Sunday, March 30, 2008

cK Goes To Wrestlemania 24!

CK AND TAZEMASTER ARE IN ORLANDO, FLORIDA FOR THE BIGGEST EVENT OF THE YEAR!

(*THAT IS AN ACTUAL PICTURE - ITS NOT SUPER-IMPOSED!)

It is the biggest event for sports-entertainment for the year. Wrestlemania 24. This year, it was in Orlando, Florida. I have been quite lucky to have been a part of other Wrestlemanias in the past. In 2002, it was Wrestlemania X8 in Toronto. In 2004, it was Wrestlemania 23 in Los Angeles. Now the 24th Wrestlemania happens in Orlando. My brother bought tickets soon after they went on sale and we got Section 515 row DD seats 13 and 14.

Usually, I have a Wrestlemania party at the Crazy House, but this year I traveled alone to the Sunshine State to be a part of it. Of course, my buddies were a little down that there wouldn't be a spectacular house party as we usually have, but maybe next year. Before going to the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium, we get word that major streets are blocked off by police to handle traffic, and parking around the stadium is as high as $30. We arrange for my dad to drive us there and drop us off, and then pick us up when the event is over. Along our way, we find that the stadium isn't exactly in the nicest of areas. If we did manage to drive and park our car, there was a good chance the car wouldn't be there when we got back.

Besides that, it was pretty awesome to look at. The Florida Citrus Bowl --- we were anticipating all the excitement of Wrestlemania during our walk up to the stadium. We passed by a lake that was on one side of the stadium. In the middle of the lake was a little boat where fireworks were. We walked up to the stadium and entered a gate where there was no lineups. All of the ticket takers at the gate were female. After they scanned our tickets to confirm they were legit, a number of the ticket takers were flirting with the TAZEMASTER! They really liked his shirt -- which was one of the classic Stone Cold Steve Austin shirts. I wish I had that on camera or at least took a pic of that.

We both decide that now is the time to get drinks, food and merchandise before going to our seats. So we go around looking for what food we want to eat. They had lots of vendors serving gyros, pizza, cheeseburgers, chicken fingers, fries, chicken on a stick .... so much to choose... Pizza slices were $4, which wasn't so bad, but we wanted more than just a slice. So we found a place called, Sorrento's Pizza out of Daytona Beach, Florida. We bought a whole pizza in a box from them for $32. It must be the best pizza in the world to cost that much!! We also got 8oz beers to go with our pizza. We walked by the merchandise booths and pretty much everything we wanted was sold out. There were a few items such as the souvenir ticket holder and the Wrestlemania football jersey. So I got those.

We then venture up to our seats. Now, these are high up. I mean... so high that we are at the very top of the stadium, and NOBODY is sitting behind us. As for our view, it was awesome --- we were part of 74,635 screaming fans that came to see the event.

Sitting on both sides of us were two older couples who seemed to be in their 50's. Husband and wife just sitting enjoying the event. One couple looked like they were there with their kids, who may have been sitting elsewhere. The other couple looked like they weren't wrestling fans at all, and came to see the big show that was in town.

The match we caught the middle of was the Chavo Guerrero as ECW Champion vs Kane. It was over so quick when Kane just choke slammed the hell out of Chavo. Kane became the new ECW Champion right there and my brother and I just laughed. We already missed the 24 man battle royal to determine who would face Chavo, and the 'Belfast Brawl' with JBL vs. Finlay. The next match was the 'Money In The Bank Ladder' match where we saw a surprise upset when CM Punk win. I don't know how many people saw that happening, but I sure didn't. My brother was asking me, "Who is CM Punk?" Exactly. I was rooting for Shelton Benjamin to pull it off, but he did a suicide flip to the outside, onto a ladder. His chances ended right there.

In between the matches, as the sky got darker, the wind picked up and it began to drizzle a little. It wasn't heavy rain, but I don't think it was enough to be considered rain. It got cooler and my brother put on another layer to wear. Batista vs Umaga's match was entertaining - I captured the fireworks displays for the entrance of Batista, that was pretty cool. The amount of fireworks they gave him, you would have thought he won the Championship all over again.

I think the match that stole the show was the Ric Flair / HBK 'Career Threatening Match'. I thought that the title of that was hilarious. Anyways, I don't think anyone left for a snack or a bathroom break during that match. I actually believed that Ric Flair might have won it and pulled it off, but HBK is the "show-stopper" and retired Ric Flair in the middle of the ring with sweet chin music. I don't think I've ever cheered for the figure-four in a wrestling match as loud as I did that night.

I think the next match was the WWE Champion Triple Threat with John Cena/Randy Orton and HHH. It sounded like HHH was the favour to win, as John Cena got the loudest boos. John Cena's Wrestlemania entrance was done by a marching band --- it seemed like a very interesting idea on paper, but I personally thought it was weak. HHH's entrance was really cool. He looked like something futuristic or robotic. He stood in one place and all these different beams of light shined on him creating the effect. Randy Orton came out to a regular entrance, nothing special, just the same one he does on every show. The match was alright, it seemed like it shouldn't have been a triple-threat, but when Randy Orton pulled off a sneak victory, it was all clear. I thought that John Cena winning the title was a lock, but I was pretty shocked! No complaints here!

The next match was the most publicized -- all over the sports media and news -- "The Best Boxer In the World", Floyd "Money" Mayweather vs "The Largest Athlete In the World", The Big Show. When Mayweather came out, cash money rained like confetti where he walked. Of course the cash money was fake money, but it was still cool to see. Big Show came out to a regular entrance, if you call the explosive fireworks and the 7 foot 4 monster coming out, "regular". The match had lots of ups and downs, and the majority of the crowd was rooting for the Big Show. Mayweather did entertain, using steel chair shots to bring the Big Show down. He ended the match when he grabbed some brass knuckles and clocked Big Show in the jaw. It wasn't the best finish, but it was still believable.

The final match was the for the World Heavyweight Championship. The reigning champion, Edge faces The Undertaker in a "Streak vs Streak" match. I captured both entrances of the competitors on my camera, and awaited for the match. It was also a very up and down match, with many near falls. However, in the end, The Undertaker prevailed. Upon his win, a Wrestlemania sized celebration was in order. Fireworks galore lit up the sky and the stadium. Lots of pyrotechnics where we were seated made us plug our ears because of how loud it was. Above us, were the cables for some fireworks were set up and some pyro people right above us. All of a sudden, in the mix of celebration fireworks, some fireworks that were supposed to make it all the way to the ring just travelled 10 ft and then dropped 4 rows in front of us. People started running and clutching their children, screaming and jumping up the rows. Luckily, a lot of people left during the Undertaker match, so all the seats weren't all full. Unfortunately, some people were injured. I personally didn't see any injuries, but I did take pictures of the aftermath of fireworks debris that littered the seat area.

My brother and I proceeded to leave the venue which seemed to take forever as the herds of people were funneled down long winding exit ramps. I wanted to see if there was any of the Floyd Mayweather money still on the ground, and I'd like to take some home as souvenirs. When I got to the bottom level and the area where I was just within arms reach of grabbing myself a stack, event staff held me back and told me that I have to vacate the premises. I pleaded with them telling them all I wanted was some bills, and that I came all the way from Toronto for this. One of the event staff felt sorry for me and pulled one out from his pocket and gave it to me. I wanted more than just one single bill, but I'll take that over nothing!

After we exited the Citrus Bowl, we walked back to the streets and through very shady areas with other people who were looking for where they parked their cars and trying to meet up with other family members. I didn't see a single Orlando Transit bus for people leaving the venue --- remember, over 70,000 are now leaving this stadium, trickling into the scary area that surrounds the venue. I didn't understand it. Police blocked off access to the main streets, so even taxi cabs couldn't enter. So tourists from all over were walking in a strange area, that had plenty of shady people looking at them like prey. My brother and I had to walk about a mile to where my dad had to park in order to pick us up because of police road closures.

Overall, Wrestlemania 24 was a fun experience. My brother and I had a lot of fun and took home memories to last a lifetime.


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