Wrestlemania XXIX Packages/Info Thread.

EdK

Did anyone encounter that queue skipping wheelchair guy and his mom? If you have been to enough events you'll know them they obnoxiously push to the front of every line

They blagged their way into Hogans morning session at Wrestlecon even though they had afternoon tickets,Was at BFG 10 and the guy completely lost it at Atlas security for calling them out for it,Screaming I'm disabled at the top of his lungs.

Before anyone thinks I'm a dickhead I've seen people on crutches with feet turned the wrong way wait their turn in queues and would gladly let them skip but this mfer is sitting down FFs and his sense of entitlement really grinds my gears

mikey13

I didnt see the ones you were talking about but at one of the axxess sessions i went too there was a guy in a wheelchair and his girlfriend who decided to push into the que about halfway, didnt bother me that much because they were behind me but on the way to get into the que i had noticed a seperate que for the disabled but this guy decided to push is halfway back and slow the whole que down because I doubt his chair would of got round the maze of barriers put up to control the que. The guys girlfriend was rude anyway when pushing in and spent rest of the time sitting on his lap

Whole Show

Mania and Raw spoilers below.

Also been home a few hours, say this every year but if you are ever on the fence of doing a Mania- do it. The whole experience does not beat it. This trip was different than previous Manias I have been too but thats pretty much due to the amount of things to do in New York combined with the usual large quantity of wrestling events.

I took of Tuesday, nice east flight and was only in customs and baggage for no more than 30 minutes, after a 2 and a half hour wait in Miami last year, I was relieved to say the least. That relief soon turned to frustration, The first few days of my journey I was staying in North Bergen(just outside of NYC in Jersey).The location was hampered by no public transport from the airport. Now I had heard stories of Taxi drivers not wanting to take people here from the airport, so I was relieved when a cabbie offered to take me. He said no more than $111, split between two I accepted that and Just wanted to get to the hotel. I nearly had a fit when he said $167 when we arrived at the hotel. Not happy but what can you do.

A few hours settling in was killed and me and the other half hoped on the hotel shuttle for a trip into the city for Annie(not my choice but had to do something for her!), Horrendous traffic through the Lincoln Tunnell awaited, we just made it into times square at 6.55- 5 mins before doors closed for the show. The show itself was excellent which really suprised me. A few beers and a awesome burger in Ruby Tuesdays rounded of the night, Unfortunately the shuttle bus that arranged to pick us up never showed, so we had to get a bus at the amazingly confusing Port Authority Bus terminal to a location a 20 mins away from our hotel.

Wednesday we headed for a full on NYC day, Real awesome day, We took in the sights of Times Square, Central Park, All the major shops, Looked around MSG, Ate some awesome food, Hit up the Empire state building- which was awesome. Drank a few more beers and even bumped into Jedward. A great day only to be greeted with more confusion at the bus station- sent to 4 different terminals at midnight is not a greta experience. It was bloody freezing on this day too.

Thursday we shopped a bit more, ate at Forrest Gump shrimp and done the Statue of Liberty Boat Cruise- loved this and was well worth $25.
About 4.45 the first wrestling part of the trip started, Headed to the Once in a lifetime signing for Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart. It started at 6 but wanted to hit the que early as we had tickets for the Sandy Relief WWE VIP party Auction and Reception which started at 8.
Had a good spot in the line, about 10 in, I reckon over a good thousand people were there for this. We enterted the ballroom for the signing as was told that Bret & Shawn would do the posed photo together first and then we would have to start the que once again for the autographs, So I got my picture done and took a seat ready to wait for the autographs. This line was slowly staggering along though, it was gone 7.15 and there was still hundreds and hundreds in the line, So we made the decision and left, Not happy about the organisation about this and was probabley the most poorly run signing of all time.
Luckily the Sandy Relief signing made up for this, we hit the subway to Wall Street, Came out and immediately saw the Cipriani building where the event would take place. Purchased these tickets VIP for $150 and it was worth every penny. We were greeted with champagne, fancy food, long lounges decked out in WWE cushions, all in a fancy hall. It was an open bar so I pretty much took advantage of this drank lots of Vodka cocktails and Champagne. The wrestlers soon started walking down the Red Carpet and then enterted the main hall to mingle with the fans.
I managed to meet Cody Rhodes, Kofi Kingston, Brodus Clay and R-Truth.
We then went upstairs into the VIP lounge where I managed to meet Hornswoggle,Then spoke at length with Wade Barrett where we mainly talked about football matters. Met Kaitlyn, Chris Jericho- Real class act, The Miz and Maryse, Michael Hayes- decked out in vintage Hayes gear and with a nice young sort on his arm. Dolph Ziggler- Who was getting through the champagne, Ted Dibiase jnr, John Cena- Who had a security presence and didnt stay long but was cordial and was happy to pose for photos and have a quick chat with fans. Jerry Lawler who was telling me he is keen on getting back in the ring asap. Sheamus- Another class act and Linda Mcmahon who was quite easy to obtain.
The Rock turned up but pretty much walked the carpet, done interviews and shot out the door. Shame as I thought the way the night was going there may of been a chance to meet him.
The auction then started, when this ended HHH, Vince & Stephanie headed out the door. HHH and Vince did not stop for anyone but I managed to get a photo with Stephanie as she left, She was really nice and was pretty open to photo ops and talking to the fans all night.
JBL turned up late and was the only person I saw all night that had a beer. He was a nice guy to meet and was in real good spirits.
Managed to round the night of by meeting Layla, Lilian, Natalya and Alicia Fox. Only people I seemed to miss where Del Rio who was in conversation all night, The bellas and Mick Foley-whos daughters looked absolute stunning.
Really loved this event, was a a great evening and pretty much all the wrestlers were very open into mingling with the fans, chatting and posing for pictures.
And to round of the night managed to catch the shuttle back to the hotel rather than another trip to the bus station.

Friday we checked out the hotel and headed for the travel package hotel the Hyatt in New York. Had Axxess in the evening, normally I overcrowd these weekend with Axxess sessions but every year there seems to be more and more people and more and more waiting around, so we just went the Friday and Sunday before Mania, which I think worked alot better as it wasnt overkill. It was packed and took a while to get my head around the new layout, This year all the signing started from inside the concourse and some headed into booths set up in the arena.
We hit a line early on and Managed to get Harley Race, best result of this was one of the staff giving us a sheet of who would been at the 2nd 2 hour slot. Met Larry Zbysko who I was suprised to see there and then we got Sika. We then started for Aksana but knew 3MB were after and thats who we ended up with. Session rounded off with meeting Terry Funk. So overall a fruitfull sessions. Didnt really think much of the memrobilia stands or the exhibits this year but how awesome was that Andre statue.

Saturday was spent at Wrestlecon, Managed to meet UKFF member Heel section on the train by luck and we shared a cab to the convention. Ticket pick up was pretty easy. The Con was probabley the thing that got me most excited about the Mania weekend and it totally lived up to the hype, Wrestlers everywhere and tons of cool merchandise. Id imagine alot of dollars were made at this event.
I met Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Kelly Kelly, Beth Phoenix, Million Dollar Man, Maria, Kevin Nash, John Morrison, Jimmy Snuka, Bob Orton, Brutus Beefcake, Titio Santana, Lex Luger, Iron Sheik, Jushin Liger, Hurricane, Molly, Euegene, Goldust, Boogeyman and Kharma.
Meeting Hogan was absolutley awesome, greeteed you with a handshake and seemed generally happy to be there,.
Angle looked completley out of it, although I did read he was sick. RVD was really funny, Boogeyman and Goldust were having tons of fun and I managed to several pictures with these two as they kept gatecrashing my photos.
Alot of the handlers were great taking pictures while you talked to the talent aswell as the photo op.
Busiest lines of the weekend where definately for Bret, His line was long all weekend.

Hit up an exspensive NYC resturant before the Hall of fame which put a big dent in the wallett.
The Hall of fame was a unique experience, had goosebumps finally attending a event at MSG. Was awesome sitting there thinking about all the great moments that had happened in the building.
Always love the wrestlers coming out at the beginning.
Foley was awesome, it was such a a well put speech and was entertaining throughout, Foley dropping the elbow on Jericho was priceless, Foley is a great public speaker and this was maybe by fav speech in recent years.
Trish was good too, The first time booing her husband was slightly amusing the several rounds of booing after were not, I was actually cringing and Didnt know who I felt sorry more for Trish or Ron.
This was a hour and a half into the event by the time Booker came on and I could feel the crowd starting to get restless and vent their chants.
Booker was decent but at this stage I was questioning whether they should of spread some of these biggish names out on to other years.
Maria M did go on too long IMO, Backland was nuts and cut the 2nd best speech of the night for me in a weird way. Thought it was odd Vince coming out onto the stage hurrying him along.
Trump got completley abused by the crowd, worst than any other celeb induction.
Luckily the fans were respectful to both Arnie and Bruno and luckily Bruno cut a nice shortish speech which was just aswell at gone 11 0 clock at night and 3 hours of speeches.
Was definately a great class, with lots of good and bad from the speeches and crowd reactions.

Sunday morning was spent at the con cleaning up by meeting The Ultimate Warrior, Lita, Sabu, William Regal, Bobby Heenan and Mickie James.
Warrior was so nice and personal with his fans, Lita was excellent too, Mickie was a nice as ever, It was so sad to see Bobby Heenan, I got him to sign my WWE ency but passed up on a photo. Regal was probabley my fav meet of the weekend, another absolute class act and shared a few stories with me from when he wrestled in Slough.
Will be interesting to see who Wrestlecon brings in next year to try and top this weekend.
Got a cab over to axxess, this session was probabley even more packed than Friday, I met Conor O Brien walking around the concourse, hit a short que for Curt Hawkins, Managed to get Sin Cara before he switched and then met Christian which was over a hour que but at leats you got to sit in your seat while queing this year and watch some cool NXT action.

Headed over to the Metlife, Superstore was very busy and sold out of several items, I couldnt get the WM shirt with the card on the back but did pick up a hoodie, Rock/Cena shirt, Rock, Punk and HOF t shirts.

Had a excellent seat, 5th row behind the commentators, dont think ill ever get better seats than this, the set up was very impressive. The section I was in was pretty quiet, not helped by 2 rows of celebs and more than likely people with more money than sense who didnt seem to be into anything bar John Cena.
I didnt like the fact we got no America the beautiful, The rain at the start of the show probabley didnt get me into the start of Mania as I have had in previous years.
Miz/Barret was decent.
6 man was good but not nowhere near as good as other Sheild PPV matches.
Henry/Ryback sucked and the finish made no sense.
Really like The Rock & Cena promos but like others I was dissapointed with lack of backstage skits and Mania special entrances.
Tag match the crowd finally came to live, Jericho/Fandango was sloppy for me.
Puff Daddy was alright from a live experience but was nowhere near as good as Flo Rida last year.
Del Rio/Swagger was dissapointing, the whole crowd wanted the Ziggler cash in on this show.
Taker/Punk was awesome, MOTY candidate for me, just a great usual Undertaker Mania match and great usual big PPV outing for Punk. Punks entrance was awesome.
I kinda liked HHH/Brock I guess, need to watch this one back, End sequence was really good and had me doubting if HHH was actually gonna win .
Suprised by the quickness of Rock & Cenas entrances, Early stages this was dull but I was glued by the end of the match and several near falls had me thinking it was over. I didnt like the hugging end and the difference with the buzz from leaving the Sunlife last year to the people rushing to the exits this year was a massive contrast.
Guy took ages before he clipped my chair off, how did he think people were gonna take their chairs.
Coming out was pretty long and got back in the hotel about 1.30

Monday was spent shopping followed by Raw.
Not much to say apart from how incredible it was to be a part of this crowd, the Mania after Raw has pretty much come to be unmissable. Ive never had so much fun as the Raw after Mania last year, The first hour bar Cena and Bryan I thought was a bit dull but after Ziggler cashed in the crowd pretty much exploded. The chants in the Sheamus/Orton match will live with me forever. The rest of the show from reactions, To Taker, To Rybacks turn and the Fandango sing along was just unreal.

Absolute loved this trip, my feet ache, my wallett aches more but it was totally worth it. Im doubtful that Ill be in New Orleans next year, I feel a bit burnt out from these trips now, especially after this one and the last 2 Mania locations, bar a absolute supercard it will be very hard to top as a week goes.

A.B. Dangerously

mikey13 wrote: »

Just got back! That was the best week of my life

Coming back UNDERTAKER was in the airport and was standing next to us at one point!

Raw was amazing! the Fandango chants started in the section i was in, there was a few Ipswitch fans next to me and a everton fans behind and all we did was shout random crap 'Wade Barrets Barmy Army' even got a 'Maggy Thatcher' chant going

Mate, I was the Ipswich fan (my friend's a Cardiff fan). Were you the Scottish guy next to me? So random that we are both on this board and sat by each other at RAW but didnt know!

ciano316

A.B. Dangerously wrote: »

Mate, I was the Ipswich fan (my friend's a Cardiff fan). Were you the Scottish guy next to me? So random that we are both on this board and sat by each other at RAW but didnt know!

I was sitting behind you's at RAW beside the asian lad that you's knew if you remember that, well your mate who was wearing the cardiff jersey was talking to him or maybe it was you!! Who was wearing the blue jersey?

A.B. Dangerously

ciano316 wrote: »

I was sitting behind you's at RAW beside the asian lad that you's knew if you remember that, well your mate who was wearing the cardiff jersey was talking to him or maybe it was you!! Who was wearing the blue jersey?

I don't remember the Asian lad behind me. Do you mean the Japanese guy with glasses in the section next to us a few rows back? I was talking to absolutely everyone. We were both in Blue Jerseys. Mine was the Ipswich one with Lev 7 on the back and his didn't have anything on the back. He was on the one standing on his chair the whole time, and I was the loud guy trying to get all the chants going.

ciano316

A.B. Dangerously wrote: »

I don't remember the Asian lad behind me. Do you mean the Japanese guy with glasses in the section next to us a few rows back? I was talking to absolutely everyone. We were both in Blue Jerseys. Mine was the Ipswich one with Lev 7 on the back and his didn't have anything on the back. He was on the one standing on his chair the whole time, and I was the loud guy trying to get all the chants going.

Yeah that was the lad I was sitting beside him. Yeah Lev was on the back of the jersey I remember. Seems to be a few of us on here. Hello.

A.B. Dangerously

ciano316 wrote: »

Yeah that was the lad I was sitting beside him. Yeah Lev was on the back of the jersey I remember. Seems to be a few of us on here. Hello.

Were you the guy sitting on the train next to me after Mania who was looking after someone else's chair?

ciano316

A.B. Dangerously wrote: »

Were you the guy sitting on the train next to me after Mania who was looking after someone else's chair?

No I just remember you from talking to japanese lad at RAW. I was sitting on the aisle seat in a purple hoodie when you were talking to him just remembered your jersey.

LosBlanco

Really enjoying those Wrestling blogs..delighted that it has become a weekly feature! The Maggie Thatcher chant sounds ridiculous of true!