Indianapolis, IN
Many mock WWE. 70,000 fans who shattered Royal Rumble records in Indy ‘don’t give a damn’
INDIANAPOLIS — William Skiler rose at the crack of dawn Saturday morning to a rooster crowing, fed the pigs then made an off-the-cuff, last-minute decision to drive from the land of peaches to his 10th Royal Rumble, buying nosebleed seats in Lucas Oil Stadium on the way.
Skiler is a hard-working farmer outside of Atlanta, Ga., who grew up loving the raucous and rowdy WWE. He was not only at his 10th Royal Rumble Saturday, but he’s been to multiple Smackdowns, Raws and one WrestleMania.
To say he is a diehard fan would be an understatement. He has a cluttered room in his house stuffed to the brim with all the figures, T-shirts, championship belts and autographs he’s gotten of wrestlers through the years.
As he waited in line to buy merchandise inside Lucas Oil before the matches began, he wore a Rey Mysterio mask and a Triple H shirt. There, with more than 300 others waiting in his line and more than 70,000 in the stadium, Skiler said he felt like he could truly be himself.
After all, Skiler said, he sometimes feels judged when he tells people he is a WWE fan.
“We know what they think. We know. I hear it all the time, people making fun of us WWE fans, making fun of the sport,” said Skiler, 45. “I hear it, and you know what? To be honest, I don’t give a damn.
“They’re the ones missing out on greatness.”
What is WWE? That’s the burning question from the naysayers. Is it a sport or not? Is it fake? Is it scripted? Skiler said he often feels as if those naysayers look down on WWE fans, and he doesn’t understand why.
“I’ve never played a day of golf in my life, but there are guys obsessed with it like I am with WWE,” he said. “I don’t make fun of those guys.”
Even if choreographed, these wrestlers are athletes and they have to be in shape to do what they do, said Josef Aguilar, who lives in Indy and was attending his first Royal Rumble.
“Just look at their muscles. They perform just like an NFL player performs,” he said. “People want to say the outcome is written up before but so what. The NFL wrote the Chiefs winning last week and the refs made that happen.”
As Josie Marlin sat in the hallway of the Indiana Convention Center next to her boyfriend, who had two championship belts beside him, waiting for the doors to Lucas Oil to open for the Royal Rumble, she told him to cover his ears.
“It’s so silly,” she said laughing. “I don’t even like it or get the appeal. I’m here because I love him, and he loves it.”
The WWE is definitely a product with little middle ground. “You are either a fanatic about it,” said Claire Sawyer-Mills, of Illinois, “or you hardly have any idea what it even is.”
Per the crowd at Lucas Oil, there are a lot of fanatics. The more than 70,000 fans who descended on the stadium Saturday night shattered the Royal Rumble’s all-time record. It was the largest attendance for any non-WresteMania pro wrestling event in history. Approximately 70% of the fans were expected to be from outside the Indianapolis area.
They watched Jey Uso win the men’s event, eliminating John Cena in his final Royal Rumble, and watched Charlotte Flair as victor in the women’s match.
The crowd also proved there is no one “type” of WWE fan.
WWE fans: Loud and proud
From the world’s most popular streamer Kai Cenat to Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton to 73-year-old musician John Mellencamp to actor O’Shea Jackson, Jr., who is Ice Cube’s son, to women, little boys, teenage girls, grandparents, young parents, middle-aged couples, there was diversity all around.
According to Wrestlenomics.com, about 25% of WWE’s audiences are Black with 12% of viewers Hispanic. Women make up 36% of the fans and the biggest fan base is males 30-44 years old.
While its popularity is unmatched in the United States, the WWE says India is one of its largest international markets. The latest numbers show Raw and SmackDown events in India had an average of 50 million viewers weekly.
The franchise is also popular in Japan, Australia, the Philippines and has held events in Canada, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom. For Royal Rumbles, those bring the second largest international crowd of all WWE events. And that crowd is loud and proud.
Outside of Lucas Oil hours before the Royal Rumble began, the golden championship belts glistened in the chilly sunshine, mostly grown men wearing them slung over their shoulders or wrapped around their waists.
Little kids held poster signs, handcrafted tributes to their favorite wrestlers. Women were dressed in fishnet stockings, glittery skirts, emulating the WWE divas they admire. Other fans went full force, wearing wrestling singlets and black boots, the temps barely 40 degrees.
It was not quite the outrageous attire GenCon brings to Indy but, out of context and having no idea one of the WWE’s three main events was in town, some of the fans packing the streets would have seemed completely over the top.
Indy went all out for those fans, dressing the city with its own attire. Twenty-five streets were named for the WWE, including Cody Rd., Bianca Belair Blvd., KO Ave. and Seth “Freakin’” Rd. Indianapolis International Airport went all-in on Royal Rumble and restaurants crafted special menu items.
Indianapolis International Airport welcomes WWE fans for Royal Rumble
Indianapolis International Airport is ready to welcome the more than 50,000 fans arriving for WWE Royal Rumble this weekend.
More than $40 million in economic impact is expected from the Rumble in Indy on Saturday night. It is part of a three-event deal between the city and WWE to also bring Summer Slam and WrestleMania to Indy. Dates for those events are yet to be determined, but all three combined will infuse $350 million into the city, according to Indiana Sports Corp.
Settling the debate over what WWE is and hopefully putting an end to its mocking, Lauren Sparkman, a diehard WWE fan, describes it this way.
“I always say WWE is 100% sport and 100% entertainment,” said Sparkman, who co-hosted the local organizing committee that brought the Royal Rumble to Indy. “It’s absolutely world-class athleticism. It is more cinematic than a soap opera, but a lot more spectacle than a football game. It’s the intimacy of live theater, but it’s also completely electric, like an arena tour. It’s just, it’s completely unique.”
Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on X: @DanaBenbow. Reach her via email: dbenbow@indystar.com.
Indianapolis, IN
Indianapolis isn’t known for skyscrapers, but these are the 10 tallest buildings
See inside construction of Signia Hotel in Downtown Indianapolis
IndyStar got an inside look at the work in progress on the newest hotel that is rising above the Indy skyline.
While Indianapolis isn’t exactly known for it’s tall buildings, we do have quite a few that tower above the city. The tallest, is visible nearly 10.5 miles outside the city.
These are the 10 tallest buildings in Indianapolis, according to Skyscraper Center.
1. Salesforce Tower
Salesforce Tower is the tallest building in Indianapolis. It’s located at 111 Monument Circle.
Construction on this building was completed in 1990. The office building boasts 49 floors and towers over the city at 701 feet tall.
It has also been known as the Chase Tower, the Bank One Tower and the American Fletcher Bank Tower.
2. One America Tower
The second tallest building in Indianapolis is the One America Tower. It is located at 200 N Illinois St., has 38 floors and is 533 feet tall.
The building was completed in 1982 and was previously known as the American United Life Insurance Tower.
3. One Indiana Square
The One Indiana Square building is the third tallest building in Indianapolis at 504 feet tall.
The building was completed in 1969 and has 37 floors. It has also been previously known as Union Planters Bank, Indiana National Bank Tower, INB Tower and NBD Bank Tower.
4. Signia by Hilton Indianapolis
Signia by Hilton, previously known as the Indianapolis Convention Center Hotel, is currently under construction, but is the fourth largest building in Indy.
The building is set to have 37 floors and be 441 feet tall once construction is complete, which is expected to happen in 2026.
5. Market Tower
Market Tower, located at 10 West Market Street, is the fifth tallest building in Indianapolis at 421 feet.
The building was completed in 1988 and has 32 floors. It has also been known as the Mansur Center.
6. 300 North Meridian
300 North Meridian, which shares a name with its address, is 408 feet tall and has 28 floors.
The building was completed in 1989 and is the sixth tallest building in Indianapolis.
7. BMO Plaza
BMO Plaza, located at 135 North Pennsylvania St. is 401 feet tall.
The building has 31 floors and was completed in 1988. It has also been known as M&I Plaza, First Indiana Plaza and Marshall & Isley Plaza.
8. JW Marriott Indianapolis Downtown
Perhaps one of the most visually recognizable on this list, the JW Mariott Indianapolis, located at 10 South West St. is the eighth tallest building in Indy.
The large blue hotel was completed in 2011, stands at 376 feet and has 34 floors. Over the years, the hotel has put giant images on the side of the building to celebrate current events in both sports and pop culture.
9. City-County Building
The City-County Building, located at 200 East Washington St. is the the ninth tallest building in Indianapolis.
The building was completed in 1962 and is 372 feet tall with 28 floors.
10. 101 West Ohio
The tenth and final building on this list is 101 West Ohio. The building, which shares a name with its address, is 360 feet tall and has 22 floors.
The office building was completed in 1987 and was previously known as Old National Financial Center.
Katie Wiseman is a trending news reporter for IndyStar and Midwest Connect. Contact her at klwiseman@usatodayco.com. Follow her on Bluesky @katiewiseman and X, formerly Twitter, at @itskatiewiseman.
Indianapolis, IN
IMPD reinforces downtown safety as crowds grow with warmer weather
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indiana Metropolitan Police Department is reinforcing downtown safety as crowds grow with warmer weather.
This comes after a violent weekend that included an early Monday morning shooting, and in a separate incident, an officer and a security guard were hit by an impaired driver.
Police say the shooting that happened Monday near Maryland and Meridian Streets was caused by a fight that broke out at bar in the area and escalated into a shooting at a nearby parking lot. IMPD says a woman has been arrested in connection with the shooting.
IMPD Downtown District Commander Shane Foley says officers were able to take control of the situation quickly.
“Officers were there when the shooting occured, and then because of their presence, they were able to make a very quick arrest, and arrest another individual for possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon,” Foley said. He says the response from the officers is exactly what he expects to see as the temperatures continue to get warmer.
People who like to spend their time downtown on the weekends say they enjoy that there are things to do, but think the violence is getting out of hand.
“It just gets crazy at night for real, and then, everybody just drinking and stuff and they can’t control their liquor,” Indianapolis resident Schuyler Landrum said.
“Chill out man, you gotta know your limits when you’re drinking because stuff like that can happen. People who don’t go to clubs and stuff, we’re trying to have fun downtown but you guys are getting wild and drunk and stuff, so lets just help each other man,” resident Peyton Bush said.
Officers say they hear the public’s concerns and are doing what they can to prevent incidents before they escalate. Last week, IMPD announced the installation of new public cameras downtown to help assist with monitoring and crime prevention.
“If you come downtown and you engage in illegal activity, because we have people all over the place, the likelihood of you being arrested is increased. We’re being very proactive with our policing, and if we need to be reactive in making arrests, we’re doing that as well,” Foley said.
People who are frequently downtown say that they hope things get better, but one man says he believes he’s noticed an increase in crime downtown, especially among the youth. “Start thinking before you act, you know? It’s just the way it is,” he said.
“Our officers are working diligently to keep everybody safe. As we have more events, we’re going to have more officers downtown. We want people to not only be safe, but feel safe, visiting, living, working in Downtown Indianapolis,” Foley said.
Indianapolis, IN
Mild temperatures to give way to severe storms in central Indiana | Mar. 9, 2026
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Mild temperatures are expected Monday, with severe storms possible mid-week.
Flooding threat continues:
Rivers remain elevated across southern portions of central Indiana, where widespread minor to moderate river flooding continues south of Interstate 70. This is likely to persist well into the end of the week, with renewed rain chances moving in Tuesday and continuing into Wednesday.
Today:
High pressure will keep us quiet across much of the state, with mostly sunny skies. Expect high temperatures to reach the low 70s, which could tie or push very close to the old record in Indianapolis (72° set in 1878).
Tuesday:
Temperatures will be even warmer heading into Tuesday with a strong southerly wind. Highs will reach the mid-70s. The record high for that Tuesday is 74°, set back in 2009.
Strong storms Tuesday/Wednesday:
A cold front will move through the state and trigger scattered showers and thunderstorms late Tuesday night into the overnight hours.
Some isolated strong storms will be possible late Tuesday night. Much of the state is under a Level 2 out of 5 risk for severe storms, with all modes of severe weather in play.
Heavy rain Wednesday:
A second round of showers and thunderstorms will move through on Wednesday. While some damaging wind gusts could occur, the primary concern will be heavy rain and the ongoing flooding risk. Much of the state could see anywhere from a half inch to an inch and a half of rain, with some locally higher amounts that will worsen river flooding in the southern half of the state.
7 day forecast:
Sharply colder temperatures will move in for Thursday, as highs fail to get out of the 40s. We should see a nice bump in temperatures by Friday and through the weekend, with highs in the mid to upper 50s for Friday and Saturday, and potentially near 60° on Sunday.
The end of the weekend looks soggy, with the potential for a significant cooldown in the wake of our Sunday system early next week.
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