by Brett Schwan
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Holy Balls!!! My Weekend With the Legends
By Brett Schwan
I attended the Mid-Atlantic Legends Convention this past weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina at the Hilton University at Charlotte Place. To sum it up, and to steal a phrase that Ole Anderson used many times this weekend, Holy Balls!!
The convention itself was more successful than anyone could have imagined. Many of the wrestlers looked shocked as they entered the convention and saw the sea of fans waiting for their autographs.
I would estimate the crowd at 900-1,000 fans each day, coming from as far as Long Island (that would be me), and I’m sure some from even farther away.
The event itself was well organized, especially when you take into consideration that this was promoter Greg price’s first event of this type and magnitude. Everyone who was advertised to appear was there and they all (with the exception of one or two) seemed thrilled to be a part of this event.
Luckily (or unluckily), my car broke down on the way to work on Thursday. Thanks to AAA, it was towed and $300 later fitted with a new timing belt as well as numerous other items that needed to be replaced thanks the the broken timing belt. The lucky part is that it happened on Thursday and NOT on Friday.
Our trek began on Friday morning when we (Frank and I) left Islip at 5:30 am. We made it to Philly in about 2:30, which was record time. After finding the parking lot we made reservations with for the weekend, we called up Eric “American Idol” Shaffer Eric met us at the Wawa as he was kind enough to drive the remainder of the trip to North Carolina. Having been the primary driver for every wrestling event I’ve attended over the past 18 years it was a THRILL to not have to drive the 9 or so hours from Philly to this one. (Although it would have been worth it anyway).
I’ll leave out all the thrilling details of our 9 hour trip but highlights (other than lunch at Hooters with our waitress, Baby Ginger, included seeing an exit for “Manassas” and being convinced it said “Mana’s Asses”. Also were amazed at the creative vanity plates we saw along the way from “Sam B”, “Bob Jr.”, “Timmie G”, “L Bubba1”, “DYN IMO”, to “Kngtutt”. One other thing we noticed is that 1 out of 3 cars we passed either had an old person driving with clothes hanging in the back window OR the driver on a cell phone. Once in a while we’d even pass a car that hit the trifecta and contained all three.
Upon arrival at the hotel we saw George South in the lobby talking with several fans. We checked in, hung around for a bit then headed to Applebees for dinner (where the legendary George Mayfield was dining as well). Our waitress Taz helped add to our weekend wrestling experience. (Seriously, she introduced herself as Taz).
At about 9:45 pm we headed back to the hotel for pre registration. The line of people that had purchased VIP tickets stretched down two hallways and looked too be in excess of 500 people. I immediately imagined Saturday being a disaster, as the VIP’s would be allowed to enter at 9am and line up first for autographs at 10am but what was going to happen when the second autograph session began ant 1? We’ll have to wait and see.
Heading back upstairs we saw several other legends and had the pleasure of taking the elevator up with Sherri Martel. Sherri was trying to convince one person on the elevator that he couldn’t get to the 12th floor. He insisted he could. I laughed and Sherri started yelling at me, “Who are you laughing at?” I told her, “You!” as we left the elevator and headed to the room.
Alarm clock set for 7:00 am. However, the clock was off by 12 hours so the 7 am alarm actually didn’t go off until 7:00 PM on Saturday. But I digress…
Saturday morning, we all headed downstairs where there was a line forming for VIP’s who were allowed to enter the convention at 9am. As with nearly every wrestling related event, it started late, as we weren’t allowed in until 9:30. Once we passed the “show your wristbands” station, we saw Charles “Lil Naich” Robinson. We got our pictures taken with him and he thanked us for asking. So far, off to a great start at Robinson was just there to visit old friends.
Once inside the convention there was a wrestling ring located in the middle of the room. To the right were numerous vendors, to the left a corral of ropes (like getting on line at Disneyland) in front of a stage set up with tables and chairs. Bob Caudle, Jimmy Valiant, and Gary Royal were the first three stars we saw as they mingled with the fans. We purchased photos of the legends that would be signing over the weekend. Black and White photos were $1 and color photos were $2!! What an amazing deal! We got a photo with Mr. Royal who was genuinely excited to be there. It was a pleasure talking with him.
Fans began lining up in front of the “corral” as they announced that VIP holders would be allowed to line up and 9:45 for the first session. The VIP holders began to lineup and the line quickly ran through the maze of ropes, and around the entire room. I could already imagine the complains Mr. Price was going to get from vendors who had lines blocking their tables from anyone who may have wanted to “browse”. (Let’s be serious though, how may people here had anything other than autographs as a priority?).
At 10:30 Bob Caudle and David Crockett came out to open the show the same way they would open the Mid Atlantic Wrestling television show every week. The crowd popped huge. They announced each of the guests for the first session, individually to great fanfare from the crowd.
The first session included Masked Superstar, Ron Garvin, Jimmy Valiant, Bob Caudle, David Crockett, Tommy Young, George South, and Gary Royal. It was told to everyone ahead of time, through the Mid Atlantic Legends Website and a sign posted right as you went on stage that it was one autograph per wrestler and no photos WITH them. Photos of them signing your item was allowed. While security seemed to pick and choose who they enforced these rules upon and whom they didn't, they did a very good job keeping the huge lines moving in an orderly fashion.
By the time we hit the stage, we noticed that the line for these legends now ran around the entire convention room and out into the hallway. We made a lap of the room and got autographs from Sherri Martel, who was there with one of the vendors. She is still as nice as she has ever been. Some of the vendors in attendance included George Mayfield, RF Video, Highspots, and Fan Slam.
We decided it might be a good idea to find the end of the autograph line and hop on it for the second session. As a VIP ticket holder, I would have hoped that we would have gotten a chance to be at the head of the line for each autograph session. Unfortunately, we weren’t. However, with 7 of us being able to rotate, it did make life easier and we got through the second session without incident. While on line we saw our first of many luminaries in attendance: Michael K. Johnson (now seen at PWInsider.com), Ines, Craig, and the legendary Tony Lewis of Strictly ECW fame. They joined us on line as we waited for the next session. We speculated how they must be planning on doing the announced “live interviews” after the first session, when Caudle and Crockett were done signing. (We ended up being wrong as no “ringside interviews” ever took place, which led us to wonder why the ring was brought in at all. All the ring did was take up space that could have been used for the fans to line up in a more organized fashion without interfering with vendors.)
By this point, Tony Lewis had grabbed a chair and decided to take it with him through the line. BRILLIANT AND RESOURCEFUL!! Tony was nice enough to let the rest of us have a minute or two in the chair every now and then. This resourcefulness paid off as it gave our feet a bit of a break form the full day of standing.
After a wait of about 2 hours (keep in mind we got off the first line then had to wait until about 1:15 for the second group of wrestlers to come out and sign) the second session began. Luckily, we now had 7 people in our group so we had the chance to rotate on and off line. We had the chance to head to the VIP Room, which was set up for VIP’s to meet and get photos with wrestlers AFTER their scheduled signing time. Since so many VIP’s were on line waiting for the 1:00 signing, there were very few in the VIP Room and we were able to meet and get photos and autographs from Jimmy Valiant, Jim Nelson (aka Boris Zukoff), Tommy Young and Gary Royal.
Buddy Landel, could not say the same. Landel was among those signing during the second session on Saturday the 31st, along with Arn Anderson, Magnum TA, Greg Valentine, Johnny Weaver, Jack Crockett, Don and Rocky Kernodle, and Jim Nelson. Landel was enjoying himself (as he normally does) openly drinking and being his usual loud self. This didn’t seem to please Arn Anderson who sent word to Landel to knock it off "or else." Landel left the panel after being informed of Anderson's comments and did not return. Buddy stayed in the vicinity and signed for fans that asked him to (including myself). He let us know he was “kicked off the panel”. More on Buddy to come. To be quite honest, Arn was the ONLY guest there the entire weekend who seemed as if he could have cared less. Arn pretty much sat there with a frown on his face signing the autographs and barely even looking up at those he was signing for.
We did the same routine and immediately got back on line for the third and final session of the day. Once the second session ended, several of us headed to the VIP room to see if we could get some autographs and photos from those who had finished. Magnum TA was one of the first in there and his line was huge. (We never got the chance to get a photo with him). Jim and the Kernodles were in there so I was able to get my photo with Boris Zukoff once and for all!! As we were walking back to the convention Tony spotted a woman behind us and asked me, "Isn't that ...?" The name escaped him. I turned around and was shocked to see Bambi!!! Tony asked if he could get a picture with her and she said she'd be right back. She entered the convention and was talking with many of those working there. We all finally got our pics with her and some autographs. She even thanked us for recognizing her!
Third session saw Dory Funk Jr., Ole Anderson, George Scott, Jim Cornette, Bobby Eaton, Les Thatcher, Sir Oliver Humperdink, and Bobby Fulton (who looked NOTHING like Fulton and if he would have walked up and introduced himself to me I still wouldn't have known who he was.) Ole asked me if I had read the book yet (since I had just bought it off him an hour earlier). He told me, "If you like it, spread the word on the internet and let me know. If you don't, then just shut the hell up and say nothing!". He is awesome! By this point, the line was so long that some fans were sneaking into the line. That was all taken care of on Sunday as stanchions were placed where the line was being infiltrated. As the lady who was standing there (and working for the convention said), "If we don't know what's broke, we can't fix it!" They knew and they fixed it! Kudos!!
During the signing Cornette was telling fans not to buy from a certain vendor who wouldn't give him a copy of the Best of the Midnight Express DVD. Ole then plugged his book. Tony Atlas, who was so happy to be there, was signing autographs a day early then got up and announced, "I don't got no book. I don't got no DDV!".
After finishing with the third session of autographs we decided to head out to eat. While leaving the hotel for dinner, Jackie Crockett directed traffic away from the valet area as Landel was involved in some kind of altercation with a couple of people. Landel used several expletives before getting into the passenger seat of a car and driving off. Several police cars ended up coming to the hotel.
Having seen Buddy in action before, we weren’t all that surprised and headed to our cars. The fact that we got lost in the parking lot and couldn’t find Mike, Tony, or the rest of their crew didn’t prevent us from finding “Waffle House”. We ate dinner and returned to the hotel at 7:45pm. Buddy was in the hotel lobby talking with people as if nothing had happened.
Ole Anderson and co-author of Ole's book, Scott Teal held a Question and Answer Session from 8-10 PM on Saturday night. Bill Apter and Scott Teal started off the Q & A to which ole responded, “I feel like I’m not even here”. Ole held nothing back at all during the Session while talking about his book and fielding questions from the fans. Bill Apter was the “host” of the Q and A, which basically meant he ran around with the microphone to get questions for Ole. When asked about his relationship to Arn he said, “He’s my half sister!” He talked about how the Black Scorpion idea was all a joke but Jim Herd, who knew nothing about the wrestling business said ‘Great!’” Ole even did an imitation of the Black Scorpion. Ole, who has a reputation for being anything but sensitive, had to compose. He also talked about being stabbed seven times and how when he was stabbed the first time, he looked down at his chest sliced open and said, “Holy Balls!” (A line he used many times over the weekend). In the audience for this Q and A were Les Thatcher, Bob Caudle, and Tony Atlas.
The "Jim Cornette and Friends" Q & A Session featured surprise appearances by J.J. Dillon, Bobby Eaton, Les Thatcher, and Tommy Young. Jim took time to introduce Bambi and Sherri Martel who were seated in the front row, as well as Howard Brody. This was Cornette at his best. He told the Dairy Queen story, talked about why he hates flying, how he called up Vince Russo and cursed him out to the point that Russo called the WWE to complain, and so much more. We even got to see a rare appearance of Bobby Eaton on the mic talking about teaming with Dennis Condrey compared to Stan Lane. The event ran from 10:30 PM until close to 1:45 am.
Not even an attempted sabotage by a couple of wrestling wannabes could hamper this event. I will not mention who the wannabes were associated with as that is exactly what they want... publicity. These three sentences are all the publicity they are getting from this fan. (BTW Eaton was perched on the stage ready to attack, but Cornette stopped him.
During the Q & A, Les Thatcher announced that he would be promoting a Mark Curtis Memorial show in September, in Johnson City, TN (with Pam Curtis) to benefit cancer charities. Thatcher announced that Mick Foley and Jim Cornette would be appearing at the event (Cornette found out at that moment that he would be appearing but was more than happy to agree to it) There will hopefully be more WWE names announced as the event draws closer.
After a long yet amazing day, we headed back to the room to catch some sleep as I was determined to be up in time for the 8 am worship service with Ivan Koloff and George South. Frank and I made it up in time for the worship service. Eric decided to skip it and meet us at the convention (and knowing the full day we still had ahead of us, no one could blame him).
George South introduced Ivan Koloff who told us all about his life, his career, and how he found Jesus Christ. To be honest, not only was I scared that the room would collapse since I haven't set foot into a church in a few years, but I was scared that this was going to be George and Ivan just pushing Jesus on me. It was nothing like that at all. It was quite nice to hear about Ivan's growing up and career. It was also sad to hear how George saw Eddie Gilbert and Wahoo McDaniels just days before the passed away. After the service both men made themselves available for photos and autographs. Ivan was thrilled to hear that we came up all the way from NY to be at the show.
At this point it was 9:10 am. The VIP's were being let into the convention. We headed in and found Eric already on line. Good job Eric!! We were 75 - 100 people back in line. The first session of guests included Ricky Steamboat, Jimmy Garvin, Rock N Roll Express, Ivan Koloff and Tony Atlas. Jimmy Garvin was late. Instead of just starting the session and putting him on during the next "shift" they sent out a gentleman who had been making announcements and calling out door prize winners all weekend. He babbled on and on about how he'd been in the business for over 15 years. Someone on line shouted, "Could have fooled me!". It was funny (or I was overtired). Jimmy Garvin looked NOTHING like the Garvin we remembered. I'm not saying this is bad, just he has changed a lot. In fact, Micheal Johnson later said, "Jimmy Garvin wins the Bobby Fulton award for today."
When we got off the stage we headed to the end of the line. The end of the line today was out of the ball room, down the hall, make a right and went past the front table where you had to show your wristband to get in. This was not an encouraging sight as we swore we would never get back in for the 2pm signing. Tony grabbed another chair. I picked up one along the way. Craig grabbed one. Three chairs and we were ready. Everyone who went by commented on how smart an idea it was. (Again, full credit goes to Tony Lewis). In fact, a few people started doing the same thing. The line moved pretty well. When we finally got inside the ballroom again, Mike Johnson told Tony that the line for the 2pm session was cut off at the Highspots table and we couldn't get on it. Tony looked confused so Mike reiterated his story. Tony was looking pissed when Johnson told him he was just kidding. "Micheal K Johnson is an asshole and gets no chair! and you can quote me", Tony told Mike.
We were able to get Ivan, Jimmy Garvin, Tony Atlas, and Ricky Morton's pics and autographs in the VIP room while we were waiting for the 2pm session.
Finally, at 2pm the final guests were announced. Penny Banner, David Isley, Tommy Angel, JJ Dillon, Tully Blanchard, Dusty Rhodes, and Gene Ligon entered the room. The reaction to JJ, Tully, and Dusty was louder than anyone the whole weekend other than Magnum T A on Saturday. We made our way through the line and decided to start heading for home. We were told as we were about to get on the stage that no pictures would be allowed. Not even pictures OF the wrestlers signing autographs. Well that went over as well as a lead balloon. That made more people pissed and they went out of their way to take pictures. It was kind of weird to suddenly see them trying to enforce a new rule at this point during the weekend. (I realize the line had to keep moving since there were a lot of people but people are going to take a picture whether you tell them to or not). It all worked out fine as I was able to snap photos while the line was backed up anyway.
On the way home, as Frank and I had dozed off for a bit, Eric yelled, "I think we're being pulled over!" Well, there was a cop behind us with his lights flashing and siren going so I would have to say he was right. Eric was doing 75 in a 65. The officer took his license and registration and returned with a "Warning Ticket". None of us had ever seen actual paperwork for a warning but that's what it was. A Warning Ticket issued in Alamance County at 4:40 PM on 2/1.
We stopped at a Cracker Barrel for dinner. (one of the 278 Cracker Barrel's we passed along the way.) Excellent food and a cute waitress who had a resemblance to Terri Gold.
Made it back to the parking lot in Philly around midnight. Got Frank home by 1am and got myself home just after 3am, in time to get 4 hours of sleep before work on Monday.
Even with the few glitches that are expected with a first convention, this show seemed to run fairly smoothly. Other than having to stand on line all day, I heard no complaints from anyone in attendance (fan or wrestler). The purpose of this event was to make money. From the size of the crowd, the promoter did. Were there too many people in attendance? Possibly. Was the venue too small? Probably. Were VIP's really given anything more than the other fans? Not really (as there were many NON VIP's at the Q and A sessions and in the VIP room at any given time). Can this be improved upon in the future? Absolutely.
I had the time of my life. My feet were killing me come 7 pm on Saturday BUT, I had a blast nonetheless. To have the opportunity to meet, talk to, get pictures with and autographs from some of the wrestlers that made me love wrestling in the first place was a huge thrill to me. To sit and hear Ivan Koloff talk for 45 minutes about his life was amazing. To hear Gary Royal tell me how much this event meant to him because he was never a huge star and this allowed him to relive some of his finest moments and realize that he made an impact on the business was so amazing. To feel the chills go down the back of my neck when Bob Caudle opened the show (and as I type this) with "Hello wrestling fans and welcome to another action packed card of Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling." was something I never expected.
I did not have the chance to introduce myself to, or talk with, Greg Price (the promoter of this event) during the weekend so I wanted to take this opportunity to thank him publicly for putting on one hell of a show and bringing back so many of the great stars for one weekend that will never be forgotten by this wrestling fan. I just hope that next time, he takes everything that may have not gone as smoothly as planned and takes that into consideration.
There are no set plans for the next convention, but there will be another one with North Carolina, Florida, or Georgia among the sites being considered.
