As soon as Wrestlemania X-8 was over two years ago, a friend of mine and myself got to talking about how cool it would be to be at Wrestlemania next year. Then he brought up an excellent point; why go to Wrestlemania XIX, when we could wait an extra year and make our first Wrestlemania be number 20? I agreed, and both of us began saving money so that we could attend Wrestlemania XX. Fast forward a year to Wrestlemania XIX, when they showed the promo for Wrestlemania XX halfway through the show, and confirmed that it would in fact be in Madison Square Garden, we were both up off of the couch and screaming in glee at the television.
A few months later, in early July, the WWE put the Wrestlemania XX travel packages on sale. Within a matter of hours, I had sent in the fax to the WWE to get my travel package, and the next morning I had my confirmation. I was going to Wrestlemania XX. I was giddy, and for days after that confirmation I couldn’t be in anything but a good mood. The travel package consists of a superstar meet and greet session, a ticket to the brunch they do each year and also of course a ticket to Wrestlemania itself. It was going to be a hell of a weekend. As the months wore on, Survivor Series rolled around and the seeds of Undertaker vs. Kane were planted. Talk about perfect for a huge ‘Taker and Kane mark, this was just the beginning of a very stacked card.
Of course then the Royal Rumble rolled around, and things really got cooking for Wrestlemania. Chris Benoit won the Royal Rumble, the Undertaker gave his first signs of his “dead man” return, Goldberg was attacked by Brock Lesnar, and Mick Foley returned to attack Randy Orton. As soon as the Rumble was over, I had officially come down with Wrestlemania fever. I couldn’t function real well unless I was watching or talking about wrestling. No Way Out of course also solidified this with the confirmation of Eddie Guerrero as WWE champion defending against Kurt Angle set for Wrestlemania.
The weeks leading into Wrestlemania were torture yet bliss for me. I felt like a kid before Christmas, that feeling of anticipation that you used to get waiting for the big day to arrive, the urge to just somehow move time forward faster, that desire to just sleep through every day so that the big event would get closer. I actually had it worse than that, because at least as a kid waiting for Christmas I could function without being totally zoned out on it. Not the case with Wrestlemania, however. I sat in my night classes drawing Wrestlemania XX logos on my notes, I listened to Wrestlemania themed music in my car, I watched previous Wrestlemanias while I wasn’t watching RAW or Smackdown, anytime I was talking to any of my friends or family I constantly gave them a countdown on how many days before Wrestlemania and how many days I had left to go before I went to New York. I had it bad. Then March 12 rolled around.
My flight was set to leave Tulsa at 6:00 AM, with a connecting flight in Detroit before we arrived to New York at 12:30. I went to sleep at about 12:30 Friday morning, and woke up at about 3:30. I couldn’t sleep, so I just got up and got ready and went to the airport and waited. Of course all we did was talk about wrestling until we boarded the plane, and after we boarded we talked some more about wrestling.
Upon our arrival in New York, we were shuttled to our hotel that the WWE had set up our reservations at, the Westin at 43rd and 8th in Times Square. So as we got near the hotel, two things stood out that were must see as soon as we had checked into the hotel. One, the building that was once the World, or WWF New York at one time, and is now vacant, still had the large marquee lit up with Wrestlemania XX advertisements, so of course we had to gawk at that. The second, and much cooler thing, was the giant Toys R Us they have in Times Square. In the window of it, there were many WWE memorabilia. Such things as the Undertaker’s cape from Wrestlemania XV, Ric Flair’s robe from Wrestlemania X-8, Kane’s WWE Tag Team Title belt, and Booker T’s WCW title belt were among some of the items in the window display. After we checked in to our hotel we headed to the Toys R Us and on the inside we saw more displays. They had Kurt Angle’s singlet from Wrestlemania 2000, Andre’s boots, Andre’s hand prints, and several other things. And of course I didn’t leave without buying a couple of toys to add to my wrestling collection. While we were there we saw Rey Mysterio Jr. riding on a giant Ferris Wheel set up in the building. He did not have his mask on, and was with his daughter, so as a matter of respect we did not approach him.
Friday night at the hotel was the on-site registration with the WWE where I received the tickets to Wrestlemania, the brunch, and the autograph session that would take place that weekend, along with various Wrestlemania XX souvenirs. As soon as I got back to the hotel room I busted out a map of the arena to see where our seats were. Holy crap, awesome seats, right across from the steady cam, three rows up from the floor, on the aisle next to the spot where the wrestlers used to walk out at shows like Wrestlemania X, Royal Rumble 2000, and Summerslam 1998. We were going to have a hell of a time, these seats couldn’t have been better unless we were first row, really.
We got up bright and early on Saturday and headed down to do the one and only thing that didn’t directly have to do with wrestling that we did the entire weekend. We went down to Battery Park to take a look at the Statue of Liberty, and along the way get a glimpse of Ground Zero where the World Trade Center once stood. Of course, on the way to Batter Park, we did happen to stop by Madison Square Garden and get some pictures of the World’s Most Famous Arena, including some pictures of us in front of the building, which is a bit of a tradition anytime I go to a show. After the non-wrestling stuff was out of the way, the excitement level hit a fever pitch. We headed to the Hilton for what was called “Mid-Day Madness”, which was the autograph session we were scheduled to attend with an apparent random list of stars.
Upon arrival to the Hilton, we arrived to the end of the Platinum session (we had purchased the gold session). The platinum people got to meet Lita, Molly, Chavo, the Hurricane, Rosey, and one other I can’t remember, while getting their pictures taken with Chris Benoit and Rey Mysterio Jr. No offense to the aforementioned stars, but Benoit and Molly were the only names on that list I really cared if I met or not, though I wouldn’t have had anything against meeting the rest. Despite the fact that we were still excited, the excitement level faded a bit when we realized that these weren’t exactly the top name stars we had hoped they would be. I was hoping to meet Kane, the Undertaker, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Trish Stratus. My friend was holding onto hope for Chris Jericho, Stone Cold, and Benoit. There was one common ground though; we had both agreed that if we by some miracle met Mick Foley, we would go home happy basically no matter what.
As the autograph session got underway, Jim Ross and Tazz came out first to introduce the stars. Eric Bischoff was brought out first, followed by Rico and Jackie. Then Billy Gunn and Dawn Marie were introduced before Jim Ross started in on the final autograph signee for the day. “He’s a 15-year veteran, a legend, a best-selling author, and he is the king of the death match…MICK FOLEY!” I almost wet myself. Foley walked out to a huge “Foley” chant, and took his seat. John Cena and Scotty 2 Hotty were then introduced to take pictures with the fans. Pictures and autograph personalization was not allowed with the signees, as they wanted to accommodate as many fans as possible as fast as possible. Foley was the first guy in the line of stars as we went through the line, which in my opinion was a mistake. I was so in awe of having just met Foley that all I could get out to any of the other stars at the table was “Hi, thanks.” In any event, my friend went before I did, and Foley asked him where he was from, to which he responded Tulsa, and added “We came here just to see you.” Foley looked up curiously and said “Really?” and my friend responded with “Yeah, really” so Foley asked “What’s your name?” and proceeded to personalize his autograph, which he was not supposed to do. He then repeated the process with me, asking me my name and telling me to “have a nice day”. I almost cried. Mick Foley had broken the rules and personalized my autograph. I have no idea how many people he did it for, but he wasn’t doing it before my friend or directly after me. I felt special.
I then moved over to take my photo with John Cena and Scotty 2 Hotty. I said to John Cena “You’re the man”, and then struck a “Word Life” pose and had the picture taken. After the picture was taken, Cena thanked me, shook my hand and said “No bro, I’m not the man; I’m the man that knows the man.” I thought that was cool, and I turned and left, realizing about 2 minutes later that I had been a complete dick to Scotty by just walking by him and leaving. I was so thrilled with meeting Foley and Cena that I was a bit out of it. So if by some chance Scott Taylor ever reads this, my bad.
After the autograph session, I basically had to haul ass back to my hotel to change into “business attire” for the Hall of Fame induction ceremony that was to take place that night. So I changed and went back up to the Hilton and waited in line for a couple hours before they opened the doors.
The only real gripe I have about the whole weekend was the way the Hall of Fame was handled. The promise when I bought the tickets was that you get to meet several of the current WWE superstars at an autograph session prior to the Hall of Fame, and to meet the legends that were inducted after the Hall of Fame. It also advertised food and alcohol to be served with the show. I figured once we were let in, we’d all be shuffled through a line to get the current stars autographs, then I expected to be let into a room with tables, pick a table and sit down, at which point I assumed they would have people serving food and drinks.
Here’s the way it really went down, though. They let us into a room with no chairs, but several tables with food and a couple areas where you could get a drink, but there was a set of doors leading into yet another room that they still had locked, which was where the Hall of Fame was to actually be held. So your choice was to line up at the door so you could get a good seat, or to eat and have shitty seats. On top of that, there was another set of doors on the opposite side of the room where people seemed to be flocking. I decided to check it out and let my friend hold our spot in line. So I went and got in this line, and about 5 minutes into waiting, I realized that this was a line for autographs from Smackdown stars, and that there was a separate line going next to me for RAW superstars autographs. The RAW stars were Randy Orton, Batista, Molly, and Chris Benoit. The Smackdown stars were Dawn Marie, Scotty 2 Hotty, Rey Mysterio Jr., and Eddie Guerrero. I was in the Smackdown line, but I really wanted to meet the RAW list more, considering I had met Dawn and Scotty earlier in the day.
In any event I stood in the line and was greeted by the aforementioned Smackdown stars, none of which really surprised me until I got to Eddie. I got to him and I said “How are you doing?” to which he replied “Hey, how are you doing homes?” So I replied with “Man, I’m just happy to be here.” Eddie looked up at me and said “Yeah, you and me both man.” I replied with “I bet you are man.” Eddie then stood up from his seat, looked me dead in the eye, shook my hand and said “Thank you very much, God bless and have a great time.” I thanked Eddie and said it was nice to meet him and good luck. I thought it was a very cool exchange.
I then was shuffled back into the room with the food, without getting to meet the RAW stars. So I found my friend, who is a huge Benoit fan, and sent him to go get in the RAW line so he could meet Benoit. One problem, they had closed the damn line! We were all supposed to get to meet these people, how can they close the line? So we waited a few minutes longer to get in, and I’d just like to say that it is NOT a good idea to get a bunch of wrestling fans liquored up with no real food, and then make them wait to get seated. So we were let into the grand ballroom area for the Hall of Fame, and there were no tables, just an auditorium type feel with rows and rows of chairs. The superstars and their families occupied the first 5 or 6 rows, so we were seated about seven or eight rows back, witch a decent but not great view of what was going on. I was seated directly across from Kane, who was on stage as a presenter. So at least that worked out, and I got some pretty decent pictures of Kane with his bald head, no eyebrow having self in a tux.
The night definitely did feel very special, as each presenter, hall of famer, and a couple of other special guests (Jim Ross and Vince McMahon) all talked at length about how much the business meant to them and how great it was to be there. Jim Ross’ speech was especially touching, and it gained a bit of a renewed respect for him from me. He had made a speech earlier at the Mid-Day Madness autograph session as well where he had talked about the fact that he knew the wrestlers were not the only ones who had sacrificed to get to Wrestlemania. He talked about the fact that all of the fans who traveled from all over the country and world to get to Wrestlemania, making monetary and other sacrifices along the way to join them for the biggest celebration ever, was very cool and he then said “We are your family, you’re home now, welcome home”. It was very cool.
But back to the Hall of Fame ceremony. I am all for giving these guys their respect and everything, but the speeches drug on and on and on and on. I learned the next morning that all speeches were supposed to be kept to five minutes and under, and I can honestly say that with maybe two or three exceptions, every presenter and every hall of famer went at least 10 or 20 minutes, with some going well over that.
The moment that I think will be talked about as a bit of an inside joke for forever more came with Blackjack Lanza got up on stage to present Bobby Heenan. Lanza was clearly drunk, and was stumbling over his words and not making much sense. He rambled for a long time, before finally starting to talk about how “it’s just like a painting, and you’ve got these beautiful colors, and…” and just kept going and going about the painting before finally introducing Bobby Heenan. You had to be there to believe how horrid Lanza’s drunken speech was, and you had to be there to believe how unbelievably funny Bobby Heenan’s speech was. We could have all listened to Bobby speak all night long. I hope that they include at least Bobby’s speech as an extra on the Wrestlemania XX DVD.
Kane and Pete Rose were rather entertaining, as was Sgt. Slaughter. Ric Flair had a few funny moments and Jesse Ventura is a very engaging speaker. The night was by no means a waste, but when 1:30 rolled around, and we had just finished up, I think we all realized it was a bit much. The brunch that was to be held in the morning was a mere 8 hours from start time and I’m sure that a lot of the guys wanted a bit of extra sleep, considering they would be expected to put on a career performance the next night. That said, I do not think that the legends signed autographs. We were all shuffled out of the ballroom, and I simply headed to get something to eat, as it had been almost 15 hours since the last time I had eaten. After I ate, I went to bed and tried to get a few hours of sleep before the big day.
I woke up at about 7 the next morning and get ready to head back down to the Hilton for the annual “Bacon, Bagels, and Biceps Brunch”. After waiting in line for awhile to get in, we were let back into the grand ballroom where the previous night’s Hall of Fame had taken place. This time, it was as I expected, with tables and everything, and we were served breakfast while we were treated to stars such as Rhyno, Rob Van Dam, Hardcore Holly, Test, Nidia, and others answering questions and talking about what Wrestlemania means to them. The event was hosted by Al Snow and Bill DeMott, and also featured Mick Foley honoring some Make a Wish children. It was a very nicely done event, and I don’t understand why the Hall of Fame couldn’t have been done in similar fashion.
After the breakfast, we went back to the other ballroom where we had met the wrestlers the previous day, to pick up the photos that had been taken with John Cena and Scotty 2 Hotty. I proudly display that picture on my bookshelf now.
We then headed back to Times Square to get something to eat and prepare for the Granddaddy of ‘Em All. We grabbed our signs, I grabbed 13 rolls of film (all of which I used), listened to a little music, took a moment to reflect on what we were about to experience, and then headed for the Garden. We arrived to the Garden about 3:45, or over two hours before the doors would open.
For those of you that have been to Madison Square Garden, you’ll know what I’m talking about, for those of you that don’t; I’ll try to describe it. The front entrance has an area that you can get into well before the show starts, kind of an outside area, yet it is still covered and is safe from the elements and weather. We got in there and bought up souvenirs and stood around for a bit before they gave us the go ahead to go into the inside waiting area where the ticket booth is located. My friend and I actually managed to be the first people in line at one of the entrances. But here’s the real kicker, they were interviewing people, the WWE was. The newest announcer, Todd, was going around interviewing people who had traveled from other countries or had made great sacrifices to go to Wrestlemania, and also those who had been to previous events at the Garden.
After interviewing mostly people from foreign countries, my friend caught one of the WWE officials who was looking for people in the crowd to interview, and he told them our story of how we had saved for two years for the chance to be here, been lifelong fans, etc. He looked at us for a moment and then said “Ok, come on through.” We were beside ourselves; we were really going to be interviewed by the WWE!
So we were prepped by the official, he asked us where we were from and about if we had known the show would be at the Garden or what, asked how long we had saved, how long we were watching, and then told us to tell all of that to the camera, and to be energetic and stuff to increase our chances of getting on. So Todd interviewed us, asked about how we had gotten to Wrestlemania and how long we had been watching. To be honest, I don’t remember a word my friend said, but Todd then turned to me and said “So, what happens if you walk away from here and this is a total disappointment? Is there any way you can leave disappointed?” I looked at him and I said “There is NO way this can disappoint! Just being here in this arena, just being at Wrestlemania is a dream come true!” Todd asked what I was most looking forward to, and I told him “Undertaker and Kane! I can’t wait to see the dead man return, Undertaker is coming back!” It was very cool and surreal to be interviewed like that.
Our interview hasn’t made air as of yet, all they showed during Wrestlemania itself was interviews with people from foreign countries. So, I’m hoping that on Confidential or as a DVD extra they use it. Either way, it was a very cool moment.
A short while later we were let into the actual arena. The stage was set up and everything was pretty much ready to go before show time. We stood at the top of the stairs that went down to our seats for a moment, taking in the fact that this is really Madison Square Garden. Then after getting to the seats we had, and seeing how perfect the seats were, it all started to really set in and I mean I could almost not believe it was real. The seats we had were three rows up off of the floor at the end of the row. I was sitting right next to the steel railing that kept me from being able to get down to the giant Wrestlemania logo they had displayed on the doors that they have used at the entrance at previous events at the Garden. We had a perfect view of the stage and of the ring and were right across from the steady cam and set to be on television all night. In fact, they got a close up of us if you go back and watch Mick Foley’s entrance, my friend was holding up a green sign that said “Foley is Great”, and I was standing next to him in my red “Big Freak’n Machine” t-shirt and I had a home made Socko on my hand.
The show itself I’m sure you’ve all seen by now and formed your own opinions on it already. I’ll say this much, I have never had so much fun at a live event. The crowd was awesome. In fact, all weekend I really didn’t run into the typical redneck moron, annoying fans that I find elsewhere. I’m guessing because of the expense and the magnitude of this event, the dedication and appreciation of the fans that did attend Wrestlemania XX was much higher than the average show. It truly did feel like family. The guys sitting next to us were very cool and at one point said that they’d buy me a beer if Bret Hart came out.
I’m sure you could tell the level of fans that were in that arena just by some of the chants that broke out, during the Lesnar-Goldberg match particularly. “We want Bret”, “We want Hogan”, “You sold out”, “Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, GOODBYE!” That was great to be a part of that. I’m sure Brock Lesnar did not appreciate it at all, but hey, he doesn’t have the passion to be in this business, despite being handed the WWE title 3 times in his first two years, despite being King of the Ring, and despite being touted as “the Next Big Thing”, so Brock Lesnar’s feelings are of no concern to me. That match may have actually marked the first time I ever rooted for Bill Goldberg.
The stunners on Goldberg and Lesnar got huge pops, as did Benoit’s very unexpected World Title win. Undertaker got a huge pop, although his entrance did not look as cool live as it did on television.
How do I sum up my first trip to Wrestlemania? Incredible is probably the best word. I came home on Monday and spent most of Tuesday trying to deal with a little bit of depression I had as a result that it was all over. I had been anticipating it for so long that it almost makes it where I have nothing to look forward to anymore. It gets said so often, but the wrestling business really does infect you. It gets into your blood and you can’t help but be hooked. I’m already trying to plan out my money as to when I might be able to hit up another Wrestlemania (it’s looking like at least Wrestlemania 22).
To bottom line it, as Austin might say, all I can really do is thank the WWE. I thank the superstars, I thank the McMahons, and I thank everyone who made it possible for me to have such an entirely enjoyable and incredible weekend. Wrestlemania XX, the slogan is where it all begins…again. For me, that was certainly true. Eleven years after I fell in love with professional wrestling, after this weekend I very much feel like it has all just began…
Again.
Until next time…
