Greetings, everyone!

Ash here, reporting in from the Square Enix America marketing team for FFXIV! I've taken over the blog to share some of the exciting moments you may have missed during our recent WWE WrestleMania collaboration!

WrestleMania 33 took place at the Orlando Citrus Bowl on April 2, and was hosted by WWE Superstars Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods, members of "The New Day"! For those not in the know, the New Day are known for their stylish outfits and outlandish intros and WrestleMania 33 was no different! We teamed with the guys to kick off the event with Big E dressed as a samurai, Xavier Woods as a monk, and Kofi as the red mage and they entered riding their "POP-cycle" bike, which was styled with FINAL FANTASY XIV moogles and chocobos!

WWE's UpUpDownDown gaming YouTube channel posted an awesome behind the scenes look into the epic entrance recently. Check it out!

The WWE Network also posted an awesome "360" panorama version of the video from a camera mounted on the bike! Move the camera around to see the cool details on the outfits, cart, and the huge crowd!

The New Day had a wonderful time cosplaying. I was able to catch up with them backstage before their big entrance (I didn't look as cool though...):



Throughout WrestleMania weekend, fans were also able to meet & greet multiple WWE Superstars at the WWE Axxess signing booth that we sponsored. After fans received their favorite WWE Superstar's signature they were also able to choose either a Fat Chocobo or Moogle hat to show their FFXIV pride to the WWE Universe!

There will be additional behind the scenes content centered around creating the epic WrestleMania entrance will be available to watch on the official WWE YouTube channel and the UpUpDownDown gaming channel. Stay tuned for more behind the scenes video content such as the making of the amazing costumes, WWE Superstar reactions and coming soon - a live let's play of FINAL FANTASY XIV Online with The New Day!

Overall, the FFXIV partnership went really well with the WWE and I had a blast working with them. Fans from both the WWE Universe and our community loved the entrance. The outreach was incredible with a hilarious combination of sports blogs and gaming news websites all buzzing about it.

If you're reading this - I hope you enjoyed it too. On behalf of the whole FFXIV team and The New Day - thank you for your support and look forward to more in the coming months!

- Ash

SE America Marketing