Behind The Magician's Curtain - Dan America takes you behind the ring apron
I have had the privilege of meeting a handful of WWE Superstars, not at “Meet & Greets” but through chance meetings or it’s work related but for some reason I always have bad luck. Here's a few more of my run ins...
A Dirty Look from Al Snow at Denny’s.
On December 28th 1998 Raw is War was once again held at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, NY. I was not able to attend the show but I watched it on TV at a friends house and was quite jealous of all the people I knew that went to the show, to make me feel better my friend Mike decided to treat me to Denny’s. We had been there for a while when something strange happened, two of the younger customers began wiping off the table across from me, they had big smiles on their faces and were acting quite giddy to be working for free. Then I looked toward the waiting area to see none other then Al Snow and the Blue Meanie walking toward the booth, they were being mobbed by fans before they could sit down.
After signing a few dozen autographs Al Snow and the Blue Meanie finally got to order food but the fans kept coming, Mike and I started getting a bit annoyed because we were sitting at the table directly in front of them and all the fans began lining up around us to get to Al Snow and the Blue Meanie.
Eventually the fan frenzy at Denny’s slowed down just enough for me to turn toward Al Snow and say “ Why don’t you start telling them that I’m Al Snow, so that you can eat your sampler?”
Al did not turn his head, he raised an eye brow toward me as hard as he could and nodded the slowest most sarcastic nod I have ever seen a person give.
I turned back toward Mike, we silently continued our Denny’s visit sitting across from a booth full of Pro Wrestling awesomeness that I felt I had to awkwardly ignore.
The Bashful Fan Boy.
The encounter with Al Snow left me feeling like I was a burden on professional wrestlers but I still had the desire to meet them, but I did not want to be like any other fan to them, I wanted to leave some kind of an impact so that they would remember me. What I learned from what happened with Al Snow at Denny’s is that I had to avoid being rude or pushy.
I began putting myself in the same place at the same time that the WWE Superstars were when they came to town, I would go to the restaurants that I knew they would be at but I would not approach them, instead I would just watch from a distance. Someone told me that they had met all of DX at a local gym, so I signed up for a membership at that gym when I heard that the WWE were coming back to town.
When the WWE came to town, I went to the gym, Billy Gunn, Taka and Funaki were there but I kept to myself, I got a polite nod from each of them but that was all. I can’t say it was a complete waste of money because I did get two workouts in before I stopped going and eventually froze my account and that account is still frozen to this day, that particular gym however is gone.
As time went on I became more shy when it came to meeting professional wrestlers, I could not get that look Al Snow gave me out of my mind. Me and a friend of mine bumped into Ron Simmons outside of the Pepsi Arena after a show, I shook his hand and expressed my respect for him but that was all, my friend had his picture taken with him, I didn't have the nerve to ask.
I still attended events, I was at No Mercy in October of 2000 when Kurt Angle won the World Title for the first time but I stopped trying to be in the same place at the same time as the WWE Superstars.
Eventually, I distanced myself from Pro Wrestling for a few years and didn't watch it as religiously as I used too, I stopped going to all shows and I was all but done with it, then a funny thing happened.
The Real American Wrestling Critics.
I started a Movie Review Vlog on YouTube called The Real American Movie Critics, my girlfriend was trying to promote the show on Twitter and got into a short Twitter fight with non-other then Shawn Michaels.
Shawn Michaels was rude and dismissive of my girlfriend and he mocked my YouTube Project, to top it all off he spat at me from a moving car on September 29th 1997.
Suddenly, I no longer felt bad about the incident with Al Snow at Denny’s, all I did was make a wise crack remark that was intended to express my sympathy for him being mobbed by fans while he was trying to eat. I no longer felt like I was a burden and the desire to be acknowledged by the WWE was reignited, so my friend Bob and I started what we called: The Real American Wrestling Critics.
Click the link to check it out!
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