Superstars discuss what 'Mania means to them

Competing in a WrestleMania is like playing in the Super Bowl. A few WWE stars at the recent THQ/WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 Video Game Challenge at the House of Blues, discussed a few topics including being a part of the biggest show of the year which is Sunday, March 30 at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando.

Santino Marella:
His first time
"There are so many years of sacrifice and sacrifice and more sacrifice, and to have it actually pay off and be validated with this event is unbelievable. I'm a little older rookie than Cody [Rhodes]. For me, it comes at a nice time in my life, and I appreciate it."

Cody Rhodes:
His first time
"This is definitely surreal. We just toasted it a few minutes back.
Last year I got Blessed with the honor to say a few words about my old man and tell people why he should be in the Hall of Fame. This year I get to actually be in front of 70,000 people. I hope I'm smart enough to write something down or take a photo, put something in my memory. It's something I should definitely hold onto. When you've made it to a WrestleMania, you've made it. It's a very big moment for me. When I got my new boots done, I've got three gold triangles on the side of my boot. So I said it symbolizes me, Dusty and Goldust. I related it to wrestling, but really it's the tri-force from the video game The Legend of Zelda. That's like a book for me. Every year I replay a link to the past on Super Nintendo. That was my generation full through and through."

WWE video games and others. The fun thing is it's all friends -- colleagues and buddies -- on there. Three years ago, I was training in Louisville, Kentucky with CM Punk, and now I get to play the CM Punk character on SmackDown vs. Raw. So it's cool because it's my friends and buddies. This past weekend I bought SmackDown vs. Raw because I hadn't played it yet, and I kind of got schooled in it, and it's a great game actually, and I can see why it has such a good fan base. I did get into the really old Nintendo 64, all those wrestling games. I wish I can go back now and look because I created a character for myself on each one of them, and I would just love to see what I thought I might look like. It was pretty ridiculous. I'm sure.

Kofi Kingston:
"This is fantastic. This is a dream come true. To be in WrestleMania at such an early stage of my career, it's a great thing, and I'm very grateful."

Tommy Dreamer:
"Every WWE superstar for personal achievement wants to get an action figure of themselves, wants to get on the video game, wants to be part of a WrestleMania moment. I achieved mine last year after 17 years in the business. Matt [Hardy] has been Blessed to be part of WrestleMania a lot. Cody's got his. Santino's got his. This is an amazing, amazing weekend for each and everyone of us. Again, it's a personal step for all of us. You get to show your children, your grandchildren. I was somebody."

Carlito:
"I'm just glad WrestleMania's not somewhere where it's cold like last year in Detroit. That city is cold, boring, nothing to do, and it was like #%@*. I was born and raised in Puerto Rico. I'm used to the hot weather, hot, humid weather. Orlando is almost like Puerto Rico, and it's a Blessing for me to be here, and there's a lot to do."

Matt Hardy:
On brother Jeff, whose house burned down, losing all his material possessions
"Considering everything, he's OK. It's been a really tough couple of weeks for him. Everybody knows his house burned down. I was the first one there. He lost everything he had which was really frightening. He's out, and he's healthy. That's the main thing. When you strip all the material stuff away, he's my brother. I love him to death. He's the best human being you'll ever meet. He will move on. He's been through some tough times in his life, and he will get past it, and he will be OK. I have a P.O. Box, more or less like a fan address. It's on the Internet. People have been so generous. That was Thursday [March 20], and I went to the U.S. Post Office on Monday [March 24]. Whenever I pulled in, the postmaster said, 'Yea, Matt, I'm glad you're here. Are you in a truck?' I said, 'Why is that?' He said, 'Look what you got back here.' There were probably 30 boxes of stuff. Wrestling fans are really good people. We made so many memories together. You lose the action figures, the pictures. You can't really replace those, but there are fans who do have cool photos and stuff of him and us. He will be fine and build another house. All that other stuff will be replaced to a degree. Life will go on. Everybody has tragedies. Everybody has bad things that happen. I'm just glad he has his health. His girlfriend has her health. I'll stick with him regardless of what he does."

Source: Individual.com
Written: March 30, 2008