voncouch
04-12-2011, 12:28 PM
So last Saturday, April 9th, my brother and I drove up to Philly to go to the K&S Wrestlefest. I’ve been to a bunch of horror conventions, and while I’ve been to some matches with some meet & greets, I’d never been to an actual wrestling convention. My brother and I grew up on wrestling, and while he’s moved more towards MMA, I still keep up with the business. My main selling point to the event was Bobby Heenan. Heenan was a huge influence on me in my life. His pure-heel character made me fall in love with a villain, along with other total heels like Ted Dibiase and Mr. Perfect. But his humor doing play by play really molded my sense of humor early on. I’m actually an actor who does a lot of comedies, and a big part of that is due to “The Brain”. I even joined a wrestling school years ago and trained to be a manager, basically stealing every move, look and nuance from Heenan.
We got there early because we had no idea what the line would be. Last time I went to Horrorfind up in Gettysburg, PA, the line just to get into the place was about an hour wait. To say this was shorter would be an understatement. We got into the place about a half hour before the main guys were about to show, so we looked around the various vendor tables to kill time. The first guy to show was someone I didn’t know was booked: Jimmy Snuka. He was really friendly and before we got a picture, he was saying hi to Pat Tanaka and a few others. It was cool to see him meeting back with these guys he probably hadn’t seen in a while. And as we were waiting, the main draws came out: Steamboat, Luger, Animal, Paul Ellering and, of course, Heenan.
We got our picture and stood in line for Heenan. Not a long wait, compared to some lines I’ve been in. Heenan and Luger were sitting at a table together, Animal and Ellering were at another, and Steamboat and Molly Holly were at a third. When I finally got up to Heenan, I handed him what I wanted signed: the promotional poster from the 92 Royal Rumble. Sadly, he couldn’t speak. The cancer seems to really have done a number on him recently. He had a large bandage on his throat and his mouth stayed open, responding only in vowel sounds. He was coherent and could tell what was going on, he just couldn’t vocally respond in any sort of way. After he signed my poster and I got a photo, I told him what an inspiration he was to me and I thanked him for the impact on my life. He nodded and gave an “Ah-hah” response. While I’m grateful I finally got to meet him and tell him what an influence he was to me, I really wish I could have heard his response. Either a respectful “thank you” or, more likely, a smart-ass quip, I would have loved either one.
My brother and I eventually got our pictures with Luger (looked good, minus the loss of strength in his grip), Steamboat (looked fantastic, and I’ll bet he could still put on some great matches) & Animal and Ellering (with their gimmicks, didn’t look like they had aged a day). We also met Smith Hart and Steve Blackman, both of whom he had some good conversations with. Blackman was in the best shape of anyone, no question about it. We met Jim Neidhart, who needs to be seen in person to really believe. Very friendly guy, but he’s build like a brick shithouse and has a very intimidating presence. There were others there I knew who I didn’t get to meet due to a lack of money, such as Nick Dinsmore (probably the most excited guy there), Molly Holly (still as pretty as she was the last time I saw her) The Sandman and Konnan. Apparently Ashley Massaro no-showed the event. I promise she wasn’t missed.
All in all, they put on a great event and the staff and crew were very friendly and helpful. My bro and I will be keeping an eye out for next year’s event and if the line up is as good as this one, we’ll be back with more cash.
Did anyone else here make the convention?
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/218044_10100309110466998_5719839_54828420_6047108_n.jpg
We got there early because we had no idea what the line would be. Last time I went to Horrorfind up in Gettysburg, PA, the line just to get into the place was about an hour wait. To say this was shorter would be an understatement. We got into the place about a half hour before the main guys were about to show, so we looked around the various vendor tables to kill time. The first guy to show was someone I didn’t know was booked: Jimmy Snuka. He was really friendly and before we got a picture, he was saying hi to Pat Tanaka and a few others. It was cool to see him meeting back with these guys he probably hadn’t seen in a while. And as we were waiting, the main draws came out: Steamboat, Luger, Animal, Paul Ellering and, of course, Heenan.
We got our picture and stood in line for Heenan. Not a long wait, compared to some lines I’ve been in. Heenan and Luger were sitting at a table together, Animal and Ellering were at another, and Steamboat and Molly Holly were at a third. When I finally got up to Heenan, I handed him what I wanted signed: the promotional poster from the 92 Royal Rumble. Sadly, he couldn’t speak. The cancer seems to really have done a number on him recently. He had a large bandage on his throat and his mouth stayed open, responding only in vowel sounds. He was coherent and could tell what was going on, he just couldn’t vocally respond in any sort of way. After he signed my poster and I got a photo, I told him what an inspiration he was to me and I thanked him for the impact on my life. He nodded and gave an “Ah-hah” response. While I’m grateful I finally got to meet him and tell him what an influence he was to me, I really wish I could have heard his response. Either a respectful “thank you” or, more likely, a smart-ass quip, I would have loved either one.
My brother and I eventually got our pictures with Luger (looked good, minus the loss of strength in his grip), Steamboat (looked fantastic, and I’ll bet he could still put on some great matches) & Animal and Ellering (with their gimmicks, didn’t look like they had aged a day). We also met Smith Hart and Steve Blackman, both of whom he had some good conversations with. Blackman was in the best shape of anyone, no question about it. We met Jim Neidhart, who needs to be seen in person to really believe. Very friendly guy, but he’s build like a brick shithouse and has a very intimidating presence. There were others there I knew who I didn’t get to meet due to a lack of money, such as Nick Dinsmore (probably the most excited guy there), Molly Holly (still as pretty as she was the last time I saw her) The Sandman and Konnan. Apparently Ashley Massaro no-showed the event. I promise she wasn’t missed.
All in all, they put on a great event and the staff and crew were very friendly and helpful. My bro and I will be keeping an eye out for next year’s event and if the line up is as good as this one, we’ll be back with more cash.
Did anyone else here make the convention?
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/218044_10100309110466998_5719839_54828420_6047108_n.jpg