Here is my show report for the TNA Wrestling Fanfest held in Irvine, CA on October 17th. I was literally up all night packing up autographs I obtained last weekend at The Hollywood Show for people. I should of gone to bed but just kept going, and going, until I saw the clock and noticed it was 7:45am. I should be waking up at 8:30am to shower and get ready for the show. Irvine takes a good 45 minutes to an hour and a half to get to depending on traffic. So, I said, screw it, set my clock for 9:00am, and went to bed. My alarm went off an hour later as I laughed... nit the snooze a few times until my cell phone woke me up at 9:25am. My buddy asked, are you ready? I was like, crap, no, I'm exhausted. I jumped in the shower, got ready, threw a slice of bread and cheese in my mouth for breakfast due to no time to eat, and he was at my place by 10:30am. We were off to the show. I was so pissed off at myself. We should of left by 9:30am. I was worried about the lines not knowing what to expect. This was TNAs first Fanfest, and first PPV, Bound For Glory they were holding in Southern California.

We jumped on the multiple freeways and finally get to the show at 11:30am pulling in. With luck we got a parking space really close as someone was pulling out. We rushed inside with smiles on our faces, checked in, and went to the booth to grab our VIP photo package. With the purchase of the VIP ticket you get 40 photos from all the stars. All of a sudden we were hit with bad news. The nice young lady, with a sincere sad tone in her voice, explained to us that several of the boxes of photos got destroyed in the rain so our photos did not show up. If I would of woke my ass up and gotten their sooner we would have had our photos. I wanted to kick myself in the ass. Both of our jaws dropped in disbelief as we just stared at the nice young lady probably looking like someone just killed our puppy. She went to to explain not to worry, took our phone numbers, and said she would contact us, to mail us all 40 photos. I held back my thoughts from her just letting her talk. I was thinking WTF... I'm going to get a bunch of unsigned promos instead? LMAO.. what the hell am I going to do with those? I can't get them signed for free at shows due to they will charge me at other venues. I held my breath and let her continue. She went on to say, I'm going to give you tickets that you can exchange for autographed photos at their tables. She then gave us a shitload of tickets and said it was a better deal then the people who actually got the photos. She also gave us a free $10 card for a green screen photo-op. Again, in disbelief, and not knowing how this was a better deal, and what the hell else could we do... LOL.. just stood there, nodded.. and thanked her. We shoved out tickets into our bag and walked away with shocked faces. We then stopped, and saw a signing map on the table. I asked my friend to ask the same nice young lady for a copy. She hesitated, and went back, and said, here, it's my only copy. She sincerely felt bad for us and wanted to make sure we had a fun time. No one else had a copy of that signing map. It showed where everyone would be for the 3 different signing sessions. We thanked her and proceeded towards the show.

We saw Tri-Star selling tons of TNA cards, autographs etc.. and the guy was promoting grab bags for $10.00. Each one had 3 autographed TNA cards and a memorabilia card with a piece of cloth from the wrestlers uniform or something. I was in shock and opened my wallet. I bought several of these.. LOL.. I opened them up and got signed cards of Kevin Nash, Booker T, Jay Lethal, Curry Man, AJ Styles, and TONS of others. My friend was in shock with all the good sigs I pulled. Many people pay $50 for a hobby box of TNA cards to get 2 sigs. This was an awesome deal.

We studied the signing map to see where everyone would be signing at noon. In the middle of the hotel room was a real TNA wrestling ring. It was an awesome sight. We knew that the lines for Bobby Lashley, and AJ Styles would be insane. At this moment we began to worry about who we would have time to get autographs from. Do we just stand in the long lines and get 1-3 autographs, or do we go to the small lines and get tons of autographs from the less popular names? I said to my friend, yes, and yes. He laughed. I said, we are going to do what we can to make the best of this. The place was packed, but not packed enough. I really thought there would be more of a turnout for this. For being selfish I'm glad it wasn't more packed so we could get more sigs.

Earl Hebner was in the far back corner taking photos with fans for $10 in front of a green screen. They would then print a photo out of you and him with a TNA background for him to sign. No one really was doing that thing.. LOL.. Don West was running around meeting and greeting fans, signing stuff, and selling stuff like crazy. I took a photo with him that makes him look drunk. It's funnier than hell. Jeremy Borash was hyping the wrestlers, PPV, shows over the loud speaker. It was about 12:10pm when he began to introduce the wrestlers one by one, as they entered the room to go to their signing station. Everyone was cheering. Sting had the biggest pop during the entire show when he came out for the last session.

We had the time of our lives meeting each wrestler, getting photos with them, getting signed photos, and worrying about who we would not get. The day seemed to twine together for me as well as not having any sleep and being hungry and thirsty as hell didn't help. There was no way in hell we were going to buy overpriced hotel food. So I'm not going to write my meet and greet with the wrestlers in order of meeting them due to my brain is fried. So, here it goes.

I do know our first autograph was from Abyss. The speaker playing loud music was right behind his head so he couldn't here us at all.. LOL.. I asked him to make the photo out to Todd, and he just stared at me probably thinking, what the hell is this guy saying.. LOL.. He just signed my photo and we went for the photo op. We were sad that Booker T and Scott Steiner NO-SHOWED the Fanfest. I've always wanted to meet them. D'Lo Brown was walking around the show during the entire time. He never smiled, had a serious look on his face, denied photo ops from anyone, and just patrolled the area as if he was security.. LOL.. It was odd. I spoke with him letting him know how much of a fan I was of his, and how pissed off the wrestling figure community was when Jakks pulled his Classic figure. He agreed and told me that they had his figure done, mass produced, sitting in a warehouse ready for release when they pulled it. It didn't make sense. He never even got his copy of the figure that was owed to him as well.

TNA President Dixie Carter was roaming the floor with security doing photo ops, signing stuff, and giving out free signed photos to everyone. I met her, thanked her for finally bringing a TNA Fanfest to SoCal, had her sign a limited card with a cut of her blouse on it, and got a signed photo. When she signed the card she smirked saying how she hated to give up the blouse for the card due to she loved it so much.

We continued going from line to line. I was in The Beautiful Peoples line which was taking forever. As the time counted down we were worrying we wouldn't get any other sigs so my friend took off to Bobby Lashleys line while I waited for The Beautiful People. I got to the very front of their line when they stopped the signing.. LMAO.. I was like, shit, so close, buy this sucks. They walked away and went to the green screen for photo ops. Session one was done. My friend came up to me as I explained what just happened. He handed me autographed photos from Bobby Lashley and AJ Styles. I was so happy to get them but sad I didn't get photo ops with them. He then told me he was going to the green screen area to get a photo with The Beautiful People. I then waited for the next batch of wrestlers to be introduced. I was in the front of the line when Taylor Wilde and Sarita came out. I got sigs for my friend and I, and took a photo op.

I saw that my friend was still in the green screen line for The Beautiful People. People who had photos would hand them to them to sign but they had no photos there for our tickets. I went to the information booth explaining what was going on and asked them if I can exchange our tickets for photos. They said, oh, they are not signing, just taking photos. I replied, that they are signing. The lady went out of her way, went back over to where they were signing and hauled photos over to them. They were not really supposed to be signing but she went out of her way to make us happy. By this time my friend had already taken a photo with The Beautiful People, had it printed out, and they signed it. He went to get into another line as I got in line for The Beautiful People. I too took my green screen photo with them, they gave me 2 signed copies of it, and then I had them sign photos for myself, and my friend. So, we ended up getting Lacey Von Erich, Velvet Sky, and Madison Rayne autographs.

I was in line for Suicide and I started a Franky chant.. LOL.. Suicide looked at me and shook his head back and forth.. haha.. I got his autograph for myself, and my buddy, and took a photo. ODB was awesome.. LOL.. As I waited in line to meet her she grabbed this one guy and shoved his face in her chest screaming.. It was hilarious... I had an AVN show flashback.. When I got to her I asked her to make the photo out to Todd, 2 D's.. and she replied.. 2 D's? DEEZ NUTS!!! which made me laugh pretty good. I asked her where Deaner was and she said she dumped his ass. She put her title on my shoulder and we took a photo. Finally, I got to meet Jay Lethal AKA Black Machismo. As he and Creed were signing I screamed out.. call Val a whore... haha.. for those who don't watch TNA SoCal Val and him had a thing on TNA wrestling and she cheated on him with Dutt. When SoCal Val came back to interview booth Creed and him he kept saying WHORE!.. It was funnier than hell. Jay wouldn't say it but I made him ask when I requested it a few times. I put my four tickets in their bucket and they signed for me. But it was funny because it's supposed to be 1 ticket per person. They thought 1 ticket for the both of them.. so they signed 2 of the same photos to me made out to Todd. I got my photo op and walked away happy.

The one person who didn't seem to care about being there was Rhino. I don't know if he was just in character but he had a depressed look on his face. I did respect that he was making people move fast so everyone would get an autograph.. LOL.. He was say in a stern voice... hurry it up, others want autographs too.. move it! LOL.. People followed his direction. My buddy and I both got in the line to get autographs and photo ops with Alissa Flash. We proceeded and also got Hector Guerrero & Willie Urbina. Both of these guys were great. They were both full of energy and would really react with fans. Eddie chants kept breaking out as Hector pointed towards the sky. We got in Hernandez line, got his sig, and took a photo with him. He was interacting with everyone. It's funny because he noticed that the name tag behind his had Homicide on it and he wrote with a sharpie WTF? under his name. Christopher Daniels was up next. When I got to him I let him know that I sold his wife a notebook for him about 7-8 years ago at my job. He remembered it and got a kick out of it. He used to live in the Pasadena, CA area. I've been a fan of his before TNA existed.

Dr STEVIE in the house!!! LOL.. We went through his line real fast. I thanked him for coming to the show and told him he should of brought Daffney with him. He laughed saying he locked her in the closet because she was bad. When my friend was waiting in line for Kurt Angle I was getting tons of sigs for the both of us. I ran over to finally meet Awesome Kong. She looks smaller in person.. LOL.. Don't get me wrong she is big, and the other TNA ladies are minis compared to her but tv does make her look bigger. One guy asked her if he could pass by her table and she said, yes, but make it face... he proceeded to walk and she growled at him, and he ran.. Man, it was funny. I got my photo autographed by Kong and Raisha Saeed. Of course I took a photo with them too. We went over to Samoa Joe. As I approached his table his cell phone went off. He looked at me and said sorry I have to take this. My wife needs the alarm code and if I don't give it to her the police will be at my house in a few minutes. I began laughing. He gave her the code, hung up, and proceeded to sign my photo. We took a photo together and I thanked him. He was really appreciative of his fans. I saw Don West and The Amazing Red and got in line. Once again I take a photo and Don looks drunk.. LMAO... He was sober, honest.. not sure why he looks drunk in both the photos I took with him. I had Red and Don sign photos for my buddy and I. I told Don I used to buy stuff from him on The Home Shopping Channel when I was in highschool which he replied, man, you're making me feel old.. hahaha..

I got in line for Eric Young and Homicide. Eric was hot in his suit. I started laughing.. Homicide told him to take it off.. Eric proceeded to do a Ric Flair impression that was awesome. I look up at the sign that Hernandez wrote WTF? on again and laughed harder showing it to Homicide. They signed photos for my buddy and me, took a photo with them and left. I got in Taz & Mike Tenays line. As I got to Taz I put the tickets into his bowl. He looked at me, pointed at the tickets and asked, what's that for? I looked at him and he then said, did you have to pay for these autographs as he made a noise.. I was speechless as the TNA handler spoke up saying, yes, they buy the tickets to get your autograph. Taz shook his head in disgust and made a noise.. I almost started laughing. I thanked him for coming out and got his and Tenays autograph. The second session was ending and my friend was still in Kurt Angles line. We missed him as he left. The good news is that Sting would be in that line next so he just waited. He handed me Taras autograph he got me. He was in that line forever. Tara spoke to each fan for a good 5-10 minutes. The third and final session begun as they announced the wrestlers as they went to their signing stations. I went over to Jeremy Borah and Laurens line to get us autographs and take photo ops. Both of them were really cool. I called my friends cellphone to ask him how close to Sting he was. He said about ten minutes. On the loudspeaker they announced that due to everyone wanting Sting they were limiting one autograph per person. I ran over to my friend to get in line. We both met Sting, got his autograph, and took photos with him. I always wanted to meet Sting. It was a great moment, and sad at the same time due to I think Sunday might be his last match. Before Sting began to sign he spoke to the crowd basically thanking us for all the good years, memories, support... it was like a goodbye to us.. He asked us if we remember Scott Hall and the crowd erupted into cheers. He let us know that Scott gave him the black and white Sting idea. He told us that he is now 50 years old and thanked us for letting him still entertain the crowds. The crowd began chanting you still have it! He then sat down for a second, and then got up to speak again saying that he doesn't know what we mean by you still have it.. if it means arthritis or what.. and laughed... he promised to take some extra strength Advil tomorrow so he can give us a great match.

My friend and I wanted to get Team 3D but the long was long... time was running out.. We went to Matt Morgans line which was half the size. We got out sigs, photo op and I suggested he get in Team 3Ds line while I go get us The British Invasion. I met and got sigs with Brutus Magnus, Rob Terry, and Doug Williams, and then took a photo with all three. At this point they announce over the intercom that we have 15 minutes left until TNA Fanfest Ends and that the tickets we have are CASH so to remember to stop by the merchandise booth to cash them in. I walked over to my friend in Team 3Ds line and he said that he had tons of tickets left. I did too. The young lady gave us so many it wasn't funny. So he took my and his tickets to the merchandise booth to see what he could get while I stood in line for Team 3D. He came back and said that both of us had over $160 worth of tickets.. LMAO.. I was like.. WTF... We both can't fit into the shirts they were selling. He told me they had 2 Jeff Jarrett signed guitars left. We couldn't get cash for those tickets.. so he told me we would go tell the lady to hold them. I am now third in line to meet Team 3D as the voice over the intercom says 5 minutes left. I was worried the same shit that happened to me with The Beautiful People would happen with Team 3D. Finally it was my turn. Brother Rays cellphone went off as I was going to approach him. The TNA security told me to go to the table. I replied he's on the phone. He then said so, just go to him to take a photo. So I get to them.. let him finish his phone call. He thanks me and signs a photo for me and my friend and passes them to Brother Devon to sign too. We take a photo and I hurry over to the merchandise booth.

I meet my friend who said he gave the lady our tickets. I asked if they had any Sting signed bats and she said no so I took the signed Jeff Jarrett guitar. I had money left over and took a TNA mug. The f'n rocks!!! LOL.. So things work out... you see.. I had no sleep, tired, hungry, got us to the show late, so we didn't get our photos... they gave us TONS of free tickets.. we still got tons of autographs, and used those tickets to get FREE signed Jeff Jarrett guitars for the both of us. I then went back to the Tri-Star booth and bought some more grab bags to get more signed cards.

Besides Scott Steiner and Booker T no-showing we missed autographs from The Motor City Machine Guns, Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash and Earl Hebner. I missed MCM by 2 minutes and kept passing on Earl to get other sigs. I've met Nash and have plenty of sigs of his already. I've also met Kurt but was sad for my friend who wanted to meet him.

I will say that I was unsure how this event was going to go down at first. TNA really surprised me. I've always heard that they are good to their fans but I never knew how true it was until I experienced it myself. EVERYONE from the staff, to security, to the wrestlers, never said no, never were negative, always made it happen, always was there to make sure you had the best experience ever. They all were humble, and sincerely appreciative that the fans were there. They made it there job to make us feel special and that we weren't pests bugging them like I find at other events. I wonder if they will really contact my friend and I via phone to send us those photos.. LOL.. who knows.. but man, I have not had this much fun in years.