WWE News: Plans Underway To Build Restaurant & Hall Of Fame In Orlando Before WrestleMania 33
World Wrestling Entertainment is planning on building a physical WWE Hall of Fame in the Orlando area that should be ready prior to WrestleMania 33 in Orlando on April 2, 2017. This report comes from Attractions Management. Here’s some more info from their story:
Sources within Universal Studios have told Attractions Management that its park in Orlando, Florida, is to open a WWE-museum-cum-restaurant, which will be open by the time the world’s largest wrestling brand rolls into town for Wrestlemania 33 in 2017.
Replacing NBA City at Universal CityWalk adjacent to the theme park, the WWE attraction would incorporate some form of a physical Hall of Fame – displaying famous wrestling memorabilia of the promotion’s legendary performers.
Similar in style to The World – WWE’s former restaurant which occupied a prime spot in Times Square until its closure in 2003 – the restaurant element would incorporate WWE merchandise with a retail area, and multiple screens would show wrestling action while visitors eat their WWE-themed meals.
To fall under the Wrestlemania timeframe, the new WWE attraction at Universal Studios will be open by March 2017, with the event taking place on 2 April 2017.
TJR Thoughts: This is something that has been rumored for well over a decade because fans have been wanting an actual physical WWE Hall of Fame for a long time. It makes sense to do it in the Orlando right near Universal Studios where they have thousands of visitors every day. I was there last year for the first time and that place is pretty amazing.
It’s interesting that the article mentioned The World (also known as WWF New York) because it was an expensive venture that didn’t work out. That was over a decade ago. It’s taken them this long to try something like that again.
Regarding the physical Hall of Fame, since it’s going to be with a restaurant it probably won’t be that big. They will have merchandise, an area to take photos and things like that, but it’s not like they are going to put up busts of the Hall of Famers like the NFL does. There just won’t be enough room for all of that. They might have plaques with photos of the people in the Hall of Fame. I’m just guessing at this point, but it doesn’t have to be that extravagant. Still, it’s nice to have something. Better than nothing!