WWE comes to Big Sandy Arena

HUNTINGTON -- It was a night of powerbombs, suplexes and dropkicks as thousands of wrestling fans came out Saturday night to the Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington for WWE SmackDown's WrestleMania Revenge Tour.

Headlining the event was legendary wrestler The Undertaker in a tag-team match with Batista against Edge and The Big Show. World Wrestling Entertainment superstars Finlay, Mark Henry and Matt Hardy also wrestled before the packed house of more than 5,000 fans. The crowd varied from families and children to grandparents and hardcore wrestling fanatics.

Terry Wilcoxon of Gallipolis said he wanted to bring his son Justin, 6, to his first wrestling event after watching events on TV for years. With few chances to see large wrestling organizations in the area, Wilcoxon jumped at the opportunity to see some of the biggest names in the business. Wilcoxon said he plans on attended more WWE events in the future.

"I enjoy wrestling because he enjoys wrestling," he said. "(The event) is a good opportunity for me to come out with my son, watch the wrestling and have a good time bonding."

J.D. Hanners of Ashland and his family were surprised to receive four front-row tickets for the show after he correctly answered a trivia question at the beginning of the program. Hanners said he's been watching wrestling since he was a child and was happy to get his kids Josh, 10, and Abby, 8, interested in the sport. Normally, Hanners said, the family would watch WWE on television and cheer for their favorite wrestlers. But on Saturday, they were right in the middle of the action.

"It's so much more exciting in person than it is on TV," Hanners said. "It's good to see WWE coming to smaller venues and giving everyone a chance to get involved in wrestling."

John Romine, 25, of St. Albans said wrestling is a professional sport and doesn't care what other people think because he's always going to love wrestling. Though he prefers smaller, "old-school" events, Romine said he's more than happy to attend a WWE event whenever it's in town.

"Everybody who goes to a wrestling event and watches it enjoys it. They might act like the don't, but they do," Romine said. "When are you too old to have fun? Never. There's no age limit on fun."