My Wrestlemania Moment....
Well, after waiting for 26 years, WrestleMania finally came to where I live, Georgia, so naturally I had to be there! Now I was going to Axxess on Thursday to see everything there, get a few autographs and that was it, but of course I ended up going to Axxess every day -- Thursday thru Sunday! I was also at the Hall Of Fame, WrestleMania, and Raw the night after. Thursday night was great as me and my wife looked at all the attractions as well as getting autographs from Gerald Brisco, Pat Patterson, Jimmy Hart, Sunny, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, Jack Swagger, Michael Cole and Sheamus. They were all great, especially Sheamus who personalized the autograph and talked to me for a bit, but my highlight that night was meeting Sunny! For those who have never met Sunny in person, she is the sweetest person not to mention the fact that she is still smoking HOT! On Friday, I met Wendi Richter, Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel, Arn Anderson, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Dolph Ziggler and on the way out we walked by the booth that Teddy Long and Drew McIntyre were in; Drew actually signed my book over the rail and Teddy shook my hand because the staff wouldn't let him sign anymore and he told me "Give me a holla holla holla" and I certainly did! The highlight that night was meeting the Hot Rod and touching the Intercontinental Title (that thing is heavy). Saturday I went with my buddy and was only able to get the autographs of Harley Race and Daniel Bryan. Crazy story from that day was that when I got in the line, Ron Simmons was there and I've always been a fan of his, but the shift changed before I could get to him, so we waited for the next person to come in and out stepped Kevin Nash! Everyone in the line cheered and he sat down and signed two autographs and then the staff told him they made a mistake and he was at the wrong station, so he gets up and everyone boos in which Nash yells out "It's not my fault they told me to move." Harley Race stepped out and people booed him which I thought was extremely disrespectful, but Harley looked drunk as hell! The highlight of the night was obviously watching Sunny and my favorite of all time, The "Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels taking their rightful place into the Hall of Fame! Sunday, I met The "Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase, Primo, The Usos, Alicia Fox, Trent Barretta and Curt Hawkins. I was in the line for Dusty Rhodes and Golddust, but the shift changed and I couldn't get up there in time to get their autograph, but the highlight of that day was obviously being at WRESTLEMANIA! So here are my thoughts on Wrestlemania.... I didn't like the fact that they cut Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus for the U.S Title off of the PPV card and made it the pre-Wrestlemania match, but then after all the lumberjacks got involved around the ring, Teddy Long came out and made it a Battle Royal, which cancelled out the match altogether because Khali won the Battle Royal.... As the show started, we all found out they cut that match, so that the Rock could kick off 'Mania with a 15-minute promo as if it were RAW and not the biggest show of the year! I thought the World Heavyweight Title match between the veteran Edge and the young Alberto Del Rio was a great match. I was surprised when Christian didn't make a heel turn, but I heard he didn't because of Edge's medical conditions, so Edge kept the belt and then destroyed Del Rio's car afterwards... The match between Rey Mysterio and Cody was one of the best of the night in my opinion. I thought giving Cody the Wrestlemania victory over Mysterio was a very good move because any victory over Mysterio can help elevate a young star's career, but especially a win at 'Mania. The eight man tag was too short and got no time because of Rock's opening segment and the three backstage scenes they had, but I was pleased to see Kofi get into a Wrestlemania match, filling in for an injured Koslov. The Orton/Punk match was typical of what I thought it would be which was Punk dominating 90% of the match and then Orton pulling an RKO out of his ass to win the match, but hey, Orton usually gets carried in his matches by his opponents, so nothing new there. I thought the best part of that match was the chant that was started behind us: "Die Randall Die!" Michael Cole and the King went entirely too long with Cole getting way too much offense in. It seemed a little counterproductive when the Raw GM gave Cole the win because this storyline had already lasted entirely too long, and even though I knew it was coming, I hated seeing Booker T and Josh Matthews stunners, but someone always does any time Austin is around! The match of the night was of course Triple H and the Undertaker. It was the best match I have ever witnessed live! You know that 'Mania is Taker's event, but a few times in that match you actually believed that maybe Triple H was about to end the streak. But of course, the Dead Man came back and was able to overcome it all to go 19-0! The biggest illustration of how brutal that match was though was that Taker won, but was unable to walk out on his own! The six person tag was short which was fine with me, but Morrison and Ziggler never got to get in and wrestle which seemed like a waste. Snooki did actually impress me with her gymnastic move, but I'm sure Michelle McCool didn't really care at the time due to the condition her husband backstage. The main event was decent...As decent as you can get for Cena and Miz. I don't really like either man, though I'm actually starting to like The Miz a little more especially when they feud him with Cena. I loved the Rock coming out and costing Cena the belt as Miz kept the gold in the 'Mania Main Event and sent all the little snot-nosed kids and horny women home in tears! The highlight from that match was probably my wife picking on the little kids in front of us that were Cena fans and kept turning around and talking trash! All in all, it was great to be there live, it was a great week to escape work and reality as a whole. My wife and I met several people at Axxess that said this was their 4th and 5th Wrestlemania and she and I couldn't understand how you could travel from state to state and follow Wrestlemania until we experienced it ourselves for the first time and now we have both said that next year we have to be in Miami for Wrestlemania 28!
