In Summer 2024, Indiana Sports Corp and WWE announced a multi-year partnership, committing to bring Wrestlemania, SummerSlam, Wrestlemania and numerous other major events to Indianapolis and, this past weekend, Royal Rumble kicked it off.
Flooded with an overflow of events in the city, as well as the City of Indy going all-out to get ready for WWE, things could not have gone better.
From the second people arrived from the airport, the Indianapolis International Airport was decorated with WWE signs and murals, along with the city itself. The giant dinosaurs outside the Children’s Museum wore WWE Championship Belts, different areas of the city had murals made by local artists and many of the downtown streets were renamed after WWE Superstars (Cody Road, Yeet Street, Bloodline Boulevard, etc.).
The city of Indianapolis wasn’t the only one putting going all-out, either. On Thursday, WWE held a private event at the Boys & Girls LeGore location, where they unveiled a new fitness center that WWE helped fund. Hosted by WWE’s Byron Saxton, present were WWE Superstars Big E, Legado Del Fantasma and Women’s United States Champion Chelsea Green, all talking to the kids, taking pictures, signing autographs and providing a day that everyone in attendance would remember forever.
In addition to Friday night SmackDown, Friday saw the Community Champions Showcase, where WWE’s Byron Saxton, Chelsea Green, Natalya, Austin Theory, Grayson Waller, Damien Priest and more honored a few of Indianapolis’ non-profit organizations.
Girls Inc., Special Olympics Indiana, Inner Beauty Program and New B.O.Y. were all honored and recognized by a specific WWE Superstar giving a small speech about the organization and providing them with a personalized WWE Championship Belt.
Sirius XM’s Busted Open Radio, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett, Colts Mascot Blue, Fever Mascot Freddie and a marching band were all on-hand to make it even more important and special.
“We get to do a lot of cool stuff with our job,” Damien Priest said. “We get to travel the world, perform in front of thousands of people- millions at home- but this, this is the stuff we look forward to. This is the cool stuff, right here.”
It was a moment that meant the world to everyone who was part of the non-profits that were honored and gave a unique look into another side of what WWE really does outside of the ring and what they’re all about.
Friday also saw the Royal Rumble kickoff show in the lobby of Gainbridge Fieldhouse, which was packed to capacity, followed by SmackDown.
Finally, Saturday saw the Rumble event itself, which hosted a record-breaking 70,000+ people at Lucas Oil Stadium, making it the highest-grossing and largest gate for a non-Wrestlemania single day event in WWE history.
The crowd was rabid and ready to get involved with every moment they could sink their teeth into. From the surprises of Jordynne Grace, Giulia, Stephanie Vacquer, Trish Stratus and a returning Alexa Bliss in the Women’s Rumble match to the moments of Logan Paul eliminating CM Punk, who eliminated Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns in the Men’s Rumble match- plus a returning AJ Styles and a surprise Joe Hendry- the 2025 Royal Rumble was one of the greatest Rumble PLE’s of all time.
If this was just the beginning of the multi-year agreement between Indianapolis and WWE, the next few events have a lot to live up to. This one was a roaring success.
-Brian Cranfill
