Mouse Trekking

Live from Saint John, NB, I'm finally posting my update for the ROH event Candy and I went to on Friday. :D  I've been too busy to do it before now.

So yes, last Friday night, we were in Toronto for an ROH (Ring of Honor) event, Some of you may recognize the name from the movie 'The Wrestler' - the wrestlers from the film are all in the ROH, and yes, we saw Jerry Lynn. :D

Back up, let's start from the top. I flew in from Ottawa Friday morning, hopped the express bus from the airport to the subway, rode the subway to Main street, and then walked ten minutes to the Ted  Reeve arena. The arena was old and faded (desperately needs a new coat of paint, to say the least), and there was a huge makeshift dump in the back of it (set up there for the duration of the strike going on in TO) but none of this mattered, for Candy had tickets for the Bret Hart autograph session. :D

Candy and I have had a crush on Bret Hart since our teenage years. I was more a Shawn Michaels girl, but as Bret was Canadian, I adored him as well. :D I've actually met almost every WWE wrestler several times over (we used to go to events, after parties, schmooze with the security staff, and one memorable day, even got to watch matches from the safety of the tented area with Earl Hebner, the man formerly known as the 1-2-3 Kid, and Aldo Montoya). Hell, I even had Triple H flag down Michael Hayes (Dok Hendrix) who then stopped an entire parade just to get me over to him so he could sign my Fabulous Freebirds poster.  Yes, we have lots of memories.

Anyway, we met a lovely girl, Suzanne, outside and she hung around with us for the rest of the night. The autograph session with Bret was like any other, 30 seconds to chat with the Hitman, but when everyone else only got one autograph, I got two (I seem to be lucky this way - this has happened many times before). He's old and grey and wrinkled, but underneath he's still the same guy I used to scream at to beat everyone from Ric Flair, to Yokozuna, to Mr Perfect (King of the Ring '93, best match EVER).

Candy had a memorable moment. Before we got into the line, we had to find a bathroom (it had been a LONG wait outside). We checked the one side and only found the mens washroom. All 'He's'. Meh. Candy wandered through the rows and then whirled around, thrust her hand into the air and shouted, 'I found a 'SHE!' She ran up the stairs, cutting someone off and hit the bathroom.

....she had no idea that she had screamed that in front of Bret Hart, who was behind the table right next to the ladies bathroom, and had watched as she cut off a fan heading towards him for an autograph in her haste to reach the bathroom. Naturally, I couldn't resist telling her this, and then we (myself and Suzanne) spent 5 minutes trying to convince her to come OUT of the bathroom. :D Bret had been grinning, so he couldn't have been too angry, right? :D

The event was actually pretty good. I saw moves I'd never seen before, including some modified hurricanrana's that showed off just how much gymnastics has become a standard part of wrestling. To our shock Lance Storm and D-Lo Brown were there as well (old time wrestling fans will recognize these names) and I got lots of great up close shots of the match. Also, this happened to be a taping for an upcoming documentary and there were signs posted everywhere about how by purchasing a ticket, you were agreeing to be filmed and no compensation would be paid. Small arena, tall girls, yes, Candy and I are reasonably certain that should they show parts of the matches, we have a good chance at seeing ourselves in the documentary. Candy swore everytime she turned around, the camera was pointed straight at us. :D   While I was taking pictures, Candy and Suzanne found out where the after party was - a bar called the Champion's Den on Danforth ave (not too far from the arena).

The afterparty was awesome (and easy to find). We went in, had a couple of drinks, and got pics taken with D-Lo (big cuddly Teddy Bear who apparently has an extreme fondness for Grey Goose vodka), the ROH Champ (tiny but sexy), and a 6'5" chisled god with long blond hair whose name escapes me, but I could care less. ;D

Tons of fun - Candy and I didn't make it back to Welland until almost 4AM. I slept until noon and then went directly to my storage unit - took me four hours (in a freaking DOWNPOUR) but I got it emptied out completely. Had enough time to pack, and then Sunday morning, mom drove me to Toronto again so I could fly here to NB where the entire family picked me up, but I rode back to the city with dad on his motorcycle. :D

Yes, it's been good thus far. And dude, I forgot how much fun wrestling events are to go to. They're even more fun when you're not worrying about being carded because you're underage in a bar, or being propositioned by wrestlers who think you're legal when you're not. ^___^

As soon as I can, I'll post pics. I have, however, lost the sacred camera cord for my digital camera. Candy downloaded the pics to her computer, but I'm gonna try to get to a Shopper's to get them put on a cd so I can upload them. :D