Powers of Pain Autograph Signing Report (11/10/2024)

Thanks! Me as well. These are Canadian dollars but still too steep for me.




Thanks Arun! Happy to help!





Thanks for reading!

Mick Foley was in Toronto for a storytelling show last night.



Although the poster advertises 7:30, the start time was moved to 8:30 as per an email announcement sent out last week. For this show, there were a few ticket options being GA, VIP (which includes admission, an autograph, and a photo), and Super VIP (which includes admission, three autographs, and a photo). The meet and greet would take place after the show. The Super VIP was reasonably priced at $150 which is what I went with. Additional autographs would be available for sale on top of the VIP options. The venue recommends arriving early in order to check in, so I arrive at 7:30, give my name to the hostess, who then gives me a pink wristband indicating I am a Super VIP. There are signs posted around the venue stating that this event was being filmed for Dark Side of the Ring.



The actual doors to the theater itself were not yet open so I was asked to wait in the bar area. Not too long after, Ryan arrives and we catch up. During our conversation, another friend of ours arrives and greets us. He tells me that if I want extra autographs, I would need to prepay at the front as they won’t be taking cash at the meet and greet table itself. After hearing this, I went and pre-paid three extra autographs which were $50 each. I needed autographs on the Three Faces of Foley set plus three other figures. At about 8:10, the doors to the theater opened and we find our seats. It was a small intimate venue with about 150 people in attendance which was a sold out crowd for this venue.

At about 8:35, the show starts. Mick says that this really was a random show as they needed footage for a Vice Network program which he doesn’t say by name. As the TV production crew is based out of Toronto, they wanted him to do a show here. This part of the show is to address other parts of Mick’s life.



Some notes from the show:

• Mick starts off and says he doesn’t tell jokes. For example, he doesn’t come out and say “What’s the difference between Al Snow and the 100 Years War?”. He takes a pause, getting the audience asking “what?”. Mick says that’s the point, he doesn’t tell jokes, but now that we’ve asked, he delivers the punchline saying that the 100 Years War eventually gets over. By using this term, he is able to point out the non-wrestling fans in the room.
• In 1988/1989, he got his first full time break with Memphis Wrestling then WCCW. Beforehand, Dominic DeNucci was trying to set him up with AWA. There was emphasis on bodybuilder physiques at the time. After a long pause, all Dominic could tell Verne was “he’s tall”. It didn’t take long for promoters to realize he was fun to watch.

• He recalled his tryout match in WCW against The Steiners and contemplated quitting the wrestling business when he realized he would be wrestling them. Jim Cornette and Kevin Sullivan were there. The latter asked Mick as to what his finish would be, to his surprise. Mick’s answer was simply an elbow drop, which sounded weak or rather, “Hogan-esque”. Mick then did a Jim Cornette impression which was him defending Mick’s elbow. He made the audience laugh by saying that the non-wrestling fans will think he is doing a Mickey Mouse impression when it was a really good Jim Cornette impression. Mick was then told to drop the elbow on his tag partner. The issue was that during the match his tag team partner was way too far for Mick to drop the elbow. It ended up being a flying hand rather than a flying elbow. Mick was hired by WCW regardless.
• He wasn’t naturally drawn to barbed wire and that style of wrestling. As a prelude to this, he teased Japanese wrestling for being backwards where the wrestlers chop each other as hard as possible and pretend it doesn’t hurt whereas pro wrestling is traditionally the opposite where you try to make your moves look believable without actually hurting your opponent. He then talks about Terry Funk and him signing with IWA Japan. Mick headed out there too for his first ever Japanese deathmatch. The venue was very cold and Terry Funk was using the same dressing room as the Japanese people as he was so ingrained into the culture. Mick and Terry, despite not being able to talk beforehand, knew that this was a huge opportunity. This was the match he was most proud of.
• He later jumps a few years later to when they were both with WWE, where Mick was preparing for the Hell in a Cell match. Terry and Mick watched the first Hell in a Cell match together and Mick asked Terry for ideas, which he initially had none. During this story, Mick would do his best Terry Funk impression when recalling what Terry was saying. Terry eventually recommended Mick to start at the top of the cell and started laughing. Mick agreed it was a good idea and had to talk to Undertaker about this in the weeks leading up to it. Undertaker would always shoot down this idea. Undertaker eventually gave in and asked “Jack, why are you so intent on killing yourself?”. Mick argued that it was to keep their legacy alive and pleaded. Undertaker said he would think about it. On the day of the event, Undertaker asked Mick if he had been on top of that before. Mick lied and said he has and that he was comfortable with it. At the match itself, Mick said that it was a struggle to climb up. It was only when he was at the top was when he realized how high it was. When the Undertaker’s music hit and no one was watching Mick, he was trying to find a way to gracefully scale down the structure, but he couldn’t. He recalls hearing twist ties breaking off the structure which was keeping the cell together. No one knew he was going to fall off the cell other than Vince and Undertaker, so when the medics were needed, they couldn’t properly fit the gurney into the ring area. As such, they raised the cell with Undertaker still on top. When he climbed the cell a second time, he had the mentality that the worst was behind him, but he was wrong. He thought it would take 5 or 6 chokeslams, but the mesh broke through and he lost consciousness when he fell. To buy time, Terry Funk came out and Undertaker asked him to check if Mick was still alive. Terry checks for Mick's pulse and after confirming he is still alive, Undertaker chokeslams Terry and he loses his shoes. Mick’s first conscious thought is that he is missing teeth. His second thought was “where did those shoes come from?”. Undertaker wanted the match to stop from there.
• At some point in the middle of all this, Mick spoke about Dusty, doing a few lines of the Hard Times promo using his best Dusty Rhodes impression. Mick sang Happy Birthday with revised lyrics to the tune of Nat King Cole’s Christmas Song. Jason Sensation made a surprise appearance doing a Stone Cold impression.
  

The show was about an hour and 45 minutes long and was very enjoyable. After the show ended the VIP ticketholders are then asked to line up by the bar area which led up to a table/booth with Foley. It wasn't until about 15 minutes after the show had ended that Mick Foley came out and started signing. It took about half an hour for me to get to Mick. Before entering the booth, the handler checks my wristband and I show the receipt for the additional autographs. To my surprise, the Three Faces of Foley set counted as one, despite the three signatures that would be going on the set. This meant that, in their eyes, I had four items despite having paid for six, which meant that I was able to get two 8x10s in addition. Once my tickets were verified and the fan in front of me was done, I entered the booth. We start off with a fistbump and exchange pleasantries. He starts signing my figures, personalized and in the colours I wanted. I tell him that it is nice to meet him in this kind of setting. I tell him that I’ve met him at indy shows and conventions many times but it is my first time meeting him in a setting like this. He thanks me and says he enjoys doing these.



I tell him that these kind of shows don’t happen too often in Toronto but when they do come around, I always like attending these. I mention that I think the last show like this I attended was years ago with Ted DiBiase. Mick asked if it was at the same venue to which I told him no but it was at a similar venue in Toronto.



I also tell him that I remember meeting him literally just down the street at Greektown Wrestling. He laughed and said “oh yeah! I had a face off with RJ City!”. I smile and say “yeah, and I think they booked you again but then---”. Mick joins me mid-sentence and we simultaneously say, “the pandemic happened”. He also says that they have been trying to book him again but he didn’t say why it hasn’t happened yet.



At this point, all my figures are signed and I choose the two 8x10s for him to sign.



Once he signed those, we pose for a picture and thank each other. Ryan then meets Foley after me to end the event. Mick was very great to meet once again. A very successful night!



Thanks for reading!

Great read! Looks like you got your money's worth as well. Glad you had an enjoyable time.

Combining two signings into one report today as neither had much substance.

First, Bret Hart was in Toronto Saturday night for an interview for the Johnny I Pro show.



I really wanted to attend this event as Johnny has always been very nice to me. He is often at the Greektown shows and is actually the guy I refer to as the “Social Media Guy” that helped me out during the Savio Vega issue. They had various ticket offerings which included your standard GA and various meet and greet options. I wanted to get 6 autographs and after analyzing the options, I concluded that the most expensive package would be the most economical for me. This package included a VIP seat, a VIP Express line, 5 autographs, a professional photo-op, a signed poster, and signed glasses. This would cost $500 which sounds like a lot but when you break it down per item, it is less than what it would be at a convention. I purchased my ticket a few weeks ago and this morning, I realized they added an option for extra autographs, which are $100 - further showing that the $500 package was the most economical. I did buy one extra autograph so I could get a sixth item signed.

The event page advertised the event as taking place from 5pm to 10pm. I get there at exactly 4pm to see a line of about 15 people. The line quickly grew. During the wait, Johnny eventually came out to hype up the crowd by walking down the line. As he made his way back up the line to go back into the venue, he stopped to say hello to me. Doors didn’t open until 5:20 and the show itself didn’t start until 6:45. The interview was about 1.5 hours long. I won’t go into the details of the interview as it will be posted online at some point - please go check it out and support Johnny.
Bret was quite witty during the interview. When Bret was telling a story about something negative that happened during his career, the audience started booing. Bret says sarcastically "I'm just trying to tell you a story.. but I agree with the sentiment". His dismay for Bill Goldberg is also still evident. When asked who some of his dream matches would be, he said he would have liked to wrestle Kurt Angle and it would have happened if he didn't get injured. He then proceeded to say "thanks Bill Goldberg". The audience boo'd and Bret encouraged the audience to boo louder.



Once the interview was over, an announcement was made that we needed to start lining up at a particular area in the venue for the meet and greet. The issue is that not all of the various meet and greet tickets had a VIP Express pass like mine did. It was initially disorganized because of all the people that were there which I would guess was 300-400 people. They made another announcement to say that those with a white wristband (like mine - indicating the $500 package was bought) can be the only people in the meet and greet line currently. Everyone else needed to grab a seat. This created some organization as most of the fans returned to their seats. About 40 of us remained in line. It wasn’t until about 30 minutes later that the meet and greet actually started. The line moved painfully slow because we all had 5 items to get signed. The organizers asked us to keep the conversation to a minimum so Bret can see everyone. While in line, Johnny sees me again and we chat for a bit. He says he would like to bring in Flair or Hogan at some point, which would be very cool.

It is now slightly past 10pm and it is finally my turn to meet Bret. We start off with a handshake and I tell him it is nice to see him again. I had him a white marker and he starts signing the Goldberg two-pack. As he begins to sign, the handler comments on my shirt and how cool it is. Bret stops signing and looks up, agreeing with the comment. I tell him it's an original from ‘96 and he continues signing. He finishes signing the set and caps the marker. I tell him he can use the same marker on the next two items, asking him to personalize them to Alex. In response, he asked “what’s your name, bud?”, to which I repeat my name and point at the sticky notes.



Then, I ask him to switch to a pink marker to sign the rest of my items. What is great about how they ran the signing was that after Bret signed an item, the handler would take the item to a drying table so there was no need to worry about juggling. He signed the remaining items in pink. As he signed, he asks me “is there still a long line?”. I tell him “yeah, it’s still pretty long!”. We were an hour into the signing and he was still at the VIPs so there was a long way to go. It was clearly a long day for him but he was polite regardless. I later learned he was signing until 1:30 in the morning.



Lastly, he signs the event poster (really just an 8x10) that was included. The handler also grabs a pair of glasses, pre-signed, and puts it among my stuff.



After Bret finished signing my items, he extends his hand for a handshake and thanks me for coming. I then go around his table so we can take a picture. Once the picture was taken, we thank each other again. The organizers commented to leave my stuff on the table for a bit so that it doesn’t smear. After a few minutes, I packed up and called it a night. Although there were some hiccups with the organization of the event, any issues were sorted out and the staff treated me very well. 



The next day, Kelly Kelly was at a new convention, WrestleFest, in conjunction with Destiny Wrestling in Mississauga.



This was mainly a wrestling merch convention with some Indy wrestling and was to take place between 11am and 4pm. A few weeks prior, I asked the promoter as to if Kelly will be signing during the entire duration and was suggested to come early in the event. I arrive at 11:30 and she is not there. After speaking with a vendor, I am told she is late and will arrive around 1pm. That said, I browse around at the vendor booths, which didn’t take long as there was only about a dozen vendors. To kill time, I found a seat near the wrestling ring they had set up for their hourly matches.

At 1:10, Kelly finally shows up and makes her way to her table. Her table is next to Jimmy Korderas’ table and they catch up for a few minutes before the meet and greet actually happens. A line of 15 people quickly forms and I am about the fifth in line. While waiting earlier, I ran into a friend at the convention who only wanted to get a picture with Kelly. I suggested we split a combo since I’m getting multiple autographs and it would save us a bit of money as autographs and photos were $30 each with a combo being $50. It only took a few minutes to get to Kelly. My friend met her first and got a magazine signed for me with the combo we were splitting. Kelly asked him if he wanted it personalized and he said no, as per my request. Kelly signed it and said “now you’ll have to get the other two”, pointing at Candice and Michelle on the cover.



When it is my turn, we start with a handshake and I tell her it is nice to meet her again. I tell her that I met her at the Hamilton Comic Con like 6 years ago and she asked if she had her dog with her at the time. I told her I didn’t remember. I had her first sign a couple of programs. She asked if I wanted it personalized. Oddly, I said no, but retracted the statement and said that I did, which she was happy to do.



Destiny had Kelly Kelly in August which I did not attend. I tell her that I wanted to meet her at Destiny a few months ago when they had her. She signs a poster and a third program.



I continue, “I had tickets to a concert that night. If I didn’t already, I would have gone to see you. I was really disappointed I couldn’t.”
Kelly: “that’s okay! You’re here today! Who did you go see?”
Me: “The Rascals. They’re a 60’s group”
Kelly, nodding: “oh okay! Yeah, yeah”
Me: “that’s why I’m glad they brought you back. Thanks again!”
She thanks me back and we shake hands to end the meet and greet.

Kelly Kelly was very awesome to meet and worth the wait.

To end the weekend, I went to see Cyndi Lauper in concert. Within the first ten minutes of the show, she mentioned wrestling, specifically Captain Lou, Roddy Piper, and Wendi. She even had visuals with some of them from the music video.



Thanks for reading!

Bret must have been exhausted! Glad you got to meet him.
How was the Cyndi Lauper concert?

Concert was great! 99% of the music I listen to and concerts I attend are 50s/60s artists. Despite that, I really enjoyed seeing Cyndi Lauper. Thanks for reading!



Thank you for saying so! Crazy to think we're approaching the 10-year anniversary of this thread.