- 08/22/2011 (1:55:44 pm)
- Bob Mulrenin
…
Saturday morning, a friend and I drove from Greenville, South Carolina to Atlanta, Georgia for Impact Wrestling signing event at Direct Auto Insurance in Atlanta. We arrived at the store right around 11am (the signing was advertised as 11am-1pm). When we walked in the store, there were maybe 35-40 people in line ahead of us to meet Mickie James, Pope D’Angelo Dinero, & Jeremy Borash. Before we entered the line, we were asked by a member of Direct Auto if we’d like to fill out an insurance quote and receive a voucher for a pass for the night’s show at The Tabernacle. With no obligation to commit to the quote, I said, “Why not” and filled out the paper work and with that, we had passes to the show.The line to go through moved rather quickly, except for a few minutes where Mickie James did a radio interview. When she left the table, the line screeched to a halt to wait for her. All three were very accommodating to everyone signing anything and everything put in front of them and sometimes two or three autographs at a time. Pope arm wrestled a young boy and encouraged one fan to freestyle on camera while Jeremy Borash was filming on his i-phone. My friend I and I would wind up seeing the boy and his family again at the second signing that afternoon and would sit behind them at the show that night.
Those three seemed to be really enjoying their time at the signing and were laughing, making jokes, and just making everyone feel welcome. A pleasant surprise to me was seeing Atlas Security there. I thought I recognized Ronnie from ECW and sent a pic on my phone to a friend who confirmed my suspicion. After I went through the line, I talked to Ronnie for a few minutes and he was happy to take a picture and sign an autograph as well. A very nice guy. After everyone went through the line, all three posed for pictures. I had my pictures taken and then headed on to the next stop.
A “Tweet & Greet” event was held at a second Direct Auto a few miles away from 2pm-2:45, so my friend & I headed over to that office. When we arrived, we saw most of the same people that were at the first signing. Velvet Sky was the featured guest at this store and Jeremy Borash joined her about five minutes after it started. The line moved very fast and, again, Sky was very accommodating in signing anything that was brought by the fans to have signed. By 2:30, everyone had gone through the line and had things signed and pictures taken.
These signings were very positive experiences. A lot more organized and easy going than the signings that took place at the show that night. During intermission, Winter & Angelina Love were signing autographs and people were being shuffled through the line so quickly that the two ladies barely had a chance to get their names put to paper for an autograph before someone else’s program or picture was put in front of them. I get that they wanted to get things done in a somewhat timely fashion, but it could’ve been handled better. One bad moment doesn’t spoil the day though as I got to meet a lot of people, get tickets to a show, and have a great day in Atlanta.
Brett Wolverton
