My All In Trip Diary

Well, Punk didn’t show up at the show, but he was at PWTees, so I’m claiming victory.

Howdy!

Been awhile.

A few years ago, I wrote a diary of my trip to Wrestlemania 32. and it seemed popular enough, so here I am again. Let’s take a trip to Chicago.

FRIDAY:

Getting days off has been tricky for me since I opened my shop, so I had this planned out to make sure I could get at least two days to myself, so long as I worked at least half the day on Friday.

Erik gets to the store at 2ish, and I take off, luggage in my trunk. Wife is staying home for this one, so I’m driving my friend Rhianna on the 7-hour trek from Omaha to Chicago.

Not much happens on the drive, sorry. Listened to a few podcasts (Jericho, Edge & Christian), switch off driving, and get to Chicago about 10 PM.

10:30 PM – check in, drop off luggage, and head over to the Starrcast hotel to have drinks with our friend Nick Gator (Coach Gator from Nova Pro Wrestling) & Chief. We hang out there until about 11:30, eating deep dish pizza and shooting the shit. Sightings: Raven, Eric Bischoff, and Lisa Marie Varon walk through the lobby at various points.

11:30 PM – as we’re walking out, Rocky Romero emerges from a door and I stop him quickly, tell him I enjoyed his G-1 commentary and ask if he has time to take a quick picture, which he more than graciously says yes to:

Back to the hotel, sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day.

SATURDAY:

9:00 AM – Showered and down in the lobby, eating breakfast, waiting on everyone else. Gator comes down first and tells me stories from Nova Pro, as I ask him questions about Jonathan Gresham mostly. I do love me some Gresham. Rhi joins us and we’re off to Starrcast.

10:00 AM – Arrive at Starrcast. The place is a complete zoo. Meet and Greets today for our group are Rhianna with Jimmy Jacobs and Dalton Castle, and myself with Pentagon and the Horsemen. My first M&G isn’t until 11:30 AM, so I go with Rhi to meet Jimmy Jacobs.

Jacobs is the coolest. He chats with us for a few minutes, exclaims over Rhi’s pony (she makes custom My Little Ponies for the wrestlers, and she’s super-good at it), and then talks to me for a few minutes about booking in general, as I ask him what it’s like booking for smaller companies like ROH or Impact; is it difficult to write a long story knowing that the main character might leave in the middle of it? He tells me that he treats it like anything else, guys might get injured, guys may get over as faces when you meant for them to be heels, and you’ve got to be ready at all times to change up. I ask for a pic and he obliges, just a super-cool guy.

Down to the vendor room for a second to check it out, I pick up a few pins (an Owen Hart one and a split Golden Lovers one to share with my wife), but save most of my purchasing for later on. Dalton Castle is downstairs, so we do that one as well. I met Castle in Texas so I hang back to take the picture and he’s absolutely delightful, as you might expect. He makes a big deal over his pony, to the point that he takes a picture of it to put on his Instagram, making Rhi’s day. As we’re taking the photo, we’re almost interruped by the arrival of one Buff Bagwell, who was in the corner but has moved to take an open table near the front.

11:00 AM – Back upstairs now, I need to find the line for the Pentagon M&G, but Gator runs into a friend and as he’s talking, I turn around and see none other than the Botchamania Master, the Blog of Doom’s own Maffew Gregg, and I stop him to intro myself. We talk for a few minutes, and let me tell you all, Maffew talks at quite the rapid pace. I take a snap and we head our separate ways – good talking to you, sir!

11:45 AM – I’ve been standing in the Pentagon line for about 15 minutes now. This M&G was supposed to start at 10 AM, but it was pushed back to 11:30 because of delayed flights from Mexico. I shoot the shit with my fellow line mates and take a pic of the poor folks behind me:

As I finish that, Mysterio, Fenix, and Pentagon come striding through the front door with luggage in tow, and the line goes batshit chanting Cero Miedo as they high-five everyone down the line towards their signing room. That was awesome.

12:15 PM – The line makes it into the signing room, which has three signers: Fenix, Pentagon, & Austin Aries, as Mysterio has his own room. And let me say…..most of us were there for Pentagon. Aries and Fenix’s lines disappear quickly, but Penta’s line remains long.

I mean, I kind of felt bad for Fenix.

I get to the front and from observing Pentagon’s demeanor with other guys, I quickly realize that the man speaks almost zero english. One of the dudes in front of me literally buys the mask off Penta’s head for $200; he pulls another out of his bag and manages to switch his masks without exposing his face in a nifty move.

I don’t have 200 bucks to spend on a mask, so I settle for a shirt with my pic and auto. He smiles, says thank you, and that’s it.

I immediately head down the hall, because the Horsemen await. I pass by a table where Macaulay Culkin is challenging James Ellsworth to a thumb-wrestling competition; he’d been going around challenging wrestlers at tables all day. Surreal, man.

1:00 PM – In line for the Horsemen (Tully, Arn, & JJ) with Gator. I’m legit nervous about this one, to be honest. The room is divided with a fake wall, as there’s a Sean Mooney/Jim Johnston music panel discussion in the next room, which causes all sorts of fun when the lights go out and they play the Undertaker’s music, causing one of the staffers to run next door and get them to turn the lights back on. Line takes about 15 minutes, and then it’s just like all of a sudden, you’re there.

JJ is sitting down (I assume he couldn’t stand for hours at a time), with Tully and Arn standing holding the tag belts. I shake everyone’s hand, we snap the pic, and I thank them all, saying “The best thing I can say is that I hated all of your guts when I was a kid.” This prompted a snort from Tully who responded with “So you’re saying we were clear, then?”

I need a smoke after that.

1:35 PM – I come back in and Gator has gone into the Mooney/Johnston panel. You don’t have to tell me twice, and I sit in as well. And HOLEE SHIT, this was super fun. Imagine Mr. Rogers calmly burying every exec he ever worked with whilst giving absolutely zero fucks, and you’ve got Jim Johnston. Mooney would intro a song and Jim would tell the story. Amongst the highlights is that:

-HHH ‘probably believes that he wrote his own theme song after all this time’
-People backstage apparently would refer to Vince as ‘Mr Bignuts’
-Jim wrote Vince’s theme song in a period where he was actually pissed at Vince and the song is meant to capture his egomania.
-Sometimes he would get called to do a song at 4 PM and have ‘like, an hour before they needed it for Raw’
-He wrote Jake Roberts’ music and went to Vince’s office, wasn’t sure that Vince would like it or not, but Hulk Hogan was there and HE loved it, so that was it.

They intro ‘With my Baby Tonight’ and Bruce Prichard stands up in the audience for our first panel run-in, saying that he wants to sing the song, but that barely goes for a minute before Jeff Jarrett does the second run-in, saying that he’ll do it. They all talk about the song for a few minutes, with Jim talking about how shocked he was that Vince wanted it, considering that Vince hates country music, and that the song was originally written for his wife. They try to get the crowd to sing along, but most of us didn’t know the words.

They wind up the panel with Johnston literally saying that he ‘didn’t like working for the company that much’ but that he liked making music for a living and the WWF allowed him to do that, so he was fine with it.

If you loved 80s and 90s WWF, this was SO fun. Johnston is not all that expressive, but he’s so matter of fact about everything, it’s a treat, because he clearly doesn’t care and will say whatever he actually thinks.

3:00 PM – We decide to get lunch, since I suspect that a hot dog will probably cost about $12 or so at the arena. Buffalo Wild Wings supplies sustenance, and we head out for the show at about 4:00, with the arena less than 9 miles away.

4:35 PM – We finally park. Let’s just say that traffic was backed up on the interstate.

A lot.

The arena is easy to get into, and I decide to try to get some merch before the show starts. This is a fool’s errand. There are only two merch stands in the entire venue, and I snapped a pic of the line at one of them for you all.

The front of the line is all the way on the right:

The line continues through the doors back there:

I talked to a dude who was near the front, and he said that he had been in line for an HOUR to buy a shirt.

The Bucks and Cody made a SHITLOAD of money this weekend, guys.

I head back to the seats and snap our view of the ring and the set:

5:00 PM – 10:00 PM – With both Scott and Tommy reviewing the show, I don’t think you need me to do the same, so I’ll limit it to live notes. I’ve since watched the replay and they definitely did not have the crowd properly mic’d, because we were JACKED to the gills.

-Everyone went nuts for Flip winning the battle royale; I was sure that it was going to be Bully.
-The women’s match was notable for the crowd not acting like asshats, as I was sure that someone was going to start chanting for one of the significant others like Ryder or Cole, but outside of the one spot with Chelsea, no one did.
-Cody Rhodes literally would have been the face against anyone in the world on this night except Kenny Omega. He was SO OVER. It was crazy. The pop that his dog got was crazy. Everyone around me, myself included, leapt from our seats when he won the title. Cody earned the pop he got through his hard work, and he was treated like the second coming on this night.

(And now, a brief interlude):
Do you know a fan that gives a standing ovation to even the most basic moves in a match, even though literally NO ONE ELSE IN THE SECTION IS STANDING? Have you met this fan? Are you this fan? Please, please, don’t be this fan. We had this fan in our section. He, at one point during the Page/Janela match, had jumped to his feet applauding a total of NINE TIMES, to the point where Gator finally said something to him.
I don’t want to downplay the excitement of the crowd – it was palpable and exciting the whole time, and every other fan I met this weekend was awesome.
But remember, if you’re at an arena, there are people behind you. Try to be respectful of that.
(End brief interlude)

-During the intro for Page and Janela, I run out to the merch booth and the line is almost done, but the pickings sure are slim. Luckily, they have a decent design left so I buy a shirt. I make it back in time for Page’s intro, and we’re off.
-As for the dick thing, whatever. The crowd fucking loved it and it was booked for us, so they knew their audience. I can see how it would turn some folks off, but I thought it was hilarious.
-I didn’t recognize Jericho at first, but Rhi knows his tattoos pretty well and called it immediately.
-Everyone around me knew that the 6-Man had to go home early, because it truly did feel anti-climactic to be as short as it was. The pop for Ibushi/Mysterio was something else, though. I could feel that one.
-Post-match, everyone hits the ring except for Marty, and the speeches begin. Mostly thanking us for being there, with Matt Jackson admitting that they went over time and claiming that the PPV literally ended 3 seconds before they went off the air. Cody thanks us all and says that they’re sticking together for the future, and then introduces Omega as the ‘leader of the Bullet Club’, which got a nice reaction. Kenny sends us out with the ‘Goodbye and Good Night’ line.

The atmosphere in this arena was incredible, like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. The only thing that comes close for me is Wrestlemania 30 weekend; not Wrestlemania itself, where Bryan winning the belt was huge, but the Raw the night after. You can feel it more in a smaller building, I guess? Whatever the reason, this crowd was ready to pop for every single thing, which really does make the show more fun, as it simply flew by.

10:30 PM- We leave the arena and sit in the parking lot, because getting out of that place was a bitch. As we’re waiting, we look into food – pizza back at the hotel is decided upon. Good thing too, because the Denny’s that was near the arena was apparently a total madhouse, as apparently they didn’t know or weren’t told that the show was going to be as big as it was, and only had like two waitresses on. Chief was there and told us they got crushed.

11:30 PM – Pizza in bed. Last day of Starrcast tomorrow.

SUNDAY:

9:00 AM – Similar to yesterday, but Gator tells us that he’s going to sleep in and head over a bit later. I wait and Rhi comes down, we’re off.

10:00 AM – We park and get out of the car, and I see Simon Gotch getting out of a car a few down.

Cue my favorite interaction with any wrestler all weekend. I promise you, all of what I’m going to say here is true, I have witnesses.

So, I say hey to him and he says hey back, then compliments me on my shirt. I’m wearing Minoru Suzuki. I ask him about Rhi’s shirt, as she’s wearing 3MB, and he kind of snorts, then says he likes Drew and Heath, at least. We walk towards the doors and there’s a line outside to get into one of the outside rooms, and Matt Striker is standing there. Gotch turns to Striker and says “Hey Striker, I’m gonna make sweet love to you tonight!” He then turns to us and deadpans that he thinks that Matt Striker might actually be a serial killer. Not a trace of joking in his voice. He tells us that no one knows anything about him and they should check towns he’s been in for prostitutes disappearing.

I’ve literally been talking to the dude for less than a minute.

We all head into the venue and the first line we see is for Culkin’s podcast, and Simon laughs saying that he knows who hates Macaulay – Elijah Wood. He’s seen The Good Son, you see.

I got nothing. It was so fucking strange, but fun all the same. I head in and get in line to meet the Bucks. While I’m in line, Kenny Omega walks past, as he’s doing a make-good signing for folks who had bought a meet and greet with him and Ibushi – that signing got moved to Saturday on short notice because Ibushi had to go back to Japan early.

11:20 AM – I reach the front of the line for the Bucks, who had to take a 20-minute break to do a Podcast appearance. Now, with my stance on the Bucks, one may wonder why I paid for the meet and greet. Answers are as follows –

1. I appreciated all their hard work in putting this thing together and wanted to give them more money for it.
2. I had a picture of the entire Bullet Club that my wife took at ROH in Chicago that I had blown up, and I wanted it signed so I could frame it and hang it up.
3. I’m a giant hypocrite who loves to meet famous wrestlers.

All of these are true.

But, in the spirit of it all, when I get up there I mention that I used to recap ROH and I trashed them a lot, so maybe instead of smiling, they could just give me a glare instead? Matt says ‘oh, you mean like this?’ and proceeds to glare at me while they take the pic. They were actually really nice guys, talking to everyone in line and making sure that they took a few seconds to interact.

11:30 AM – We’re told to get in line for Cody’s signing now as soon as we’re done with the Bucks, but the line is already huge and I don’t see the point of just sitting there for another hour when I can do other things before I sit there for an hour. So, we head back down to the vendor’s room, where David Arquette is running around taking a picture with Katie Vick’s coffin at the WrestleCrap booth.

Looking around a bit more, I see that Bobby Cruise and Todd Sinclair are doing the booth where you can hold up the old ROH title and have Bobby announce you as the new champ, and I figure why not? So I head over and greet them both. I really just wanted the picture and to hold the belt, but Bobby wasn’t having any of that and all but demanded to announce me as the new champ. So while I’m trying to think of any wrestling name, Rhi pipes up with ‘Rick the Dick!’ and Bobby is good to go.

So yes, there is a video of me being announced as the new ROH Champ…..as Rick the Dick.

No, I will not post it. Here’s a pic of me with them instead.

I laugh and thank them both, talk to Sinclair briefly about old-school Iron Chef, and then take off to get in line for Cody. On the way there, Don West starts selling the big All In posters at his booth for a dollar each, and who can resist a bargain? So I buy two.

12:45 PM – In line for Cody and Brandi Rhodes. I shoot the shit with the linemates, and one of them from Japan starts telling funny Kota Ibushi travel stories that I hadn’t heard before. Apparently, he once ended up in Fukuoka without his cell phone and had no idea where his hotel was, so he just wandered the streets most of the night. Don’t know if it was true, but I’ll buy it.

1:30 PM – Still in line and they also have to take a quick break to do a podcast, so we all just chill out. Joey Janela and Penelope Ford walk by us, and I’m just happy that they can walk. Brandi comes back first and Cody comes back about 10 minutes later, saying to one of his security guys that “I bet Brandi’s really mad at me about being late.”

2:25 PM – At the front of the line. Cody Rhodes is EXHAUSTED, y’all. Like, he’s giving everything he’s got here and you can tell, but he looked like a man that hadn’t slept in about 3 or so weeks.

On the other hand, Brandi Rhodes……sweet merciful crap. I don’t think that woman could look less than stunning. My goodness. Both she and Cody ask various staffers where Pharaoh is, and it’s actually really cute.

I thank him for the event, and he thanks me for being there. He mentions LA twice in our brief interaction when All In 2 is broached, so don’t be shocked if they go there. Myself and Rhianna smile for the camera after I ask to hold the belt, and that’s that.

3 Bullet Club members down, 3 to go. Kenny’s gonna be tough, I think:

3:00 PM – We take Gator to the airport and say our goodbyes, then it’s on the road back to Omaha.

Nothing much to say about the trip back, except a driving rainstorm in Davenport (Home of Seth Rollins!) causing us to have to pull over for a half-hour.

WRAP-UP – I’ve been to two Wrestlemanias and they’ve been great. I’ve enjoyed every minute of them, especially 30.

But this was different somehow. I can’t quite put a finger on it, but there was something more intimate about All In, somehow less expansive, that made the experience even more meaningful.

Not just the wrestlers, but the fans were just so much fun to hang with all weekend. Everyone felt like they were a part of something special and you could tell. It was easy to find anyone to talk about wrestling with, whether at the bar, or breakfast at the hotel, in lines, wherever. And it wasn’t a group that was there to trash WWE; I actually didn’t hear a single negative thing about the WWE all weekend, seriously. All anyone wanted to talk about was what we were watching, why we were there, and the positivity radiating from everyone made this arguably the best wrestling trip I’ve ever been on.

I encourage anyone who ever wants to take a trip for wrestling, Wrestlemania, whatever; do it. Find your tribe. There’s no better place.

I love pro wrestling.

As always, thanks for reading this thing I wrote,

Rick Poehling
@MrSoze on Twitter