WWE superstar leaves Action News reporter star struck; WrestleMania coming to Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The biggest event in sports entertainment is coming to Philadelphia.

WrestleMania 40 is set to take over Lincoln Financial Field on April 6 and 7 in 2024. Tickets will go on sale Friday.

"The stadium events especially, open air like this, it kind of feels, in a fun way, scary," said WWE superstar Cody Rhodes.

He also said he's "always a nervous wrestler" until he gets going and shakes off the nerves.

Action News' resident wrestling fan, reporter TaRhonda Thomas, jumped at the chance to cover the story.

Thomas interviewed Rhodes as he made the rounds to spread the word about WrestleMania.

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Thomas, a lifelong wrestling fan whose job involves a lot of talking, was left speechless.

Rhodes, also known as The American Nightmare, is probably used to that reaction as he thrills sell-out crowds. He is also the son of WWE legend Dusty Rhodes, who was a three-time world champion and WWE Hall of Famer.

"It's a blessing to have the amount of pressure and responsibility that came from it," said Rhodes. "I've always looked at it like he was this great. Well, I want to be better."

Tickets for WrestleMania go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday via Ticketmaster. Rhodes won't say whether he'll get a shot at the WWE Championship at the event, but he certainly hopes so.

"Can you imagine all these seats filled with WWE fans screaming for you?" asked Thomas. "I hope that's what it ends up being. This is going to be an amazing two nights of mania."

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A decade ago, Philadelphia became Rhodes' favorite place to fight.

"I was here in 2013 at Wells Fargo and (Philadelphia fans) just jumped on board. And it was legit a lightening in the bottle moment where that became my favorite arena," said Rhodes. "I don't know if I earned their respect or if it was just some Philly magic."

In addition to excitement, WrestleMania also brings in a lot of revenue for the cities that host the legendary event.

"WrestleMania 39 just did $250 million as far as its economic impact in Los Angeles," said Rhodes.

Philadelphia is now gearing up to be even bigger for WrestleMania 40.

"It's the biggest WrestleMania of all time," said Rhodes.