Yup…it was earlier today. And it was awesome.
It was frustrating at first. Lots of people, myself included, had been there for hours waiting out in the pouring rain, and when we finally were let in, we had to wait even longer. And when the event finally started to happen, all the seats that were laid out were “reserved.” People were pissed. You never want to piss off wrestling fans. So I stood for four hours straight in my heels..it hurt.
But everything ended up being okay 
I got interviewed by WWE, I don’t know if it was wwe.com or if it will be shown on SmackDown or Raw, but whatever. I felt all goofy, because I didn’t say much of anything interesting past my giggles and excitement. The guys doing the interviews (camera, reporter, and sound) pulled my friend and I up away from the crowd for it, which was flattering. The sound guy seemed to like me (I’m sure he thought I was nice) so later on, admist the massive crowd where we were pushed far back, he handed me a card, which read, “You guys can go to WrestleMania with me. Call me.” So I called him right away, ha. I’m glad I did, as he said not only can he get me seats in the “reserved section,” but I am now going to SmackDown tonight!
Our seats were right by the entrance. I’m watching it on wwe.com right now, and I get shown a bunch of times. I was so happy, but now I realize I look like a hilarious fool when I’m excited.
Anyways, it starts off with “official” people- some CEO of the Lions, some assistant to the mayor (who got many BOOs), and some other dude. People chanted, “Boring!” which I thought was mean. Finally, “Mene Gene” was introduced. It was really thrilling to see him, I swear.
Gene began to introduce the first SuperStar. He said this man has been a part of thirteen WrestleManias. He said he was a three time World Heavyweight Champion. I got giddy. Finally, when he said he was the winner of the 1995 and 1996 Royal Rumbles, I jumped out of my chair, as I knew who it was. The Showstopper. The Main Event. H-B-K- Shawn Michaels. He came out to a great ovation, and especially since I had never even seen him at a live event, it was awesome for me. Though he was pretty funny, he babbled on too long about suits and such, which I found boring. But nonetheless, it was nice to see HBK.
Rey was introduced next, to a surprisingly quiet reaction. I saw a lot of people with Rey shirts and masks, but hardly any screamed. Maybe everyone was exhausted. He talked about Chavo, talked about how he would still be the champ. Yada yada. He is incredibly tiny. I was a lot taller than he was.
I certainly was not taller than the next person brought out, The Big Show. He is not AS big as I imagined, but huge nonetheless. He had a huge ovation also, even bigger than Rey’s. It was cute to hear him put over Andre the Giant.
Batista was next. He is very attractive in person, I must say. He had a nice cream suit. I held up the WWE Magazine with him on the cover which he acknowledged. He pretty much went up there and literally said he was bad at speaking on the mic, but I found it to be very entertaining. He seemed confidant and modest at the same time. I found him very charming. He took off his suit jacket which made me know that there were actually some female fans there. He was veryyy sexy, especially when he said, “I always say it’s not the suit that makes the man, but what is underneath that makes the animal.” Batista mentioned John Cena to a mixed reaction, and started playing with that, simply mumbling the name, “John Cena.” He did not take it seriously at all. Someone yelled, “Evolution!” and Batista said, “Oh? What’s that?” and chuckled.
And interesting point, which shows just how little the WWE may regard its ECW brand. Batista talked about wanting to be the World Heavyweight Champion…or the WWE Champion…or the ECW Champion and looked over at the Big Show. Afterwards, Mene Gene went on the mic and said, “Well he said he would settle for the ECW World Champion,” which lead to boos and the Big Show saying, “Settle?” and seeming really pissed, which lead to a very akward moment.
He began to talk about “Cowboy” Bob Orton, but was cut off when Kelly’s music began to play. She flirted with a couple wrestlers before just going to sit down. She did not do anything the entire time but laugh at everything HBK and later Randy Orton said to her, who she was sitting next to.
Finally…Randy Orton was brought out after Kelly. He only spoke for a few seconds, about going to defeat Hogan at SummerSlam, and then another legend at WrestleMania. I was really disappointed that he did not talk for much more. He seemed to not want to be there. Later on, he would start blowing in the mic that was in front of him. I saw him get yelled out. He looked pissed. He seemed to make fun of everyone who would come out after him to Kelly, especially John Cena.
Edge was introduced next. He got a surprisingly mixed reaction. I think the amount of females screaming was what made it seem so. He was very Edge-like with his interview. Mentioned his being there at WrestleMania VI. He got some heat when he talked about making it to the “big event,” unlike teams from Detroit. I think he meant to nudge at the inevitable folks in attendence that crossed the border from Canada, when he decided to mentioned the country.
Mene Gene began to introduce King Booker, but was cut off by Sharmel. She almost fell over from the microphone cord, which cut her mic off for most of it. I heard her because I was so close to her, but I doubt the thousands that were up behind us did. Booker was met with little or no reaction. He was very boring, and very slow. I have never been entertained by him, and especially now he is even less entertaining. The title belt looked impressive, though.
When he walked up the stage, Batista was focused on Rey, and turned his back on Booker when he walked by. Rey looked like they were going to pounce. Maybe it was part of the storyline, but I swear I sensed tension between Booker and Batista when they were near each other.
Shawn Michaels and Randy Orton were making fun of him the entire time, making Kelly try so hard not to just sit there cracking up.
During the end, people had a “Batista” chant going, which Batista found hilarious, but right now I’m watching it, and they cut them out, even though they were very loud.
Finally, the end- John Cena was brought out. Mene Gene compared him to “Eninem.” No, I didn’t typo.
Cena came out and immediately went to the fans. You can see me lean out to high five him, and him ignore it, ha. In my heels, I was as tall as him. I hate to admit it, he looks pretty sexy in person. His reaction was more positive when he was out than it had been when he was just mentioned.
I think Cena has been awesome on the mic lately, I don’t know what has changed. I think he might be going “insane.” He initially came out with a chair, like he was going to throw it, but motioned that he was just kidding. He mentioned a joke regarding Finlay’s “midget” (isn’t that politically incorrect?) that was really weird, and I saw Randy Orton shrug, have a “WTF?” facial expression, lean over to Kelly, which shrugged the same way. I think he may have said, “What the heck is he talking about?”
Cena also talked about eating White Castle w/cheap beer that goes down fast, and “comes down fast,” which was disgusting and unnecessary. Whatever. Other than that, he was entertaining. He is going nuts, and I like it.
Mene Gene announced afterwards that tickets for WrestleMania will officially go on sale on November 11th, at 10am.
WrestleMania 23 will take place on April 1st, 2007.
My sound-guy friend handed me a shirt afterwards. It says, “Wrestle Mania is coming back to the Motor City.” It was the one had been wearing. How hilarious.
So tonight I’ll be in attendence at SmackDown! Sweet. I didn’t think I was going. Whoo!
Have a good one!
- D
