Eight years ago....
The first public gathering of a large size after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington D.C. was in Houston, Texas, as WWE went live with SmackDown on Sept. 13.
"We will not live our lives in fear! The citizens of Houston are not afraid. The citizens of Texas are indeed not afraid. And by God, the citizens of the United States are not afraid!
For we are a proud people, proud of who we are, and we are damn proud to be Americans! ... We will fight for our families. We will fight for our rights. And we will fight for our great nation!
America's heart has been wounded, but her spirit shines as a beacon of freedom, that never has been or never will be extinguished!"
Mr. McMahon
SmackDown, Sept. 13, 2001
Houston, Texas
UPDATE: 4:26 p.m. ET: I just received word that tonight's Unified WWE Tag Team Championship Lumberjack Match between The Colons and The Miz & John Morrison will open tonight's WrestleMania, as an exclusive pre-show match that will only be seen on the WrestleMania DVD.
The only place to get live results and play-by-play of this match will be tonight's Live Chat session (starting at 5 p.m) here on WWEUniverse.com.
That's cool! See you then!
UPDATE 3:21 p.m. ET: Sound check right now in the Reliant Stadium, as Kid Rock and his band are tuning up on the WrestleMania stage. You're gonna hear a great medley of his hits tonight during the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania.
One of our WWE.com editors, Craig Tello, has been tailing both Matt and Jeff Hardy all weekend long. If you haven't seen
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World Wrestling Entertainment needs your ideas for the next big event at WrestleMania XXV in Houston, Texas!
WWE is looking to host new types of events for our fans at the silver anniversary of the world's biggest sports-entertainment spectacular April 3rd, 4th and 5th, 2009.
We've already have our annual Hall of Fame Induction Gala, and our award-winning Fan Axxess exhibition, but we want to hear what YOU the WWE FAN NATION want to see and attend at the 25th edition of WrestleMania.
The ideas can range from a big open-air concert open to the public, a carnival, or a WWE Legends autograph signing event ... anything and everything is welcome.
Also, the event can be themed around the WrestleMania XXV event site (Reliant Stadium) or any Houston-area venue.
Submit your ideas
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