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THURSDAY April 3rd
After working on the site, it was time to head over to the Wrestlemania Store, which was opening that day at the New Orleans Convention Center. The walk there was fine, about 20 minutes from the hotel but man, that Center is huge. I live in NYC and the Jacob Javits Center is the big convention center. This place was about 50 times the size. Just walking from Hall A where the entrance was to Hall H, where WWE's events are situated, was another 15 minutes. That was crazy, although thankfully it was air-conditioned.
The WWE store is massive with lots of really cool merchandise that initially will be exclusive to the store, although depending on how it sells, could migrate to WWE's online store, similar to how a Paul Heyman shirt last year with the ECW barbed wire font eventually did. There are about 35 Wrestlemania designs, with lots tied into New Orleans with voodoo and alligators and such.
I call Dave Scherer to tell him about the insanity of this site of WWE's retail monster come to life and to check in. Almost like clockwork, about ten Elites in a row stop me to say hello, getting the unique chance to see for themselves that my entire life is pretty much dealing with Dave. One Elite even asks for a photo so they have a photo of themselves and me and my cell phone showing Dave's name. Only in Wrestlemania City.
On the way out, I stop by wrestling artist Rob Schamberger's booth. His artwork is everywhere WWE is this weekend - in their Hall of Fame memorabilia display at AXXESS, in posters being sold, and outside the WWE store, where he is painting and creating a special 30 years of Wrestlemania painting that WWE will now house in their archives. Rob's a nice, self-made guy and we had the chance to talk a bit. We've had him on the site before for interviews and I'm sure we'll have him on again. It's nice to see a nice guy getting some recognition.
Heading back to the hotel, I hear someone yell my name. It's Court Bauer, he of MLW and former WWE Creative fame. He's with Jim Ross, who I've interviewed in the past (and is a big fan of our This Day in History feature, which means the world to me) but I've never met in person. We chat for a few minutes and Ross is off to do his One Man Show, which Bauer is helping produce. It was nice to see them both.
From there, it's onto EVOLVE, the first in a series of WWNLive Experience events. Run by Sal Hamoui and Gabe Sapolsky, EVOLVE is probably one of the independents that gets the most chatter online. They are running at McAlister Auditorium on the campus of Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. With the ring on a stage, just a few rows on the floor and the rest of the venue permanent seating in a room usually used for lectures, it's a pretty damn place to put a wrestling show, but that's just about the definition of indy wrestling, isn't it?
I make my way through the venue, saying hello and shaking hands with everyone there is to meet - from wrestlers to staff to referees. If they are there and you come across them, you should say hello. If you don't, you're a d*** and at some point, they are going to remember that you are. Always be nice to everyone when you can, because you should. I even get to speak to Ron Niemi, a regular in the Florida wrestling scene, who I've emailed and spoken to a billion times over the last ten years, but had never met in person. Wrestling is funny that way and it was nice to meet him.
Gabe Sapolsky tells me that an entire balcony won't be sold, so I set in the most perfect place with the most perfect view of the ring. Just as I finish, Sal comes to me and tells me that if In stay there, most likely I am going to be shot in the face with lasers and blinded. Since that isn't on my list of life goals, I break down everything and move to the last row of the floor, where my backpack now sits in the row in front of me and my laptop sits atop it, becoming my desk for the evening.
As the night goes on, a number of other people from around the business, including Dave Prazak of SHIMMER. I don't speak with Prazak a lot but he holds a lot of the same fascinations with the business that I do - the old Dennis Coralluzo indy wrestling era, old fanzines and newsletters long forgotten in the Internet era and just the great wacky pro wrestling of a day gone by. As I cover the show, we talk about all that and more and it was a conversation that would have made an awesome audio.
Before the show, the crew is reminded that piledrivers are banned in the State of Louisiana. I immediately ask someone if that means tombstones too. It does. I wonder what will happen with Undertaker on Sunday.
The show itself is your typical EVOLVE show. From top to bottom, everyone is working a main event style. That is awesome at times but at other times, it can also lead to burn out for those watching. On this night, however, with 500 or so fans from around the globe coming to the show, it's the right call. Everyone leaves happy, except for perhaps Chris Hero, who nearly strangled himself accidentally on the ropes. Thankfully, I see him a few days later and he's OK, although it was a scary situation.
The show has pre-show matches with several talents from WildKat Wrestling. That's Luke Hawx's group. Luke is pretty much the man in these parts as just about everyone running outside of WWE is using his license to run and he has a great relationship with the commission, which probably allowed for a greater leeway with some of the crazier spots over the course of the weekend. Of the early matches, Mike Dell and Bao Kin Do stood out the most. Hawx isn't wrestling. He says he's too busy running around town to actually wrestle, although he may on one of the ROH shows.
EVOLVE has a ton of great matches. Bill Busick vs. Drew Gulak, Chris Hero vs. Trent Baretta, Tony Nese vs. Ricochet and Johnny Gargano vs. Rich Swann all stand out, although it was great to see Caleb Konley working heel as well.
After the show, I walk Bourbon Street. WWE talents are everywhere, posing for photos as they expertly hide their adult beverages. I've been to every Mania since 17 and I've never seen WWE talents so out in the open on the streets. It would remain that way for the remainder of the weekend. If you were a photo or autograph hound and didn't track down your favorite guy this weekend, you weren't trying. As irony would have it, the one person I really would have loved to have run into, Mr. T, is nowhere to be found. I kid you not when I write this: I wouldn't be a wrestling fan if it wasn't for Mr. T and I am excited to see him go in the WWE HOF.
Bourbon Street, meanwhile, is everything you've heard it to be. It smells like the NYC subway, if you had dumped about a thousand pounds of horse manure into the trains. It's wild and nutty and I get a kick out of the insanity. It's like what Times Square used to be only more insane. I walk Bourbon and back, running into a few Elites, seeing a few drunken arguments, a WWE staffer who's been a nice source for years (being in public, we ignore each other and then start texting about that), and begin to run into the same EVOLVE crew that I just left. There are tons of fans in costume. There are fans chanting "Yes" and "No" and even "ECW" in the streets. It's like a crazy fevered dream of a wrestling fan. I finally walk back to the hotel, but not before I see someone get bodyslammed in horse manure. I am sure he's loving his friends.
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