REPORT WITH PHOTO’s FROM WRESTLE FANFEST
- 10/23/2007 (4:13:33 pm)
- Grant
…
Here's my report. My photos are at:
Well we went to WrestleFanFest and I have to tell you, it was a once in a lifetime experience. For good and bad reasons. I don''t feel like doing a whole day by day report but I'll talk over some highlights.
I, of course, had inklings things may wind up as they did, but I did come away with a positive experience and for that I there's only one group of individuals that get the credit - The Talent.
I am VERY relieved that I only purchased the $199 pass as opposed to one of the higher passes. I also purchased the $75 front of line pass. This is where my money was wasted. No one honored them. I asked how they were to work and was told, just go to the front of any line and say you have a front of the line pass. Yeah, great idea except the WFF Staff member that was supposed to be at the front of every line wasn't there. I pointed this out and was told, just tell the people (the fans) at the front of the line that you've got a pass. Yeah. Right. Have you ever met a wrestling fan? They all act as if they are wrestlers. You try telling them that you're gonna just step in front of them. See how far that goes.
I also purchased passes for Austin, Piper, and Animal. I was able to get sigs from all of them, so I truly believe I got my money's worth except for the $75 Front of Line pass. I FEEL for the people who spent any more on tickets because I barely feel I got my money's worth for what I paid I can imagine what others feel. And I only came up from Southern California and my parents live in SF, so my travel costs were minimal.
I got to the host hotel to pick up my stuff and that seemed to go smoothly. There were some exchanges that needed to be made and they were made and everything was fine. Then I got to the Cow Palace around 2:30pm on Friday. The doors were supposed to open at 3pm (2PM for earlier pass holders). Anyway, the parking lot, empty. I got a spot right up by the door. There was only a small handful people in a line at the doors. Well, it WAS a Friday at 3PM, surely the weekend crowds would pick up right? No, it never really did.
On Friday there was a general sense of confusion. The talent, the fans, security at the Palace, no one seemed to know what was going on. But I was able to get a lot of signatures on Friday, starting with Mean Gene who was HILARIOUS. All the talent on Friday was warm and welcoming. There seemed to be a sense of "Okay, this is small, but it MIGHT be good." While talking to Bill Edie and Barry Darsow they were steamed because apparently they had arrived to the arena around 3pm and sat in a back room waiting to be taken out to the tables and they never were. They eventually just wandered out and picked a table and sat down. The only thing I regret about Friday is that, though I talked to Bill Edie and Barry Darsow and got signatures (especially Bill's on my MOC LJN Ax figure) I didn't get pictures because they said they'd be back tomorrow in full make-up. They didn't return, so I didn't get that shot.
The Friday night card at the Malice in the Palace was great. I know none of the advertised matches took place. But the show was great. Especially great when you consider that the entire roster wrestled KNOWING they weren't going to get paid. Yes, it was a nostalgia show, but it brought back some great memories. Oh and I'm now the biggest mark for Sexy Chino. Who? He's the Asian Guy from the battle royal.
Saturday was spent getting more signatures, but my noon on Saturday, I had almost everyone's. One moment that will stand out is in the early hours of Saturday, Harley Race came into the venue and stood there looking around as to where to go. No one was with him to tell him where to sit to sign. That's a shame. With a legend like that, you wait on them hand and foot. Nick Bockwinkle was at the CAC booth and was a pleasure to meet.
Piper arrived earlier than expected and started signing earlier than expected. Piper is awesome. He talked to everyone and he REALLY talked to you. I have read reports saying that Austin spent time with each person, he did (and he was great) but he's NOT Piper. I feel I got my $50 (and probably part of that wasted $75) with Piper. He's just amazing. He cares about the fans and it shows. He hugged people, he kissed people, he didn't let the staff rush anyone through the line. Want two pics with him, fine. He's truly a legend.
After Piper's autograph I was headed back to the main hall where I bumped into Virgil. Virgil asked if I was headed back to the hotel and if I could give him a ride. I was this close to saying, "Sure, not a problem. $20." Instead I just told him I had to ask my pal I came with and if he was ready to go we would. I walked back into the Vendor area and saw that DiBiase and Volkoff and Koko were signing, so I forgot about Virgil and went to get more sigs.
Sunday was dead as were the other days, got a few more sigs and, of course, met Austin. The vendors, talent and fans were burnt out.
I said this several times to my buddy and I believe it to be true: My experience would not have been as great if there had been the 20,000 people there. On Sunday morning, my buddy and I spent about 10 mins talking to Slick. Yeah we were talking about how the event had gone wrong but, we stood with Slick for 10 mins! We had similar experiences with other talent, which brings me back around to the talent. Through it all, the talent sucked it up for the fans and made it a great time.
Really, by Sunday, The Talent and the Fans were in the same boat. The talent wasn't getting paid, we paid for stuff we didn't get. Together we soldiered through and made it something we'll talk about for a long time.
We stayed for Ring of Honor. I will catch no end of hell for saying this, but I was not impressed. The opening few matches were FANTASTIC! Chris Hero vs. Human Tornado - Awesome. Roderick Strong vs. Claudio Castagnoli - Great. But then after that there was just no "stories" in the matches. Just random pairings that meant nothing. For the corwd in attendance they should have done a little back story or made it clear (as in the Tornado/Hero match) what the history was. And yeah, I'm gonna say it, Danielson vs. Aries - I was bored out of my skull. Yeah, they can do fun holds. Yawn. We left before the main event.
Overall I can say that I had a great time. I got almost everything I paid for. I got some one on one time with legends. I got all my LJNs signed. I had a great time and that's all thanks to the talent, who stood above the hassles and gave the fans what they came for even when there wasn't much in it (money wise) for them.
Grant www.MrGrant.com
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