What Ever Happened to WWF New York? 

I loved coming here as a kid. The servers called me a jabroni on my birthday and I met Edge here once. The atmosphere was always so dope. They had this thing where you could compare your hands to Andre and Big Show. The to go box for kids was in a wwf lunchbox. This place really was amazing for the time

I went there a couple times in 2002. Once, the place was dead. The other time, there was a decent crowd and the place was buzzing because Jeff Hardy and Chris Nowitzky were going to appear. The food was pretty good and the shop was great, but they hardly wanted you interacting with the wrestlers at all. Some would come around and shake hands and they would have someone with them, carrying a polaroid camera to take pictures, but you couldn't take your own and you weren't allowed to ask for autographs. The night Jeff Hardy was there, we overheard someone arguing with management saying, "You told me the last time I was here if I bought something, I could get an autograph! I spent $100 in the store! Why can't I get Jeff's autograph!?!" The next time I was in Times Square, it was closed. Great idea, just poorly executed.

I missed those days from my childhood when wrestling was awesome when I was 8 years old. I wished I could've built a time machine to one day visit and travel there.

Yes! Please do videos on WCWs wrestling restaurant and pastamania.

WWF New York failed because the attitude era ended.

I wish I was in my 20s in these years, must of been pretty cool to be there when Wrestling was HOT

WWF New York was also featured on SmackDown 2: Know Your Role.

WWF New York was a cool concept, but the execution was lacking. Since Times Square has always been close to their CT HQ, WWE had the option to schedule their off-duty Superstars and assign them as a main event meet and greet during non-show days, all the while treating the venue as a PR vehicle for the company and a PR duty to the Superstars.

What Ever Happened To videos: WWF Ice Cream Bars

Yes please do a video on WCW Grill

I was a kid in London, England when this opened. Everyone in school who watched and loved the WWF wanted to go here badly. Only 1 guy in my year managed to go. I was so jealous, I would of wanted to go during the prime of WWF Attitude in 2000...I will never forget RAW and Smackdown always showing the WrestleMania 17 poster up on WWF New York...epic

WWF New York first appeared in Smackdown 2 Know Your Role in PS1 as an unlockable backstage arena.

I was one of the first employees hired there, I still have some stuff. Was an awesome time!

You know what? I want WWE to bring back that cafe. In 2018, when WWE superstars plays standard games and video games on upupdowndown it can be a good. And free WWE Network broadcast

If they were to bring it back It would be a hit! Why? Because it's retro and it would bring back so many memories for so many fans!

Hey Wrestlemania, Can you do a behind the titration on the Edge, Lita, Matt Hardy storyline and also a Behind the titration of WWE buying WCW and ECW?

I remember checking out the place when I visited New York in the summer of 2004. Of course by then it was closed, but all the branding, signage, and exterior facade was still up. However, from what I could see through the front windows, the place was completely empty and abandoned, save for a lone random table toward the back with a 'The World' sign on it.

I always wanted to go to New York as a teenager just to go to WWF New York.

I saw Mudvayne there and had overcooked chicken fingers. That place was legit

Would love to hear from someone who worked there.

The Rock should be inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame. He's too busy filming movies so I doubt he'll ever wrestle again.

I went there on Nov 5 2000. I met Debra there as she was there signing autographs for/during Sunday Night Heat. The food was overpriced even with the huge portions. Didn't taste anything better or worst than an Applebee's (back then an indifferent comment compared to a today's Applebee's which is abysmal). The store was separate and treated like a side thing to the restaurant. I was visiting NYC as a tourist and basically just stopped in while browsing Timesquare. Since it was before the Survivor Series PPV, it was likely the busiest time to be there as they were promoting it heavily. I would like to hear about the Pastamania and the WCW Grill.

Here in Mexico there is a Lucha Libre themed restaurant, near Arena Mexico and it has been growing succesfully, even though there are wrestling shows and fan signs, they have no big names. I truly believe that the quality of the foods along with the decoration and weekly events are what is getting it strong. I truly believe such a place for the WWE would have success today but it has to have a unique option of food with great quality to keep the people visiting.

I visited this place ALOT. I was there for the Grand Opening and I went every time they had a superstar there. the best was in 2001 when KOTR was in NJ. on that Saturday before the PPV the Big Show & The Undertaker were there. I forgot who hosted the KOTR PPV and that Monday It was Rhyno & Steve Blackman and then it was suppose to be Test and someone else but they Sent Chris Benoit, Eddie Gurrerro and Saturn instead. for the month of febuary 2003 they had Different superstars there on Sunday, Monday & Tuesday and on Fridays they had Bigger names there but you had to eat at the Restaurant to meet them. I was there they day they closed down the Restaurant. we were there Waiting to meet Stevie Richards & Victoria and all of a sudden Linda & Shane just showed up and pretty much fired everyone. I was there for the WrestleMania 19 3rd Degree show which was a bonus disk for the WM 19 DVD. me and my friends were sitting like 4th row dead center and you can see us when they went to and came back from commercial. me and my friends had a lot of fun there. I really do miss that place

I went to WWF New York! That place was nice and EXPENSIVE!

I went to WWF new York in 2000 it was sweet but everything was over priced

I went there in December of 2001 and the food was really good. My mum even said that the food was better than the New York TGI Fridays!

I remember stopping by there a few times as a kid. Me along with other wrestling fans never ate the food. It was one of those places you had to pop your head in whenever you walked by cuz you were a fan.

I went to WWF New York three times. I'll detail my experiences... 1) First trip was in February of 2001 for my cousin's birthday. I was 13, and I believe we went on a Saturday. No wrestlers were there, but I took a lot of photos with a disposable camera (and I still have the pictures!) There was a lot of memorabilia on display, which was cool, including the Andre the Giant handprint. There was also a chair signed by Edge and Christian, the Hardys and the Dudley Boys, as well as another dented chair signed by Chris Jericho (notably, he drew an arrow to the dent and wrote "Kane's head," so I surmise he cracked Kane's skull with that chair). I also remember seeing a signed copy of Chyna's Playboy magazine on display. I think I had a cheeseburger to eat. I remember thinking the store was cool, and my dad bought me a Rock shirt that read "It Doesn't Matter" on the front and "It Just Doesn't Matter" on the back. I wore said shirt later that year to meet Mick Foley at a book signing, and Mick thought that shirt was the coolest thing. I even remember telling Mick that I got it at WWF New York, and he asked me how I liked it (I told him that WWF New York was a lot of fun). 2) Second trip was May of 2001 - but it wasn't really a formal visit. I was on an 8th grade class field trip to New York City and I made my group stop in. It was a weekday afternoon. We just went into the store and looked around. I didn't buy anything and no wrestlers were there, that I know of. We didn't stay long; just looked around and left. I remember Billy Gunn's "The One Billy Gunn" theme/entrance video was playing on the screens while we were in there. Also, my teacher chaperone erroneously called it "The Smackdown Shop." I had to correct her and tell her it was called WWF New York. 3) Final time I went was February of 2002, again for a birthday (same cousin's birthday). Again it was a Saturday and no wrestlers were there -- HOWEVER, it was the day before No Way Out and Curt Hennig was appearing at the restaurant the next night (I distinctly remember our server telling us, "Mr. Perfect will be here tomorrow!"). I'm pretty sure that was the day I got the Stone Cold Steve Austin "What?" shirt (obviously got it at the store). Like the first time, I took photos of the memorabilia on a disposable camera, and we checked out the arcade. I remember playing the Royal Rumble Dreamcast game. My friends played that vibration/electrocution Uncle Fester game (and they all said it hurt their hands). Overall, WWF New York was a fun place, and it's a part of WWE history. I'm lucky enough to have gone a few times, being a resident of New York State. Also, my memory is pretty good. I'm surprised I'm able to recollect all this information, now that I sat down and thought about it, lol.

Back in the days when Times Square still had a handful of arcades. I wonder if appearing at the grand opening was a mandatory thing for the workers that were there. Like Vince said you had better show up or else and they did.

WWF New York was awesome!

I remember my mom took me here for my birthday when I was a kid !! Thanks mom !

Yes please for both Nitro Grill and Pastamania. I wanted so bad to go to WWF New York when I was a teen but unfortunately never made it out there.

They should bring it back

I went there a lot of times I met The Big Show, Undertaker, Diamond Dallas Page, and I believe Terri Runnels. It was a fantastic place that had great atmosphere & fantastic merchandising. It was a great place if you know about industrial psychology. I thought that it had the same appeal as Planet Hollywood or Hooters. It was like the Studio 54 of wrestling.

I remember my dad took me to eat there once and it was so awesome where we sat it was like a steel cage. I’ll never forget it

I plan on going to wrestlemania next year in NY/NJ and I'm gonna probably try to visit that location just for kicks. Good vid and yes please do a follow up talking about the Nitro Grill and Pastamania.

WrestleMania 27 not 24

Thanks for being consistently good and creating good content. Much love!!

It would probably do better today considering the wwe network's 24/7 content

i went there a couple times, I remember ordering a cheesesteak both times, probably ordered it a 2nd time since I liked it

Ate there twice for two birthdays when I was a kid. They had the BEST burgers.

Please do a video on WCW Nitro Grill. I had no idea they had a restaurant back then probably because by that time I was a full fledged WWF guy

Please do the nitro grill and then maybe the WWE and WCW's NASCAR ventures

Thanks for this history lesson

Yes to both! I heard on Something to Wrestle With good juicy story about Hogan’s involvement at Mall of America lol true or not I’d love to hear more about the Nitro Grill and PastaMania Brother!

I understand why they stopped the WWF New York deal, but at the same time this company claims to have billions of dollars so how hard could it really of been to pay even if it was half a million a month or something crazy like that it would be like me making my cable bill each month to them........ if they really did have all the money they claim they have 😒🤔.

Went there 3 times in 2001 including my 13th birthday it was pretty cool at the time but could’ve been better executed

Man those were the good old days, I went there for a couple of PPV's and would go every now and then, I remember various themes playing over the speakers and me trying to record it with my walkman :)

I say bring it back to times square

i was there for the opening, 1999. i got to meet most of the wrestlers - unfortunately I only remember the 80's wrestlers and so I was probably the worst fan to be at that event for opening night. interesting night.

lol at that huge WWF logo outside at 3:20

yes i would love to see a failed nitro grill video!! usually i keep up with your vids must of miss this one..

I can't believe WWE has shut it down. I can only wish that they start it up again. It was the bomb back in those days.

Just wondering, are you Indian? I say yes, my friend says no and there is 50 bucks on the line Soo I hope your Indian lol. BTW, love your channel my guy

WWF New York was a lot of fun. Food was great and the atmosphere was awesome.

-Themed dishes -A video cycle of the last Raw/Smackdown during lunch. -Video cycle of the last PPV during dinner. -Keep the book signings and make it a contract obligation for ALL talent to show up once at least every 2-3 months (company paid of course). -If it didn't have a sports bar n grill feel, then it should. There, that should save a place thats been dead for over 10 years. I'll see myself out.

Yes Please WrestleLamia:)

My stepdad worked as a security guard there. The underground arcade was THE SPOT! I was only like 6. The concept is amazing tbh. As bad as wrestling is today. I’d go rn. Show the network all day. Bar always open. Vince should look into reopening it.

I visieted the restauranrt twice. ONe time during WWF Invasion 2001. Good times.

Saw many concerts there. Great venue. Went to a few Sunday Night Heats too

Niagara Falls used to have a WWE Shop... Then it became WWE and more... Now it’s a fucking brewery.

Wwe should try their lucky in the casino business next. Lol

I applied for a job there once for whatever reason it fell though. There is no reason to criticize the food, what this place was to me was a physical location for the WWE ShopZone which is for their merchandise.

Imagine if Covid hit during this era this would have been the site for Wrestlemania

I think that they should try this again but maybe on a smaller scale and not in Times Square. Instead of one huge restaurant in Times Square, do like a dozen smaller restaurants across the world, perhaps even buying out struggling local restaurants in those areas and just rebranding them as WWE Restaurant to save on construction costs. Instead of aiming to be a 4-5 star restaurant and failing at it...just go for a lower-end style place. I imagine something like a Red Robin or an Applebees but with WWE theming. Also, why not outfit every booth with a fully accessable WWE Network experience? They could watch all the PPVs there if they wanted to live, or choose to watch one of the other pieces of original content on the network. In addition to that, you could air re-runs of last week's RAW and SmackDown each week on the big TVs and air new episodes live. For theming, I'd make sure there were lots of collectables on display and WWE photographs everywhere you looked. You could also have the merch sold there too. Maybe not a full-fledged WWE shop but featuring a little bit more of a selection than one sees at live events. Of course there would be superstar meet and greets there frequently, but most of the time it would be lower to mid-carders or NXT talents, with the big superstars only showing up when a huge PPV was happening near the restaurant. I'd do away with the arcade aspect, though. It's an expensive thing to have that ultimately won't help with brand recognition. The problem with WWF New York wasn't the idea of a WWE-themed restaurant. It was that it was too ambitious for it's own good. They plopped a bunch of amateur chefs in one of the most highly competitive shopping centers in the world, had a bunch of generic "fun" things with very little thought put into the guest experience...and they just expected it to do well. If they rethought their plan and tried it again on a smaller scale, I think it could succeed. It obviously wouldn't be a huge Cash cow but it would certainly engage fans.

WWE should reopen something like this in Florida, but make it an actual small wrestling venue. Like the PWG place, just a small 500 seater with a bar, small cafe/burger bar, have up some old WWE memorabilia and things to showcase etc, some screens. Then hold like small NXT/WWE house shows there, or even rent it out to indy promotions that WWE hasa working relationship with like the UK promotions when they go to the states.

This is wrong. The reason WWF New York closed is that it's VP/GM, in fulfilling WWF's duty to repair the historic marquee at the Paramount theater location, paid ten companies for that work when only nine were real (he allegedly absconded with hundreds of thousands of dollars). Vince and Linda blamed Augie Ligouri, their CFO at the time and fired him while prosecuting Jenkins (the VP). It became clear that WWF leadership couldn't establishclear line of sight to the financials...THAT is why it closed. Across 1999-2001, the plan was to have a location in Times Square and in Las Vegas. Jenkins' embezzlement made it clear that the McMahons didn't have anybody both competent and trustworthy they could rely upon to build the business.

Of course we want videos on those venues as well!

I went there a couple of times. They had this dessert called the Smackdown. It was ice cream on top of a huge warm giant chocolate chip cookie

The store looks just like the one at WWE Niagara Falls, Canada. Used to love going there as a kid, we’d visit once a year for my birthday till it closed. I was in NYC recently and went to the Hard Rock Cafe that was WWF NY. Had no idea till now that’s where WWF NY was but recognized the store front immediately. Wish it was still around just for the shop. The place is massive though, I could see it being absurdly expensive to rent. Also please yes WCW Grill and definitely Pastamania!

It failed just like everything else Vince does outside of the wwe. The end

in Canada we had WWE Niagara Falls... that was cool

I went to the wwe store in niagra falls! It was soooo great i loved it! My parents bought me a booker t stuffed animal. I was so in love with that store!

I feel like the WWE Times Square restaurant could have succeeded had they had more wrestling contents on every day. Like they currently have with the WWE network showing all contents every day. During non-SmackDown and raw and paper view days they could’ve had like documentaries bearing or premier documentaries that aren’t out yet on DVD. So you can watch an exclusive project that is an out yet to buy yet. This I think could’ve kept the restaurant interesting every day.

Awesome Video WrestleLamia:)

They should open up a physical WWE store in Orlando, maybe at Universal CityWalk, and have NXT wrestlers sign there from time to time since the PC is already in Orlando. No need to open up another restaurant as restaurants generally have high failure rates

That WCW menu was quite cringeworthy. Surprised it never worked out.

what ever happened to the TNA Impact pretzel cart? everyone got food poisoning and died, just like their television audience

Hey Wrestlelamia, do Behind the Titantron on WWF change the name WWF to WWE.

I had both of those video games!

What is wrong with New York? Yes its a tourist attraction but there is literally no logical reason to have rent that high. Its freaking ridiculous.

YES YES YES!! NITRO GRILL! YES YES YES!! PASTAMANIA!

The lease was too expensive for Vince. The city decided to rebuild for tourists , attraction became cost effective and the city benefited. Vince didn't regret what happened as he began his focus soley on the Stamford CT head quarters.

I'd give anything to be enjoying a People's Sundae right about now

To me this was the best place to be as kid living in ny!

They can recreate one now and it will do numbers

My friend Glenn worked in the store and had one cameo with Taz on the show, it was like 2 seconds.

Should have made it a museum.

4:14 It's the World Wildlife Fund, dammit!

Seen this Lamia vid multiple times just cause. I remember I revisited the place in January 2020 everything looks the same as it did 20/21 Years ago it’s just music themed

Wrestlelamia, will you do a Behind the Titantron episode on the Macho Man Randy Savage

Yes I would like to see a video on WCW's Nitro Grill

YES do a video on the failing of Nitro Grill...since every video u make is fire

Let's see the nitro grill video

Pastamania brother...I need to see why Hulkayoos were also a failed venture dude.

Probably didn't want to change the name. Would be my guess. Wwf got forced to change there name by the actual wwf(world wildlife federation) the name was changed to wwe as world wrestling entertainment.

I’ll save you 7 minutes - The rent was too high for it to turn a profit.

What about the WWF Las Vegas Casino?

Oh. That's easy As a former New Yorker, the food was horrible. I'm sure that the rent killed them too.