Updated October 31, 2007

My Views & Thoughts on WrestleFanFest 2007

I've got a feeling that this will turn out to be my LONGEST and MOST-DETAILED artical that I've EVER written or posted! But...I guess we'll see now...won't we? lol

(Inserted note here...WOW! This is shaping up to be even LONGER than I had expected!)

Alright...where to begin? How about at the start...the point when I was slated to help "push" the HUGE WrestleFanFest-2007 Convention!

I had contacted Chris Salsbury on his MySpace Profile Page for Sports Promotions-USA, and had learned all about the Convention and ALL of the scheduled activities for the weekend of Friday October 19th through Sunday October 21st at the WORLD-FAMOUS Cow Palace in San Francisco, California! The Cow Palace is actually located in Daly City, but the venue is called the San Francisco Cow Palace, due to the familiarity of "The City"!

I had exchanged e-mails back-and-forth with Chris for a period of time! I thought that it was odd that I had never learned nor been told Chris's last name. He never offered it and I never asked. (But, I'll have more on that later!)

Anyway, after a few e-mailed messeges, I gave Chris my telephone number, and he called me to explain the concept of WFF. This was all very exciting to me, as having worked in and around the Pro Wrestling business since about 1969, I was excited to hear of some of the names that Chris had already "confirmed" as to have been booked for the convention! I can't even remember all of the names that he mentioned during that first telephone conversation, because they included so many of the guys and gals that I had worked with during my 4 & 1/2 years with the old WWF (World Wrestling Federation)...NOW the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment)! Also, there were HUGE names from the past...LEGENDS that I had only seen on television, and in all of the Wrestling magazines that I could buy over the years! My head was literally swimming at the list of Legends and Superstars from the Past, the Present AND the Future...many of whom are currently working for TNA and so many of the Independent Promotions around California, the Nation and the World!

I mentioned to Chris that I would do whatever I could to help push WrestleFanFest because I was such a fan as well as having been in the business for so long! I had my own personal website, my MySpace Profile which had over 2000 friends on my Friends List at the time! I told him that I would also push WFF on a particular Messege Board that I have posted on for a long time...NorCal Uncensored.

I also told him that while I truely wished that I could attend WFF, that I wouldn't be able to, due to the fact that I was on a fixed-income and had trouble at times, making ends meet from month-to-month. This is when Chris told me that in exchange for my help in getting the word out about WrestleFanFest in any way I could, he would give me what was called a "VIP-ELITE Pass"...stating that this pass was worth "well over $1000.00"! It would be an ALL-AXXESS Pass for the entire weekend...ALL-INCLUSIVE, with UNLIMITED axxess to all of the Talent and all of the Special Events scheduled for the convention, an autograph and a photo op with EVERY Superstar and Legend, and it would include my Hotel Rooms and all of my meals for the WHOLE weekend!

I was literally floored by Chris's generosity to allow me to help in whichever ways I could, in exchange for the opportunity to see, once again so many of the people I have worked with in the past, or had only seen in person at various wrestling events, on television or in the magazines! I felt that it would be an honor to do this!

There were so many names that had been added and subtracted from the website during the weeks and months preceeding the convention, that I had trouble in keeping them all straight.

Anyway...I would e-mail Chris asking him what he wanted me to push next. He would respond with what he wanted me to do! It went from pushing the WrestlefanFest itself to the individule Special Events that were added occassionally...like the Eric Bischoff Dinner, the Rowdy Roddy Piper Show (which eventually turned into a Q & A with my friend, the Hot Rod), the Ring of Honor Show and the individual Headliners signings!

He also asked me to contact some of the Indy Promotions/Promoters/Owners that I knew, offering them FREE, INDY FED Tables at the convention, so that they could promote their various Organizations! I gladly agreed, and did so!

I would ALWAYS do as I was asked from Chris, because I was just GRATEFUL that I WAS going to be able to attend WrestleFanFest, under the VIP-ELITE All Axxess Pass, and enjoy ALL that it included! I was SO HAPPY ESPECIALLY that I was going to see again, some of my old "friends"!

As time went by, and WFF was getting closer, it was rather difficult to get hold of Chris. I had e-mailed and called him...a little concerned that I hadn't received my Pass and the information that I was promised!

Whenever I would hear back from him, he would re-assure me that everything would be FINE, and for me to RELAX, because if he said something, it WOULD happen because as HE told me, "My word is GOLD!".

Then I received word from Shawn Gunn that Chris had contacted him, asking if he (Shawn) was still interested in being a part of WrestleFanFest with a table. Shawn was estatic. Of coures he said yes! WHO WOULDN'T?

Shawn asked ME to call Chris and confirm this with him...which I did and Chris confirmed that Shawn and Gateway Wrestling Revolution HAD a Table in their name! I was relieved as well, because I KNEW that I now HAD a way to WrestleFanFest!

With my SUPPOSED Hotel Room, I would allow Shawn and The American Vampyre, Mark Vega to stay in the room, allowing them to save some money. It was MAINLY a pay-back for them taking me down to WFF from my home in Marysville! And...for THIS, I was VERY grateful!

Now...Chris was supposed to call me regarding my VIP-ELITE Pass, in the days BEFORE WrestleFanFest. But, I FAILED to hear from him! While I WAS concerned, I just took it for granted that he was just TOO BUSY with ALL of the last-minute arrangements for the convention and ALL it included. I e-mailed Chris, stating that the GWR people and I would arrive at the Cow Palace on the morning of Friday October 19th.

Shawn and Mark picked me up at my apartment at 5:30am, and we were on our way! We arrived at the Cow Palace shortly after 8:00am. We were greeted by one of the Cow Palace Officials, Dianna. She was very cordial towards us, saying that Chris had not arrived as of yet. But still, she allowed us to take a VERY neccessary rest-room break, and showed us to the Cow Palace South Hall, where Shawn and Mark and all of the other Vendors and FREE FED Tables would be setting up. THANK YOU, Dianna...for ALL of your kindness and respect!

After setting up the GWR table, which was not very elaborate, due to the "last moment's" notice, we walked around the HISTORIC and WORLD-FAMOUS Cow Palace! Since it was their first time there, I gave a short tour, as I had been there MANY, MANY times...BOTH as a fan and as an employee of the WWF!

Shortly after we got there, an old friend showed up...it was Virgil, the bodyguard of the Million Dollar Man, Ted DiBiase! I went over, introduced myself to him, and he remembered me from the old WWF!

We spent quite a little time together talking. I introduced him to Shawn and Mark, and they in turn, helped Virgil to get HIS table and banner set up.

One by one, more Vendors began showing up to set up their tables and merchandise. I was GREATLY impressed at some of the elaborate set-ups that they had brought to WrestleFanFest...ESPECIALLY "HIGH-SPOTS", Cauliflower Alley, Fireman's Brew, Wrestle Warehouse, House of Pain (THANKS for the TWO t-shirts!) All-Star Cards & Memoriabilia, The Territory, and many others!

I stopped by the ROLLER DERBY table and met James Fitzpatrick. He is a former Roller Derby skater and the present General Manager of the San Francisco Bay Bombers Roller Derby Tea! I talked with him, and looked over some of his memoribilia...and man...did THAT bring back some memories!

Anyway...hours go by and STILL NO Chris! A couple of his guys DO show up however...VERY COOL guys named Jay Cohen, and Joe Alvarez! They were there to help people get their table spots and so on. I have nothing but GOOD things to say about Jay and Joe! They were GREAT guys!

I asked Jay...who was apparently in charge until Chris got there, about Chris's arrival time. He informed me that he wasn't sure, and that Chris was still at the Sheraton Hotel and taking care of business there. I also asked him about my VIP-ELITE Pass, and he told me that Chris was in charge of that and would take care of it when he arrived "on-sight" at the Cow Palace. I was cool with this!

Now...like I said, we had gotten there at around 8:00am, and since it was the first day AND a Friday, the doors wouldn't open to the public until 3:00pm. We realized that we had a LOT of time to kill until then, so we walked around looking at the various displays and meeting the people who was running them.

Next up, I ran into an OLD-TIMER that I had known from "way-back"...the ORIGINAL "Rock" and the ORIGINAL "Mr. Wonderful", Rock Riddle! Now, while we were BOTH much older than back in "the day", Rock still looked much the same, just older! DAMN...I guess that IT happens that way, after 25 years or so. lol

Rock is now a Motivational Speaker. Back "then", he was a Professional Wrestler and a Hollywood Stunt Man! I told him of how I still had one of his Promo Packages from the 1970's...which included photos and his resume of movie and television credits! He asked me if I could scan them and send them to him. And I of course said "YES!". lol

All the while, I was STILL awaiting the "arrival" of Chris! But...as of yet...NO Chris!

One by one, the Talent began to arrive! In one group that arrived simultaniously, was The Blue Meanie and his lady, Tracy, J.D. Michaels and April Hunter, Scott Norton and his wife, and Larry Zbyszko!

Then later, a LONG, white limosine drove up, and out of it came, Rowdy Roddy Piper, his son, Colt, and Roddy's manager, I believe!

Also, more vendors began arriving to set up their tables and stations. One of which was the crew from "Fireman's Brew", a Southern California-based Brewer! The leader...a GENUINE fireman by the name of Robert Nowaczyk, and his stunning wife, Amy began to unload t-shirts and other little gimmicks to either give away or sell...INCLUDING their own brand of beer...in several varieties of named flavors! VERY GOOD beer...not to mention, their own brand of root beer! lol Robert is the Founder and Managing partner of "Fireman's Brew"! He's a REALLY COOL guy! And since I am NOT a heavy drinker, Robert and the Fireman's Brew Girls kept ME supplied with ROOT BEER and a sample of the beer!

I can tell that you are ALL just THRILLED with this EXTRA bit of detail, but I'm going to skip on ahead!

While all of the vendors and Talent were arriving at the Cow Palace, I marveled at the rumors of the goings-on back at the Sheraton Hotel...the Host hotel where most of the Talent was staying!

Rumors about so-and-so NO-SHOWING or Kurt Angle being ILL with a stomach virus and being forced to cancel. Then, there was Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, supposedly cancelling and no-showing! it was rumored that Hall and Nash had waited until Wednesday or Thursday, at the last possible moment to do this! I heard various reports that they HAD been paid, but were holding out for MORE, until finally cancelling altogether! I had also heard that they kept their up-front payments-in-full AND their FIRST-CLASS airline tickets and STILL cancelled! But...you know how rumors are!

The doors were scheduled to open to the public at 3:00pm, but actually opened about 30 minutes late! Many patrons and fans were disturbed about this and the fact that they were not getting the SPECIFIED tickets that they had PRE-PAID for! This was turning into an EARLY MESS...EVEN BEFORE the doors had opened! And STILL no Chris!

After hours of waiting...for the doors to open to the public, and to see the actual array of Talent who would be there, WrestleFanFest opened the doors!

People began to file through the security doors and into the South Hall of the Cow Palace! I figured that the crowd would be IMMENSE...right from the start! But, I guess you could call it the "typical", Friday "late-arriving" crowd.

There were also rumors of problems with the Talents pay! They were all scheduled to receive CASH payments for their appearances! Then, I heard that it would be 1/2 CASH and 1/2 payment by check! THIS seemed to send up a warning flare to the Talent and others! Finally...the Talent was informed that their payments would be TOTALLY made by CHECK! OH BROTHER! I could hear "IT" NOW!

On to more reports of fan protests...VIP Passes...in ALL of their various forms...some costing in the HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS range, were complaining that they WEREN'T receiving ALL that they had been PROMISED, BEFORE shelling out ALL of these BUCKS for the SPECIAL privledges of being a VIP Pass Holder! This included NOT receiving the Info Packages, "FREE" photos, t-shirts, meals (I CAN RELATE HERE!), and MANY of the "EXCLUSIVES" offered with the VIP Packages!

Now...I was STILL awaiting the arrival of "Chris" at the Cow Palace! Chris's assistant, Jay Cohan was appearing to be quite distressed and disturbed at Chris's failure to appear and take care of EVERYONE and their complaints and PROMISED packages...INCLUDING ME!

Alright...we move ahead! More vendors and Free Indy Fed Groups arrived and started setting up their tables...APW, SPW, DMW among them! Roland Alexander, Sir Samurai, Dan Helfyre, Alexis Darevko and several of their Promotion's workers were showing up as well. It was good to see so many people that I knew there!

Now I'm not sure if it was Friday or Saturday that the rumor going around was that The Total Package Lex Luger...who WAS in town and at the Sheraton Hotel, had suffered either a STROKE or a HEART ATTACK! I was horrified at this "news" or rumor! I had always liked Lex, and was at The Royal Rumble in Sacramento, when he made his WWF debut, and at the WWF Superstars taping the next night in Fresno, when he made his in-ring debut as "The Narcissist".

Anyway...I'm HAPPY to report that Lex Luger, while hospitalized...IS doing well! He did NOT suffer a heart attack OR a stroke! He was diagnosed with an infection that caused him to lose the feeling in his lower body! HOWEVER...Lex is expected to make a FULL recovery!

Alright...STILL NO Chris! There are MANY people...Talent, fans AND Cow Palace Officials who are IRATE over the non-appearance of Chris! I am INCLUDED among those...as I will be MISSING the "Dinner with Eric Bischoff" and Q & A Session, because without my promised VIP-ELITE Pass, I was NOT allowed to attend! I WAS PISSED!

I WAS...earlier given a WrestleFanFest Vendors Pass...which enabled me to get access to some of the Festivities that WERE STILL going to happen! But, I was STILL without my meals and a ROOM for the night! I was wondering...was I going to have a place to stay the night? I was originally going to let Shawn Gunn and Mark Vega stay in MY room, but NOW...none of us knew where we were going to stay!

At least, I WAS able to attend the "MALICE IN THE PALACE" wrestling show on Friday night! Shawn and Mark (The American Vampyre) had gotten spots to work the Night at the Indys Battle Royal!

But...WITHOUT the proper pass, with which I would've had a Front Row seat for the show, I was forced to stay towards the rear of the Cow Palace. I was forced...rather to get some GREAT Close-Up pics of the WHOLE show, I was relagated to just trying to get some decent pics of all of the Talent, to and from the ring. I managed to sneak up to ringside and got a few shots, but was chased off by the Cow Palace Security! But...in THEIR defense...they WERE just doing their jobs, and I had NO hard feelings towards Security! But INSIDE, I WAS DAMNING Chris!

"MALICE IN THE PALACE"...while HARDLY the line-up that had been announced...DID turn out to be an entertaining show! I enjoyed seeing so many of my old friends back in the ring again! And I was able to see some of the Legends in there as well!

Once "MALICE" was over, and the talent gathered backstage, wondering and grumbling about their spots and their pay, someone told me that Chris was on the other side of the curtain, talking with some people. I had MY chance...and NO ONE was going to stop me from seeing and talking to him!

I went through the curtain and waited for him to conclude the converstaton he was having at that moment! When he was done, I walked up to him and introduced myself to him. I asked him about my VIP-ELITE Pass. He told me that he didn't have it with him, but tried to assure me that he WOULD "take care" of me! "OK"...I thought...what's the "catch"? I soon found out! I asked him if I was STILL going to get MY room! He said that ALL of the rooms had been taken! "FUCK!", I thought! WHERE were we going to spend the night?

Anyway...THANKS to Shawn and Mark, we got hooked-up with a room from Bloodline's Billy Blade...who had booked an extra room...just in case something like this were to come up! UNFORTUNATELY...Shawn, Mark and I would have to come up with the money to "buy" the room from him! Now this was only fair, because he HAD put out the money for the room in the first place. The PROBLEM was that we were ALL short of funds! I had spent some of MY money on food, and they didn't have much to start out with!

So...Billy agreed to take what we could get to him right then and there, and I'd get the remainder to him on November 3rd, at the Devil Mountain Wrestling show...as Billy is working it and I was Announcing the show!

So...we at least had a room for Friday night at the Red Roof...right down the street from the Sheraton Hotel! THANK YOU, Billy Blade!

WHAT AN ADVENTURE Friday was! WHAT will Saturday bring? OH BROTHER!

After very little sleep Friday night, it was back to the Cow Palace for Day TWO of WrestleFanFest!

Shawn, Mark and I arrived at about 9:30am, as the doors were to open to the public at 10:00am on this day!

The doors opened fairly promptly on Saturday, with more fans filing through the Security doors of the South Hall of the Cow Palace. There were actually more vendors who had arrived for the Saturday part of WFF!

And Talent was arriving fairly early for their Meet & Greets, Autograph Signings and Photo Ops!

One thing that I realized on Saturday that I hadn't heard Friday (THANKS again to Chris...SARCASTICLY!), was that not only in the South Hall were Autograph Sessions going on, but they WERE being held in the MAIN Lobby, at the entrance to the Cow Palace! So...just WHO I missed out on seeing Friday...I DON'T KNOW! But on Saturday, I kept going back and forth to keep up-to-date on the goings-on there!

Due to MIS-INFORMATION from the promoter, Rowdy Roddy Piper's "One Man Show" was changed from the Arena part of the Cow Palace to the South Hall! It was going to be held IN the ring that had been set up for display...next to a smaller-sized Octagon Cage.

Before the Piper's Pit segment was to get under way, there were some Exibition Wrestling matches inside of the ring. It included some matches with Shawn Gunn, The American Vampyre, Lenn Oddity and others. I ACTUALLY got called in to REFEREE one of the matches between Gunn and the Vampyre! HELL...I had NEVER refereed in my LIFE! WHAT THE HELL was I going to do? lol So...I just "went with it"...remembering what I had observed in all my years around the business. Later, I was actually told that I had done a pretty decent job in my FIRST (and HOPEFULLY...LAST) stint as a referee! At almost 57 years old, I am TOO OLD for that shit! lol

MORE RUMORS! Like I stated earlier, I had heard that there was MAJOR problems, with the Talent NOT getting PAID when they were SUPPOSED to be! Then I heard that even though they were ALL SUPPOSED to be paid in CASH, they were in fact informed that they would...IN FACT, be paid 1/2 in CASH and the other 1/2 by CHECK! WOAH! This was NOT a part of Talent contracts of the Talent that I had talked with! HOPEFULLY...this will ALL eventually be CLEARED UP!

It was getting HEATED! I even heard of MANY of the Talent staging a "SIT-IN" in the lobby of the Sheraton Hotel UNTIL they were addressed of what was going on, with promoter, Chris Salisbury! I found out later that Salisbury WASN'T eeven his REAL name! I heard the names, Chris Salisbury, Chris Cramer, Robert Cramer, Chris Chapin or Chapan, ALL being used by this guy! WTF...AGAIN!

Eventually, the Talent...being the TRUE PROFESSIONALS that they ARE, decided to make their way to the Cow Palace! Some that I personally spoke with told me that, as PISSED as the ALL were...they were going to show up...FOR THE FANS! This convention was, after all, FOR THE FANS! ALL of these Men and Women ARE what makes ME PROUD to be a small part of this business! THEY ARE WONDERFUL!

RUMORS...RUMORS! Next up at the Cow Palace, I heard that the MMA PPV, "BRAWL FOR IT ALL" was going to be CANCELLED! WTF...this was one of the Events that I wanted to attend, because my old friend, MMA Fighter and Pro Wrestler, Ruben "WARPATH" Villereal was going to fight on the show! And even though the MMA Event was NOT actually a PART of WrestleFanFest, it was STILL being held inside the Cow Palace DURING the convention!

Now...there were VARIOUS reasons...OR EXCUSES for the reported cancellation of "BRAWL FOR IT ALL"! One was that the ORIGINAL Cage that had been inspected and approved for the Event by the California State Athletic Commission, was going to be changed to a DIFFERENT Cage! BUT...the CSAC stated that there was NOT time to inspect the NEW one, and WOULD not and COULD not sanction the new Cage...thus forcing the CANCELLATION of the MMA Show!

But...I ALSO heard that the MMA Event's Promoter, Phil Flathers decided NOT to run the show...BECAUSE there had been LESS than 30 Advanced Tickets SOLD! PLUS...SEVERAL of the fighters ORIGINALLY scheduled to fight on the card, were PULLED from the show...for ONE reasno or ANOTHER! Included among those "pulled" was Leland Chapman...the son of Dog, the Bounty Hunter!

Once it was OFFICIAL that the MMA show WAS cancelled...there were MANY UPSET & PISSED-OFF fighters! I CAN IMAGINE!

One effect that the cancellation of "BRAWL FOR IT ALL" was that...with NO Event NOW being in the Cow Palace arena, it was decided to shut down WrestleFanFest at approximately 6:30 or 7:00pm...UPSETTING MANY in attendance...BOTH Fans AND Talent! I would venture to guess that this was because it would be cutting short, time that the Talent could use to sell their own merchandise, to make up for what they might be losing out on because of the SHIT that was going down with Chris...WHATEVER the FUCK his name is or was!

Then...at the time mentioned above, Cow Palace Security and Officials began corraling fans and vendors alike...and telling us all to vacate the South Hall AND the Cow Palace! THIS ABSOLUTELY SUCKED! However I knew that they were just doing THEIR job and doing what THEY were told to do! I...for ONE...understood this! I wasn't happy, but I DID understand!

NOW...where was Shawn, Mark and I going to sleep on Saturday night? HOLY SHIT!

Unbeknownst to ME, Mark had come up with a POSSIBLE arrangement for us! And it was CONFIRMED...we WOULD have a room...already paid for by our old friend, "WARPATH"...Ruben Villereal! It was HIS room, but after the cancellation of the MMA show and PPV, and the ensuing MMA meeting and UNSCHEDULED brawl at the meeting, Ruben threw up his hands and let us have his room because he was "GOING HOME"! THANK YOU, MY FRIEND...for the room! You saved our butts!

Now...onto the MMA meeting and it's unscheduled throw-down! Like I said earlier, the MMA "BRAWL FOR IT ALL" event was NOT an OFFICIAL part of WrestleFanFest! And I explained also, about the reasons or stories that I had heard about the cancellation of the show!

Anyway...MANY of the Fighters were PISSED-OFF...just like the Wrestlers were at Chris "WTF's his last name"! And...WHY shouldn't they be? They trained LONG and HARD for their fights and the PPV! Now...the show was off, and it was announced by the MMA Promoter that the Fighter were only going to get 20% of their GAURANTEED purses! The Fighters demanded and got a meeting with the Promoter, Phil Flathers! The meeting was being held in the special WrestleFanFest Conference Room. Several of the Wrestlers decided to sit in, since they had friends in some of the fighters!

Now...I was in the lobby of the Hotel, talking with some fans and some of the boys who were in the lobby or in the bar! All of the sudden, people came running into the lobby from the Conference Room area, yelling for somebody to call 9-1-1, and that there was TROUBLE! Several of us ran back in time to see The Warlord pinning and holding MMA Fighter, Don "the Predator" Frye up against the wall. Aparrently, by varying reports, Frye had been defending Promoter Flathers, by saying that Flathers WOULD "take care of everything and everybody"! And evidently, "The Predator" had been drinking rather heavily. Then, the bodyguard for Leland Chapman, the son of "Dog the Bounty Hunter", got into a shouting match with Frye! Then, according to some who were in attendance at the meeting, the bodyguard, Sonny Westbrook sucker-punched Frye...knocking him down! Then as Frye got to his feet, Westbrook once again punched and knocked down "The Predator". Now...I ALSO heard reports that Don Frye had the bodyguard, a 300-plus lb. Hawaiian, down on the floor and was pummeling away on the big Hawaiian, until he was pulled off of the big man by The Warlord and Frye's good friend, Scott Norton!

While all of this was going on outside of the Conference Room, aparrently MMA Promoter, Phil Flathers exited and ran out the back door of the of the Conference Room and into a waiting taxi cab, and was GONE! And WITH him, his briefcase and ALL of the Fighter's CHECKS! When it had been discovered that Flathers had run, some of the Fighters headed for the lobby doors, tyring to catch him, but to NO avail...Flathers was already down the road in the cab!

Tempers were EXTREMELY short and it was really heated by this point! People were milling around the lobby and the bar when the police showed up! many were asked what had happened. I didn't personally hear what the responses were, but cooler heads finally prevailed and the police left...at least for a little while!

I managed to spend a little time, chatting with Leland Chapman, and was able to get my pic taken with him! He appeared to be a VERY NICE guy! My friend, Koko B. Ware asked me if I would take HIS picture with Leland, and I of course said "SURE!". Leleand and Koko posed and I got a good pic of the two of them!

Just a short time later, there was ANOTHER confrontation in the lobby, near the front doors, between Don Frye and Sonny Westbrook, and once again...and I SAW this punch, Westbrook knocked Frye down and OUT! When Frye was finally able to stand, with the help of his good friend, Scott Norton...BOTH Frye and Westbrook made their way down the driveway towards the road! "OH SHIT!", we thought! This is going to get REALLY UGLY and somebody's going to get hurt BIG-TIME! But...THANKFULLY, there was NO MORE punches thrown by either man!

Here come the cops again...sirens blaring and lights flashing! Leland's limo had pulled out and picked up Westbrook out on the street, and it sped away! Scott Norton was attempting to find Don, and finally did...down in the Sheraton Hotel Parking Lot! It was ALL OVER...THANKFULLY!

I was walking right behind Scott and Don, and Don was laughing with Scott, but we were STILL concerned about how Don really was! And aparrently he WAS...other than some cuts and bruises!

As we all made our way back into the lobby, Hotel Security yelled out for attention, saying that "Anyone associated with WrestleFanFest will NOW either go to their rooms, or to the bar IMMEDIATELY!". And that the police had already been called TWICE, and IF they were called AGAIN, that the Hotel, EVERYONE WOULD BE EVICTED from the hotel! HOLY SHIT...they were SERIOUS this time!

So, things immediately calmed down, and while some headed for their rooms, the rest of us piled into the bar!

While in the bar, I just sat for awhile, as I'm not that much of a drinker...as I WAS in my earlier and younger days! lol

I needed to use the Men's Room, so I excused myself and made my way towards the entrance of the bar. And who was standing there talking to some fans? None other than Goldberg! SO COOL! Now I had missed the chance to meet him earlier at the Cow Palace, but at least I was able to say HELLO as I passed him. He smiled and greeted me in return, as I walked past him! While I had wanted to get a pic with him, I didn't want to bother him, as I knew that he was getting ready to leave to catch his flight home. So I just continued on my way to the Men's Room...probably wishing that I could have been rude, by interrupting his conversation and asking for a photo with him! But...I DIDN'T, DAMNIT! lol

And just a short time later, he was out the front lobby door and gone...into the night!

About that time, a man called out for attention, because he wanted to make an announcement and a statement! His name was Rob Senita, and he announced that while he was just an Independent Contractor and NOT a Sports Promotions U.S.A. (the Organizers of WrestleFanFest) employee, he was going to "take over" WrestleFanFest's FINAL day on Sunday! Rob was the Event Marketing Director for WFF, and was quite frankly PISSED-OFF himself, as he announced that Chris had left the area, without notifying anybody where he was going!

Senita went on to explain that HE TOO was being screwed, and that he had charged in excess of $120,000.00 on his credit cards, just to help Chris with the Convention! He also announced that he had found out that checks that Chris had written all over the Bay Area, were bouncing "higher than a Lakers' basketball"...even though we were in "Warriors" Territory! lol

Of course, the Talent there in the bar was UNDERSTANDABLY NOT happy with this revolation! I COULDN'T blame them ONE BIT! Could YOU? But Rob Senita DID tell us that WrestleFanFest WAS going to go on...WITHOUT Chris! HE would see to that! He announced that Stone Cold Steve Austin and Cryme Tyme WOULD be there on Sunday! He also said that one way or another, HE would see to it that the Talent WOULD be paid "something", and that ALL would eventually be taken care of! People cheered...INCLUDING ME! Then, Rob Senita announced that the police were WAITING for Chris at his home! And AGAIN...people cheered...INCLUDING ME!

Rob also addressed the rumors of "The Total Package", Lex Luger suffering a reported STROKE or HEART ATTACK! Unfortunately, Lex HAD been hospitalized, but THANKFULLY, it was NOT a stroke NOR a heart attack, and that Luger would EVENTUALLY be FINE!

But even though I was NOT scheduled to be paid...FINANCIALLY for my help in pushing WrestleFanFest, I had been expecting my PROMISED Pass...which I DIDN'T get from Chris! HOWEVER...the next day, I DID receive a WrestleFanFest STAFF Pass, courtesy of Rob Senita! ALL was COOL on MY side. My ONLY downside was thinking of how ALL of my friends...OLD and NEW, were getting stiffed!

Just then I saw my old friend, Superfly Jimmy Snuka! I walked up to him. He saw me and said, "Hello Brudda!", and asked me how I was doing. I told him, "FINE...but tired!". He just laughed and said, in the Superfly way..."Lovely, Brudda!". He said to me you don't drink, do you? And I told him that I would have one every now and then. So, he said come on and let me buy you a drink!

So, we walked over to the far side of the bar and found a couple of bar stools, and sat next to where the LOVELY Dawn Marie was sitting! She is BEAUTIFUL...and SO NICE! Before long, we were joined by Koko B. Ware, Slick and Butch Reed. Butch was trying to get the bartender's attention, as was Jimmy. They were ALL having NO luck, as there was ONLY ONE bartender on duty! That was crazy, because the place was PACKED, and it WAS a Saturday night! WTF! lol

On the other side of the bar, I could see Scott Norton, who was also trying to get the bartender's attention. Why the hell was there only one bartender...and on a Saturday night no less? Anyway, we finally got our drinks! I thanked Jimmy, as I sipped on my screwdriver.

Dawn Marie and I started talking, and she was telling me about her son, who was just 22 months old. I asked if she had any pictures of him, with her. She brought out her camera-phone and showed me several pics of him. He is a GREAT-looking young boy! She also showed me some pictures of her husband and son together, pictures of her and her son together, and a couple of pictures of the three of them! They are HONESTLY...a GREAT-LOOKING family, and I told her so! She thanked me and asked me if I was married or had any childern. I told her about my son, Luke...who will be 29 years old in January! I also told her that I hadn't seen him in over 24 years, and the story behind it. (I'll NOT go into it here.) I began to get a little emotional, as did Dawn Marie! I was touched by her actually caring about MY situation!

The Sandman made his way over to our area, and it was OBVIOUS to us all that he had been "imbibing" in some alcoholic beverages! lol He said that he was on his NINTH Long Island Iced Tea! Evedently, Sandman had asked to be taken to the airport for his 8:15pm or 8:30pm flight home. But he asked this at about 9:30pm...LONG past his scheduled departure time! POOR SANDMAN! So...he decided to "imbibe" some MORE!

I was thinking of heading up to the room, when Indy Wrestler, Mr. Frost asked me if he could buy me a drink! I was flattered by HIM asking ME! So...once HE could FINALLY get the lone bartender's attention, I had myself another screwdriver! I THANKED Mr. Frost!

So, I continued talking with Dawn Marie, Jimmy Snuka, Slick, Koko and Butch Reed until my drink was down and gone. I excused myself from the TERIFFIC company that I had been with, told them that I was heading for my room and I wished them all safe flights, as some of them were leaving on Sunday morning.

Jimmy gave me a big hug. I told him that I loved him, and he said the same thing, and that we would see each other again! I shook hands with, and said good-night to Koko, Slick and Butch as I was leaving. Then Dawn Marie gave me a big hug and kissed me on the cheek, and said that she'd see me on Sunday at the Cow Palace!

I left the bar drunk...but NOT from the two screwdrivers, but from all of the comraderie that I felt back in that bar! DAMN...I was going to MISS them!

I stopped in the lobby to say good-night to Nikolai Volkoff and The Barbarian, who was there with his wife. After all of my "Good-Nights", I made my way up to the room...STILL thinking about ALL that had happened these first two days and nights of WrestleFanFest!

Would Sunday...WITH Stone Cold Steve Austin, Cryme Tyme and Chyna help as a saviour for WrestleFanFest, and keep it from being a COMPLETE FAILURE? Only Sunday's activities could give me, us or THEM the answer to THAT question!

Well...on Sunday morning Shawn, Mark and I arrived at the Cow Palace at about 9:30am. And once again the doors were scheduled to open to the public at 10:00am. So, we had a little while to relax and get ready for the FINAL day of WrestleFanFest!

Even after the "events" from Saturday fresh in the minds of ALL who attended or were involved, the Talent was there! THIS showed EVERYONE just HOW PROFESSIONAL ALL of these WONDERFUL men and women ARE, and made me PROUD to be even a SMALL part of the Pro Wrestling Family! GOD BLESS THEM ALL!

Early in the day, I walked past Dawn Marie, when she smiled and called me over to her table! Then, she told me to choose one of the MANY 8x10 ptotos that she had on her table, and that she wanted me to have one...at NO CHARGE! I was STUNNED and SHOCKED! I asked her if she was SURE, and she just smiled and nodded! WOW!

So, I chose one and she autographed a SPECIAL messege on it to me! I was VERY TOUCHED by her generosity and her humbleness as she signed the photo! This photo is on my MySpace Photos Pages TWICE! Once in the "WRESTLEFANFEST-2007" Album, and also in the "MICHAEL PORTER & WRESTLERS" Album! I will TREASURE this photo and the memories of my time with my NEW friend, Dawn Marie...ALWAYS!

I walked over to the Main Entrance of the Cow Palace to see who was over there. I ran into Big Poppa Pump, Scott Steiner, who were just finishing up his session, and was packing up tp leave. I asked him for a photo together, and he graciously said yes! He looked at me and said "I know you, don't I?" I told him of how we worked together in the old WWF, and he said "That's Right!", and asked me how I was doing. So, we spoke for a few minutes, before it was time for him to leave.

I was AMAZED at just HOW MANY of the "old-school" WWF'ers acyually recognized and remembered me! It TRUELY made THIS "old man's" heart feel good, to know that I had made an impression enough on these SUPERSTARS...to remember ME...Michael Porter! WOW!

I then ventured back into the South Hall, where a line was already forming for the opportunity to see Stone Cold Steve Austin! I got into THAT line...FAST!

But before that, I was taken by Rob Senita, over to see Joanie (Chyna) Laurer. Now Joanie was there for a Special, Vendor Autograph Signing and Photo Op! Rob spoke to Joanie's Manager AND Joanie, telling them all about what I had done to help push WrestleFanFest, and asked if I could have a special pic taken with her...and they BOTH said OF COURSE! THAT WAS SO COOL OF THEM! So I stepped up and Joanie stood up and our pic was taken! VERY, VERY COOL! ITHANKED Joanie and her Manager, and Joanie went back to her meet and greet!

Then it was my time to get into the Austin line! I wanted to wait MY turn...just like everybody else, and relish the time there, talking with other people who were in line...just waiting to see "THE MAN"!

Talking to all of the people made the time and line SEEM to go much quicker, so it was well worth it!

Finally...after more than an hour in line, it was MY TURN to go up to Stone Cold Steve Austin! As I walked up to him, he stuck out his hand to shake hands with me! VERY COOL again! He looked at me and said, "It's nice to see you again."! DAMN...could he have remembered the time, back in 1998 or 1999, when I met him for the first and ONLY time...right here at the very same Cow Palace? I was STUNNED! I had my pic with him taken, we shook hands again, and I moved on!

I kept wondering if Austin had indeed remembered me! I had brought my Mother down for a WWF show, and while my Mom was enjoying the show inside, I spent a majority of my time backstage. I had first met Mick Foley, Sunny and Jim Cornette on that very same night! I wish that I had asked Steve if he DID remember or recognize me! OH WELL! lol

Earlier in the day, the AWA had presented a show inside of the arena. I didn't get to attend as I was busy. From what I heard, it was a REALLY GOOD show, with several APW and SPW workers performing!

Then...later on Sunday, the West Coast DEBUT of RING OF HONOR took place at the Cow Palace! I DID get to see a little of the action, as Shawn, Mark and I were preparing to leave. But, from what I COULD see, ROH was putting on ONE HELL OF A SHOW! I SO WISHED that I could have seen MORE that I did, but since they Shawn and Mark) were my ride, I had to leave when THEY wanted to go! lol

So...I guess that you could say that with the help of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Chyna and Cryme Tyme...Sunday ACTUALLY did SAVE WrestleFanFest from being a TOTAL FAILURE and ABORTION! While there WERE SO MANY DROPPED BALLS, UNFORTUNATE happenings, MISTAKES and OUT-AND-OUT DECEPTIONS, I DO believe that WrestleFanFest WAS...at one time, the MOST ARDENT UNDERTAKING in Independent Wrestling History! I also believe that, had it NOT been for all of the last-minute cancellations and no-shows, along with MORE and BETTER Advertising...that WrestleFanFest-2007 WOULD HAVE made Professional Wrestling History...but in a GOOD WAY, rather than for what it will...UNFORTUNATELY be remembered for!

I made my LAST trip around the South Hall to say my GOOD-BYES to all of the Vendors and people that I had met! And I also said good-bye to the Talent that was still there!

So...at this point, after they had packed up their gear and table stuff, Shawn Gunn, The American Vampyre, Mark Vega and I left the South Hall of the Cow Palace. We stopped in front of the Cow Palace, so I could get a couple of pics from the outside of the Cow Palace and a couple of pics of Shawn and Mark in front of the building!

And then...we piled into Mark's car...with ME driving, and headed HOME! GOOD-BYE, COW PALACE! GOOD-BYE WRESTLEFANFEST-2007! THANKS for ALL of the MEMORIES of the weekend of Friday October 19th through Sunday October 21st!

IN CONCLUSION...even though WrestleFanFest-2007 in SO MANY WAYS, WAS a HUGE CLUSTER-FUCK, and I was PISSED that SO MANY of my old and NEW friends had gotten STIFFED...at least TEMPORARILY, and so many of the VIP Fans had gotten SCREWED by WFF Promoter Chris Salisbury, or Chris Cramer, or Robert Cramer, or Chris Chapin or Chris Chapan...ALL names I guess that he used...INCLUDING ME, I STILL had a WONDERFUL and a GREAT time, seeing and re-newing old friendships AND making NEW ones! I WILL REMEMBER WrestleFanFest for AS LONG AS I LIVE!

I HOPE that you have enjoyed MY views and opinions of WrestleFanFest-2007!

Return to Michael's News Page
Return to Michael's Home Page

Copyright © 2007-2008 K. Michael Porter
All Rights Reserved.

Site created and maintained by MikeSummers.org and powered by: