KSC programming saves wrestling fans money

It’s frequently referred to as the Super Bowl of professional wrestling.

This year, Wrestlemania 23 is in Detroit, but students don’t have to make the three-plus hour drive or spend hundreds of dollars on tickets. They just have to head to the Rathskeller at 7 p.m. on Sunday, April 1.

Kent Student Center Programming has sponsored WWE on Pay-Per-View for about seven years, said Stacy Stewart, art education graduate student and KSC student manager.

“We have a really good following,” she said. “There are a lot of people who get really excited about it.”

Most of the events attract between 75 and 100 people, Stewart said. But the big events – SummerSlam, Survivor Series, Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania – usually get 30 or 40 more attendees.

Current card for Wrestlemania 23: World Heavyweight Championship match: Batista* vs. The Undertaker WWE Championship match: John Cena* vs. Shawn Michaels Battle of the Billionaires: Bobby Lashley (with Donald Trump) vs. Umaga (with Vince McMahon) Money in the Bank Ladder Match: featuring Edge, Randy Orton, Mr. Kennedy, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, CM Punk, King Booker and Finlay ECW Originals vs. New Breed Women’s Championship match: Melina* vs. Ashley Kane vs. The Great Khali United States Championship match: Chris Benoit* vs. MVP * champion Source: WWE.com

The program, Stewart said, was started as a way for KSC to attract a different crowd for its events. Many attendees walk in wearing their favorite wrestlers’ T-shirts.

“They’re very quiet and very good,” she said. “It’s like church – almost.”

Josh Sines, junior business management major, said his first pay-per-view in the Rathskeller was this January’s Royal Rumble.

“It’s on campus, it’s convenient and it’s free,” he said.

WWE pay-per-views currently cost $39.95. Wrestlemania 23 will cost $49.95. Sines said going to the Rathskeller is much better than paying for a pay-per-view.

“I don’t know many people who would pay $50 to watch it by themselves,” he said.

The Wrestlemania match Sines said he is most looking forward to is the eight-man Money in the Bank ladder match.

This is the third year for the match, he said, the goal of which is to be the first person to climb a ladder and remove a briefcase hanging from the ceiling. The winner of the match gets the opportunity to challenge for the heavyweight championship any time during the next year.

Sines said he likes ladder matches because there tends to be more high flying and bigger risks than in other matches.

He said he thinks Edge, who won the first Money in the Bank match two years ago, will win this year.

“Edge is the master of ladder matches,” Sines said, adding that the wrestler is also undefeated at Wrestlemania.

As for the other matches on the card, he said he is most looking forward to the Shawn Michaels, John Cena match for the WWE championship. Michaels is Sines’ favorite wrestler, but he doesn’t think Michaels will win.

“WWE has this lovefest for John Cena,” he said. “(But) his character is lame and stale.”

Contact editor Seth Roy at [email protected].