JBL and Aliyah Autograph Signing Report (11/03/2024)

That’s awesome. Glad everything went smooth and easy. I hate going to signings that are unorganized

Every time I read your reports, I get a little jealous since not a lot of wrestlers come to my part of town and I have plenty of figures that would look good signed!

I enjoyed your reports as always

Now that’s well deserved hard work Champ!

Yet another signing report... a quick one for a few big names. Triple H, The Miz, AJ Styles, and Charlotte Flair were in Toronto today for the Fan Expo convention.



Fan Expo is pretty much a massive comic con. The wrestling presence at this con is usually underwhelming, therefore, when the announcement that the four superstars would be making an appearance, I was really excited.

Tickets first went on sale online a few weeks ago. For about $500, you could get a combo from each superstar, admission to the convention, and front-of-the-line VIP access; the ultimate VIP package. Alternatevely, you could also order combos of individual wrestlers which would also include a VIP pass to skip the line. Because I didn’t need photo-ops with Charlotte, AJ Styles, nor The Miz, the ultimate wasn’t worth it for me. All I decided to preorder was my admission ticket, as well as the Triple H regular VIP. Come today, I arrive at around 2pm for a 4pm opening at which time you could already redeem your tickets. There is a separate section to claim your WWE preorders (the special events counter), and the admission tickets. I first go to the section where you claim your admission ticket. I do that and talk to a volunteer asking where the special events ticket counter is. She tells me that once they let us in, I can go to that counter. I thought that this didn’t make sense. My Triple H photo-op is slated for 4pm, the doors are slated to open at 4pm. There’s no way I’d be able to claim my Triple H tickets and jet over to the photo-op; it just wasn’t enough time. Therefore, I leave that area and try asking other people who had better information and let me into the special event ticket counter where I finally claim my Triple H tickets. Next, I go back to the line to get in, where it turns out that if you have a WWE ticket, they would let you in early such that you could access the special events ticket counter. Really? They couldn’t have told me that when I first asked? Anyway, they let the WWE ticket holders in before general admission. I already had mine so I just roamed around until I found A-Rob . We checked out the WWE stuff together where they had Triple H’s WrestleMania 30 gear on display.



We then go to the tables at which you could buy autograph tickets. At one table, you could purchase Charlotte and Triple H. At another, The Miz and AJ Styles. I purchased an extra Triple H autograph, then made my way to the other table and purchased two AJs and one Miz. AJ and Miz were $65 each, which would equal to $195. The lady asks me for $200. I correct her and she seems puzzled and does the math again. It wasn’t that hard considering its obvious (to me anyway) that 200 doesn't divide evenly into three.. At this point we have nothing else to do, and it was already 3:15, so we wait around the photo-op booth until 4. They have us line up, and of course, things are running late. The photo-ops started about 20 minutes late. Once they started, however, they were really quick. Twenty minutes later, I enter the photo-op booth. They have me put my bags down on a shelf before going to Triple H. Once I approached Triple H, we shake hands, pose for the photo, and once it was taken, I say “thank you, sir!”. He replies, “of course, man!”. I then exit the booth and my printed photo is given to me.

A-Rob and I then jet over to the Triple H autograph line, which was a total mess. We had regular Triple H VIP tickets, but so did a lot of people. They put us in a VIP line, but the line didn’t have much structure; it was horrible. I was starting to get worried that I wouldn’t be able to get all my autographs done. Triple H was slated to sign autographs starting at 5pm, but yep, they ran late. He didn’t start until almost 5:30. Once he started signing, the line was an even worse mess than it was before. How it works is that the Ultimate VIP people are supposed to meet the superstars before the regular VIP. Because the line had no structure, we were able to meet Triple H within ten minutes. I hand the handler my items to get signed, as well as my autograph tickets. He sees my post-it note that says my name on it. He takes it off and says no personalizations are allowed. I then snap a few pics which then makes them snap at me and tell me that no pictures are allowed. As he signed my stuff, I yell out “it’s nice to meet you, sir”. He replies, “you too, man”. He didn’t lift his head up or anything. It was a quick sign and go. He was signing like he was an automated machine. Not entirely his fault though. Fan Expo sold waaaaay too many tickets for the amount of time he would be appearing.



Once we got done with Triple H, we move over to The Miz’s line. We join the non-VIP line because our VIP is technically only for Triple H. After 15-20 minutes, Miz leaves for his photo-op. While waiting, a volunteer sees that we have a VIP wristband, so she puts us in the separate VIP line. Our wristband only distinguishes us as being VIP; not necessarily for a particular wrestler. Therefore, there is no way for the staff to know that we only paid for a Triple H VIP. Essentially, you could be in a VIP line and skip the regular people line even if you didn’t pay to do so for a particular wrestler. This flaw in their system was a good time saver for us. At 7:10, Miz finally returns from photo-ops, and autographs are back on. 5 minutes later, it is my turn to meet Miz. I give the handler my ticket and item to get signed. I ask Miz to personalize the figure and he had no problem doing so. I tell him that I’ve been a big fan for a long time. I tell him a story that had me buying his first action figure back when I was a kid, and my friends made fun of me for doing so. He replies: “what? You gotta find new friends!”. I say: “that’s what I did!”. Miz was super friendly to everyone.



I then join the AJ Styles line… as a VIP . A few minutes later, a volunteer tells me that he’s going to cut the line right in front of me such that some of the regular people can start meeting AJ Styles. I ask: “I have a VIP wristband though; why can the regular people go?” He replies: “they’ve been waiting for a while”. I say: “then what’s the point of being a VIP?”. Technically, I’m just pulling the guy’s leg because my VIP pass is for Triple H’s line only, but their system is so flawed they can't tell the difference. He explains that they only let four or five regular people go, and then VIPs resume and that it would be very quick. Kinda defeats the purpose of VIP, but it was indeed very quick and I was at AJ in five minutes. I hand the handler my tickets who then takes my stuff then gives it to former referee, Tim White. He sees my “To Alex” post-it notes, and immediately removes them, telling me that no personalizations are allowed. I thought that was weird because he was putting inscriptions like "too sweet" on other people’s figures. Anyway, Tim White then hands my figures and markers to AJ. I’m not sure why, but he did it in a manner such that my white paint marker goes flying. AJ jokes with Tim White by saying something along the lines of “is there something I did to you?”, as if to say that Tim is mad at AJ because the marker went flying. AJ starts laughing at that as he signed my figures. With him bantering with Tim, I felt like I didn’t have his full attention. In fact, I had to start the conversation by asking him how he is, to which he says he’s doing well. I take a picture of him, and Tim White tells me to stop. Ugh. Anyways, AJ signs my figures, I thank him, then leave. AJ was nice enough.



The streak of extremely smooth signings has come to a sudden halt. Thankfully, I got everything I needed done; however, it was mayhem. Fan Expo was so poorly organized; no one really knew what was going on, and it was a major headache. Still though, I’m happy with the autographs and am especially happy at the fact that I met Triple H.

Thanks for reading!

And this last story is why from this point forward I'm buying two per figure. I know it's a waste of money, but it should net me a personalization. One ticket for them to sign their names, and the other for them to add mine.

What I've found (and I've not been doing this as long as you have) is if the handler is distracted you have a good shot at getting personalization. If not, good luck. The only reason I was able to get AJ's at AXXESS was because the handler took off the post it right in front of him and made a big deal of it. AJ wasn't happy about that, so he made it a point to personalize mine--sort of as an apology for the handler making a scene about it. Great guy


Now back to you:

INSANELY JEALOUS you got to meet Triple H and AJ. The autos look exceptional.

IDK. Pretty sure Tim White was the handler during John Cena's autograph at Orlando Megacon. Tim was distracted and I got Cena to personalize...oh. There it is. Tim White was distracted.

Yes. If Tim White is distracted, you have a chance, If Tim White isn't, that is the expectation

I thought you would have written a book about that hat day not a short story the only positives were we got every autograph we wanted and we didn't have to go through the chaos alone.

I wish Triple H would do more signings, I have a bunch of figures I need for him to sign. I know he and Stephanie due the signing at SummerSlam once a year and charge $200 together, which is really high honestly. But if they wanted to do more signing for Connor's Cure, cool. Do them elsewhere other than just New York, and charge less so people who'd like to get multiple things signed can do so.

Awesome. Glad it was a good experience for you man!