Hello, wrestling fans! I had a really great weekend which started on Thursday night in Glasgow's Braehead Arena for TNA Wrestling Live! I know there are probably a lot more sites out there that will be able to provide you with all the details of the events you'd want but I just wanted to share my own limited selection of photos from the event with you.
In addition to all this I was able to score a handshake from TNA's own Jeremy Borash (nice guy!), gave Bubba (Brother Ray) Dudley a loan of my marker pen (Bubba is THE BEST!) and fulfilled a ten-year ambition to meet wrestling legend Mick Foley (also a very nice guy... thank you, Mick!)
I wasn't able to get tickets to TNA's Fan Interaction event but after hanging around the arena after the show some of the wrestlers stopped by the see the fans. First up was Bubba Ray Dudley whom I've previously seen making an impromptu appearance at Insurrextion 2003 in Newcastle. You get the impression that Bubba really enjoys meeting the fans from the way he's always making time to speak to them (I mean... us... err... me!) but this was my first time meeting the guy. He first of all apologised in advance for not having the time to sign an autograph for everyone and then he realised that he didn't have a pen. "Has anyone got a marker?" he asked to which I shouted "I have! I have!" in a sort of overly excited fashion. I handed it to him and he began to sign away... Someone else collected the pen back from him and I said they could keep it until the wrestlers left.
The next few minutes were spent coming up with chants and booing people as they went onto the coach without coming to see us. Eventually a very familiar figure approached the bus and the chants began "Fo-ley! Fo-ley! Fo-ley!"
Mick Foley is a wrestling legend who I've been a huge fan of for the last ten years or so and I can't express how amazing it was to meet him. It was also a huge relief because it meant that carrying around his first autobiography "Have A Nice Day" all day wasn't a total waste of time. It had been very difficult to regain possession of the book in time for the event and after failing to make the fan show I thought that I'd missed my chance to get the book signed. I was happy to be wrong.
At first it wasn't clear whether or not Mick would be coming over to us. He put his bag on the bus and looked over towards where we were standing and almost put one foot on the bus-step. We began to boo and he turned around again. Then he started to move towards us and the cheers began to ring out in the chilly Winter air with the promise that the greatest hardcore icon in wrestling history had decided to take some time to see us. However, as soon as the cheers started they stopped as Foley turned around again... and then back... and then moved towards us again. I think he was trying to mess with us or something. It was cool.
When he arrived he took a minute to apologise to everyone, as Bubba did, because he wouldn't be able to sign everything and that's when I went a little crazy "Mick! Mick! Sign my book! Mick!" I began to shout in as restrained a fashion as I could. I blurted out "I've waited ten years, Mick!" which was probably just my excitement getting the better of me. It wasn't a big deal as most other fans were just as desperate to get the autograph of "Mrs Foley's Baby Boy" as badly as I was.
I didn't get the autograph right away though as my partner-in-crime for the evening Allan had brought along his Mick Foley DVD "The Legendary Japanese Tournament" which is basically the famous (or infamous) King Of The Deathmatch tournament from 1995, a very important match in Mick's career. The bearded brawler took a look at it and read "The Legendary Japanese Tournament, huh?" with a smile as he signed the cover with glee. Now it was my turn! I handed him the autobiography and his face lit up again upon recognising it "Ah, the book!" he remarked. Someone said something else to him and as he began to write (with a very cool white marker pen) he joked that this book was his personal favourite because it made him the most money.
So that was it! I had an amazing night which continued into the weekend with more wrestling action including the excellent film "The Wrestler" with Mickey Rourke, the not-so-excellent but still a lot of fun movie "Wrestlemaniac" (also known as "El Mascarado Massacre" in the US) and finally culminated in the 2009 Royal Rumble pay-per-view on Sunday night.
Okay, now for your viewing pleasure here is a picture of my copy of Mick Foley's first autobiography "Have A Nice Day" which is still the best wrestling-related book I've ever read. On the left you can see the cover (with the now banned "WWF" logo) while on the right you'll notice a hardcore legend's signature. And no, it's never going on eBay! Bang bang!
And one more treat! Here's a video of the TNA stars at 4am in Glasgow after the show.
I had an awesome time on Thursday and it was better than any wrestling house show I've ever been to in terms of fan interaction and value for money. Honestly, it was a lot of fun! I can't think of a better way to describe it. TNA! TNA! TNA!
