I can tell you, it was the most amazing thing, those 5 days, in this little boy's life.
Koen, Dieter and I set off for Orlando Florida on Thursday 27.03.2008. Imagine this, I had about 10 episodes of Raw, SmackDown and ECW still to watch as I'm always running some weeks behind. With a PSP full of WWE programmes I even had no time to enjoy the onboard movies. The flight was OK, around 9 hours, and after picking up a cool rental car we drove to the hotel which was included in our WrestleMania XXIV gold travel package by the way.
The weather in Orlando is slightly better then over here as you can see. Temperatures between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius equals fun in the pool!
Friday noon we got the tickets for Midday Madness, Hall of Fame and the granddaddy of 'em all WrestleMania. Thanks to Johan and Pamela in the US we already had the tickets for the Bacon, Bagels and Biceps Brunch and Raw on 31.03. After waiting and waiting and then some more waiting I finally got to meet Carlito (who spits in the face of people that don't want to be cool) who was signing autographs in the hotel.
Friday and Saturday afternoon we visited Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. The tickets were also included in the travel package, which proved to be a great deal really, especially with the Dollar being so low compared to the Euro.
Of course we weren't actually there for the rides, but for Fan Axxess.
Yep, that's me with Tommy Dreamer, an ECW legend, he's a great guy, although he's not at all 6'2" :)
We also saw Colin Delaney, Charlie Haas, Stevie Richards, Eve (eye candy!), Nunzio, Deuce & Domino & Cherry, (ugly) Jillian, Teddy Long, ...
In addition to the pictures, we also got lots of autographs. Even the more mature WWE (or WWF) fan most probably recognizes some old familiar faces... like Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, "Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart, Hillbilly Jim and "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan - Hooooooooo!!!
At Fan Axxess you could also win stuff (like a pen!!!) or get your own silly picture taken - don't mess with the champ!
Saturday morning it was time for Midday Madness, our excluse meet and greet session. Boy, we had to wait in line for 3 hours, but it was all worth it, just look at my ecstatic expression.
We met Jonathan Coachman, Big Show (who's 7' and over 400 lbs, impressive to say the least), Mark Henry, Ashley, Nunzio (again), Melina (a real darling) and Santino (one of the most funny guys ever in WWE, I can only remember Bobby Heenan making me laugh even harder). Can you imagine what it feels like when you're actually shaking hands and talking to the superstars you have been watching on TV (or seeing in Vorst Nationaal of course) for years, in fact even since you were 12? Well I can tell you, it feels G-R-E-A-T!!!
Saturday evening we attended the Hall of Fame in the Amway Arena. This edition was really special, because The Rock (he's also known for his acting nowadays) would induct his father and grandfather, but even more importantly the greatest wrestler of all time, Ric Flair, would be the first active wrestler to be inducted. Here are some pictures.
As you can see, basically every major WWE wrestler (active or retired) was there, so we saw them all: Steve Austin, Mick Foley, Ricky Steamboat, Arn Anderson... Some of the speeches were better than others (Mae Young is still amazing at over 80), but then there's Flair's speech... We knew that we were part of history, because he kept on going. He talked for well over an hour about the business, about his friends (he mentioned Chris Benoit) and all the things he did and didn't regret. I remember the story about a helium balloon tied to "spacemountain" to get things up... I am curious to see how much and what was cut when it appears on TV or DVD ;)
Sunday morning it was time for the Bacon, Bagels and Biceps Brunch, supporting the Make a Wish Foundation.
So, the list goes on: Batista, Michael Cole, The Miz, John Morrison (one of my favorites), Matt Hardy, Mr Kennedy... Kennedy!!!, Beth Phoenix, Shelton Benjamin, Rey Mysterio, Carlito, Kelly Kelly and Torrie Wilson (I like her...). In addition Raven Symone (who?), Kim Kardashian and Snoopy The Dogg showed up. Kennedy was very funny. In fact all the "bad" guys were way cooler than the "good" guys, because they can make fun of the other wrestlers and of the public, which they did frequently.
And then... it was time for the Grandest Stage of Em All, the Pinnacle in Sports Entertainment, the Granddaddy of 'em All: WrestleMania!
We arrived well in time at the Citrus Bowl to do some serious souvenir shopping. There was a WWE shop in our hotel, but what they had to offer was fairly limited. At the Fan Axxess on Thunder Field, across from the Citrus Bowl, they had much more to offer. So I bought myself the ultimate in coolness: the replica WWE championship belt!
The whole thing kicked off with John Legend singing America The Beautiful while army jets soared over the stadium - chills from top to bottom.
I didn't take that many pictures during WrestleMania, because I wanted to plain and simply enjoy the event and get soaked in the whole atmosphere of the roaring 74000+ crowd. Anyway, we have it on DVD to watch again and again and again... and think back at how lucky we are.
As you can see, we had some pretty good seats, probably row 18.
Just look at this capacity crowd! Apparently, some people don't like John Cena...
The ladder match was impressive ("wholy shit" as they say) John Morrison took some big bumps, we had some great laughs during the JBL vs Finlay match when Hornswoggle got hit with the trash can and the triple threat match between Cena, Triple H and Randy Orton was very good, although the WWE title did not change hands. Undertaker beat Edge for the World Heavyweight title - it's the first time in my life I saw a title change live and in person (Kane had won the ECW title from Chavo earlier in the evening in about 10 seconds so I forgot about that one...) !
The most memorable match of the evening was HBK vs Ric Flair in a career threating match. Flair lost after a great match and so we witnessed the last match of the best wrestler ever, whooooooooo!!! I still remember the first time I went to see WWE in Vorst Nationaal in 1991 together with Gerry, when Ric Flair had just come from WCW and we didn't know about it (internet didn't exist and dinosaurs were only just extinct) and he was actually part of the tour and wrestled that evening.
After the event it took us about 2 hours to get back to the hotel. Tired, but ultimately satisfied Koen and I fell asleep and Dieter... snored :)
Monday morning we took a swim and in the afternoon we went to the Florida Mall. Keyword: shopping! Four hours of non interrupted labour, but my wife was pleased when I returned with some of her favorite brands. Hey, one needs to build some credit for this type of crazy trips... I also bought some clothes for myself and the book V the second generation.
The wrestling fun was not over yet, because we had tickets for Raw, which is broadcasted live on the USA network.
First up was Heat, a B show, really. But then it was time for Raw, arguably the best WWE show on television. Fantastic matches and again we had nice seats. We saw Orton defend the WWE title against Matt Hardy and Chris Jericho defend the Intercontinental title against CM Punk. We witnessed the start of a fued between Big Show and the Great Khali (see Backlash).
On Flair's right you can see our Belgian flag!
There was a special Ric Flair Tribute to end the show and we were priviledged to be part of it.
Imagine, the Four Horsemen came to the ring!!!
All the superstars joined in an unbelievable celebration.
Once off the air, in a very special moment, there was no kayfabe and we saw Undertaker bow down to the Nature Boy and then hug him.
In the end, Mr McMahon (but this was just Vince in fact) came to the squared circle in honour of the Naitch and celebrated with him. This was some emotional stuff.
Back home, I strutted my stuff.
To sum it up, it was all worth it and you can bet we'll do this agaaaaaaaain!!!
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