If you were a fan of ECW during the 1990's and early 2000-2001 era, then you likely remember this ad for the "Extreme Warfare: Volume 2" VHS tape (!). It aired during so many episodes that fans who were up late at night watching ECW on syndicated TV (such as the MSG Network in New York) often can quote the entire one-minute audio by Joey Styles from memory.
The ending is one of Joey's famous lines during the TV ad spots, "The Night Kimona Wanalaya danced atop the ECW Arena!"
While we can't get Kimona to recreate her last-second dance for ECW fans, done to buy time and distract the fans while the ring crew repaired a broken ring rope that night, it is possible for you now to dance atop the ECW Arena (now 2300) arena. It can be done in one of the Earth-based metaverse platforms which basically is a metaverse built on top of various mapping platforms like Google Maps, Openstreetmap, and more.
You can fly a drone to the ECW (now 2300) Arena in Philadelphia, land on top of the building, and dance. More advanced users even can upload the audio from the above TV commercial - or just the song "Hey Man, Nice Shot" (by Filter) - and go back in time to enjoy favorite wrestling memories. Here are some screenshots of this:
The graphics are first-generation in this particular platform, so they are lower-quality in comparison to other metaverse platforms which don't tie directly to known locations on Earth. They also are lower-quality than what you would find in Google's Street View or similar online platforms from the street level.
However, here are the benefits for a platform like this (as of Thanksgiving 2025) for the pro wrestling industry:
- You can buy (as a NFT) any available land plot for actual spots on Earth which have meaning to pro wrestling fans.
- You can add a 3D building which allows you to go inside and walk around. Currently this platform only has template 3D buildings like a museum gallery, a bar, a dance club, etc.
- Inside these buildings you can add images, audio, videos (MP4 and YouTube), and then links to web pages to provide more information.
- Inside these buildings you can program content into an "AI Agent", which is character-looking version of a tour guide or someone who might provide information at a local tourist destination.
- Multiple people can show up to the same location at the same time, such as the unveiling of a new name in a pro wrestling hall of fame at a specific date & time.
- You can have the "experience" of going from point A to point B by walking, flying (drone, plane, or helicopter), or driving on the streets. For example, if you & your friends used to go to shows at the ECW Arena and ate food at a nearby restaurant before walking to the building then you now can have your friends "meet" at the restaurant and walk together once again to the building + you can talk with each other and remember the stories from back then.
- You and your friends can do wrestling promos at famous locations, such as when JT Smith & Little Guido did a promo outside Geno's cheesesteak in Philadelphia or when they did their promo next to the Rocky statue in Philly.
As for how wrestling promotions can make money with this, it is open for discussion. For example, WWE could show little-seen ECW clips back at the ECW Arena inside any metaverse platform tied to Earth. Fans then could go into the Arena and either pay (in crypto) a small amount or the event could be free - with fans knowing that they would have to be open to any sponsors which the company wanted to include in the content (branded outside the building like a billboard, in-video content, etc.).
Feel free to open up this discussion and let your creativity flow on the ways in which pro wrestling can use Earth-based metaverse platforms (rather than generic metaverse platforms) in order to evoke emotions in their existing fan bases and/or being able to recapture lost fans who miss wrestling from earlier eras.
This idea sounds really cool.Experiencing ECW’s iconic moments in the metaverse and exploring virtual arenas would truly be nostalgic and fun. Fan engagement through virtual events and NFTs sounds really exciting.
Thanks! There is so much more that I know can be done with the Earth-based metaverse platforms as the fact that it doesn't require anyone else to be in the metaverse location at that point in time is a huge plus. Meaning: most typical metaverse platforms offer minimal value if no one else is present where (and when) you are unless you have a high emotional investment in a brand or "metaverse influencer's" environment. Otherwise there is no draw.... like a wrestling show with less than 10 fans in attendance!
However, due to this platform's being tied directly to known locations on Earth, you don't have to have anyone else appear in the same location at the same time as you are located. You can explore due to your already-present awareness of the location, and you also can leave a footprint such as a 3D building or similar.
Wrestling companies also can "gamify" a particular city. For example, if a wrestling company clearly is the #1 promotion in a city (such as Philadelphia when ECW was running shows) then you can have all kinds of things done in the Philadelphia section of this metaverse platform. A promotion could:
I am open to any other ideas on how to use this new technology in ways to increase fans' connection to the promotion and the wrestlers themselves.