April 6, 2009 8:06 pm

WrestleMania 25: A Fan's Perspective

Man, what a weekend it’s been so far. I purchased a VIP travel package from WWE almost a year ago, and I’ve been counting the days until this WrestleMania weekend. I got into Houston Friday evening, not in time to catch Booker’s show, but in time to see the ROH Supercard of Honor IV. Man, what a show this was.

James Caldwell is right on the money when he says that the KENTA vs. Davey Richards was a borderline five-star match. People should get the DVD of the show just for this one match. Also nice to see Jerry Lynn get the title win, even though most people saw it coming with McGuinness’s injury. I also had a chance to meet Kamala and Bushwacker Luke during the break, which was a nice addition.

Saturday started off with a trip to Axxess, with an upgrade to the VIP package, which basically lets you skip the line on any event except for the autograph sessions. I had a chance to tour Undertaker’s graveyard, with tombstones for each of his opponents and one open grave for “Shawn Michaels?” You could get your picture taken shoveling dirt into this grave.

There was also an announcer’s booth where your photo was taken with you behind the desk of a WWE commentator. There is also a “Call A Match” that gives some people a chance to call a match with an actual WWE commentator. I missed my chance to do this Saturday, but I have another Axxess on Sunday, and I won’t miss it then now that I know what I’m looking for. There was also a Hell In The Cell setup along with “Hornswoggle’s House,” which is an area under the ring with all-green lights and small stuff. Horny was even there for a while signing autographs.

I got a chance to get autographs from Tito Santana and Vickie Guerrero (who is actually very nice when she’s out of character). There were more event there as well, including a “Create An Entrance” area where you could mimic your favorite Superstar’s ring entrance (complete with music and video effects), and the central ring which would feature things from trivia contests to Q&A sessions and even some matches. While there, I saw Evan Bourne defeat Dolph Ziggler and Vladimir Kozlov take a win over Ricky Ortiz.

One of the VIP package benefits was a specialized meet and greet in the afternoon with WWE Superstars. The event took over four hours to get through all of the people in line. The first group of Superstars featured Rey Mysterio, Mr. Kennedy, Maryse, Great Khali, and one other whom I can’t remember. By the time I got up in line, the Superstars had changed out, and I got autographs and photos with Jeff Hardy, Sunny (who still looks pretty darned hot), Primo and Carlito Colon, and Jack Swagger. Personally, I think I got the better of the two groups.

The WWE Hall Of Fame ceremony was fun to witness live. When the WrestleMania 25 DVD comes out, I hope the Hall Of Fame comes complete with it. Some of the speeches given were just too fun to describe. I wasn’t sold 100 percent on Koko B. Ware’s induction into the Hall Of Fame, but with Honky Tonk’s words, I can understand more about him than I knew.

Always good to hear Howard Finkel’s great voice once again. For those of you who didn’t grow up hearing this man introduce matches, do yourself a favor and rent some old DVDs. He’s got pipes that put the current ring announcers to shame.