority of fans will be watching the event on pay-per-view, so the only way they’ll get soaked is if they accidentally douse themselves in Pabst Blue Ribbon during an exciting moment.
But the live audience plays a huge role in how the television audience perceives an event. A rabid crowd can lend a special magic to a match (see Hogan vs. Rock at WrestleMania 18). A quiet, listless crowd can kill the vibe for home viewers (Crimson versus Matt Morgan, anyone?).
The weather gods have smiled upon WWE in the past, keeping the vast majority of large outdoor shows warm and dry. But those shows have typically been in climates not prone to rain – at least not at the time of the events.
The Tribute to the Troops shows are typically held in deserts, so rain isn’t a concern (scorpions and mortar fire, maybe). Rain was highly unlikely to hit Miami for last year’s WrestleMania, or even muggy Orlando for WrestleMania 24.
But bad weather can happen anywhere, and New Jersey is much more prone to April showers than previous locales of outdoor WWE events.
A little meteorology: the probability of precipitation on the average April day in New Jersey is approximately 37 percent – a one-in-three chance of rain. The chance of thunderstorms is around 15 percent.
Newark, just down the road from WrestleMania 29’s home at East Rutherford’s MetLife Stadium, gets an average of 46.25 inches of rainfall a year – with about a tenth of that falling in April.
Compare that to Las Vegas – home of the sun-drenched WrestleMania 9 – which gets only an average of 4.5 inches a year.
WrestleMania 29 has the highest odds of any major event in the company’s history of getting rained upon. There’s even a chance of snow, or just frigid temperatures.
The show must go on, of course. It would take a hurricane, or perhaps the apocalypse itself, to force WWE to cancel the event, or even issue a rain delay.
Previous outdoor WrestleManias have been well equipped for the possibility of rainfall. Prior to WrestleMania 24 in Orlando, Vince McMahon stated publicly that the event would take place regardless of weather. In WWE Magazine that year, set designer Jason Robinson explained the elaborate steel structure with a tarpaulin roof that would keep the ring dry, even if the fans got all wet.
You can be sure that WrestleMania 29 will be equipped with a similar rig – likely even more elaborate — since the MetLife Stadium, sophisticated as it is, does not have the benefit of a retractable roof.
Even if the ring remains dry, however, a soaking-wet audience could give WrestleMania an entirely different vibe. Instead of seeing colorful signs in the audience, might we see a sea of colorful umbrellas? Would a downpour cause people to scurry for cover? Would tempers flare, creating a volatile situation?
Weather has hampered a few outdoor WWE events in the past. Most famously, a 1985 WWF show in San Juan, Puerto Rico was hit by a torrential rainstorm, resulting in one of the most awkwardly hilarious shows of all time.
An earlier Puerto Rican event in 1977 saw Andre the Giant and Gorilla Monsoon square off in a boxing match (nobody seems quite sure why) immediately after a tropical storm. It ended with Andre dropping the aptly named Monsoon into an enormous ringside puddle.
In 1972, Bruno Sammartino and Pedro Morales wrestled to a 75-minute draw – which sounds dull by today’s standards, but was billed as the Match of the Century at the time – on a miserably cold and rainy afternoon in Chicago. The Big Event in 1986 was held on an unseasonably chilly August evening in Toronto.
Those events continued in spite of the weather, and WrestleMania 29 will too. But by playing roulette with the weather at an outdoor stadium in the American northeast, WWE is taking a calculated gamble.
A sopping-wet audience — or slippery entrance ramp, drenched pyro equipment, and so on – could throw a wet blanket on WWE’s biggest event.
Then again, a force of nature could make for an unprecedented and memorable experience. Just think of 70,000 people chanting in unison: “We are soaking, clap-clap-clapclapclap!”
WNZ