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WrestleMania’s coming, brother!

WrestleMania 40 comes to Philadelphia this April, and our WrestleMania chatbot answers all your pro-wrestling questions. Plus, a sidewalk parking crackdown. The Philadelphia Phillies' season opener against the Braves has been postponed to Friday due to rain in the forecast. The city's major sports entertainment event, WrestleMania 40, is set to take place next week. The Inquirer's resident wrestling expert, Vaughn Johnson, explains the importance of wrestling and its importance to fans and explains the significance of the event in pro wrestling. The PPA is planning to crackdown on sidewalk parking and blocked curb ramps that make it difficult for people with disabilities to navigate city streets. The event is expected to attract over 120,000 attendees last year at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, which is a significant economic boost for the host city. Additionally, the Philadelphia Parking Authority is launching an initiative to ticket vehicles for blocking sidewalks and ADA-accessible curbs, particularly in neighborhoods beyond Center City.

WrestleMania’s coming, brother!

Được phát hành : 4 tuần trước qua Julie Zeglen trong Sports

Wrestler John Cena (top) chokes Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson at a Wrestlemania event on April 7, 2013, in East Rutherford, N.J. Read more

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It’s official: The Phillies’ season opener against the Braves has been postponed to Friday due to rain in the forecast. Perhaps the biggest tragedy is that we’ll have to wait one more day to find out if the earworm “A-O-K” returns as Bryson Stott’s walk-up song.

A major sports entertainment event is coming to Philadelphia next week: WrestleMania 40. Not a pro wrestling fan? We’ll fill you in on why it matters and, yes, whether it’s all fake via our handy WrestleMania chatbot.

And the PPA is planning a crackdown on sidewalk parking and blocked curb ramps that make it hard for people with disabilities to get around. Read these stories and much more below.

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WrestleMania descends upon Philadelphia next week, bringing several days of title fights, star showdowns, and fan festivities.

Now, that might not mean much to you if you still think the biggest names in pro wrestling are “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan (who in his heyday referred to anyone and everyone as “brother,” hence today’s subject line). But for fans, this supersized sporting spectacle is not one to be missed. Last year’s WrestleMania attracted more than 120,000 attendees to SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, which means it’s a big deal for the host city’s economy.

For wrestling enthusiasts, we have plenty of guides to help you navigate the fun. And for those who aren’t quite sure why people like to watch buff dudes pretend to fight, we humbly offer our WrestleMania chatbot. It has all the info you need to understand the scope and stakes of this form of entertainment, answering burning questions such as: How much do wrestlers get paid to do this? Why isn’t it called WWF anymore? What’s changed since the ‘90s?

I’ll give you one answer from Vaughn Johnson, The Inquirer’s resident wrestling expert, who made this cool interactive tool with Sam Morris:

Q: You know wrestling is fake, right?

A: “The overall result of the match and the main plot points are locked in ahead of time, but wrestling is partially live theater, which means there is room to improvise if needed,” per Johnson. “That also means that things could go wrong, which requires the wrestlers to adapt on the fly.”

Plug into our WrestleMania chatbot to learn more, brother.

Clear sidewalks and curb cuts make city streets navigable for everyone, but especially people with mobility challenges. Wheelchairs, walkers and strollers can’t easily be moved to avoid a car parked in the middle of a narrow path.

“People are constantly taking their lives in their hands because they’re forced to roll in the street,” one advocate told transportation reporter Tom Fitzgerald. “It’s a safety issue.”

The Philadelphia Parking Authority is launching an initiative to ticket vehicles blocking sidewalks and ADA-accessible curbs, especially in neighborhoods beyond Center City. (Looking at you, everyone who lives on a one-way street in South Philly.) The agency will also release a series of PSAs featuring people with disabilities speaking about the importance of car-free pathways.

Fitzgerald has details on when the program will debut, and how high fines will be.

What you should know today

Apologies to everyone else who bought lotto tickets, but congrats to the $1.13 billion Mega Millions jackpot winner who bought theirs in this New Jersey county.

Think you know? Check your answer.

😩 Bemoaning: Rising food (and candy) prices, even as it’s helping us earn a free Easter ham faster.

🍳 Ordering: A veggie omelet and home fries at the Havertown Grille, a common Kelce haunt.

🥵 Wondering: How the heck “Baby Hooter” maintains her stamina in that big, furry suit.

The Eagles’ longtime salary cap executive is leaving the team when his contract expires after the NFL draft next month.

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Eric Stack, who correctly solved Wednesday’s anagram: WrestleMania, which you know all about at this point in the newsletter.

Columnist Stephanie Farr went behind the scenes during this week’s filming of “Delco: The Movie,” which is about three high school seniors in 2004 who decide to live a day “the Delco way,” and “jump first, ask questions later.” Sounds about right.

By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.


Chủ đề: Wrestling, WWE, WrestleMania

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