LOTR '16, Gene Okerlund's Request, Bret Hates Seth, UPDATE!
Jun 12, 2016 0:57:31 GMT -5
HHH316, Grumpyoldman, and 10 more like this
Post by Flair Forever on Jun 12, 2016 0:57:31 GMT -5
Thread Updated Monday 6/13/16, with follow up on the Mean Gene Okerlund story...... and thanks to user CM Showstopper, we got our Sting Photo Op!
Details at the bottom of the post, thanks for all the great feedback!
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hey all!
I know I haven't been as active on the boards lately..... I've actually been doing more ringside photography for a few indy feds in the Pennsylvania area, which, along with my normal full-time job...... and two kids..... and throw in some Little League photography, too..... honestly hasn't left me with a whole lot of spare time. I've still been popping in & reading the posts, and I've even been picking up the occasional figure here & there..... but my time for posting on this board has been limited.
But we had such a great day today at Legends of the Ring in Monroe, New Jersey, I needed to stay up just a little later to share some of my stories from today!
I've had to skip the last few LOTR's, as there were generally conflicts with my work schedule, but this year - I was able to swing it. So I was thrilled to pull up to the Crowne-Plaza this morning!
One of the first guys we ran into was The Pope, D'Angelo Dinero. We'd met him at the TNA tapings back in January, he kindly posed for this pic with us following the show...... so we had him sign this today. He joked around that his new signature looked just like the signature on the "POP TV" paddles in the photo...... Meeting The Pope is always fun. He's just an all-around great guy!
Next table over was Eddie Edwards. I've decided to try a new collection (like I need another one), and that's getting some of my more favorite original photos autographed by the talent they feature. While I wasn't doing ringside photos for TNA, I did have a front row seat back in January & managed to get some great shots, including this one...... now I'll need to get Abyss to sign. Edwards was pretty quiet, but polite.
We were absolutely THRILLED to find Mean Gene Okerlund at the next table over! Gene was one of the main reasons I came to the convention today..... of all the JAKKS figures hanging on my wall, there are only three left that do not have signatures on them..... and one of them was Gene Okerlund. I'm happy to tell you that tonight - there are only two figure left on that wall.......
Okerlund was a consummate professional. He was well dressed, and as hard as it seemed for him at his age - he stood up for every photo op. Some of the younger fellas today would not even be bothered to stand for a photo op.
Once we got the pleasantries out of the way, I informed Gene that we'll be bringing this photo to Allentown tomorrow (Gene's doing another signing there). He waved for me to come in a little closer, and said to my wife and I "Bring me a MINI...... of Ketel One!"
"How about two, and we'll make it a party!" I responded......
I can assure you - we have in fact bought & packed two Ketel One Minis for tomorrow's signing..... I will report back how that goes!
WOW, that could not have gone any better. Can't wait for tomorrow's trip to Allentown!
Next up, none other than The Task Master..... Kevin Sullivan. My buddy dared me to ask him about ...... you know, those terrible events that happened back in '07......... no way buddy! We kept this one strictly by-the-book. Got my JAKKS figure signed & went on my way! Sullivan was cool..... this one was pretty un-eventful.....
'Round the next corner, and who do we spy...... why it's Buff Bagwell! Buff seems to have suffered some sort of damage to his voice, he has a hard time speaking..... but he was more than friendly...... not at all the jerk that I've read so many horrible stories about.
We had met Buff a month or so ago at the Pro Wrestling Empire indy show in PA..... while I was never a huge fan of Buff Bagwell, we had said "what the heck" and wound up with an actually pretty decent photo op. Which is even better, now that Buff personalized it for us! Again, I'm very happy with the way this turned out!
Hey look, over there.... it's "The Native American" Tatanka. On his phone..... he wasn't in our budget today. Maybe next time....
Big One Next!
We noticed that Damien Sandow was in the corner, with virtually NO LINE...... let's do it.
Didn't really have anything for him to autograph, so we just went for the photo op (hey, I'm on a budget here). I think we got some signals crossed here..... While we agreed with Sandow that we would do a "Serious" face for this photo, I think we kind of assumed he would stand - I mean, if Okerlund was getting up for the photo ops, I would think it would be no problem for this guy. But, I kind of realized that Sandow was going to remain seated..... so my wife & I kind of adjusted our stance to match. My buddy, on the other hand, wasn't quick enough & kind of stood up as tall as he could...... oh well, I still think it's priceless......
Of course, before we parted ways, I got into Damien's ear & said softly...... "thank you."
"YOU'RE.... WELCOME." He boisterously responded! That... was.... AWESOME!
Hey, can you guess who this guy is?
If you guessed BUTTERBEAN, you would be correct. Again, not in my budget today...... but cool to see him here. He looked like he was having a ball with the fans.
FIGURE SCOOP HERE!
Now, I've met Jimmy Hart about 3 times in the last 3/4 months.... and here's the problem. I was never able to find a Target Exclusive Jimmy Hart that was "autograph quality", as most of the boxes I found were all majorly F'd up. A few weeks ago, I finally found a good one during the $9.99 HOF sale, so lets get this thing signed!
I explained my situation to Jimmy..... and here was his response:
"Well..... they just told me the other day that this one sold so well, they're doing another one. It's going to feature THIS attire:"
He pointed to one of his 8X10's....... here will be your next Jimmy Hart figure:
One of the things I love about these conventions, is just seeing random personalities talking to each other..... Here, you can see "IRS" Mike Rotunda having a nice chat with "The Fink" Howard Finkel.....
Alright, we'd pretty much achieved most of our goals from the main room..... let's go find some featured guests.
So, here's where maybe we were a little shady..... feel free to criticize me, we were just trying to maximize our time at this wonderful convention. My wife offered to wait in the Bret Hart line (which wasn't moving at all, I think he was about 30 minutes late to start)..... she held our place, while we went back into the convention floor & grabbed one more photo op that we forgot about. And check this out!
Why, yes, that IS the one & only Disco Inferno! Haven't seen or heard from this guy in a while! He appeared to be in excellent physical condition.... looks like he could still go! He was very kind.
Now, we went back to the Bret Hart line, which really hadn't even moved yet..... so no harm, no foul, right? This is where it got weird, and I don't really have a good photo to back it up...... but we turned to look behind us - and saw an extremely disheveled Zeb Coulter staggering through the hallway, with his dress-shirt arms hanging down about 6 inches below his hands, waving at people..... he said a weak "hi everybody" as he lumbered past us.....the crowd kind of didn't know how to respond, as he didn't look right... it was a bit strange and a bit sad. Once he pulled himself together, I did manage to snap this photo of him talking with Sonjay Dutt.....
At this point, the Bret Hart line did start to move, and it moved pretty well actually. Somewhere during this period - I ran into fellow WFigs users King Bálor (CM)™ & ICW! Pleasure to meet you, guys! We should have done a photo or something, sorry guys - I get a little overly excited at these things & become a bit absent-minded.
As usual, Bret seemed to be a mixed bag.... he didn't look to be in that great of a mood, but he was friendly to some people....others, didn't really look too interested. Apparently, it was the birthday of the kid in front of me. So Bret spent a little extra time with him wishing him a happy birthday.... it was kind of sweet.....
I approached Bret Hart & I had my meet & greet all planned out..... I placed my 8X10 on the table and started in with him.....
"Bret, I agree with you 100% on this Seth Rollins thing..... I've been saying it for a while & nobody wants to hear it. I think the guy works a little reckless & I'm glad someone of your status has finally called him out on it!"
Bret paused...... quiet..... didn't respond....... "Who am I making this out to?" he asked.
I told him, and then Bret replied...... "Well I don't know what Seth's crying about. I mean, I saw the video. Cena did NOT pull him in closer. And then Sting....."
"Well, don't back down." I said to Bret.
"Oh, I won't. When you're right, you're right!" he exclaimed.
Okay..... if you are still staying with this post, as I'm sure I've just infuriated about 80% of the board with my essential heel turn & agreeing with Bret about Rollins wrestling style......
Please do me a huge favor, PLEASE let's not turn this thread into a huge Rollins debate..... I'm afraid the thread will get locked & the hour+ that I've spent working on it will be wasted. Please just accept the fact that Bret Hart & I agree on this matter & that's the point of the story.... and arguing about it isn't going to change my mind!
But I have to tell you, that this is probably one of my new FAVORITE autgraphs in my collection! It came out PERFECT!
Next, on to the Big One..... we got in line for Sting, and I actually was looking through the various photos I'd taken for the day & completely missed Sting walking right by & into the room. Damn it, another missed photo.....
This is where it got slightly disorganized, as people kind of tried to crowd to the front of the line.... but for the most part, the security guys did a pretty good job of keeping people in the ticketed order. It was a little complicated, as there were SUPER VIP's, then we had the DELUXE PHOTO OPS, then there were the General Admission folks.....
Security was pretty tight with keeping cameras/phones away from Sting in the photo op room..... they pretty much had you put your stuff on a table while you are in there...... I did manage to snap this one while someone opened the door.....
It was strange in the room..... Sting was very quiet.... the fans were very quiet..... it kind of seemed quiet like a church. So, of course, when it was my turn for the Sting photo op, I went "It's SHOWTIME" real loud....... my buddy kind of gasped, as though I'd cussed in church or something. Ah well, you've got to have fun....
Sting was silent.... didn't say a word...... we got through the photo op..... then, once Sting removed his facepaint & gear, we had to get in that nightmare line once again for the autograph.
And that's where we can do a "To-Be-Continued"..... because I haven't seen the photo op yet. The LOTR website says that hard copies of the photo would be mailed out, & digital copies would be available online "after the event." However, I don't recall anyone taking down any of my information.... and while we DID have numbered tickets, they didn't necessarily take everyone in numerical order, as often people were missing and their numbers were skipped? So at this point, I have no idea how LOTR plans to put these photos into the hands of the people that paid a bunch of money for them......
And I haven't even seen the photos anywhere online yet. So I have no idea if this is the greatest photo op I've ever had - or if it got royally F'd up.
So, as soon as I know, I'll let you guys know. I've been checking the LOTR Facebook page diligently, waiting for some direction...... and I am sure the photos will be posted soon........ right?
Since it's late & I was lazy - I combined all the figures I got signed today into one photo. It was a long day & I'd really like to go to bed!
Thanks so much for looking, as soon as I see my Sting photo op, I'll update the thread! And you can all join me in my agonizing anticipation of how this thing came out......
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6/13/16 UPDATE:
So, we got to Carson's Pro Wrestling World in Allentown right when the loaded "Temperature Rising" autograph signing started....... we immediately bumped into Tito Santana out in the parking lot. While we were walking in, we had a brief chat with Tito about the weather, & hoping for a great turnout at the signing today!
And I never thought I'd have to yell at my 7-year-old son "If you cut in front of Tito Santana one more time - you're going in TIME OUT!" But those words came out of my mouth today.
Turns out, while I was digging through the bins of Jakks figures I've stored in the closet looking for my Kevin Sullivan figure, I realized I have a JAKKS Classic Tito Santana that I'd never bothered to get signed! So I had brought it along today, and since the line for Mean Gene went right past Tito's table...... I picked up an autograph ticket for Tito & got yet another Classic figure signed!
Very shortly after that - it was time for our follow-up meeting with WWE Legend Mean Gene Okerlund! This time, I let my wife do the talking, & I just stood back & captured the moment with my camera....... and what a moment it was!
As Gene had requested yesterday, we hit a liquor store on the way home & picked up a "Mini" of Ketel One Vodka. The store only had one Mini left, so my wife also grabbed another random brand. I figured a guy like Okerlund probably needs more than one......
After Okerlund had a few kind words with my son about John Cena (my kid was wearing a Cena shirt), my wife recapped our discussion with Gene from yesterday..... and she pulled out the treats we brought for him!
I swear, Gene really seemed touched by the gesture! I really think he had a little tear in his eye.... he pulled my wife in real close & gave her a kiss on the cheek..... she later said that talking to Gene felt like having a nice conversation with your grandfather, and I have to agree. Okerlund just has this casual/comfortable way of making the fans feel so at-ease...... this is rare at a meet & greet these days, where so often they are rushed & formal!
The folks standing around who were paying attention all got a good laugh out of the whole thing..... Gene seemed just thrilled, his eyes lit up! This will forever be one of my favorite photos that I've taken: A really special moment that we'll remember forever....
After the photo, Gene asked if there was anything extra he could do for us, all I asked was that he personalize the autograph, as this was going to be one of my more favorite ones.... he gladly obliged!
As my wife, my son, & I walked away..... we all agreed - Mean Gene Okerlund was our favorite "Meet & Greet" ever! EVER!
There were a lot of other stars at Pro Wrestling World, but we had pretty much gotten everything we needed the day before at LOTR.... and I was pretty sure that sticking around too long could only lead to the day going downhill? Since things were going so well, we decided to quit while we were ahead..... but my son had one little request on the way out:
New tag team? They're about the same size......
Later Sunday night, I was thrilled to see the post on this thread by King Bálor (CM)™ - providing me with the site where our photos were available! Since the LOTR people had not announced this yet, I was very grateful to Showstopper for the thoughtfulness. Thanks again bud!
The photos as they were online were a little dark, IMO.... and I'm not sure I would have chosen such a dark black backround..... but, I used my photo editing skills & enhanced this a little bit...... and now I'm very happy with it. I'm not sure what LOTR's plan is for hard copies, but I don't need one. I'll just take this to the printer later today & Sting will take his rightful place on the wall in my rec room, along all the other legends!
The tentative plan - get this thing signed on July 16th at the MCW indy show in Joppa, MD! If not then, I believe Sting was just announced to be appearing at 2300 Arena (formerly the ECW arena) in Philly in September...... I need a signature on this!
So..... I consider the weekend to be a great success! We got pretty much everything we were going for, except for a Jeff Hardy signature we needed on our 8X10 with him..... but we had decided to "quit while we were ahead" at LOTR & I'm sure we'll have an opportunity with Jeff at a later time!
Thanks again for all the views/comments/compliments!
Details at the bottom of the post, thanks for all the great feedback!
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hey all!
I know I haven't been as active on the boards lately..... I've actually been doing more ringside photography for a few indy feds in the Pennsylvania area, which, along with my normal full-time job...... and two kids..... and throw in some Little League photography, too..... honestly hasn't left me with a whole lot of spare time. I've still been popping in & reading the posts, and I've even been picking up the occasional figure here & there..... but my time for posting on this board has been limited.
But we had such a great day today at Legends of the Ring in Monroe, New Jersey, I needed to stay up just a little later to share some of my stories from today!
I've had to skip the last few LOTR's, as there were generally conflicts with my work schedule, but this year - I was able to swing it. So I was thrilled to pull up to the Crowne-Plaza this morning!
One of the first guys we ran into was The Pope, D'Angelo Dinero. We'd met him at the TNA tapings back in January, he kindly posed for this pic with us following the show...... so we had him sign this today. He joked around that his new signature looked just like the signature on the "POP TV" paddles in the photo...... Meeting The Pope is always fun. He's just an all-around great guy!
Next table over was Eddie Edwards. I've decided to try a new collection (like I need another one), and that's getting some of my more favorite original photos autographed by the talent they feature. While I wasn't doing ringside photos for TNA, I did have a front row seat back in January & managed to get some great shots, including this one...... now I'll need to get Abyss to sign. Edwards was pretty quiet, but polite.
We were absolutely THRILLED to find Mean Gene Okerlund at the next table over! Gene was one of the main reasons I came to the convention today..... of all the JAKKS figures hanging on my wall, there are only three left that do not have signatures on them..... and one of them was Gene Okerlund. I'm happy to tell you that tonight - there are only two figure left on that wall.......
Okerlund was a consummate professional. He was well dressed, and as hard as it seemed for him at his age - he stood up for every photo op. Some of the younger fellas today would not even be bothered to stand for a photo op.
Once we got the pleasantries out of the way, I informed Gene that we'll be bringing this photo to Allentown tomorrow (Gene's doing another signing there). He waved for me to come in a little closer, and said to my wife and I "Bring me a MINI...... of Ketel One!"
"How about two, and we'll make it a party!" I responded......
I can assure you - we have in fact bought & packed two Ketel One Minis for tomorrow's signing..... I will report back how that goes!
WOW, that could not have gone any better. Can't wait for tomorrow's trip to Allentown!
Next up, none other than The Task Master..... Kevin Sullivan. My buddy dared me to ask him about ...... you know, those terrible events that happened back in '07......... no way buddy! We kept this one strictly by-the-book. Got my JAKKS figure signed & went on my way! Sullivan was cool..... this one was pretty un-eventful.....
'Round the next corner, and who do we spy...... why it's Buff Bagwell! Buff seems to have suffered some sort of damage to his voice, he has a hard time speaking..... but he was more than friendly...... not at all the jerk that I've read so many horrible stories about.
We had met Buff a month or so ago at the Pro Wrestling Empire indy show in PA..... while I was never a huge fan of Buff Bagwell, we had said "what the heck" and wound up with an actually pretty decent photo op. Which is even better, now that Buff personalized it for us! Again, I'm very happy with the way this turned out!
Hey look, over there.... it's "The Native American" Tatanka. On his phone..... he wasn't in our budget today. Maybe next time....
Big One Next!
We noticed that Damien Sandow was in the corner, with virtually NO LINE...... let's do it.
Didn't really have anything for him to autograph, so we just went for the photo op (hey, I'm on a budget here). I think we got some signals crossed here..... While we agreed with Sandow that we would do a "Serious" face for this photo, I think we kind of assumed he would stand - I mean, if Okerlund was getting up for the photo ops, I would think it would be no problem for this guy. But, I kind of realized that Sandow was going to remain seated..... so my wife & I kind of adjusted our stance to match. My buddy, on the other hand, wasn't quick enough & kind of stood up as tall as he could...... oh well, I still think it's priceless......
Of course, before we parted ways, I got into Damien's ear & said softly...... "thank you."
"YOU'RE.... WELCOME." He boisterously responded! That... was.... AWESOME!
Hey, can you guess who this guy is?
If you guessed BUTTERBEAN, you would be correct. Again, not in my budget today...... but cool to see him here. He looked like he was having a ball with the fans.
FIGURE SCOOP HERE!
Now, I've met Jimmy Hart about 3 times in the last 3/4 months.... and here's the problem. I was never able to find a Target Exclusive Jimmy Hart that was "autograph quality", as most of the boxes I found were all majorly F'd up. A few weeks ago, I finally found a good one during the $9.99 HOF sale, so lets get this thing signed!
I explained my situation to Jimmy..... and here was his response:
"Well..... they just told me the other day that this one sold so well, they're doing another one. It's going to feature THIS attire:"
He pointed to one of his 8X10's....... here will be your next Jimmy Hart figure:
One of the things I love about these conventions, is just seeing random personalities talking to each other..... Here, you can see "IRS" Mike Rotunda having a nice chat with "The Fink" Howard Finkel.....
Alright, we'd pretty much achieved most of our goals from the main room..... let's go find some featured guests.
So, here's where maybe we were a little shady..... feel free to criticize me, we were just trying to maximize our time at this wonderful convention. My wife offered to wait in the Bret Hart line (which wasn't moving at all, I think he was about 30 minutes late to start)..... she held our place, while we went back into the convention floor & grabbed one more photo op that we forgot about. And check this out!
Why, yes, that IS the one & only Disco Inferno! Haven't seen or heard from this guy in a while! He appeared to be in excellent physical condition.... looks like he could still go! He was very kind.
Now, we went back to the Bret Hart line, which really hadn't even moved yet..... so no harm, no foul, right? This is where it got weird, and I don't really have a good photo to back it up...... but we turned to look behind us - and saw an extremely disheveled Zeb Coulter staggering through the hallway, with his dress-shirt arms hanging down about 6 inches below his hands, waving at people..... he said a weak "hi everybody" as he lumbered past us.....the crowd kind of didn't know how to respond, as he didn't look right... it was a bit strange and a bit sad. Once he pulled himself together, I did manage to snap this photo of him talking with Sonjay Dutt.....
At this point, the Bret Hart line did start to move, and it moved pretty well actually. Somewhere during this period - I ran into fellow WFigs users King Bálor (CM)™ & ICW! Pleasure to meet you, guys! We should have done a photo or something, sorry guys - I get a little overly excited at these things & become a bit absent-minded.
As usual, Bret seemed to be a mixed bag.... he didn't look to be in that great of a mood, but he was friendly to some people....others, didn't really look too interested. Apparently, it was the birthday of the kid in front of me. So Bret spent a little extra time with him wishing him a happy birthday.... it was kind of sweet.....
I approached Bret Hart & I had my meet & greet all planned out..... I placed my 8X10 on the table and started in with him.....
"Bret, I agree with you 100% on this Seth Rollins thing..... I've been saying it for a while & nobody wants to hear it. I think the guy works a little reckless & I'm glad someone of your status has finally called him out on it!"
Bret paused...... quiet..... didn't respond....... "Who am I making this out to?" he asked.
I told him, and then Bret replied...... "Well I don't know what Seth's crying about. I mean, I saw the video. Cena did NOT pull him in closer. And then Sting....."
"Well, don't back down." I said to Bret.
"Oh, I won't. When you're right, you're right!" he exclaimed.
Okay..... if you are still staying with this post, as I'm sure I've just infuriated about 80% of the board with my essential heel turn & agreeing with Bret about Rollins wrestling style......
Please do me a huge favor, PLEASE let's not turn this thread into a huge Rollins debate..... I'm afraid the thread will get locked & the hour+ that I've spent working on it will be wasted. Please just accept the fact that Bret Hart & I agree on this matter & that's the point of the story.... and arguing about it isn't going to change my mind!
But I have to tell you, that this is probably one of my new FAVORITE autgraphs in my collection! It came out PERFECT!
Next, on to the Big One..... we got in line for Sting, and I actually was looking through the various photos I'd taken for the day & completely missed Sting walking right by & into the room. Damn it, another missed photo.....
This is where it got slightly disorganized, as people kind of tried to crowd to the front of the line.... but for the most part, the security guys did a pretty good job of keeping people in the ticketed order. It was a little complicated, as there were SUPER VIP's, then we had the DELUXE PHOTO OPS, then there were the General Admission folks.....
Security was pretty tight with keeping cameras/phones away from Sting in the photo op room..... they pretty much had you put your stuff on a table while you are in there...... I did manage to snap this one while someone opened the door.....
It was strange in the room..... Sting was very quiet.... the fans were very quiet..... it kind of seemed quiet like a church. So, of course, when it was my turn for the Sting photo op, I went "It's SHOWTIME" real loud....... my buddy kind of gasped, as though I'd cussed in church or something. Ah well, you've got to have fun....
Sting was silent.... didn't say a word...... we got through the photo op..... then, once Sting removed his facepaint & gear, we had to get in that nightmare line once again for the autograph.
And that's where we can do a "To-Be-Continued"..... because I haven't seen the photo op yet. The LOTR website says that hard copies of the photo would be mailed out, & digital copies would be available online "after the event." However, I don't recall anyone taking down any of my information.... and while we DID have numbered tickets, they didn't necessarily take everyone in numerical order, as often people were missing and their numbers were skipped? So at this point, I have no idea how LOTR plans to put these photos into the hands of the people that paid a bunch of money for them......
And I haven't even seen the photos anywhere online yet. So I have no idea if this is the greatest photo op I've ever had - or if it got royally F'd up.
So, as soon as I know, I'll let you guys know. I've been checking the LOTR Facebook page diligently, waiting for some direction...... and I am sure the photos will be posted soon........ right?
Since it's late & I was lazy - I combined all the figures I got signed today into one photo. It was a long day & I'd really like to go to bed!
Thanks so much for looking, as soon as I see my Sting photo op, I'll update the thread! And you can all join me in my agonizing anticipation of how this thing came out......
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6/13/16 UPDATE:
So, we got to Carson's Pro Wrestling World in Allentown right when the loaded "Temperature Rising" autograph signing started....... we immediately bumped into Tito Santana out in the parking lot. While we were walking in, we had a brief chat with Tito about the weather, & hoping for a great turnout at the signing today!
And I never thought I'd have to yell at my 7-year-old son "If you cut in front of Tito Santana one more time - you're going in TIME OUT!" But those words came out of my mouth today.
Turns out, while I was digging through the bins of Jakks figures I've stored in the closet looking for my Kevin Sullivan figure, I realized I have a JAKKS Classic Tito Santana that I'd never bothered to get signed! So I had brought it along today, and since the line for Mean Gene went right past Tito's table...... I picked up an autograph ticket for Tito & got yet another Classic figure signed!
Very shortly after that - it was time for our follow-up meeting with WWE Legend Mean Gene Okerlund! This time, I let my wife do the talking, & I just stood back & captured the moment with my camera....... and what a moment it was!
As Gene had requested yesterday, we hit a liquor store on the way home & picked up a "Mini" of Ketel One Vodka. The store only had one Mini left, so my wife also grabbed another random brand. I figured a guy like Okerlund probably needs more than one......
After Okerlund had a few kind words with my son about John Cena (my kid was wearing a Cena shirt), my wife recapped our discussion with Gene from yesterday..... and she pulled out the treats we brought for him!
I swear, Gene really seemed touched by the gesture! I really think he had a little tear in his eye.... he pulled my wife in real close & gave her a kiss on the cheek..... she later said that talking to Gene felt like having a nice conversation with your grandfather, and I have to agree. Okerlund just has this casual/comfortable way of making the fans feel so at-ease...... this is rare at a meet & greet these days, where so often they are rushed & formal!
The folks standing around who were paying attention all got a good laugh out of the whole thing..... Gene seemed just thrilled, his eyes lit up! This will forever be one of my favorite photos that I've taken: A really special moment that we'll remember forever....
After the photo, Gene asked if there was anything extra he could do for us, all I asked was that he personalize the autograph, as this was going to be one of my more favorite ones.... he gladly obliged!
As my wife, my son, & I walked away..... we all agreed - Mean Gene Okerlund was our favorite "Meet & Greet" ever! EVER!
There were a lot of other stars at Pro Wrestling World, but we had pretty much gotten everything we needed the day before at LOTR.... and I was pretty sure that sticking around too long could only lead to the day going downhill? Since things were going so well, we decided to quit while we were ahead..... but my son had one little request on the way out:
New tag team? They're about the same size......
Later Sunday night, I was thrilled to see the post on this thread by King Bálor (CM)™ - providing me with the site where our photos were available! Since the LOTR people had not announced this yet, I was very grateful to Showstopper for the thoughtfulness. Thanks again bud!
The photos as they were online were a little dark, IMO.... and I'm not sure I would have chosen such a dark black backround..... but, I used my photo editing skills & enhanced this a little bit...... and now I'm very happy with it. I'm not sure what LOTR's plan is for hard copies, but I don't need one. I'll just take this to the printer later today & Sting will take his rightful place on the wall in my rec room, along all the other legends!
The tentative plan - get this thing signed on July 16th at the MCW indy show in Joppa, MD! If not then, I believe Sting was just announced to be appearing at 2300 Arena (formerly the ECW arena) in Philly in September...... I need a signature on this!
So..... I consider the weekend to be a great success! We got pretty much everything we were going for, except for a Jeff Hardy signature we needed on our 8X10 with him..... but we had decided to "quit while we were ahead" at LOTR & I'm sure we'll have an opportunity with Jeff at a later time!
Thanks again for all the views/comments/compliments!