TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – WWE Monday Night Raw Superstar and former WWE Champion Drew McIntyre, who also happens to be a Tampa Bay resident, is excited there will be fans at WrestleMania in 22 days time.
WrestleMania tickets went on sale to the generic public on Friday at 10 a.m. The two-night event will take place on April 10 and 11 at Raymond James Stadium.
WWE confirmed that 25,000 fans will be in attendance each night.
McIntyre, whose real name is Drew Galloway, spoke with WFLA’s Daisy Ruth on Friday prior to tickets going on sale. The star is ready to regain his championship in front of fans, in the place he calls home.
McIntyre won his first championship during last year’s WrestleMania, which was held without fans at the WWE Performance Center, a training facility in Orlando.
He’s ready to regain the glory in front of what he misses most, though he said the WWE ThunderDome, currently taking place at Tropicana Field, where fans appear in the crowd virtually via screens from their homes, has helped.
“We have our fans back virtually. We can hear them over the speakers. It’s so cool to see them on the screens reacting, but there’s nothing like our fans being their live. Our WWE Universe. Our secret sauce, they’re our number one Superstar, they create that atmosphere that’s so unique to WWE,” he said.
Though the event will take place with limited capacity, McIntyre believes since fans have not been at wrestling shows in so long, the atmosphere is going to be just as electric as a full stadium.
“They have been kept away from what they love for over a year. There’s a lot of pent-up reactions that are going to come out at WrestleMania. It’s going to be loud. There might only be 25,000 limited capacity…but it’s going to sound like 200,000 people on April 10 and 11 at Raymond James Stadium,” he said.
Before WrestleMania, however, McIntyre will face former best friend and fellow WWE Superstar Sheamus at the “Fastlane” event, which will take place Sunday on the WWE Network, as well as NBC’s Peacock subscription service, where all network content will soon be moving.
The star will then move on to WrestleMania to attempt to regain his title at home and he said he’s looking for some serious revenge.
“In the end, I want my moment with the fans, with the title, standing on the top rope with those fireworks going off, the moment I didn’t get last year,” McIntyre said.