April 4, 2005 Observer Newsletter: WrestleMania 21 preview, All Japan Women shuts down
All the hype is over, and all that is left is the finished product for Wrestlemania XXI.
The year’s biggest show takes place on 4/3 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Overall, the hype job this year does not rank among the tops in Wrestlemania history, and the show, scheduled from 7 to 10:50 p.m. Eastern time, goes in with three major selling points.
Selling point No. 1 is the Wrestlemania name. Two years ago, we found that the name only meant 560,000 buys, and that was during a time period when the overall PPV business was stronger than it is now. Last year’s show, with far more depth, as well as the historical nature of being the 20th Wrestlemania, did 885,000 buys, the second most in history. Linda McMahon, at the company’s last investors conference, made the bold prediction of 1 million buys, although some of that would be because the show would air as a PPV event in the United Kingdom for the first time.
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Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.