MY EXPERIENCE AT WRESTLE FAN FEST
- 10/24/2007 (7:55:45 pm)
- Georgiann Makropoulos
…….
I live in Orange County 1:30 am . I arrived at the host hotel to check in at 10 am expecting to see tons of people as I was told by Chris that he had sold thousands of tickets, when I showed up there was no one in line and was able to check in right away.
Immediately I had my first problem. Ok, first off just so you know, I purchased the VIP Premier pass ($500) for my self and for my girlfriend that went with me. I had talked with Chris on the phone several times in the last 4 months to make sure I knew what was all included and how things would work. Here is what my package was supposed to include. 1 signature and photo op ticket per wrestler that was supposed to be there, one ticket for each headliner, admission to the Eric Bischoff dinner, event t-shirt and souvenir package, after party tickets, front of the line privileges, front row seats to the wrestling show, backstage passes, one hour early admission to the event, one on one meet and greet with a wrestler of choice, and transportation to and from the hotel and cow palace.
With that being said, I had my first problem checking in. My VIP pass indicated that I would only receive 25 signature and photo op tickets and no headliner tickets were given to me. When I talked to Chris I was told I would get one ticket per wrestler. In other words if there were say 100 wrestlers appearing, I would get 100 tickets to use as I wish and once I used them all I was done. That way if I wanted to use 5 on lets say Ted Debiase and zero on Shark Boy, I could do that as long as I had enough tickets left to cover what I wanted signed. After sitting in the check in room for about hour I got all my headliner tickets and they told me I would have no problems in the autograph area. I was also told that I would get my shirt at the Cow Palace
They told me there would be a VIP bus that would take VIP’s to the arena at 1:30 so we could get in at 2 (one hour earlier than everyone else). At 2:30 when the bus still hadn’t shown up I decided to take a cab to the arena at the tune of $30 and got in the arena right away (about 15 minutes before people with non VIP tickets)
When I got inside the arena they had no record of my 8 x 10 order and didn’t get them, I also didn’t get my shirt till Saturday (they ended up giving me a shirt that said STAFF on the back, I’m sure youll be able to guess why that was a pain). When I asked about the private meet and greet they told me they didn’t know when that was going to happen. It never ended up happening. Nothing was set up inside at first, we just walked around for an hour or so before people started signing.
I asked for my autograph tickets and they said just flash your VIP badge and they’ll let you in the autograph area which worked out pretty well. The first person we met was Mean Gene who was cool as hell, however they didn’t ask for any tickets for people even though he was a headliner….weird. We stayed there and met as many people as we could before going to the dinner. The only problem I had was with the Dudleys . D-Von was where he was supposed to be and Buh Buh was walking around the whole time talking to people, we didn’t get to see them before the dinner (this was their only time to sign).
Next we got in line for the Bischoff dinner which started 20 minutes late, even though Eric was on time. They stalled cause the food wasn’t there yet. Finally they started and it was a great experience, Eric didn’t know that he only had till 7:30 to speak and wanted to keep going but they didn’t let him. He didn’t even know he was supposed to sign autographs but when the fans told him about it he was more than happy to sign and take pics with everyone (even though he booed me for wearing a 4 Horsemen shirt). I was one of the first to get my signature from Eric and left the room to get down stairs for the PPV, I heard the food showed up a few minutes later. So instead of a getting a free meal, I paid for a hot dog and coke down stairs.
I was expecting to get front row seats for the wrestling show due to my VIP status but didn’t. There was no one there to organize the crowd and people that paid $25 to get in sat front row while my $500 got me in the first row behind floor level. The show itself sucked and when on for what seemed like days, I was able to go backstage which was cool where I saw Chris who told me about all the no shows. About an hour into the show I asked him who would be in the main event and he told me he didn’t know yet.
I knew I had an early day in front of me so I left before the show was over that way I could get some sleep. I heard that people got stranded outside the club that was never booked for the after party, they all had to take cabs back to the hotel that cost good money. The after party never took place.
I arrived back at the cow palace Saturday at 8:30 am expecting to get inside at 9 (one hour before everyone else). That didn’t happen, vendors weren’t ready and everyone got in at 10. The first few hours I got some more signatures and then went to see Goldberg. Rob was there to organize the line and did a great job, we met Goldberg and he was great to everyone.
Next was time for Piper. When the lines formed there was no Rob. The lines were a disaster. The way it is supposed to work, VIP Premier goes first, VIP DDT 2nd, Weekend Warrior 3rd, and then all GA’s. When I wanted to get in line they told me to go to the back of the line, and I’m sorry but I paid $500, there was no way I was going to let someone who paid $25 go in front of me. A fan then stepped up and fixed the fine much the way Rob did for the Goldberg line, much thanks go out to this fan ( I wish I would have got his name). I got up to see Hot Rod pretty quickly and he was awesome to meet, took time for everyone there and showed tons of appreciation to everyone that waited in line to see him, Roddy is a true class act.
After that I met the Powers of Pain and the Steiners. These guys you had to pay separate for because they were GCW talent. The ticket was supposed to cover a sig from each guy and a photo op. I got my sigs no problem but the Steiners charged me $20 for a photo op.
It was time now to meet Christian. He had a pretty good line and my VIP pass didn’t mean anything when it came to any of the lines in the autograph area. They weren’t even taking tickets, all you had to do was go up there and he’d sign anything and take pics. This is the way it was for all headliners, you didn’t even need a ticket. The talent had no clue how things were supposed to go and just signed whatever you had and never asked for any kind of ticket. This is when I knew my $500 was a waste, people who paid $25 for GA were getting the same privileges I was.
I then got some sig and pics in the back of the room but there were people back there that were charging for autos and photos even though they were supposed to be covered under my ticket. Dawn Marie, Gail Kim, Molly Holly, and Francine were all charging. My guess is because they didnt get paid. I hear Molly only stayed an hour then went home due to lack of payment.
Then I had my next problem. I tried to go back in the autograph area and wasn’t allowed in. The guy told me I needed tickets. This was BS because I was told that my pass was good enough to get in now they changed the rules. I went to the merchandise table and complained and they tried to stick me to the 25 autograph limit again. The same shit I had to sort out when I checked in on Friday morning. Jasmine finally got me in the autograph area, most likely cause she got sick of arguing with me. By the way, Chris was nowhere to be found on Saturday, rumor has it that he skipped town at 5:45 am Saturday.
One of the last people I met was Greg Valentine and he was charging, most likely again cause he didn’t get paid.
I had to get home for Sunday so we left Saturday night and drove home. I came back with an awesome collection of signed figures and photos but still felt cheated. Here is a quick recap of how I got ripped off:
Didn’t get into the arena early, no souvenir package, no private meet and greet, no after party, no food at the dinner, didn’t get 8 x 10’s I paid for, too many no shows (Hall, Nash, Angle, Luger, Kamala, Jim Neidhart, Marty Janetty, Sid, no Demolition on saturday etc….), didn’t get front row at the PPV, no front of line at autograph area.
I upgraded from Weekend Warrior to VIP Premier to get these extras and to have headliners paid for. The problem was most of the headliners didn’t show and I blame the promoter (not for Luger and Angle), if I was Hall and Nash I wouldn’t show either if I didn’t get paid. None of the extras was provided either. The only good that badge did me was it got me into the dinner that had no food, and it got me in the front of the line for Goldberg and Piper, aside from that, the VIP badge was useless. I could have paid $25 per day and got all the sigs and pics I wanted and sat anywhere I wanted for the PPV, instead I paid $500 and got RIPPED OFF. I paid for tickets I didn’t need and paid for items and services I never got
Most of the talent was great to meet and happy to see you, I loved meeting everyone, I appreciate that they stuck it out for the fans even though they got screwed.
I feel I should get my money back and am taking steps toward getting as much of it as I can via paypal and credit card chargebacks. I know this was a long e-mail and I appreciate you guys reading it, if anyone has any other questions I can answer please let me know.
From: Jeff M.
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