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00:07Let the world hear the spirit of the United States of America.
00:12WWE and the USA go hand in hand because in many ways we are America's greatest export.
00:21Welcome to the most spectacular, the most magical, the most stupendous live event in entertainment.
00:32Larger than life, the ultimate American spectacle.
00:39The nation looking to help to get the job done.
00:43The last chance of America.
00:45We bring that to you.
00:47We bring that to your town, your city.
00:50We bring it to your door.
00:54It's this amazing spectacle that is America at its best.
01:11Our nation's 250th birthday is right around the corner.
01:14And what better way to celebrate than taking an in-depth look at an American institution, WWE.
01:22This is the land of the free and the home of the brave.
01:29WWE is Americana.
01:32This American company and this American entertainment juggernaut has not only had an impact on our country, but it has
01:41one that extends around the globe.
01:45This pride and the sense of we're all in it together.
01:48I don't know if there's a better example of it than WWE.
01:59WWE has become a mainstay in America.
02:03It's part of the lexicon of how we communicate.
02:05And it all started nearly five decades ago.
02:11In the early 80s, cable television provided Americans an innovative way to watch news, entertainment and sports.
02:19In 1983, WWE was a regional wrestling promotion in the Northeast.
02:25But the launch of a new program on the USA Network had the ability to expand its audience nationwide.
02:32Hello everyone, this is Vince McMahon in the studios of the USA Cable Network.
02:35We wholeheartedly welcome you to the premiere of all American wrestling.
02:41When Vince started coming into these areas with a better product, he had better production value, he had better stars.
02:48Superfly!
02:49Oh my God!
02:52When you're the number one, you have to be the best.
02:54People would find it no matter where it was on their brand new cable box that they had never had
02:59before.
03:00They would go find WWE.
03:01And because of their nationwide audience, the World Wrestling Federation has been able to create coast-to-coast heroes and
03:09villains.
03:10Remember, I'm not American. I am from Tehran, Iran.
03:15Coming off the heels of the Iran hostage crisis, in which 52 Americans were held for over a year in
03:22Tehran,
03:23there was no greater anti-American villain than the Iron Sheik.
03:27Iran number one! Iran! Iran! Iran!
03:32The Iron Sheik would come in and demand that the Iranian national anthem be played along with the Star Spangled
03:40Banner.
03:40The fans would go nuts.
03:42Bunch of stupid American here!
03:44The anti-American, which tapped right into the tensions between the US and Iran at that time.
03:52We have a new champion in the World Wrestling Federation, and I can't believe it!
03:57America needed a hero they could believe in.
04:01There he is, the Hulk!
04:04Hulk Hogan.
04:05300 pounds of solid muscle, you know, his blonde hair, blue eyes, you know, tan.
04:11He was the epitome poster child of what you would put up as your American hero.
04:16The Iron Sheik in the ring now, Madison Square Garden on its feet.
04:20Hulk Hogan, he dropped a big leg on him!
04:22He's down for the cover of the leg, one, two, he got on!
04:28Hulkamania is here!
04:31Seeing that match made Hulkamania for me.
04:35It's USA and Hulkamania running wild!
04:38Hulk Hogan in the 80s, he was bigger than life character.
04:41This thing's catching on, man! It's like the fever!
04:43And there are thousands and thousands of Hulkamaniacs around!
04:46The Hulkamania, the pointing the finger, the shaking, started selling merchandise.
04:53The Hulkamania workout set!
04:55So that gave me all the confidence in the world that we were doing the right thing.
04:58Everywhere I go, man, the people were training in the parking lots, posing in the gym.
05:03Idolized Hulk Hogan. Wanted to be him.
05:06And what do you think unless I'm a Hulkster? Hulkamania's gonna run wild!
05:09Wow!
05:10He represented an American hero, an American icon, sort of larger than life, this ultimate persona.
05:17Be a real American!
05:19When I was a kid, I would sit on my floor for hours playing with Barbies.
05:24The Ken that I sometimes was using was actually a Hulk Hogan action figure.
05:28You know, anybody that grew up in that time remembers when MTV started.
05:32I want my MTV. All right!
05:36Every kid in the U.S. that had cable TV got home in the afternoons and put MTV on.
05:42It was the perfect combo. All of a sudden, this became mainstream popular.
05:53Now we've got MTV on our side. New demo, new kids, new audience, you know, plugged in.
05:59It was just like throwing big tanks of gas on the fire.
06:03We knew once MTV got on board, this thing was gonna be a monster.
06:07Wardoff going around the side road now. That's Cyndi Lauper!
06:11Cyndi Lauper just had her album come out. She had five or six hits off her.
06:15Girls Wanna Have Fun album. Cyndi Lauper was the perfect fit.
06:18Sure, they weren't man enough. They wanted to fight me. You think they were big enough to take me, Gene?
06:23Wrestling kind of played a very big part in my career and I in wrestling.
06:29Nice to see all the wrestling fans.
06:31It was awesome. It was a lot of fun.
06:34Cyndi Lauper being a part of storylines, we created what we call the rock and wrestling connection.
06:39I'm the incredible Hulk Hogan, the main man in the rock wrestling connection.
06:44It was just so many different opportunities to blend the best of music, the best of entertainment, the best of
06:51pop culture with WWE.
06:53And then there was the cartoon, Hulk Hogan's rock and wrestling.
06:57WWE became must watch because everybody was talking about it.
07:01Danny DeVito, what happened here?
07:04It was incredible. I mean, Captain Lou is just amazing.
07:08He's your guy, isn't he?
07:08He's my man. He's great.
07:10WWE had infiltrated America's favorite music television channel, MTV.
07:16The next move was to pluck the nation's most popular TV star to wrestle for them, Mr. T.
07:21Any time you need me, I'll be there, brother.
07:24People say, wow, Mr. T, you're going to be in wrestling.
07:26Oh, wow. Now you're bringing in the world to it.
07:30The whole world knows about this, man.
07:32Hulk Hogan and Mr. T start to track.
07:34The dream team, man. The dream team.
07:36I remember the night before WrestleMania, me and Hulk Hogan, we was the host of Sarah Night Live.
07:42Mr. T and Hulk Hogan.
07:46The success of the Rock and Wrestling Connection reached a crescendo on March 31st of 1985 with the very first
07:54WrestleMania, which took place in America's media capital, New York City.
07:59WrestleMania won.
08:01Massive Square Garden sold out 20,000 people.
08:05Biggest wrestling extravaganza is coming across the nation.
08:08Star power, the caliber that people wanted to be involved with WWE.
08:13They wanted to be a part of it because they knew how big this was going to be.
08:17The greatest, Muhammad Ali.
08:20It was just so big everywhere.
08:22I mean, the place was flat, you know.
08:24A slam by Mr. T as Piper goes down.
08:27Oh, I don't believe it.
08:30God, man, it was something. I will never forget that.
08:33Unbelievable.
08:37Everybody, Madison Square Garden, all the way around the world, now you know what it's all about, brother.
08:42It really was the key launching pad that took WWE to the top in the 80s.
08:49WrestleMania became WWE's premier event, and in the years that followed, the brand continued to reach new heights.
08:56A brand new indoor attendance record of 93,173.
09:16WWE's larger-than-life characters were a reflection of American cinema's new wave of big-budget blockbusters.
09:24The 1980s, the action hero becoming something that was more visible than the superhero.
09:31I'll be back.
09:33Terminator and Rambo.
09:35WWE's characters were more real than a Rambo, in a way, because you could go to that show and you
09:39could see them, you know, seven feet from you.
09:41The irresistible force meeting the immovable object.
09:45Look at this!
09:46Thanks.
09:48Pop culture could no longer deny pro wrestling.
09:53Need it, or I'll call the Brute Squad.
09:55I'm on the Brute Squad.
09:56You've got Piper doing a John Carpenter movie.
09:59I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass.
10:04I'm all out of bubblegum.
10:06Jesse Ventura.
10:07I ain't got time to breathe.
10:09It's fun, as a kid who grew up in that period, to see that they could be on the same
10:14couch.
10:15Unbelievable!
10:16I feel the power!
10:18Finally being like, hey, bring him on.
10:21You know your arm is the size of my leg.
10:23As WWE's popularity grew in the 1980s, celebrities lined up to get in on the action.
10:30I'm about getting your foot off my shoulder.
10:32There's John Huffer change!
10:34And Alice Cooper's inside!
10:36So he has felt right now to Donald Trump!
10:39He was able to cross over as far as bringing in a mainstream audience.
10:44Mr. Perfect, ladies and gentlemen, let's hear it for them.
10:46It's ravishing Rick Rude.
10:48It creates a lens with which we watch WWE.
10:52WWE's growth was on full display in primetime on NBC, as 33 million viewers tuned in, setting a record for
11:00pro wrestling on TV.
11:01There he is, the new World Heavyweight Champion!
11:04I mean, it was just everything, and it was just everywhere, all the time.
11:08A WrestleMania game for the Nintendo system.
11:12Today, wrestling is a multi-million dollar main event.
11:15Their addicts have sparked an emotional explosion in the American heartland, from every age group and every social class.
11:21They were ever-present in pop culture, and that drew me and other people into this arena.
11:30USA.
11:35Welcome back to WWE Made in America.
11:38At the start of the 1990s, America was at war in the Persian Gulf.
11:43It is a prescription for war, this Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the tiny country that is a primary source of
11:49oil.
11:50Saddam Hussein, the cold-blooded Iraqi leader, is ruthless.
11:53The Gulf War was one of the first times we saw the 24-hour news cycle.
11:58The political discussion and discourse was leading the cultural revolution in our country.
12:05The WWE was paying attention.
12:08President Saddam Hussein, I pledge to you that I, Sergeant Slaughter, will follow in your footsteps.
12:21Sergeant Slaughter, a once-beloved WWE hero, turned his back on America, becoming a hated villain.
12:29To have Sergeant Slaughter praising a dictator was incredibly controversial, but it also drew eyeballs, and it was savvy.
12:37The World Wrestling Federation abhors the actions of Sergeant Slaughter.
12:41To get people so mad, I guess they would call it nuclear heat.
12:46There were a lot of death threats. He was a rough bill.
12:50They hated him so much that people were just begging me to get him.
12:55I spent time talking and listening to all the families of all the men and women over in the Persian
13:01Gulf
13:02that are fighting for our freedom, brother.
13:04Sergeant Slaughter, you have the gall to wave the Iraqi flag, brother.
13:08At WrestleMania 7, you and all your Pukamanias are gonna go up in flames.
13:18I can't believe it.
13:20With the conflict between good and evil reaching a fever pitch,
13:24the final showdown took place on WWE's grandest stage, WrestleMania.
13:29Welcome to Star Spangled WrestleMania 7.
13:32The nation looking to him to get the job done.
13:37I wanted Hulk Hogan to knock my head off.
13:40I knew I had to give him the best match I could.
13:42I've never seen the Hulk so determined.
13:45It was crazy.
13:46I was goosebumps from head to toe.
13:47I was coming up after that no good traitor.
13:50You're not gonna do that to me.
13:52You're not gonna do that to the United States of America.
13:55He got him.
13:56He got him.
13:57Put it all to rest.
13:59The war is now officially over.
14:03Just two years later, there was a new foreign nemesis that needed to be conquered.
14:09On July 4, 1993, in the harbor of New York City,
14:13the USS Intrepid played host to our memorable encounter.
14:17Who is going to slam this ginormous sumo wrestler, Yokozuna?
14:22The last chance of America!
14:24He weighs over 600 pounds.
14:26I wasn't sure, as strong as I was back then,
14:29I wasn't sure I could really actually slam him.
14:31He was alone.
14:34Yes!
14:35Lex Luger had done it!
14:39Lex Luger had accomplished the impossible!
14:42It was an electrifying moment with the skyline of New York in the background.
14:46The crowd went preserved.
14:48The big man went down on July 4, right here on the Intrepid!
14:55Lex Luger stepped up to the challenge.
14:57As the Lex Express toured from coast to coast,
15:02Luger became WWE's newly minted American hero.
15:06Fox Luger is on the mat!
15:08By 1995, Luger and fellow American hero Hulk Hogan left WWE.
15:14They joined rival promotion World Championship Wrestling.
15:18What in the hell is he doing here?
15:22WCW's Monday Nitro was broadcast at the same time
15:25as WWE's Monday Night Raw on USA Network.
15:28Creating a television ratings war that set records for cable TV.
15:33The war is on!
15:35We have WWE and WCW.
15:40This is big money.
15:42Big ratings.
15:43It was an absolute war.
15:46You want a war?
15:49You're gonna get one.
15:51You can call this the New World Order of Wrestling, brother!
15:57Me being Hollywood Hogan and the bad guy, the way it was set up, it was just perfect.
16:02You know, with the NWO thing.
16:04For life, bruh!
16:06I remember Hogan saying, where'd you guys get that for life at?
16:10I said, it's at the beginning of MAC-10.
16:12Take pop culture and put it in this.
16:15That was a huge change in the way that the business was done.
16:18There really wasn't anything cooler than the NWO.
16:23Led by the NWO, WCW's edgy brand of entertainment won the television ratings war
16:29for 83 consecutive weeks over WWE.
16:33A new strategy emerged.
16:35And that came with a definitive anti-establishment hero in WWE.
16:41Enter Stone Cold Steve Austin.
16:44Steve Austin does what he wants, when he wants.
16:48And that's the bottom line.
16:50Cause Stone Cold said so.
16:52I knew that we were in competition with WCW.
16:55And I felt very competitive with them.
16:58You know, that we want to beat them.
16:59The everyday man wanted to do exactly what Stone Cold did every Monday night.
17:07Stick it to the boss.
17:08It resonated so much with our fan base.
17:12It was the perfect scenario for the time.
17:17As the nation celebrated grunge music and as Shock TV became mainstream,
17:23WWE's in-ring product mirrored American society.
17:29It took on a life of its own.
17:31You're not going to tell us what to do.
17:33You're not going to tell us what we can say.
17:34You're not going to tell us how to dress.
17:36We're going to tell you to suck it.
17:37Shawn Michaels and Degeneration X want you to suck it!
17:41The Attitude Era represented the seismic shift into a more edgier program.
17:49There's nothing like it.
17:51If you smell what The Rock is doing!
17:59The Rock was the epitome of the Attitude Era.
18:02He was a guy with all this swagger.
18:04Didn't care what anyone said.
18:06And also incredibly entertaining.
18:08The Rock is the most electrifying man in sports entertainment.
18:12The Rock has got that crossover appeal.
18:13He brings literally millions and millions of The Rock's fans to the table.
18:17Here you have Stone Cold Sea Austin.
18:19Please welcome the Rattlesnake Stone Cold Steve Austin!
18:24It's like The Rock just kept on coming up and kept on coming up.
18:27We had two of the absolute greatest wrestlers slash entertainers in history.
18:34During the TV ratings war, WWE even had a commercial that aired during the Super Bowl.
18:39We're a non-violent form of entertainment.
18:44WWF Attitude!
18:46U.S. Olympians became WWE superstars.
18:50And former superstars became politicians.
18:53The new governor of the state of Minnesota, Jesse Ventura.
18:57And the world of sports and entertainment joined in on the fight.
19:01NBA star Dennis Rodney, the Tonight Show's Jay Leno, and the baddest man on the planet, Iron Mike Tyson.
19:08Tyson and Austin!
19:09All hell is broken! Look at him!
19:11By the end of the decade, it was clear only one American wrestling company would survive.
19:24We have entered the new century in the United States.
19:29At the turn of the century, as the ball dropped in Times Square, the WWE was there too.
19:34It's the holiday season in the Big Apple, live from WWE to New York!
19:39The WWE's biggest star was Dwayne The Rock Johnson, who was ever-present across all American mediums.
19:47Good to meet you.
19:47He became a New York Times best-selling author, performed hosting duties on Saturday Night Live.
19:55Action!
19:58And starred in a Hollywood summer blockbuster.
20:01It's myself out there playing the Scorpion King.
20:05The Scorpion King is kicking ass and taking names, laying the smack down, so to speak, on all their candy
20:10asses.
20:11The Rock's star power, along with a roster of WWE megastars, helped finally bring the Monday Night War to an
20:19end.
20:20In March of 2001, WWE bought the fledgling WCW, marking the conclusion of a six-year American TV ratings battle.
20:29The next six months saw WWE riding high.
20:34Then in September, life in America changed.
20:39We have a breaking news story to tell you about.
20:42Apparently, a plane has just crashed into the World Trade Center here in New York City.
20:47It happened just a few moments ago.
20:529-11 was one of the darkest periods in American history.
20:56Many people were grappling with how to process what they had witnessed and how to pay their respects, but also
21:03how to convey the sense that America had to move on and America will never cow to this kind of
21:08terrorism.
21:11Just two days later, as the NFL and Major League Baseball canceled their games, WWE carried on and held the
21:19first public event in the nation on September 13th in Houston, Texas.
21:24I was worried about returning to work too soon, because I'm thinking, hey, man, are we, you know, letting this
21:30process, this mourning process, you know, happen long enough?
21:33Are we showing respect, you know, to these people that lost their lives?
21:38But when I got the call from Vince, and Vince says, Steve, somebody's got to get back to work. Someone's
21:43got to send out a message.
21:45Let's entertain Americans. Let's kind of take their minds off all the bad things that have happened.
21:50We can't go down there and help. Let's just do our job and try to entertain people.
21:56We were the first mass gathering after 9-11. If there was going to be a target, we were going
22:02to be the target.
22:03Their security was phenomenal that day. Dogs and police and the army were all there going through the entire building.
22:11And you didn't know how many people were going to show up. You didn't know if anybody would show up.
22:17Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Houston, Texas, for a very special live edition of World Wrestling Federation
22:25Smackdown.
22:36Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the singing of our national anthem.
22:46I felt like the weight of the world had been put on my shoulders.
22:50Immediately, I'm like, oh, can you do this?
23:06Looking around and seeing all the signs and seeing all the people and the proud and the flags.
23:12It's unforgettable. It's so special.
23:34We knew we had a responsibility to go out there and do our jobs. It wasn't about any angles or
23:39anything at night. It was about wrestling.
23:41They felt like they needed to deliver as a love letter to America.
23:45WWE provided great entertainment that gave a bit of an escape.
23:49Finally, The Rock has come back to Houston!
23:57Me and Rock went out there and tried to entertain those people as much as we could.
24:02For a very special moment like that, we're going to bust our ass to make everybody have a good time.
24:07If you're in Texas, I mean, you're in the heart of America.
24:10That's where I grew up, and I love it.
24:12It meant a lot for me to be there, you know, representing the great state of Texas.
24:18I know everybody in Texas was proud of the efforts that we put forth.
24:23Following 9-11, the WWE Universe wanted to show their pride in the red, white, and blue.
24:31Including Hulk Hogan, as he created a new character, Mr. America.
24:37I stand for everything that makes this country the greatest country in the world today, brother!
24:46Yeah, Iraq!
24:49Amidst the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, WWE started Tribute to the Troops.
24:54I love the smell of day, boy, in the morning.
24:58An event designed to entertain the American soldiers across the globe.
25:02Ladies and gentlemen, we welcome you to the most important show that we will do all year.
25:09WWE's Tribute to the Troops.
25:16Putting on a show, basically on an army base in Iraq, it's a little nerve-wracking.
25:21You know, you go over there, and you know they're at war.
25:27And you're chancing a possible tragedy.
25:30But we wanted to show our respect to the troops and everything they do for us.
25:34It was a really amazing time of my life.
25:37You know, I went to the Olympic Games.
25:38We won an Olympic gold medal.
25:39I represented my country.
25:40But these guys represent our country to an even much higher degree.
25:46When we started doing those Tribute to the Troops shows, that became so much fun.
25:51You became one of them, and they became us.
25:55I've been in the mall and had soldiers come up to me, and they can barely hold it together and
26:01tell you how just those few minutes of meeting us or watching Tribute to the Troops gave them a sense
26:09of, wow, man, we could tough this out.
26:11The Tribute to the Troops initiative brought joy to thousands of U.S. servicemen and women.
26:17One superstar in particular made it his mission to embody the spirit of those United States heroes.
26:24How you doing, man?
26:26I love the idea of the United States of America.
26:29Like, love it.
26:30I love the respect that's given to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
26:35And that's why I look at people who have served this country as heroes.
26:40We wanted to come out here today personally and say thank you for you guys for all that you do.
26:43How's it going, guys?
26:44They have all agreed that the idea of the United States of America is larger than their existence.
26:50And that is a level of commitment that I admire and that I'm inspired by.
26:56My passion for the armed forces is no secret.
26:59From the dog tags I wear under the ring to the salute, I give every single night for the admiration
27:05of every man and woman serving this country.
27:10You know, John Cena's just that all-American boy, really.
27:13John Cena is United States Champion!
27:17John Cena's always been that guy who has been an overachiever.
27:22He's gonna go out there and work harder than anybody.
27:24He's gonna show up early and he's gonna leave later.
27:27The champ is here!
27:29John was like the personification of Americana.
27:33Chiseled good looks and just stood up for what is right.
27:37You never give up. You pick yourself up. You brush yourself off.
27:40You push forward. You move on. You adapt. You overcome. That is what I believe!
27:46Cena's American spirit inspired a generation of WWE fans to never give up.
27:54On USA.
27:57American sports history is defined by iconic rivalries.
28:01And in the 2010s, sports fans witnessed some of the most intense rivalries to date.
28:05In American sports, people love iconic match-ups.
28:09Ali Frazier, the Lakers and the Celtics.
28:12In WWE, you have two characters who are truly iconic.
28:16The Rock and John Cena.
28:18In 2012, this box office rivalry kicked off in a big way.
28:22You will always be a little boy who will go down in history as the Rock's bitch.
28:33The buzz was huge. Everyone was talking about it.
28:37I've been talking trash about Rock for a year now.
28:40You got WrestleMania coming up against John Cena.
28:42Yeah. My boots to Cena's ass.
28:45It is thunderous inside sunlight. Here we go once in a lifetime.
28:52For that night, it was the two best where people could see that they're in their prime.
28:57And I don't know what the outcome is going to be.
28:59And that's what makes it so special.
29:02The end goal is to put on the biggest match in the history of our business.
29:08Two faces of their generations. Two icons in their prime.
29:13And this match epitomizes WrestleMania.
29:17They are so different, but they're just the biggest stars of their generation.
29:22And now lay it home. No, no, no, no!
29:26Attitude adjustment by Cena!
29:28Cena's got him!
29:29Cena's got him!
29:30And Rock gets out!
29:32You can just feel the energy.
29:33Like, I wasn't even there. I was watching it.
29:35And, like, I feel like I can feel the energy through the screen.
29:38This is awesome!
29:40It is electrifying! It is...
29:42And there's The Rock!
29:43Rock bottom! Rock bottom!
29:46Rock bottom! The Rock has beaten John Cena!
29:53John Cena and Dwayne The Rock Johnson became Hollywood stars.
29:57And in the ring, the men of WWE were firing on all cylinders.
30:02But the women were not in the spotlight.
30:05In February of 2015, there was a women's tag match.
30:09And their match lasted all of 30 seconds in a three-hour show.
30:13Face first! Cover!
30:15Just like that!
30:18And our fans had had enough.
30:20And they started a hashtag called Give Divas a Chance.
30:24And this hashtag trended worldwide for three days,
30:28specifically demanding better storylines, better character development,
30:33longer matches, more athleticism.
30:36The sentiments of the WWE Universe echoed a shift
30:39that was happening in American society as a whole.
30:42It was this surge in interest in women's sports at large.
30:46You had Serena Williams, you had Simone Biles on the USA Gymnastics team,
30:50and you had the USA Soccer team.
30:52Knowing that so many more eyes are on us is pretty incredible.
30:55People just had this desire to see women in these power roles.
31:00Us women felt in our hearts we were more than just pretty faces.
31:04We were more than divas.
31:06We were professional wrestlers.
31:08As fans became vocal online, more women flourished.
31:14Charlotte on the top rope!
31:15Food salt!
31:17With incredible matches and unforgettable moments.
31:21Becky Lynch takes them both out!
31:24Oh, my God!
31:26We had so many things that we hadn't done yet.
31:29We got some barriers to break down.
31:31The first ever women's money in the bag ladder match.
31:36For the first time ever, 30 women will compete in a Royal Rumble match.
31:41The first ever all-women's pin event, Evolution.
31:45I love seeing the women go out there and make the men really have to step up the game.
31:52We wanted to change the perception of women's wrestling.
31:57In 2019, for the first time, WrestleMania featured a women's title match in the main event.
32:06It was midnight by the time we went out there.
32:09It was wild.
32:10And the crowd had seen so much wrestling, but they came to life.
32:14Everybody stayed.
32:16Everybody was aware that they were about to witness history.
32:21Charlotte sending Rousey into the barricade!
32:24The crowd was just eating up everything.
32:26That was awesome.
32:27And Becky right to Rousey go!
32:30They proved that, hey.
32:32Dream rises to the top, man.
32:34If you're good, you're gonna get there.
32:36And they showed that when you give them the ball, they'll run with it and score.
32:39Piper's pit! Becky!
32:41Shoulders down!
32:43They did it! Becky Lynch!
32:45It changed the entire industry for women.
32:50It showed that it was possible.
32:53It definitely changed the game forever for where the women were headed.
33:00Summer Pass.
33:03Coronavirus has reached outbreak proportions.
33:06The World Health Organization has just declared the pandemic.
33:09During the pandemic, you had Broadway lights go dim.
33:12You had professional sports go dark.
33:14And the WWE had to grapple with how to persevere.
33:18As COVID spread and things are starting to shut down,
33:22it became this live in the moment example of what WWE does.
33:26We can pivot on a dime.
33:29During the pandemic, the world came to a halt.
33:32But WWE didn't.
33:34Broadcasting from a controlled, safe environment at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida,
33:40WWE provided fans with an escape.
33:43There's a lot of people right now sitting home scared to death.
33:46This is the family of who we are.
33:49And in the worst of circumstances, in the worst of moments, we're gonna make magic.
33:56The show must go on.
33:58While the empty seats reinforce that there is no audience,
34:01the WWE superstars are ready to perform for all of you.
34:06Oh my God!
34:08The world is consumed with this pandemic.
34:13For us to be able to provide that outlet, that release, I'm very proud of that opportunity.
34:19That was a very challenging time because we feed off of the energy of our crowd.
34:24And look at who Drew McIntyre can celebrate tonight.
34:28All right, all right.
34:30Matthew McConaughey.
34:32I think the cinematic matches kind of filled in the blanks of not having a crowd.
34:38I have the whole world in my hands.
34:41I had a Firefly Funhouse match with Bray Wyatt.
34:45This is gonna be something.
34:49It's like, hey, let's get weird.
34:52No idea was off-limits.
34:57It's like a mini-movie.
35:00Let me tell you something!
35:02It allowed us to tell stories in a different way.
35:09I think our fan base really appreciated the effort that WWE made during COVID.
35:20I think it made it, for a storytelling aspect, better than it would have been if it had been in
35:26a wrestling world.
35:30This era also led to some of the greatest characters of all time, including the rise of WWE's tribal chief,
35:38Roman Reigns.
35:39I'm the man with the golden hand. Everything I touch has purpose.
35:44Everybody's just trying to compensate for not having fans.
35:48Everybody else, they saw it as adversity.
35:51I saw it as an opportunity.
35:54Roman was one of the few performers that also realized the pandemic environment.
35:59No live audience, so no noise.
36:02Work more nuanced.
36:03Work more patient.
36:04Be more expressive.
36:06Acknowledge me as your tribal chief.
36:09Do it now!
36:10Say it!
36:13Those little moments for our fans were almost like these cliffhangers.
36:19Wait till you see what happens next.
36:22Roman Reigns and the WWE roster entertained America throughout the pandemic, never missing a week.
36:28For the first time in one year, we welcome the WWE Universe live.
36:35This is WrestleMania.
36:36But of course, every good villain needs a hero.
36:40And by 2022, the WWE Universe was ready to get behind one man.
36:46The red, white, and blue of the American Nightmare, Cody Rose.
36:51Cody's an easy guy to root for.
36:53He's somebody that, you know, a lot of people see themselves in.
36:57He's humble and he's, you know, salt to the earth type of person.
37:02He comes from wrestling royalty.
37:05In this country, you can be whatever you want to be.
37:08I am the American dream.
37:10My father was the American dream, Dusty Rhodes.
37:15The American Nightmare started with such a simple play on the name, the American dream.
37:20Taking a little bit of my personal love for American history and bringing in pieces of Americana.
37:26Splattering and all over the character.
37:28Trunks to tights.
37:31My dad was never a WWE Champion.
37:34That was the big first goal I ever had.
37:39WrestleMania Sunday.
37:40It is our main event.
37:43Looking up to the heavens, Cody Rhodes.
37:45Knows his papa's looking down on him.
37:48Is he gonna do it?
37:50Cody Rhodes!
37:56I was able to build my own legacy and honor my father's at the same time.
38:02While he says the American nightmare, he's the American dream.
38:07The young guy that wasn't the biggest, that wasn't the best, and he just wants to fulfill his potential and
38:13his legacy and do the thing that his dad never got to do.
38:16That is the American dream and that is what Cody Rhodes represents.
38:21Over the years, the singing of America the Beautiful has been a staple of WWE programming.
38:27And to close out our show, we have a special performance by our very own Lillian Garcia.
38:36We're in Nashville, Tennessee, and it's so exciting because this is all about how Americana wrestling has been.
38:43Celebrating 250 years, it's absolutely incredible.
38:46And just what wrestling has done for this country and also what it's done for the rest of the world,
38:53too.
38:54It's just incredible to be a part of this.
39:07Oh, beautiful for spacious skies.
39:15For amber wings of grain.
39:23For purple mountain majesties.
39:30I'm on the fruit of the plain.
39:41America, America, America, God shed his grace on thee.
39:50I crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.
40:13Oh, beautiful for patriot dreams.
40:20Oh, beautiful for patriot dreams that seas beyond the years.
40:27Thine alabaster cities glean undeemed by human tears.
40:46America, America, God shed his grace on thee.
40:55And crown thy good with run high.
41:04From sea to shining sea.
41:19From sea to shining sea.
41:53And crown thy good with run high.
41:55As the arena, that's an image of America.
41:59Wrestling has become one of the leading forms of entertainment here in America, all over the world.
42:06Welcome to Italy.
42:09This is Bologna.
42:11Perth, Western Australia.
42:13Paris, France will host WWE.
42:17With its bold and dynamic characters and guest stars taking part from around the world of sports and entertainment,
42:24WWE has become a global juggernaut, expanding the reach of this most quintessential American art form.
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