OK, a few of my prized wrestling possessions!

[JayKayZee]

We're all getting nostalgic (I know it's not just me) so here are a few of the items tucked away in the sports wing of the house (ok, it's just a room). I don't have alot of the cards/ autos scanned, so this is a post about the "larger items". As with I'm sure everyone here, each has a story that it tells..

Start off with the smallest item right now:





I got to meet Edge at a book signing tour he did where he stopped at the local Wal*Mart.
Funny story about that, when I found out about the appearance a few weeks ahead of the signing, I stopped by the store for info. They had no idea he was coming, and essentially got their initial information from me.

Best memory. In case you didn't know, Edge is a Toronto boy. HUGE Leafs fan. Doing a signing in Sabres Country. He saw the Sabres hat on one of the other guys in line, and the hockey chirping was EPIC!!! Immediately showed himself as a guy's guy. awesome time!

The next item is a very different story..



I had the enormous privilege to go to The Great American Bash 2005, held in Buffalo NY. Four rows from the ring. These were special commemorative seats given to everyone in the first 15 rows. I will always cherish getting to see Eddie Guerrero wrestle before his passing.

There was another wrestler on that card that is no longer with us:



Quite a while later, in town for another taping, Chris Benoit was doing a signing at a local car dealership of all places. I went to get this and another chair from the event signed (the other was a Christmas surprise for the guy who went with me. His wife let me in while he was at work to snag his chair, and I kept it til XMas. How he never noticed it missing?????)
When I got to the dealership, the crowd wrapped around the inside, AND THEN AROUND THE OUTSIDE of the building. I don't know how long I waited, but eventually I got to the signing area.

Chris Benoit sat behind a table. He didn't look at you. He didn't speak to you. There was a "handler" there who took your item, and put it in front of Benoit, and he signed it. The handler was constantly repeating "ONE ITEM ONLY". People were coming up with a few kids together and this guy would argue the one item thing. The whole time, Chris never would look up. One of the kids ahead of me came with his mom and a camera. He asked for a picture. Benoit stood up from the table and leaned over "hoverhand" the kid and sat down, looking like you asked him for money or blood.

I'm not telling you this because it was such a bad experience, and he ticked me off. I tell you because he looked so incredibly sad.

It was only a few months later that all happened that night at his house...

I'm sorry, but I saw him for less than 5 mins., we never talked, yet I could just sense the brick wall he had built up around himself. How did nobody around him see it?

Ok, CHEER UP TIME!!

Here is another big reason I loved going to the BASH.

I got to see the BWO!!

I didn't meet them ,but I showed them a sign!

This one!



Hahahahahaha!!!


Actually, that reminds me of another funny story from that day!

The guy I went with was a smoker. Well, you can't smoke in the arena. They had a sign in the front lobby pointing to a "smoking area" around the side of the building. (basically, it was a barricade fenced area with a guard outside some employee entrance)
Well, we walked to this area, and the way took you through some kind of employees only looking hallways. As we're walking, a door to our right opens and out walks Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro!
They were walking in street clothes, carrying duffle bags, probably just getting to the locker room. We just stopped and looked at them, and they just stopped and looked at us!!
A second passes and we're shaking hands. We say "Wow! big fans!" They say "Hey cool! THANKS!". :beer:
Just then this total smart mark fanboy down the hallway see us all together and screams "OH MY GOD YOU'RE MNM!!!!!!!" Johnny Nitro just says "GOTTA GO!" and they run though another door to our left! Whole thing was less than a minute, but still great story...

This is pretty wordy, I 'm getting hungry. Look for my next "ALL EXTrEME" post! lol!

 

[JonX]

some nice stuff especially like the chair... reminds me of my own

my first wrestling event my big brother brought me the now infamous 1997 survivor series where the bret hart screwjob took place, he got us front row seats. and oce we left we got to keep the chairs

 

[TanguayFan]

Nice stuff. I used to work the charter flights that WWE flew in and out of Halifax. Met almost every major WWE star between 1997 and 2001, with the exception of the Rock. Some of the stories I could tell you...LOL....let's just say some of them have milder on camera personas than they have in real life. I have a ton of autographs kicking around somewhere, my fave being an autographed copy of a Team Extreme autobiographical magazine, signed on the front cover by Jeff and Matt Hardy and Lita. I'm pretty sure Jeff Hardy was, shall we say, feeling pretty good(?), when he signed for me.....LOL

The unfriendliest of all the wrestlers was, hands down, Mark Calloway (The Undertaker). Oddly enough, the nicest was, again hands down, Glenn Jacobs (Kane) and William Moody (Paul Bearer, RIP). The most outgoing, bombastic of all of them were the APA (Ron Simmons AKA Farooq and John Layfield AKA Bradshaw, soon to be JBL). A lot of them were just very quiet, unassuming people. The Dudleyz and APA made up for all of it though....man those guys were just like their screen personas....haha

 

[joesakic19xx]

This is so awesome, thanks for sharing all those memories!!

 

[chadsexington]

Yes! I love it! Thanks for sharing guys.

This whole reminiscing thing reminds me of the time I spent a weekend with Nova / Simon Dean when he came through town here in 2001 just after ECW folded. Among the things that happened that weekend - He and Christopher Daniels (who was also here) found out I was in journalism school and tried to co-conspire to create a believable fake story they would break to me to see how much traction it got. They had this entire story plotted out about how HHH was *** for pay and had evidence. Apparently Nova was going to offer me an exclusive interview as one of his johns as long as I kept his name out of the news.

I only found out after the fact that they didn't tell me because they realized I wasn't a dink and they were worried it would ruin my reputation too early on. :laugh:

 

[JayKayZee]

some nice stuff especially like the chair... reminds me of my own

my first wrestling event my big brother brought me the now infamous 1997 survivor series where the bret hart screwjob took place, he got us front row seats. and oce we left we got to keep the chairs

WOW! The Montreal Screwjob!! What a moment in history!

 

[JayKayZee]

Nice stuff. I used to work the charter flights that WWE flew in and out of Halifax. Met almost every major WWE star between 1997 and 2001, with the exception of the Rock. Some of the stories I could tell you...LOL....let's just say some of them have milder on camera personas than they have in real life. I have a ton of autographs kicking around somewhere, my fave being an autographed copy of a Team Extreme autobiographical magazine, signed on the front cover by Jeff and Matt Hardy and Lita. I'm pretty sure Jeff Hardy was, shall we say, feeling pretty good(?), when he signed for me.....LOL

The unfriendliest of all the wrestlers was, hands down, Mark Calloway (The Undertaker). Oddly enough, the nicest was, again hands down, Glenn Jacobs (Kane) and William Moody (Paul Bearer, RIP). The most outgoing, bombastic of all of them were the APA (Ron Simmons AKA Farooq and John Layfield AKA Bradshaw, soon to be JBL). A lot of them were just very quiet, unassuming people. The Dudleyz and APA made up for all of it though....man those guys were just like their screen personas....haha

Great stuff. I know back in the day (early to mid 1990s) I used to go with a buddy to every wrestling show at both "The Aud" and the old Niagara Falls Civic Center (now the location of Seneca Niagara Resort and Casino). Whenever there was a show, the wrestlers used to stay at the Holiday Inn and another hotel right down the street from the Buffalo Niagara International Airport. Directly next to the Holiday Inn and in front of the other place, is a Dennys. After every show we would go to the Dennys for late night food, and see the wrestlers chowing down before bedtime.
I always tell people my experience from there was - Most of the time, those guys were exact opposites of their "personas". I saw serious heels wave and make goofy faces at every kid in the restuarant, cracking both parties up. But I also saw some big fan favorites give dirty looks to kids and take their food togo because a kid saw them.
I understand just wanting to eat in peace and get some sleep before you drive tomorrow to the next town, but recognize these kids IDOLIZE you. You are a public figure in a public place. We never bothered them, just a thumbs up or a quiet golf clap, and these guys usually cracked up and appreciated the attention.

I will tell one story from these, since from what I see of SOMEONE's avatar, at least one person might appreciate this:


First let me start off by saying, if you are not familiar with "Denny's", it's decent food but it is less "Haute Cuisine" and more "Hot Truck Stop".

So one night, we're at Denny's and pretty much surrounded by wrestlers. ( I remember Tugboat Taylor / Typhoon sitting at a square table by himself. Looked like a grown man at the child table on Thanksgiving).
Now these guys are straight from a show, they're wearing t-shirts, sweats, Zubaz (remember- 1990s) sandals - you get the image.

In walks Ted DiBiase - The MILLION DOLLAR MAN ( I hear Dusty saying that in my head every time). In he walks, dressed in a nice pair of pants, sportcoat, shirt and tie, nice shoes. He's escorting his wife, wearing a nice dress. I mean escorting, elbow out, hand on hers as they walk together to a table. He stands beside her as she is seated in the booth, only taking a seat across from her once she is settled in. They talk, his eyes never leave hers. I think he ordered for both of them. The entire time they waited for their food, I don't think he ever stopped holding her hand or making her laugh. you could just tell that, for them, there was noone else in the restaurant. I think they toasted with their Cokes. They were like 2 kids in love, on a serious date.

I knew immediately that his wife was the CENTER of his universe. She was the blood running through his veins.


I THINK that was his wife...

 

[JTMcCool]

Love these stories. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Triple B]

Love the stories...

My brother and I (and one of his buddies) went to see SummerSlam at the Air Canada Centre here in Toronto back in whenever the hell it was here (Randy Orton beat Chris Benoit for the WWE title).

We're walking to the ACC along Front St. and I stop to tie my shoes as we're passing the Intercontinental Hotel (I **** you not, that's the name of the place!). My brother and his buddy are about 100 ft in front of me and as I walk past the entrance to the hotel, out walks Bret Hart by himself. I start talking to him watching my brother out of the corner of my eye...he FINALLY looks back and sees me with Bret and my brother (being the biggest Bret Hart mark I know) RUNS over to us and starts talking in fluent jibberish to Bret. My brother asks me after "how did you see him?" and I said "the f***er owes me $20 from two years ago and I finally cornered his ***". Anyway, great moment for me, a lifetime moment for my brother and a cool experience for all of us. Bret was pure class.