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Arts & Entertainment

WWE 'Raw' will be televised live from Dallas on Monday as road to Wrestlemania heats up

World Wrestling Entertainment, which is bringing WrestleMania 32 to AT&T Stadium on April 3, already has begun creating a presence in Dallas-Fort Worth.

WWE's flagship weekly program, Monday Night Raw, will be televised live from Dallas' American Airlines Center Monday night. It will feature some of the show's biggest names, including John Cena, Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. The show airs from 7 to 10 p.m. on the USA network.

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WWE also has created a new tag team with the Texas Lottery on a WrestleMania-themed scratch ticket game. It will be available starting Nov. 16, 10 days after tickets for WrestleMania go on sale.

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Stephanie McMahon, WWE chief brand officer, called the partnership a "first of its kind" venture for the WrestleMania brand.

The game will include five scratch tickets featuring top WWE stars such as John Cena, Seth Rollins, Undertaker, Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, the Bella Twins and Paige. Fans will have the opportunity to win more than $10 million in prizes, top prizes of $25,000, and many "second chance" prizes, including VIP ticket packages to WrestleMania.

"It's going to be a lot of fun and excitement for fans of the lottery and WrestleMania," said Gary Grief, executive director of the Texas Lottery Commission. "And it's going to generate a lot of money for public education, and at the end of the day, that's what the Texas Lottery is all about."

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In its most recent fiscal year, the Texas Lottery generated $1.2 billion in funds for public education through partnerships with the likes of the Dallas Cowboys.

"What we have coming in April, we wanted to make sure we encouraged [WWE] to have a deep affiliation into the community and with their exposure, it's possible," said Charlotte Jones Anderson, Dallas Cowboys executive vice president and chief brand officer, "It seemed like a no-brainer that they would have a great affinity together."

What AT&T Stadium has coming is an event that, over the past seven years, has generated more than half a billion dollars in cumulative economic impact for the cities that have hosted it. WWE will also attempt to break their own attendance record in April during its biggest show of the year.

But how many people can they fit inside AT&T Stadium, a building that packed in over 100,000 spectators on multiple occasions?

"It remains to be seen," McMahon said, "But our goal is certainly to break our own record. We set the indoor attendance record at WrestleMania 3 at that time, which took place in the Pontiac Silverdome with 93,173 people, and we're absolutely looking to break our own record."

Olympic events and a World Cup are still on the bucket list for Anderson, but finally getting WrestleMania to Arlington was another top priority on her to-do list.

About WrestleMania, Anderson said: "It's really unparalleled and for us, that's what we want -- the unique event, the great event that people are most interested in -- and we're just thrilled they saw the same value in coming to AT&T Stadium."