I am sooooo putting this on my Christmas cards this year.
Things started off on Friday. After work, I headed to the Slacker's CDs and Games in St. Charles for an autograph session with TNA wrestler Lance Hoyt and The World's Hottest Backstage Interviewer, Leticia Cline (above). I saw my friend Vaughn there and he took the pictures. He managed to capture my good side. I brought the Maxim magazine that Leticia had appeared in and she seemed thrilled. See, this is why I never throw anything away. During one skit on TNA Impact a few weeks ago, Alex Shelley called her "Debbie Harry" (the lead singer of Blondie). There is some similarity but I don't think Debbie Harry would look as good as Leticia in a swimsuit. I wonder if Leticia can sing "Heart of Glass" though? Perhaps they should put that on Impact. Hoyt was pretty funny and really tall. I was surprised that we could both fit in the same frame. With some more time in the ring and some interview time, I think he could be a big-time player someday.
LAX and STL
The next day I headed to the Hilton by the airport for the fan convention. It was held in the ballroom from about 1 to 5. There was a huge crowd. I chatted in line with a guy from Scotland, so as fate would have it, the guy from the farthest distance away and the guy from the least distance away were right in line together. The first line that I got in was to meet Robert Roode and Ms. Brooks-- okay, just to see Ms. Brooks. And I did indeed see Ms. Brooks. If I may steal a line from the movie Showgirls: Very nice. Very nice. Among the other highlights:
- Jeremy Borash hosted the event and did a good job. At one point, one of the wrestlers insulted him and the crowd chanted "You Got Served!" Then in his announcer's voice he replied "Yes indeed, I did just get served."
- The longest lines were for Sting and Kurt Angle. Due to time constraints, I chose to skip them and go to shorter lines. I did manage to finally meet two of my all-time favorites, Jim Cornette and Raven. Cornette was cracking one-liners with the fans and was very funny. Raven was more subdued.
- The most laid back and cool of everyone was James Storm and The Pride of Tennessee, Jackie Moore. Storm had empty beer bottles with his own label on the them. They need to have more Storm/Moore skits like the time they went to the convenince store and saw Eric Young. Classic material. Storm seems like he's pretty funny in real life.
- Christy Hemme is insanely hot. Just insanity. It didn't even make any sense. I almost started singing one of those old R. Kelly songs. In fact, I am right now.
- One of the loudest reactions was when the fans were asked what wrestler they might like to see come to TNA. There were huge chants of "RVD" and "Y2J". We shall see.
The great Kurt Angle
- Just as I took a bathroom break and gave myself the "Hey, I have actually seen you look fatter" pep talk in the mirror, I saw color commentator Don West walk in. We chatted and he seemed really nice and friendly, just like on TV. On the way back in, Abyss and James Mitchell were leaving the ballroom. I should have followed them out just so I could have seen the reaction on the faces of the regular hotel guests when they saw this giant, sweaty man in a mask followed by a guy in a bright red suit that looked like the devil. That would have been priceless.
- When I was sitting in the hallway of the lobby going through my things, I could hear some of the wrestlers down the hall. I heard someone (I assume it was Raven) call Seratonin by the name "Serajabronin". Then I heard "Hello, hello, hello-- hello!" like the Three Stooges used to say it.
President Carter and that guy
The last person that I got to meet was the President of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, Dixie Carter. She was walking around in the crowd and talking with fans. I finally got an opportunity for one on one time with the top person in TNA. So what did I say during my big chance? Was it:
a) Have you ever thought about changing the name of the company?
b) Ever thought about completely overhauling the creative team?
c) Could you give Cornette the book?
or
d) Thanks for bringing the show to St. Louis!
Oh yes, oh yes, it was "d". What else was I gonna say? It was like in A Christmas Story when the kid finally gets to see Santa, then asks for a football instead of the Red Ryder B.B. gun. She was very polite and asked how I was enjoying the show. I told her that I was a long time fan and thanked her for coming to this city. Hey, these folks are guests in this city; it wouldn't be good manners to start asking about booking changes and such. Anyway, she was very personable and quite striking.
The live show on Sunday was a mixed bag. The show was all cage matches. It was my first time seeing several of the wrestlers live including Samoa Joe, A.J. Styles, and Christopher Daniels. The best matches were the X-Division escape match (the crowd was going crazy for everything that Black Machismo did), Senshi vs. Austin Aries and the Lethal Lockdown match. On the flip side, we had to deal with the goofiness of the fake electricity in the Electrified Cage Match and the dreadful Blindfold Match between James Storm and Chris Harris. This year St. Louis has been host to the fake Rosie vs. fake Donald fiasco on Raw (which was also main evented by John Cena vs. Great Khali) and now the Blindfold debacle. It's almost like some kind of karmic payback for all of those years of good Ric Flair and Harley Race matches. I am absolutely terrified of what atrocity might occur at Judgement Day next month.
Overall, it was a fun weekend. I got to meet some cool wrestling folks and I had fun with my friends at the matches on Sunday. Can't ask for more than that. I'll be back later with some more photos.
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