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marc2j

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About marc2j

  • Birthday 04/10/1985

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  1. Lovely thread idea and thanks for posting this. Convinced me to make my once a year or so post. First WrestleMania watched? Was sitting there trying to work this one out. WrestleMania 11 was the first I watched on tape I think. My uncle had come round with a bin bag of VHS tapes that had stuff from 1991 through to about 1995. No way of working out what order they were in and I'm pretty sure the first WWE I consciously watched was Macho Man getting bitten by the snake. But 11 was certainly the first one I watched. I do recall it being out of the correct order though as I saw Shawn Michaels as a face then as a heel at Mania and my brain couldn't compute what was going on. I recall watching WMX after watching 11 and it was just much better. I am also aware I've bounced between numerals and numbers. Favourite WrestleMania? Spoilers for below, as I went to 24 and 34, but ignoring the ones I went to, which I'll mention in brief below, 17 is the first one I stayed up live to watch. I went to bed absolutely fuming that Austin had turned heel. Bunkbeds with my little brother who was 14 and stayed up with me. We were both completely shocked he'd sided with McMahon. 30 has a soft spot for me. Not even because of the Streak madness, but the Daniel Bryan stuff was glorious and the opening promo with Austin/Hogan/Rock had me smiling from ear to ear. Also the first WrestleMania that I streamed. Seems stupid as thats old hat now, but there was significant tension wondering whether the rigours of the system would break the PPV for me. Have you ever been to WrestleMania? Yep. WrestleMania 24 in Orlando was our 'once in a lifetime' thing. I maxed out my credit cards and FAXED my travel package request from my work to Stamford, Connecticut which thinking back, I marked out about. I desperately waited for the fax confirmation thing so no one could see what I was up to. These young'ns these days with their instant package approvals. Unreal. Booked the flights through e-bookers but couldn't afford direct flights to Orlando. So got a connection in Minneapolis there and Chicago on the way back. I'd actually been on my first family holiday to the US a few months before, but this was my brother and I's first break away - and for a very good reason. We were so poor, everything was on a massive budget. But I'd got a payrise between the Royal Rumble and Mania, so we had more spending cash, but I couldn't afford an extra night to see Flair get his flowers on RAW. I did however purchase the commemorative WWE spinner title for $100 and the WHC for $150 from the merch stand at the event. They were on my wall with my Big Eagle for a long time until I got married and told to grow the F up. Highlights of WM24 for me were the Umaga/Batista match which no one cared about really, but our whole section went banana for Umaga. Some fans in front of me stood up and chanted his name repeatedly, only for a very prudish woman to shout 'sit down you horrible drunks!'. They weren't drunk. Or horrible. Bless. Meeting Matt Morgan and Johnny Stamboli at our hotel after the Hall of Fame was fun. Except I didn't recognise Stamboli, so when Matt asked me to ask him for his signature and I inevitably said 'why?', he got pissed off and swore at me. We got a polaroid with Edge and Chavo with the WHC and ECW titles at the Brunch thing they did which was very cool. We also met William Regal. My brother gleefully said 'we're English too'. He didn't give a shit. We left five minutes before the end as we knew Taker was winning and we were lucky to wander straight into a taxi. No travel issues in Orlando, but we did also go to TNA that weekend and that was pretty cool. = WrestleMania 34 was a very different animal. New Orleans and whilst I had money, brother B did NOT. So we balanced our 'twice in a lifetime' trip. We didn't do the package. I bought all the tickets seperately, using my colleagues Amex to get pre-sale seats to guarantee everything. We woke up at 4am to a text saying our flight was cancelled. Having booked legroom seats, we laid on the charm to a desk person at the airport and got a free upgrade to premium economy. We also got the full cost of our flights refunded too as it was a 5hr delay in arrival. We missed the Hall of Fame because of this, but we caught it on telly in the room. Our hotel was shared by some of the WrestleCon guests, so we sat having breakfast with Road Warrior Animal. Having seen him the night before telling stories for money, we avoided eye contact with him at the all you can eat buffet. Its fair to say I've never seen a man eat as much as Animal did that first morning. The hotel was directly opposite a warehouse with an indy show in it too. No idea what one, I'm not an indy wrestling guy, but the wrestlers were all having cigarettes outside in their gear as we walked past. We went to Axxess, which I think I saw called 'The World' now. It was awesome. We met Goldust who was just so utterly nice. We're both big lads, so he asked if we were ever a tag team and whilst its champion level schmooze, we went away glowing from that encounter. We met a few others who were signing that day but no one particularly memorable. We did however got to WrestleCon. I had no idea what to expect, but I wasn't a huge fan. The idea of walking past wrestlers just trying to get money was awkward AF for me. It's one thing paying for a show where someone speaks, but seeing someones eyes lock on to you in the hope you'll pay for an autograph. Not for me Clive. I did however pay for a meet and greet with Hardcore Holly. A running joke with my brother was that he was his favourite wrestler of all time, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity. I'd read his book on the plane. My brother, who I introduced as a 'big fan of his' had NOT. He then started slagging off Triple H. Almost without hesitation or prompt. We went to NXT Takeover but we left early as the aircon was blowing straight into our eyes and was making us unwell. It was then I realised how old I was. We did see the crazy ladder match for the North American title, which was the first time I saw Ricochet live. He was something else and he's amazing to watch live. The actual event was perhaps a tad underwhelming. Daniel Bryan's big return was magnificent but the injury angle in the match was pointless. The tag team match with Triple H/Steph vs Rousey and Angle was phenomenal live and Triple H taking the Rousey offence got the pop of the night. Taker coming back for Cena was predictable but fun. The rest was a damp squib but didn't dampen our mood. Neither of us gave a shit about Lesnar/Reigns and we left as the entrances started. I imagined Reigns was going over. I was wrong. I was mid-pizza in a bar when I saw the results and I was glad I was too. Best/Worst WrestleMania matches. Triple H/Steph vs. Rousey/Angle was just as enjoyable during the rewatch. I was always a huge fan of McMahon vs. Hogan which had no business being as enjoyable as it was. Stone Cold vs Rock at 17 is right up there in terms of stuff I'd rewatch. Worst for me - Reigns/Taker. A pointless dud of a match that shone a light on how knackered Taker was, that garnered huge heat for Reigns that they did absolutely not one thing with. Special bonus for the WM34 Andre battle royal which Matt 'Fell out of the ring getting in it' Hardy won. Bray Wyatt returned but no one in the crowd really knew that he'd won, so the music, reactions were all shit. Also Matt Hardy is shit. Best/Worst WrestleMania moments. Daniel Bryan winning at 30. Daniel Bryans entrance at 34. Rock/Hogan/Austin at 30. Linda standing up. Hogan/Rock and the crowd turning on Rocky. Austin still having it against KO the the other year. I loved the Sting/Triple H match by the way. Worst? Taker vs Bray which should have been a big deal but wasn't after being twatted by Brock the year before. Bret vs. McMahon. Reigns and the 'plan'. Favourite WrestleMania theme and/or intro? Big Time by Peter Gabriel for WrestleMania 22. The hype we had around that match convinced us to go to Mania, but we only got enough money to book for two years later. The late 20's ones where it was all Puff Daddy and Flo Rida can fuck all the way off. Favourite WrestleMania announcer call? ("The boyhood dream has come true" etc etc) 'Stone Cold is shaking hands with the devil himself!' Jim Ross, WM17!
  2. Messina do a version with salt that they sell in Sicily. Its awesome, but not actually from Sicily, despite them selling it there as 'home grown'. Its not. Very nice though.
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