Hey guys,
Whew, what an experience meeting Jake "The Snake" again. I will try not to go on too long here, but it was interesting to say the least. When I got there, Jake wasn't at his table, I believe he on a quick break so I walked around for a bit and looked at everything for sale.
Same old classic and vintage toys from when I was a kid. Man, that stuff goes for some serious coin. I did see a few MOC WWF LJN figures such as Ted DiBiase, Honky Tonk Man, Mr. Fuji, Miss Elizabeth and "Luscious" Johnny Valiant. Lots of booths had various loose WWF LJN's as well.
Anyway, after walking around for a bit, I went back into the main hall where Jake's table was and he was back along with the guy in charge of collecting Jake's money. He was the same guy when Nikolai Volkoff was there last time.
When I first saw Jake at his table and how he appeared and interacted with the fans, I immediately thought something was off. I thought Jake was on something for sure!! He seemed very tired at first and then came around and came off as the Jake of old. He was constantly swearing and stuff, but I think it was donr in a jokingly manner. Its tough to describe. You had to be there to hear it and see it first hand.
At one point Jake was taking pictures with women and they would sit on his knee and I clearly heard one woman ask him "Where's your snake?" And he replied quietly "Right between my legs" and I believe he even asked her "if she wanted to pet it", to which she replied "I don't think my husband would like that too much" and her husband was right there taking a pic of her sitting on his knee.
It was really strange and interesting behaviour from Jake "The Snake". I really don't know if he was on something or if he was just messing around the whole time in a jokingly manner.
I stood off to the side for a bit and just watched the fans go up one by one to meet Jake. He was wave them up and jokingly got on their case to buy a t-shirt and I heard him call one guy an A$$hole, but he was joking when he said it. Like I said, you had to be there. It was very interesting.
I even overheard him say to a fan or two, "I ain't signing sh*t unless you buy a t-shirt", but he was laughing and joking after he said it. I don't know if some fans knew how to take that after he said it. He wasn't being serious, but joking in his own unique way. He was posing for pictures and at one point flipping the finger while getting a picture.
I even saw Jake handing out free signed pictures to young kids, so that was cool of him to do that.
At one point, he excused himself to go to the men's room and I was standing off the side at another table and when he came back, I clearly overheard someone say they were going to go to the washroom and Jake overheard that as well and he said "Hey watch out there's a big snake in there. Oh wait, that's just me" and I just busted out laughing!! Lol. That was pretty damn funny.
I swear to God, this is just some of the stuff that he was saying and doing from what I saw and heard.
So, I finally went up and got my VHS clamshell tape signed and also bought a t-shirt. It was a total of $40, $20 for the autograph and $20 for the t-shirt. I shook his hand and noticed he wearing his WWE Hall of Fame ring and after that, I hung around for a bit longer and I'm glad I did because Jake again excused himself from his table and took the big wad of money from the guy from his table and walked outside.
There outside, Jake saw the classic Delorean from Back to the Future and posed for a few pictures. He even pulled out his big wad of money and flashed it off and in the process a $20 dollar bill blew away and some lady chased after it and gave it back and Jake gave her a big hug in return.
After that, I overheard Jake say "Time to go eat" and he went back into the hotel and that was pretty much it. I got in my car and headed home.
As I said, I did get my VHS tape signed, but Jake signed it on the back, not the front like I had wanted. So, needless to say, I was and still am a bit disappointed there, but oh well, it is what it is. It is signed, but not the way I would've liked it. Oh well, sh*t happens I suppose.
I've got other better Jake autographs when I met him last year in Windsor, so I can't complain too much. It was an interesting and unique experience this time around, to say the least. That kind of makes up for the slight mess up on my autograph.
On a side note, me and another fan met up with another fan who brought along his replica WWF Winged Eagle belt to get signed by Jake.
He was showing it off to a few people because he had gotten it signed by Bret Hart, Sycho Sid, Ric Flair, Bob Backlund, Mankind, Undertaker, Ted DiBiase, Sgt. Slaughter, Diesel, Shawn Michaels, Hulk Hogan, and even The Ultimate Warrior!! Basically everyone left alive who has held the WWF Winged Eagle belt. He said his final goal is to get Stone Cold to sign it on the center plate right below Hogan's signature.
So, that was pretty amazing seeing that. Really, really cool piece for sure.
Anyway, here are the pics I took today from beginning to end. Enjoy!!