Post by HHH316 on Mar 5, 2013 2:12:29 GMT -5
Over the last week, I have attended a few autograph signings I thought I’d share. After going to WM28 last year, I created a little project with trying to get as many signatures as I can from people who were at WM on my WM28 poster. I missed a couple of signings in my area over the last year, but ended up having the chance to get 4 signatures over the span of a week.
First up was a local indy show with Jerry Lawler and Paul Bearer appearing. While Bearer wasn’t actually on the card, I did see him at Axxess in the Undertaker’s graveyard. But I had to leave that Axxess session early, and the line was too long, so I passed. What should have taken 15 minutes to meet both took 45, as it was pretty unorganized. They were in the lobby, sandwiched between the merchandise table, ticket takers, and food concessions. Most people didn’t know what line they were in.
Lawler was first. He was pretty quiet, and just said “hi” and “thanks.” I’m not ever looking for a big performance from these guys. His voice did sound pretty raspy. Might have something to do with a roundtable show he did the night before in Milwaukee with JR and Gene Okerlund.
I’ve never had a “bad experience” at a signing, but I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who clearly did not want to be making an appearance more than Paul Bearer. I thanked him for coming and asked him if he could sign my poster. He shook his head yes and grabbed his black marker. He was getting ready to sign on a pitch black spot on the poster (so there’s no way the signature could be seen) so I suggested using silver, which I brought with me. He looked at me as if I just kicked him. He took it from me and signed it, then handed it back to me. I held my hand out to him to shake his to thank him, and that felt like an eternity. Eventually he shook my hand and I was on my way.
I had some time to kill before the UFC PPV started, so I watched a little bit of the indy show. Paul Bearer was managing the babyface in a “bring any weapon you have with you” match. He grabbed the microphone and informed the heels he had a surprise for them. The lights go out and the Undertaker’s music hits. Purple lasers are flashing everywhere with a fog machine turned on (I was pretty impressed with the visual quality at a little indy show). All of a sudden 6 guys dressed as druids bring a casket to the ring. I’ve been to indy shows that have been in front of 20 fans and 1500 fans, and I can’t even describe the massive pop that took place. Everyone was standing on their seats (literally) and thought the Undertaker was in the casket. And boy were they disappointed. Ironically enough, this was the same night Taker returned at the Smackdown house show in Texas.
Next up was Sheamus at the World of Wheels show on Friday. I had never been to one of these shows, but the WWE always has someone appearing there each year when they come to Chicago. The doors opened at 3pm and I got in line shortly after, as I had about 30 people in front of me. It was a 6pm signing, so I had a lot of time to kill. I clearly wasn’t thinking, because I forgot my car charger for my phone at home and needed it to navigate me home. My phone only had about 30% life left.
The “highlight” of waiting was watching a women in her late 40s-mid 50’s stumble up to the line, absolutely piss drunk…at 3:30 in the afternoon. There were metal bars used to snake the line and keep things orderly. Her friend told her to crawl under them, and she proceeded to break them apart Ultimate Warrior-style, and destroy the format. Then she passed out on the floor, and supposedly pissed on herself. At that point, security took her out of line. Unfortunately, there were a lot of kids there that saw that. I get it if you’ve got problems, but keep them at home.
Sheamus showed up right on time and was great with every fan. He took the time to ask their name and how they were doing. A nice touch was that we were able to take personal photos with them, something that I rarely see. It’s clear to me why the WWE wants to push him so hard; he’s a workhorse both on and off camera. I had a great experience with him. He signed my poster and was impressed with the work I had put into it. He posed for a photo with me, where I have horrible red eyes. That’s a cell phone camera for you.
A big surprise for me was that the WWE representative that was with Sheamus was former WWE referee Tim White. A handful of us knew who he was, and he was extremely impressed with my poster. He was really curious about it and asked about the framing I had for it and stuff like that. We talked about WM28 weekend for a few minutes, and despite him not being on the card, the fan in me asked if he wanted to sign it, and he was more than happy to. I thought that was pretty cool.
Last but not least was an Edge appearance. I had an extremely late Saturday night and was on 3 hours of sleep with a busy Sunday ahead of me. I knew I had to be gone from the convention by 1pm (the signing was at noon), so my plan was to get there early to get out early. The gates opened at 10am, and I got there around 9:30. There were probably 80 people already in line to get into the convention, but once I got in, there were only about 30 people in line for the signing. That quickly changed, because there were probably 150 people within 10 minutes of the opening. There were easily 500 people in line by the time it started. We started right on time and Edge was very, very nice. He signed multiple items for anyone that had them, and also took personalized photos with every fan that requested them. I was surprised to see how laid back he was. I had heard he was but hadn’t met him before. We exchanged greetings and he said he was impressed with the work I put into my poster, but in reality I only had a busy WM28 weekend. I also got a photo with him (why not, right?). I’ve got to hand it to the World of Wheels convention. If there are ever WWE appearances in the future, I will absolutely attend. Everything ran smoothly and fans were allowed personalized photos. If I bought VIP tickets for Edge and Sheamus last year, it would have cost me well over $200. Meeting the two of them this weekend cost me $30. Can’t beat that.
And my work-in-progress project:
First up was a local indy show with Jerry Lawler and Paul Bearer appearing. While Bearer wasn’t actually on the card, I did see him at Axxess in the Undertaker’s graveyard. But I had to leave that Axxess session early, and the line was too long, so I passed. What should have taken 15 minutes to meet both took 45, as it was pretty unorganized. They were in the lobby, sandwiched between the merchandise table, ticket takers, and food concessions. Most people didn’t know what line they were in.
Lawler was first. He was pretty quiet, and just said “hi” and “thanks.” I’m not ever looking for a big performance from these guys. His voice did sound pretty raspy. Might have something to do with a roundtable show he did the night before in Milwaukee with JR and Gene Okerlund.
I’ve never had a “bad experience” at a signing, but I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who clearly did not want to be making an appearance more than Paul Bearer. I thanked him for coming and asked him if he could sign my poster. He shook his head yes and grabbed his black marker. He was getting ready to sign on a pitch black spot on the poster (so there’s no way the signature could be seen) so I suggested using silver, which I brought with me. He looked at me as if I just kicked him. He took it from me and signed it, then handed it back to me. I held my hand out to him to shake his to thank him, and that felt like an eternity. Eventually he shook my hand and I was on my way.
I had some time to kill before the UFC PPV started, so I watched a little bit of the indy show. Paul Bearer was managing the babyface in a “bring any weapon you have with you” match. He grabbed the microphone and informed the heels he had a surprise for them. The lights go out and the Undertaker’s music hits. Purple lasers are flashing everywhere with a fog machine turned on (I was pretty impressed with the visual quality at a little indy show). All of a sudden 6 guys dressed as druids bring a casket to the ring. I’ve been to indy shows that have been in front of 20 fans and 1500 fans, and I can’t even describe the massive pop that took place. Everyone was standing on their seats (literally) and thought the Undertaker was in the casket. And boy were they disappointed. Ironically enough, this was the same night Taker returned at the Smackdown house show in Texas.
Next up was Sheamus at the World of Wheels show on Friday. I had never been to one of these shows, but the WWE always has someone appearing there each year when they come to Chicago. The doors opened at 3pm and I got in line shortly after, as I had about 30 people in front of me. It was a 6pm signing, so I had a lot of time to kill. I clearly wasn’t thinking, because I forgot my car charger for my phone at home and needed it to navigate me home. My phone only had about 30% life left.
The “highlight” of waiting was watching a women in her late 40s-mid 50’s stumble up to the line, absolutely piss drunk…at 3:30 in the afternoon. There were metal bars used to snake the line and keep things orderly. Her friend told her to crawl under them, and she proceeded to break them apart Ultimate Warrior-style, and destroy the format. Then she passed out on the floor, and supposedly pissed on herself. At that point, security took her out of line. Unfortunately, there were a lot of kids there that saw that. I get it if you’ve got problems, but keep them at home.
Sheamus showed up right on time and was great with every fan. He took the time to ask their name and how they were doing. A nice touch was that we were able to take personal photos with them, something that I rarely see. It’s clear to me why the WWE wants to push him so hard; he’s a workhorse both on and off camera. I had a great experience with him. He signed my poster and was impressed with the work I had put into it. He posed for a photo with me, where I have horrible red eyes. That’s a cell phone camera for you.
A big surprise for me was that the WWE representative that was with Sheamus was former WWE referee Tim White. A handful of us knew who he was, and he was extremely impressed with my poster. He was really curious about it and asked about the framing I had for it and stuff like that. We talked about WM28 weekend for a few minutes, and despite him not being on the card, the fan in me asked if he wanted to sign it, and he was more than happy to. I thought that was pretty cool.
Last but not least was an Edge appearance. I had an extremely late Saturday night and was on 3 hours of sleep with a busy Sunday ahead of me. I knew I had to be gone from the convention by 1pm (the signing was at noon), so my plan was to get there early to get out early. The gates opened at 10am, and I got there around 9:30. There were probably 80 people already in line to get into the convention, but once I got in, there were only about 30 people in line for the signing. That quickly changed, because there were probably 150 people within 10 minutes of the opening. There were easily 500 people in line by the time it started. We started right on time and Edge was very, very nice. He signed multiple items for anyone that had them, and also took personalized photos with every fan that requested them. I was surprised to see how laid back he was. I had heard he was but hadn’t met him before. We exchanged greetings and he said he was impressed with the work I put into my poster, but in reality I only had a busy WM28 weekend. I also got a photo with him (why not, right?). I’ve got to hand it to the World of Wheels convention. If there are ever WWE appearances in the future, I will absolutely attend. Everything ran smoothly and fans were allowed personalized photos. If I bought VIP tickets for Edge and Sheamus last year, it would have cost me well over $200. Meeting the two of them this weekend cost me $30. Can’t beat that.
And my work-in-progress project:
