ForStephanie, too, the familyaspectof
WrestleMania isabigpartof itsappeal. “It’sa
generational thing,”shesays. “Peoplewatchaskids,
thentheywatchwiththeirkids,andasgrandparents
watchwiththeirgrandkids.”
Stephanie’shusband,PaulLevesque, servesas
WWE’sexecutivevicepresidentoftalent, liveevents
andcreative.His firstWrestleManiawas in1995,
watchingtheshowbackstageasanuntestedbut
promisingrookie.Hewould laterdobattle inthering
asHunterHearstHelmsley, thewrestlingstaryou
probablyknowbetteras“TripleH.”
Levesquegothis firstbigbreakayear later,at
WrestleMania12.Thehugelypopular fighterThe
UltimateWarriorwas insearchofanopponent for
theevent,and itwasdecidedthatTripleH,achar-
acterwhocameoffasapompousaristocrat,would
makeagood foil.Warriorcharged intotheringwear-
inghistrademark facepaint,hisarmsadornedwith
tassels.Abluroftheatricalviolence,hemadeshort
workoftheblue-blood,pressinghim intheairand
splashingontopofhim forthewin.Levesquecalls
thedefeat“unbelievablycool.”
“A lotofpeoplebring ituptomeas if itwasasore
spot inmycareer,”hecontinues. “It’snot. It’sactual-
lysomethingI’mreallyproudof.Whocansaythat, in
their firstWrestleManiaever, theygottostep inthe
ringwithoneofthebiggest icons inthebusiness?”
TripleHwouldgoontoheadlineWrestleManiaat
thesamevenue in2000, thistimeasWWEchampi-
on, thehighest levelpossible intherealmofprofes-
sionalwrestling.
LevesqueandStephaniehaveachildoftheirown,
adaughterwho is9yearsold. “MywifehadAndre
theGiantandourdaughter isplayingpat-a-cakewith
BigShow,”Levesquesays. “It’s justthecoolestthing
tosee.”
Everyyear, inthehoursbeforeWrestleMania
begins,Stephaniewalksaroundtheemptyarena
onherown, rememberingevents fromthepastand
wonderingwhetherherownkidswillrecall thisone.
“It isanunbelievable feelingofconnection,”she
says. “Havingmychildrenbeingapartof it isspecial.
BecauseIrememberhowI feltwhenIwastheirage,
sitting inthestandswatchingtheshow,knowingmy
familywassuchabigpartof it,cheeringandbooing
andhavingthegreatesttime.”Shesmilesandadds,
“Just likeeveryoneelse.”
SCOTTFISHMAN
is aSouthFloridanativewhoseworkhas
appeared in several publications, including
TheMiami
Herald
, the
SouthFloridaSunSentinel
and the
MiamiNew
Times
.
“IT’S A GENERATIONAL THING.
PEOPLE WATCH AS KIDS, THEN THEY
WATCH WITH THEIR KIDS.”
—
STEPHANIE McMAHON
AMERICANWAY
FEBRUARY2016
47
WrestleMania32
will takeplaceon
Sunday,April 3, atAT&T
Stadium, homeof the
DallasCowboys. You
canpurchase tickets
forWrestleMania 32
and themanyother
WWEevents beingheld
fromMarch 31 toApril
4 in theDallas/Fort
Worth area, includ-
ing
WrestleMania
Axxess
,
WWENXT
TakeOver
, the
WWEHall ofFame
InductionCeremony
and
WWEMonday
NightRaw
. Tickets for
all events are available at
Ticketmaster.comor by
calling (800) 745-3000.
Go to
WWE.com
for
more information.
WWECOMES
TO
DALLAS
