Tag Archive for Kofi Kingston

WWE Raw Philly And Hershey Smackdown 3/25/13-3/26/13

CM Showstopper / March 26, 2013 / No comments

Anyone who has ever gone celebrity hunting or marking out knows there is a risk of failure. There is a certain percentage, no matter how experienced, well taught or intelligent one might be, they may just come up a day late and a dollar short. And if there was a theme for this report, I think “Day Late, Dollar Short” would certainly sum it up accurately. Sometimes you get the bear and sometimes…..the bear gets you.

With nothing more than a single goal to make the weekend….one focus…one word….ROCK. It was the return of The Great One to Philly and DJKnightRida and I would not miss it. The weekend started off well. Scored a front row, on cam ticket….sold my 4th row off and was excited for Raw and meeting Rock again. We packed up my new beast mobile, 2012 Ram 1500 Laramie edition (the perks of working at a dealership), and we were off. The weather was slightly cool with the sun rising. The weekend was looking bright and sunny.

Unfortunately, it would be none so once we reached the cesspool known as Philly. :melopain: What was expected highs in the 50s quickly turned to 20s with a windchill that was breathing below zero temps. We made our first stop the hippo for Rock. Braving the bitter cold air and winter like breeze, we waited outside hoping for that single moment it would all be worth it. Sadly, after a few hours I could no longer feel my genitalia and decided that evidently Spring was not here and a wintery weekend was approaching. So we decided to head to Walmart to score some gloves and an extra layer.

After visiting one of the WORST Walmarts I have ever seen, we headed back. But not before some fool who left a shopping cart in the parking lot, would have said cart smash into my driver side door. Leaving your carts in the parking spaces is just plain laziness. Ultimately, Walmart should know better and have people going out to get the carts. This ALWAYS seems to be an issue at this store, where others actually have their employees out there collecting the carts.

Anyway, we were in a hurry, so the time to sit around and cuss out the monkey piss service of a cesspool city’s Walmart was not one we could afford. So we headed back and took our place out front….waiting. Minutes seemed like hours. And hours seemed like days, as the cold only got worse and worse. By midnight, we knew this was NOT gonna happen this night. So we packed up and headed to tv and see who might be able to score. For this night, we had minor captures in Damien Sandow, who came in sporting an Edge hat. I asked for a photo, which he granted. I told him I loved his hat and he thanked me before whipping it off right before the flash. :ruserious: Also snagged a Mark Henry auto before Mark once again got pissed at DJ about his silver running dry.

Now before we called it a night, one of the former WWE writers came into lobby and asked for some of the pizza. We gave him some and he said he wanted to sit and “shoot with us”. We talked about Vince’s “bear skin rug” and just who has taken a “magic carpet ride”, Abraham Washington, under utilized talents, stories and whats wrong with WWE. I wish I could tell you this was a long detailed hour long chat, but it lasted no more than 10 mins and he was gone. He stumbled off into a cab.

We decided to call it a night. It was getting close to sunrise and we needed to be up for another shot at Rock in the morning. So we headed back to our hippo to get a few hours of sleep and try again in the morning.

We were up at 8am and looked outside to find a Winter FREAKING WONDERLAND!!!! Are you kidding me?! Late March and there is an inch of snow on the ground and with a heavy pour down among us?! No way could we hang too long at Rock’s. We swung by, but spent no more than an hour and decided to head back to tv where we could be warm….or so we thought. Once inside tv, we found the staff kicking out all that did not have a room there. Have a room, you stay inside. No room, out you go. We headed outside for a few minutes before I decided I wasnt taking this no more and went inside and got myself a room. I was not getting shut out. Shortly thereafter the hippo staff tossed all the marks outside off the property. Names like Kofi Kingston, Khali, Mark Henry, Prime Time Players, Big E Langston and Bray Wyatt were all down. Wyatt and Langston were nice gets for me in my NXT Program. I also snagged a Bo Dallas for my program. Saw legends like Bret Hart and Dusty Rhodes, which was very unexpected. Got Dusty in my NXT program and got Bret in the WWE E and a first time photo with him.

One of the highlights was Zeb Coulter, who came into the lobby and told us “Dont Get Up or I’ll Kill You.” :yikes1: As he headed to the front door, he stopped and called out to us to come and get a photo. WOW! LOL!!

My biggest want was The Shield. They came in from the gym, but Ambrose went to get a snack, as I talked to Rollins. Ambrose snuck off by the time I had a chance to try and get a Shield photo. Rollins said he would see if he could make it happen when they came back down. Unfortunately, when they came back down Rollins and Reigns were in the lobby with Dean missing again. Rollins hung out for a bit before it was getting late and Reigns went to load the rental. They couldnt wait any longer, as Ambrose came down a few mins later. I did get Dean and Seth to both sign my Shield vest and Dean to sign my NXT program.

The Shield was gone and we were about ready to call it. I wanted to give it just a few more minutes and besides Jerry Lawler was coming in and I had a program for Jerry. Once I was done with Jerry, I over heard him and Harvey Whippleman talking. Jerry wanted to know what Harvey was doing here and he said he was here to give “Paul Heyman a ride to the arena”. WHAT!?!?!?!? The evil genius himself…Paul Heyman is actually here?!??! It wasnt but a minute when Heyman came down. Got him to the sign the WWE E and got a pic with him. Another first time meet and a nice grab.

This pretty much concluded this round. We needed to head to the AP for JBL and grab some lunch AND make a couple of quick stops for supplies. We were crunched for time, but scurried along as quick as possible. We made it to JBL in plenty of time, as his plane was delayed. We spent a good 2 hours waiting and but he never came off the bird as far as we could tell. Another instance of coming up short on the weekend.

It was time to head to the arena for Raw and pickup my front row seat. The show itself was ok at best. Nothing spectacular as far as matches went. I did get a chance to try out my new DSLR camera. Canon 18mps with a 6400ISO. Once the show was over we were gonna take our final shot at Rock. We headed to the hippo. We were stopped at the traffic light to turn on the street when we got the call that Rock was inside already and that a few friends already got him.:ehh: Literally about to turn on the street and we just missed him. A day late….a dollar short.

Our spirits were beaten. With nothing else to really do, we headed back to tv. Perhaps a chance at Shield. When we got there, pretty much everyone had already come back. Caught Sandow and got him in my new WWE program. Outside of that, it was empty and dead. DJ retired to the room to catch a nap an hour earlier and I decided it was time to pack up and make the trip home. I headed up, packed everything and came back down. At this point I was alerted that Shield had JUST stepped into the elevator and had come in together, signed and did Shield photos. :saswhat: Day late….dollar short…….AGAIN.

I shook my head in non surprised disgust and headed to the garage. It was gonna be a LONG drive home. My only companion would be the sorrows of missed opportunity and the tears of personal regret. Like I said sometimes you get the bear and sometimes….the bear gets you.

 

P.S. The last photo was taken from WWE.com for the Raw Sign Of The Week.

http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/fan-signs-photos-2013

 

Category: Wrestling / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

WWE Raw Brazil 5/22/12

CM Showstopper / May 22, 2012 / No comments

*NOTE: This story does not take place in Brazil, but rather in an undisclosed location, as WWE was headed for Brazil.*

 

This is the story of one of my more successful adventures in marking out. Not measured in numbers, but by quality of names vs. pressing item to be done. My good buddy Honest Dave, please pray for him as his cancer has returned, headed down to our nation’s capital for the Raw crew’s flight to Brazil. Dave called this a checkmark on his bucket list. :smh: We arrived in PLENTY of time, but it gave us an opportunity to scope the place out. Not the first time being here, but always want refamiliarize myself with the lay of the land. Once we did that, we took a seat and waited for first sign of life. It was a good hour and half in and we spotted our first sign. Charles Robinson. It took Charles quite awhile before he got his bag checked, as it wasnt as easy as you would think to figure out how to goto Brazil. 20mins later he was all set. He saw us sitting off to the side and came over to say hello. Nice to see Charles again and we wished him well on his trip.

It was soon after that one of the headliner’s was coming through…..John Cena. Oh boy! Recent reports, as recent as this past weekend, were Cena was in a foul mood. I’m never one to fear being told no. Asking someone for an autograph is just that…..what are they gonna do, club me over the head like a baby seal? Of course not. Once Cena was done checking in, I headed over to him with my WM 27 program and politely asked him for an autograph. He stopped….looked at me and looked at what I wanted signed. He reached for the Sharpie and signed it. Dave didnt need anything and really just wanted a photo, so he got my WM 28 program done and I took his photo. Cena spotted my…..um….cane and started the theme of the night of…..”Curt Hawkins’ Cane?” What I failed to mention that my #1 want was Curt Hawkins. Hawkins hooked me up with the person who sold him his cane and I was able to get the exact replica. I brought it in hopes of getting Hawkins to sign it, along with my 5 other items. LOL! But I digress. Cena spotted the cane and asked if I had had an accident and hurt myself? I told him no and then realized my cane was in my bag. I told him it was a Hawkin’s Replica cane. I told him I was a huge Hawkins fan. His eyes kind of got wide and he smiled…..”so you’re his 1 fan”? :damn: Wished him a safe flight and Cena was off. WOW! Cena and Punk were the 2 biggest names on the roster for today and we scored 1 right off the bat. 2 Cena’s….my top 2 items for him….done.

Not long after was R Truth and Mike Chioda. Had nothing for either and they too had trouble with checking in. While they were trying to figure out how to get on the plane, Epico and Primo were up next. I blundered when I spotted Epico and asked Dave “Is that Epico or Primo? I cant tell…..they all look alike”. And then Primo walked right by me. :facepalm: Dave thought it was rich coming from me. :huh:

Now all 4 were having trouble with check in….oh boy. Its really not their fault either. It was crazily set up. Finally they were done and all 4 looked like they were coming at once. Not sure what happened, but the Colons stopped and it was just Truth and Chioda coming now. Got a photo with Truth just for kicks, he too spotted the cane. “Hey man….dat Curt Hawkin’s cane?” Snapped the pic with me and the cane….and Truth was off.

Primo and Epico were coming over now. Had nothing for Epico, but wouldnt have minded for a group photo. Had 1 for Primo, but my auto sealed the fate on the group photo. Primo stopped, Epico left and I got a pic and auto. “nice cane.” Not long after, another big want of mine came up and it was Dolph Ziggler with Zack Ryder. They headed over to check in and once again had quite the issue. Now here is where our little tale begins to go south. They left the check in booth they were supposed to check in at….same one Cena, Charles Robinson, Truth, Primo and Epico all did and went to another. We fully expected them back, but they didnt come back. So we headed for the other booth, the one that actually made sense…..and NOW they were checking in. OH NO!! Now there are 2 places to check in where there was only 1 before. So we had to station ourselves at security. We waited for them, as they started to head over. But suddenly, they ducked down another corridor and were gone. I went over to see where they went and found them headed for security. I had to head back, get my stuff and…..it was too late. They were through. NOOOOOO!!!!!! Not Ziggler!!!!!!!!!

We were about to try and find more of a middle ground, when Kelly Kelly came up the elevator with what seemed to be luggage for 8. HOLY CRAP!! She headed for the same booth as Ziggler and Ryder. Oh no! We also spotted Alex Riley come in and he went to the original booth. 2 booths are handling check in….just depends which booth you goto. :facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm: :angry4:

After Riley left, I turned and started to head back but spotted Punk motoring towards security. OH NO!!!! Where’s my item?!?!?! By stroke of luck I actually had my WM 28 program in hand. I turned and headed for Punk, while Dave stood probably pissing himself. :shrug: C’mon!!! I politely asked Punk for an autograph and he stopped, looked at me, looked at the item and signed my program. I turned to see if Dave had joined me….sadly, he was watching from afar and Punk was gone. No picture. :thumbsdown:

We did our best to keep an eye on both. Naomi and Cameron also were checking in with Kelly Kelly and then Mason Ryan strolled through. Riley started heading for security. Headed over towards Riley and he spotted me right away. He smiled and said “Man I see you everywhere. Tell me your secret….how do you know exactly when each time?” Ummmm… :confused: :yikes: :( :oops: :ughh: :dead: ”Is that Curt Hawkins’ cane?” :like: Got a picture with Riley, wished him a safe flight and headed back to check on Kelly. She seemed to be no further complete then when she arrived. Normally, Kelly is not a big need. But WM 28 program is one of my major projects and I needed her in it. Tick, tick and here comes Mason Ryan, as we spotted Otunga and Laurinitas headed to other booth. Got a pic with Mason, as I havent gotten one with him before. Wished him a safe flight and off he went. Kelly was still checking in, as Laurinitas with full crutches comes hobbling to security. We started to approach him, but felt I would not make it there in time. Called out to him, about 10 feet away and he saw turned, looked at us. Abandoned the crutches and took off through security. :smh: really?! 2 of us and now you looked like you were blessed by Tim Tebow and were healed.

Joe Hennig  came in and headed for check in. Checked on Kelly and she was still struggling away. Spotted Brodus as well headed for the original booth. Both his dancers were done and I was able to get Cameron in WM 28, as she was the only missing one I needed from that page. Checked on Kelly and she looked pooped tired and still wasnt moving. At this point, the stars seemed to have aligned, b/c low and behold Dolph Ziggler reappeared. He headed back to the booth and few minutes later he walked right over to us. I got him on both my pressing items, WM 27 and WM 28 programs. Thunderous success! Oh so lucky….. and a picture and a “Wait a minute….why do you have Curt Hawkins’ cane?” DAMN!!! Knew I forgot something. Wanted to get that in the picture and failed. Oh well. Safe flight and Dolph was gone.

By this time Brodus was headed for security and we missed him. Oh well. Spotted Jericho arriving. He saw us and said hello, as he headed for check in. Looked over and saw Kelly WAS STILL checking in. At this point, we are going on 40 freaking minutes. Kofi Kingston started to head towards security….so we hustled over and got Kofi….WM 28 and a picture and….”Does Curt Hawkins know you have his cane?” Kofi wanted to check it out….so he did. “Thats not the real cane. Curt’s head is loose.” :yikes: ”The cane’s head is loose.” Kofi laughed and headed out.

Otunga, who seemed to have dissappeared,returned and headed our way. Got a picture with him and “whats with the cane?” I told him it was Curt Hawkins’ cane…which he promptly shook his head at. Yeah…..dude with a coffee mug is going to shake his head at a cane. :smh: Bye Otunga. Though strangely, he didnt head to security. Instead, someone tapped him on the shoulder and he went down the escalators to baggage claim. Never saw him at security.

Finally, it seemed like Kelly was finishing up. She started to gather herself and headed our way. Got Kelly on my WM 28 program and let her be on her way. No Hawkins cane comment. :sad4: Jericho finished up and came right over to us. He was happy to sign and take pics, but insisted on a personalization. No problem for me, I prefer it, but dont always want to trouble someone for it…especially in a program. If it was an 8×10, poster or whatever….I would have asked. Got the picture and the auto. “That’s a sweet cane. Does Hawkins know you have it?” Jericho was off and that just leaved 3 AWOL. Beth Phoenix, JTG and……. :boo: Curt Hawkins. How could this be? We waited another half hour and then Punk tweeted and that they were waiting to board the plane and he was with Curt Hawkins. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! :angry4: :angry4: :angry4: :angry4: :angry4: :angry4: :dead:

Got no explanation on how I missed him…none whatsoever. Best guess would be in the fiasco with Ziggler/Ryder. With the quality of names, gets and now being a measley 4 names (HHH, UT, Michelle McCool and Trish Stratus) away from completing WM 27 program and 7 names from completing WM 28…..it worked out really well. I love these trips when there are just a couple of marks there…..you just cant beat it.

Sadly, after we left and headed up the road…back in Maryland, we got wind that the flight was cancelled and all the talent headed right back up to where we were.:dead:

Even with the 3 misses, we struck gold.  Like a leprechaun and the end of the rainbow.  Autos, pictures and another successful mis adventure.

 

Category: Wrestling / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wrestlemania 28 Miami, FL 3/27-4/1/12

CM Showstopper / April 1, 2012 / No comments

I forewarn all…..THIS is gonna be a LONG and I mean LONG read.

Landed in Miami on Wed. with DJKnightRida. Probably should have come in on Tuesday, but figured that since the WM conference is held in NY every year…..Wed. would be the day. We got in around 11am…..later than expected. Both DJ and I were crammed in like sardines on the plane. Sitting in the last row of seats is not an advantage. Our knees were smashed into the seats in front of us. And then once we landed, evidently the plane ran out of fuel on the run way and needed to be towed in. Not off to a good start. Once we landed and gathered our luggage, we headed for the rental car area to get our car. DJ found this low level BS joint called Sixt. In all fairness, they were half the price of renting than Enterprise and required no downpayment to reserve the vehicle. Once we are there we goto check in when the next strike of bad luck happens. They want a $1000 as a deposit to rent the car. HUH?!!?!?! I am not getting a fucking Ferrari. Its a damn full size sedan car. They said they take 4X the rental price and since we were renting for 6 days…..Well, this wasnt going to happen. Perhaps we should have swallowed our pride and just paid it….but we decided to move along to another agency. 40 mins. later and twice the rental price…..we had a car.

Off we went to our one night stay before we met up with the rest of our party for our regular Hippo. DJ booked this joint…..the fucking Rundown Inn. Right by the airport and almost as bad as you are thinking right now. Complete with farm animals, Turkey Vulture Prostitutes and someone almost running down DJKnightRida. Once we got our room and got settled in, we grabbed some grub from the IHOP and then headed to the airport for the few flights coming in today.

First up was Edge. It was great to see him again. Got 5 autos and a picture with him and he was happy to sign for everyone. Baggage takes forever in Miami, so he had plenty of time to chit chat. He is going to be returning to the tv show Haven, as he has been contracted for several more episodes. Said he doesnt watch wrestling anymore and doesnt even keep up with it. We talked about his movie Bending The Rules, which he didnt know was just released on dvd. By the end of our conversation, he had made it abundantly clear that his wrestling life is over and he really has no interest in wrestling at all. He wants to spend his life growing old in the mountains with his dog and his woman. Said he will explore the acting thing a little bit, but honestly would much rather just become a memory.

Next up was Shawn Michaels Spot, which also included Tully Blanchard, Afa and Rikishi. Shawn was awesome. Signed for everyone and even put a TSA agent in her place when she said this large group was causing a disturbance in the Hippo. Shawn seemed genuinely annoyed at her and explained what was going on. She didnt seem to care who he was or why people were surrounding him. She just wanted everyone gone. But Shawn was cool and took care of everyone. I got 2 autos from Shawn, including my Rockers promo finished. Went to Tully next, got him in the WWE E to finish off Brian Busters entry and a pic with him. Really cool to see Tully. Both Rikishi and Afa were having none of it. They wouldnt sign or take pics. Afa told people he wasnt Afa and was a nobody.

From Shawn we moved to Flair. It was a long trek across the Hippo, but we made it. It didnt turn out well though, as Flair changed his flight and decided to come the next day per Tully’s hot ass daughters. It was a bust. So we packed up and headed back to the Rundown. We relaxed until dinner and decided to go back to that IHOP. The IHOP was amazing in the afternoon, top notch service and good food and crap in the evening. Service was horrid and the food was a joke. The waiter tried to tell me that the reason there is no bacon on my bacon cheeseburger is b/c the bacon is mixed in with the ground beef. :facepalm: The point of this story is after we left, we walked back and decided to stop at a convenience mart to get some drinks and this is where DJ got tapped by a car in the crosswalk. No apologies or anything. Dude tapped DJ in the leg and then put the car in reverse for a second. CRAZY!

In the morning we were up and got a tip on JBL. So we headed for the airport again and there he was! Freaking JBL! He was nice as pie. Got 2 autos and a photo with him. He pretty much signed for everyone and things went really smooth. Great way to get the day started. We decided to pass at trying for Flair again, considering he probably wouldnt sign anyway. Instead we got some good and then left for Axxess, Edge VIP style. I bought mine about a month ago at $150. I was happy with my price. The day of the signing…..DJ bought 2 Edge VIPs at $60 a piece. WOW! Once we got there, it was still pretty damn packed and that was around 4pm for a 6pm Axxess session. We got into line and waited. I was gonna get my shirt given to me by Edge from Extreme Rules resigned with Deco Paint Cloth Marker and have him inscribe it with the date. Since we had VIP, we decided to hit up the other auto lines….however, we needed to hit the merch stand for the Tyson photo first. We got there and were within the first 20 people. They were $25 and WELL worth the price. Scored the Tyson and headed for Axxess auto lines. First stop was station 2, which turned out to be R Truth. We were 5th in line. Decided to stay in it, cuz the other lines were huge and I still needed Truth in the new WM 28 program which is awesome looking. Probably one of the better ones they have done. Got Truth in the program and we were off to station 5 for Swagger and Vickie. This line took FOREVER!!!! But once we were through, we saw the session was coming to an end, so we took off for Edge VIP. When we got there, we were told that we might not get Edge due to the line and when the session is over. Explained we had VIP and that guarantees us 1 auto and 1 photo. The guy working the line said there are no guarantees and was instructed to tell us where we could get a refund if we miss out. WHAT!??!?!!? What if I paid $500 for this ticket…you refunding that?!?!??! Needless to say, it was all for not in panic. We made it through the line safely. When it was my turn, I reminded Edge about the inscription. He said…yup, I remember. But the handler stepped in and said we didnt have time for all that. Edge stopped, looked up at him with a stern look and said…we have all the time in the world. He then hit him with the jackpot smile he has and finished up my shirt. Everyone who did the Edge VIP got a Bending The Rules poster, 11X14 I believe on the way out. I already own the 27X40…so this really did nothing for me. But still was nice to give out.

We finished up the session with other autographs, including Christian, Kaitlyn, Sin Cara, and a few others. A lot of the week blends in together, so some of this might actually be out of order. It was a long day, but we got a lot done. Added several names to the new WM 28 program, got JBL and got to experience my first Axxess. Tomorrow would be my easy day at Axxess. No VIP….just a chance to experience the actual event and what it has to offer and do a few auto lines. Well…that didnt go down as expected.

Once out of Axxess, we headed for our regular Hotel…..45 motherfucking minutes away! Never again do we allow someone else to book our accomadations. While you couldnt beat the price, it wasnt worth the hassle and headache and travel. It was late, so we stopped at Checkers for dinner. Have seen it on tv and it always looked good..,…but never had the pleasure of dining there. But then I did and it was amazing. It was like an orgasm in my mouth. Wait….that sounds ambiguously gay. Anyway…the orgasm in was barely worth the orgasm on the way out. The next day I did 4 rounds with Checkers and man, Checkers kicked my ass…hole.

Day 3 saw HHH VIP day. DJ had one…I did not. I despise HHH and really could care less. But he was going and I figured this was my chance to take in Axxess. In the morning we got wind of Daniel Bryan and Kane signing at the WM Super store at Sun Life. So we headed over there. Sadly, it was 2 different signings…..so we did Daniel Bryan and I got him in WM 28 and then I stayed for Kane, while DJ headed for Axxess. He was not missing HHH. The Kane line took forever. Easily more people there for him than Bryan. Once I was done with Kane, I headed for Axxess. Went to the box office and was standing in line waiting to buy a GA ticket. Then a friend of mine popped over and wanted to know if I wanted to buy a HHH VIP. I told him I wouldnt pay prices he would want and will stick to GA. He said I could have it for $80….I negotiated to $60. I think I did pretty good. $46 with fees was the GA price…so essentially I paid $14 for HHH. Decided to hit HHH first to get him out of the way. Line took a bit…but got through Got HHH in WM 28 program. Once I was done, I hit up a couple of lines….like Ziggler for the photo op and then spent the rest of the time checking out the attractions and taking photos.

Day 4, which was Saturday, was the day we decided we would try the tv Hotel. I think we all originally planned to do tv more often, but just never really felt like it. So we headed over in the morning. Got some good gets in Mil Mascaras, Christian, Ric Flair, John Laurinitas, Otunga, Miz, Brodus Clay, Shannon Moore, and Harley Race etc. before we ended up breaking for lunch. We hit up Buffalo Wild Wings…which is a place I love, but this location outside of Miami was horrid. HORRID. After BWW, we headed back to the Hippo to get showered and changed for the HOF. I dawned my fully pimped out all red, 3 piece suit, minus my cane which sadly could not come due to being desperate for space in the suitcase. We were off to the HOF. I’ll never understand why WWE does not enforce their dress code at this event. Showing up in a tshirt and shorts, bringing signs, and eating snacks are ridiculous. But I cant blame the fan fully, as WWE contributes with selling popcorn, beer, etc and even having merch. stands. Anyway, the HOF was really cool to witness. JBL and Christian had the 2 best induction speeches. Both were full of emotion and you could tell just how proud these 2 men were of their counterparts. Tyson was just fucking funny. And the Horsemen was a good listen. A fitting finale to Edge’s career, as he now rides off into the mountains.

After the HOF we headed back to tv. We did not stay long. But it was cool to socialize and mingle. Got a few pics with Nattie, Hillbilly Jim and Rhino. And of course I was involved in the Foley/Moxley scuffle. Here is what really went down for those who were curious and only seen the HEAVILY edited clip.

Foley had come out and WWE staff encouraged people to go up to him to ask for autos, pictures or just converse. They wanted a good crowd around Foley. I was going anyway, as I am working on my Wrestle Vessel photo, which has Mick on it. When I got up to him, he was being “interviewed by a fan”…which was actually WWE staff. They asked typical fan questions like how was Miami, when are you coming back, etc. I had my photo in my hand and Foley looked at and asked me what I had. I showed it to him and he was stunned to see this. He started to recount some of the stories, making him just the 3rd person (Edge and Big Show before him) to really remember the photo/cruise. He started to talk about how they really abused Big Show on this cruise and thats when Moxley came over. Foley was brushing him off, as Moxley ranted about how Foley was responsible for the death of an entire generation of his friends. Foley asked him what are the names of his friends and Moxley just continued to rant. Foley had my photo in his hands the entire time, even through the shoving match. I thought Moxley was gonna yank it and tear it up. But eventually, Foley fired off a good shove that sent Moxley stumbling almost into the fountain and then some “random guy” held Moxley back, as other “random guys” held Foley back.

Foley then returned to the group and asked where was I….finished his story, signed my photo and continued to sign and take pics for everyone. Note Ed Koskey, head writer, was also present.

We had an early morning to get to. Ended up scoring a pair of Sheamus VIPs for REALLY cheap, so we had those to go along with my 2 Big Shows and 1 Rey…..God I loved buying my VIP tix the last week of Mania…..$50 and under. So we left the Hotel early, ended up missing a host of good names like Vince. Oh well.

Day 5 came and we were up early for the VERY long day. Unfortunately, we ran into a bike race. Yes a bike race. This absurd idea to shut down streets of Miami leading into Axxess during WM week is more than annoying. We got there right at 8am and got inside. Here we found out that b/c of the bike race….all of the talent was running behind. The 8am session did not start till almost 9. I started in the Del Rio line to get my WM 27 program signed by him. We left Del Rio for Sheamus VIP line as the session was coming to a close. I was kind of hoping we wouldnt get there and get refunds considering I paid so well below face. But they said b/c of the delay, Sheamus would stay and finish the line and they moved Big Show to a different table. Several names that were advertised were no shows like Roddy Piper and Kelly Kelly. Got through Sheamus fairly quickly. Once I was done, I was lucky enough to head over to the ring to catch Seth Rollins aka Tyler Black face Leo Kruger. I really wanted to see Rollins and Cesaro….but missed it on Friday. I was determined to get him to sign my 8×10 and get a pic with him. His match started and he came down high fiving and I told him I came over to the ringside area just to see him. He took a few steps then came back and gave me another high five saying that he came back to give me this high five just for me since I came over just for him. LOL!! After his match, he came over and signed for me and took a pic which turned out awesome. I told him I couldnt wait to see him on the main roster and he said its gonna happen sooner than later. Good things poppn for the former Tyler Black.

After Rollins/Black, we headed for Big Show. Was able to get 2 from Big Show on my own, while Dan got my WM 27 program done. I showed Big Show the Wrestle Vessel photo and he was happy to sign that along with my program. NIIICCCEEE!!! Big Show is always a cool dude. Was able to do more checking out the Axxess events, including the entrance video. I wanted to do Edge, but he was not available….UNREAL. So I went with The Rock. Not as good as I had hoped, but oh well. This VIP sesssion ended pretty quickly, as they moved onto Rey. Started this session with Layla and what was also supposed to be Kelly Kelly. Needed Layla in WM 27, so it worked out. Then moved to Jimmy Hart before hitting up Rey. Was able to get 2 programs done by Rey….so was very happy about that as well. This session was about dead. Lines were pretty well nothing. Derrick Bateman and Maxine finished their line in 15 mins…so they left. So I ended up getting a pretty hungover Alex Riley, Hawkins and Reks, Million Dollar Man and Dory Funk Jr. I also decided to try out for The Marine 3….so I did that. And I left the session right at half way. This session definitely moved the quickest and was the most laid back.

After finishing up the last Axxess session, grabbed a quick bite to eat and made our way to WM. When we arrived we were met with the stiffest parking expense I have ever encountered….$40!!!! Good thing we had 4 people in the car. OUCH! I was guessing $25 since it was Mania, but really $15-20 is all that should be charged. We originally joked that it might be $30 to park. :smh: But we were excited to be there. We made our way through the parking lot, encountering tons of tail gaters. Tail gating is not for me. The idea of it sounds cool….but the setup with the grill and sitting out in the sun, while strangers come by and eat your food just doesnt sound appealing. Once inside, I saw the merch stand had an exclusive WM poster, old school style. The kind you would find hanging on a telephone poll many, many, many years ago. I WANTED IT!!! I hit 4 merch. stands, including the big one on my level. ALL were sold out. Ugh. Of course the one and only thing I wanted is sold out. I probably couldnt have kept it safe at Sun Life anyway….as Sun Life had less knee room than the airplane we came down on.

We took our seats and I absorbed the view. My first Wrestlemania. I know many our shocked by this….but this was in fact my first WM. I had 2 major reasons to go…..Edge’s HOF induction and The Rock returning to the ring to save the WWE from Cena, even if it is just for one night. I took damn near 1500 photos during WM week, including 600 just at WM. Our seats were ok. For the price we wanted to pay…..I think we got about as good as a seat as we were gonna get.

Now I start my complaining. Oh yeah…plenty to complain about. The seats are the seats. I am fairly used to sitting down and finding my knees squished in. So you deal. BUT what I cant stand are ignorant people. We are in elevated seating. Each level sits one step higher. This is done to people’s views are not blocked by the person sitting in front of you. What this means……STOP STANDING UP DURING THE EVENT!!!!! I get it….a big spot is coming or someone’s entrance. But there is no need to be on your feet for 15mins. straight. SIT DOWN!!! You can see just fine sitting down. You have completely defeated the purpose of the Architecture of Sun Life Stadium.

Lastly, stop getting up every 5 minutes to get another beer when you are sitting in the middle of the row. Are you a person who doesnt stay to watch the event and spends more time at the snack line?! GET A FREAKING AISLE SEAT!!!!! Not to mention they had a beer man coming by every 6 minutes selling the $9 a bottle beer. I get why these places sell beer…..they make a freaking FORTUNE!!!! These fools are buying 10-12 beers for the night. They spend $100 on a half a case of beer. So sad. I stick with their over priced $4 a bottle water and I had 2…..THE ENTIRE NIGHT! AND I didnt get up and leave the event and spend 30 mins trying to get it. I grabbed 2 before I sat down. But wait…..it gets worse. Those same sad people dont just get up to get another beer cuz they cant wait a minute for a beer man to come by……they also get about every 10 minutes cuz their god damn BLADDERS are so full!!!! Up and down, up and down….all night long. These guys had to have spent half the freaking night or more in between bathrooms and beer lines. And they never seemed to have an issue with how they were bothering everyone else in the row. And to the hot blonde in the halter top…..yes I grabbed your ass and stared at your tits. ;) You can get up as many times as you want. 8-)

The show as a whole I would rate as a 4/10. From HORRID booking to poor matches, the show was more than underwhelming. I wont spend too much time on it….but here is my quick review.

Tag Title Dark Match: One of the best matches of the night. SHAME this was not on tv. Outside of the Gabriel botch, I really enjoyed it. Fun, exciting, suspenseful and the crowd was into it.

1. Daniel Bryan/Sheamus: A travesty. Bryan is SUPER MEGA over. Sheamus drew boos eventhough he was the baby face. But to book this match’s finish in 18 seconds is SOOOOO disrespectful to both men and the World Title. Daniel Bryan looks like a chump. Sheamus looks like a champion who won via a fluke and the world title was basically recognized as nothing more than 10 pounds of afterthought. The crowd was not happy.

2. Orton/Kane: Decent match. I liked the booking. Really thought Orton was going over. Nice to see Kane get a win and this feud can progress. A lot of potential here for a strong feud that both men can come out looking good. Plus 1 to WWE for this match.

3. Big Show/Rhodes: Decent match from both men. My only issue was the finish. Cody Rhodes was damn near approaching a year as IC Champion. He has been built with so much strength, I would have liked to have seen him finish the year reign. Big Show doesnt need the IC Title. I would have preferred to see a DQ win for Big Show, followed by a WMD punch, knocking Cody out and giving Big Show his WM moment and both men walking off into 2 different directions looking strong.

4. Divas Tag: Beth Phoenix is the Divas Champion, yet she tags with Eve and they come out to Eve’s music. So wasteful and worthless. Outside of the need of a filler match…..this was a damn train wreck. The highlight of this match was Maria Menudos shitting herself. Thats my story and I am sticking to it! :rofl: Finish was highly predictable and Menudos contributed absolute nothing, minus my section laughing at her dooky.

5. UT/HHH: All the talk of this being a MOTY candidate I find to be ABSURD!!! It was what I expected….lackluster and boring. But wait….it was actually worse that I expected. We basically saw the same match as last year with same spots and the same ABSURD number of kicking out of finishers. Kicking out of everyone’s finisher doesnt make you look strong, it makes the finisher look weak. Not to mention it crapped on the main event and stole spots from that. The live crowd LOVED this match…..I was falling asleep. Props to the cool ass entrances, but outside of that….this was about as good as the damn divas match. Feel free to hate on me.

6. Team Johnny vs. Team Teddy: For a filler match, this went off fairly decently. I hated seeing a talent like Dolph Ziggler being relegated to this, but it had some cool spots, meaning and a decent finish. At the end, it also kicked off the next chapter in the Ryder/Eve saga….so all in all things seemed to work out. Good to see Laurinitas’ team win as well.

7. Punk/Jericho: One of the matches I have really enjoyed being built and was excited to see. IT DISAPPOINTED!!!! And I mean it REALLY disappointed. I expected a masterpiece between the 2. Instead I felt like what we got was just the first chapter in this feud and that they didnt give their best at Mania in order to further this feud. You can further the feud without having to hold back. The last 5 mins. was REALLY strong and had what I was looking for during the match, but the rest of it was lackluster at best. Too bad.

8. The concerts: Nice to see Diddy make an appearance. I enjoyed the mini concerts. After Punk/Jericho, which the crowd was into….we needed a moment to catch our breaths and get ready for the main event. MGK was doing just fine until he started talking out his ass about Cena being an underdog and then trash talked The Rock. WHOOPS! Boos reigned down for MGK, who clearly has no concept what an underdog is. If anything, Cena is the epitome of what an underdog is NOT. Flo-Rida was next. Same thing….did a fine job in his mini concert. When he said “Put Your Hands Up”, I started singing “Pull Your Pants Up”. No…seriously. Why wear a belt made of diamonds if your pants are hanging off the bottom of your ass. How do you even get them to stay like that?

9. Rock/Cena: One of the 2 reasons I came here. The electricity was amazing. Cena was booed out of the building. Lots of Cena Sucks/Lets Go Cena chants. I despise this. Why? B/c of this WWE has decided to push Cena differently with the whole “no one conveys more emotion than” BS. Best way to get Cena gone is for no one to care about him. Dont like Cena….cheer for the other guy. The more they hear Cena Sucks/Lets Go Cena….the more we get the “same old shit”. I did kind of dig his new shirt though. When The Rock entered….IT WAS CRAZY!!!! If there was a roof, it would have blown off. AWESOME to see The Rock in the ring again…LIVE!!!! I thought WWE did a fantastic job in making this match, from the spots, finish and ending. Shame that we just saw a match filled with everyone kicking out of finishers….but I just ignored that and stuck with this match. I liked how Cena looked really strong most of the match….its when I really started to feel like Rock was going to win. I also liked Cena’s expressions following 2 AAs that failed to put The Rock away. I liked the spot where Rock is going to the top rope, showing the desperation to win, hits the cross body, but Cena rolls through and deadlifts The Rock into the AA. I thought that was it. I bought it….hook line and sinker. THATS how you make a show. When the crowd has a thought and all of the sudden believes they are wrong and here is the end. Excellently done. Going into Mania I believed it was 55/45 Cena to win. During the match it was more like 60/40 Rock to win. But at that moment…..it was 95/5 Cena wins. I also liked when Rock spit into his hand and then missed the right, Cena countered into the AA. Good spot there. Earlier in the match, we saw Cena kick out of the Rock Bottom…but he did it after a few second delay as Rock was trying to get over to make the cover. Thats how you kick out of a finisher. And then there was the Cena going for the People’s Elbow. STRONG way to finish. Cena makes ONE…ONE mistake, gets a tad cocky and it costs him. Rock Bottom and win. Like a little kid, I was jumping for joy. Highfives all around. AWESOME!!! Rock did it. He vanquished the evil John Cena…the man who is the face of a generation of WWE that is so bothersome to many. Awesome moment. About my only real complaint here was Cena immediately rolling out of the ring, pouting on the floor. It was an epic match. I’m good with giving The Rock the ring to do his thing and celebrate. Roll out and stand outside to applaud him. Then reenter the ring, shake his hand and hit the showers. You werent buried. The finish was strong and you have a creative way to move into your next story….which would happen on Raw with Lesnar. Instead you looked like a baby. I think Cena made himself look bad in the end.

This pretty much concluded my WM week.  Enjoy the pics!  For me….next stop Orlando.

 

Category: Celebrity, Wrestling / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

WWE Extreme Rules Baltimore, MD 4/25/10

CM Showstopper / April 25, 2010 / No comments

I am back for another tale. I had never been so excited to take a trip like this one. The night before, my gut was giving me that feeling. The kind you get when you know you are about to reach heights of epic proportions.

We arrived at the airport around 1pm on Saturday. My crew, DJKnightRida, JF and Erin. A few of my friends, who already got there told us that Tatanka and Sunny were there for an indy show that weekend. Sadly, we missed them. Would have been cool to be able to get them in my WWE Ency. But poop happens.

Unfortunately for the next 6 hours, thats all that happened. Sitting around and waiting and we saw no sign of life. But then finally…..Sheamus was spotted. The first of all. As he was waiting for his bags to come around, we approached and as usual….Sheamus was super nice! He now asks for your name though, which he did not do before. It works out great for me, as I love my stuff to be personalized. I got him on the inside cover of the pedia, as I did not have any new programs for him.

A little after that we spotted Randy Orton. He was waiting for his bags, so we carefully approached. Randy was kind of enough to sign my 8X10 and take a pic. He was pretty nice and in a good mood. You just never know with Orton. We thanked him and left. We saw people going up to Orton multiple times. After they were coming back a second time with 3 and 4 items signed, I decided to go up again for a second. Randy signed it for me, but he said it was getting to be BS that people are coming back for more autos and to just bring it all up at once. He made a good point. I thanked him and told him I would remember for next time. Unfortunately, my good bro DJKnightRida was coming up and I tried to warn him, but he did not hear me. Orton WENT OFF! Wasnt really needed, but I do understand it. Poor timing on my bro’s part.

We then spotted Serena and she is a sweet heart. Highly recommend meeting her. She is so nice and is beautiful, even with the short hair cut. If she is with Punk, avoid it though. Punk keeps all members of the SES in a bad mood and makes them kayfabe. I finally got a picture with her.

Now time was flying as more planes were landing. Todd Grisham, referees, crew, etc. were coming in. On my way to Todd, I saw Beth Phoenix heading the opposite way. She stopped in the middle of the hall and looked lost. I went up to her and she was SUPER sweet. She signed my program and then asked me for some help, as she was looking for the Delta gate. I offered to show her where it was and we started walking back. Beth was really nice and asked if we were going to the ppv and we said yes. I asked her about her “Good Housekeeping” match, which was later changed to a make over match, and she said she had no idea what it was, but not to expect anything like the last one. She feared it was going to involve putting makeup on your opponent to win. We got Beth to her gate and then met up with Grisham. Got a pic. with Todd.

A friend of mine came down and told me that Edge had just left the airport with the Hart Dynasty. I was livid that I had missed him. I just couldnt believe it. We wanted to double check, so we started heading towards his gate just to make sure he left. DJKnightRida and I only got half way, when I spotted blonde hair outside. IT WAS EDGE!!!!! I ran outside and saw Edge jumping on the airport shuttle. We jumped on and found The Hart Dynasty already on board and Edge took a seat. I sat across from him and he said…”Jay, you found me. Good deal.” I told him I had a gift for him, a 25 disc compilation of his WWE work from matches, to promos, to commericials, to his part in Highlander, interviews, etc. He was so excited for it and couldnt wait to take a look at it. He always wanted something like this and it was a regret of his to never start documenting it, as he didnt plan on having kids before, but now he does. He couldnt have been more grateful and even The Harts marveled at it.

A lot of people have wondered about his new tat. So I asked him about his new tat and he explained it was waves crashing into a mountain. He rolled up his sleeve and showed it too us. He said the meaning behind it is he and his gf’s love of Hawaii. They find Hawaii so peaceful. He has a banner on it with JEICO……they are letters representing of his family. And then there are 2 blank banners, where he wants to put his kids’ names. Very cool info. I even told him how people were all curious.

I also gave him a picture, the first one we ever took together, from 1999 and his last indy date in Reading, PA. He was floored. He couldnt believe how young we both looked and started passing it around to the Harts. They all marveled at it, as well. Edge was so kind to sign my poster, my programs, and an 11X14 matted photo I had for him. Edge continues to remain the absolute coolest guy I have ever met in wrestling. I have serious man love for him. He asked if we were going to the ppv and we said yes and Raw and Smackdown. He said he would see us later then. Before he left I said to him “if you are feeling up to it, I wouldnt mind getting your tshirt that you wear to the ring.” Edge said he would see what he could do.

So we got off the shuttle and had to wait for another one to return us to the airport. We talked to David, as he was sitting and waiting for his rental. He was cool, as always and just like Tyson and Nattie as well. He talked to us about WWE, Edge, Bret and MMA. Not sure why those topics, but he was cool and just seemed to like to talk. He did say he thinks Brock Lesnar is all power and if you can get away from that, Brock would be easy to beat. But its just so hard to do that. He also said he was training with an MMA fighter, but I cant remember who. It wasnt the Gracies though. Got Nattie to sign my program along with David and already had Tyson from New Jersey. So The Hart Dynasty was done.

We caught our shuttle back and back to the airport we went. Saw Luke Gallows and Teddy Long. I got my program signed by Gallows and asked him about Festus and why he doesnt sign Festus. He was nice and said he hated the gimmick and just wants to forget it ever happened.

After that we headed for the hotel. When we arrived, Mark Henry was outside signing. I was able to get him in my WM 25 program. Otherwise, we didnt see many. Heard Sheamus and Orton both wouldnt sign at the hotel and that Morrison was also there, but we missed him. Around 2am, Bret Hart came in but wouldnt sign. He said he would be back down in a little bit and would sign 1 for everyone and take 1 pic. We waited about an hour, but he never returned.

Up early on Sunday and caught a slew of people. From referees to crew to wrestlers, etc. Just kind of a non stop frenzy. Bret Hart wouldnt sign again and said he would be back, but never did come back. Saw Robin Givens, Mike Tyson’s ex wife, who also blew everyone off. Got pics with Joey Styles and Matt Striker, which was awesome. I love Striker. There were so many in the hotel lobby, it was hard to get stuff done.

Spotted Kofi and he was super nice. Jack Swagger was running late and wouldnt sign. Joey Mercury was there, driving the SES. He signed my WWE Ency, Punk ignored everyone. Rey Mysterio was in a hurry and signed autos as he was trying to head to the lobby. He was running late, so he couldnt get to everyone and seemed to feel bad. Once he got to the lobby he realized he needed a rental and had to stop and fill out paperwork. As he was waiting he called out to everyone and said he would finish what he couldnt do in the hallway. Rey is always a class act. I got a lot of autographs and it turned out really well. Outside of missing Bret Hart…..couldnt have been much better.

At the PPV, Edge hooked me up and tossed his shirt to me. I know people will argue the point or say he just tossed his shirt and it wasnt for me. But they are just haters. When was the last time babyface Edge or heel Edge ever tossed his shirt to the crowd? Regardless….in the end, I have it and thats that.

 

Category: Wrestling / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

WWE Night Of Champions Philadelphia, PA 7/26/09

CM Showstopper / July 26, 2009 / No comments

Just got back from my weekend in Philly for Night of Champions. My buddy and I, DJKnightRida, got into Philly on Saturday. The hotel we stayed out was nice and we ran into Harvey Whippleman there. I got a quick signature in my WWE Encyclopedia.

Sunday morning, we went to visit a friend at another hotel and got to meet a ton of people. First out was John Cena. He was quickly mobbed by people seeking autographs. I tried to wait patiently, but that turned out to be a bad idea, as hotel security escorted John to his car. He signed about 10 and then was out the door.

Tons of people came and went and I dont remember everyone, so I will stick to the high points. Ted Dibiase came down and was SUPER nice. He told everyone that wanted a graph or photo to follow him outside the hotel and he would oblige. I got both and like I said, he was a cool guy with a HOT blonde that I think was his wife.

Out of the divas that came down Tiffany was the best. She was GORGEOUS! Dressed like the prom queen and sweet as can be. She was also one of the few that did not use valet parking. And I am totally in love with her.

Lawler came out a couple of times and he was cool. Very pleasant with everyone. The refs, like Charles Robinson was very cool and really interacted with the fans.

Kofi and Hornswoggle came down. Kofi was ultra cool. Signing tons of graphs and doing tons of pictures. Hornswoggle was ok. He signed my Enclyopedia, but didnt personalize it like he ALWAYS does. Not sure why.

Punk came down and saw the lobby was stacked with fans and quickly jumped back into his elevator. LOL!! It was funny. We think he tied his bed sheets together and shimmied down from his room.

The only bad experience I had was with Jim Ross, which I was not shocked about. As he was leaving people asked for some autographs…..and he signed about 3. And then I asked for one and he turned to the hotel staff and said “well sure…..its not like I have a job to do or any kind of work that I have to get done.” I should have responded that I wished he didnt and then we could actually hear some decent commentary, but I failed. Others told me Ross was just cranky and thats not how he is usually.

NOC was a decent show. We had a lot of fun. The highlight of the night came when Jeff Hardy tossed his shirt into the crowd near me and I dove to catch it and felt I was really close. Unfortunately, I did not and instead crashed into 7 people knocking them down and causing a major scene. LOL!! A kid two rows behind me got it, good for him. No major injuries, just a lot of laughter, followed by a lot of applause.

Show ended and we went back to our friend’s hotel and got to meet the wrestlers coming in. Tiffany was awesome again and still looked gorgeous. MVP was cool, but you could tell he was tired. But the highlight came when CM Punk hobbled in. Dude was in bad shape, ice packs on his knees and back. He checked in and said he would do autographs, but no pictures. I got my Punk chair from the PPV signed and its one of my most cherished pieces.

I hope you enjoy the pics. I’ll have more when I return from Smackdown tomorrow night. I will be front row on the camera side, so you should be able to spot me with my traditional CM Showstopper sign, which I have already gotten PMs about from last night. If anyone has a screen cap of me and my sign, I would love to have it. Thanks!

 

 

Category: Wrestling / Tags: , , , , , , , ,
 

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