Lucky 13, one of the standout vendors on the wrestling convention scene, has begun selling meet & greet tickets for the talent they are featuring at Legends of the Ring XXI (October 3rd) and Big Event IX (November 14). Let’s start with Legends, which offers a VIP Package!
Legends of the Ring XXI (Photo Credit: Legends of the Ring)
Pricing for Lucky 13’s Legends of the Ring XXI V.I.P. Package
2 Autographs + a Photo Op with each Lucky 13 Talent (Debra, Heidi Lee Morgan, Madison Rayne, Nikolai Volkoff)!
I’m a little disappointed there isn’t a Powers of Pain combo. That’s a bit odd, no? Other than that, I have ZERO issue with their pricing! Make sure you order SOON!
Tons of news coming from Lucky 13. First, they have announced their final guest for Legends of the Ring XXI:
I’m a little surprised that Lucky 13 chose not to bring in a woman wrestler after previously announcing Madison Rayne, Heidi Lee Morgan, and Debra. Nonetheless, this is a terrific add in my book.
Full pricing details for Lucky 13 LOTR XXI guests AND Big Event guests coming shortly.
Not bad. I expected the final name to NOT be earth-shattering; instead, I expected a more or less low key name, which ks exactly what Maven is. For what it’s worth, I met Maven back in 2013 and he was a great guy.
His last major wrestling convention was Big Event IX.
Rumors are swirling all over the internet but I don’t feel comfortable sharing them because they’re just that – rumors. But, the rumors are believable because the WWE has completely removed him from the website. No bueno.
A few weeks ago, I was browsing through a list of upcoming autograph signings and one immediately grabbed my attention. Daniel Bryan, one of the most beloved “superstars” in WWE today, would begin a book signing tour to promote his first autobiography, “Yes! My Improbable Journey to the Main Event of Wrestlemania.”
Luckily enough, I was presented with two options to meet him:
1) The 12:00 PM Barnes and Noble book signing on East 54th Street – mere minutes away from my place of work.
OR
2) The 6:00 PM Bookends signing in Ridgewood, NJ – roughly 20 minutes away from my home.
I was heavily considering going to the Barnes and Noble signing right after my overnight shift. But my mind changed after I placed a phone call to Barnes and Noble. They could not reserve a book for me; they weren’t sure if they were going to allow extra items to be signed; and they weren’t too sure about pictures.
Bookends, on the other hand, guaranteed a spot in line if I reserved a book. And they offered a “quick duck-in photo” and one extra item signed. Barnes and Noble was filled with uncertainties while Bookends offered nothing but guarantees. The choice was made.
I reserved my book and counted down the days until I met one of my favorite wrestlers ever.
And that day came yesterday evening. Here’s the story of My Awesome Journey to Bookends to Meet Daniel Bryan:
Bookends in Ridgewood, NJ
My friend and I arrived to Bookends at roughly 5:00 PM – an hour before the signing – to see a pretty large crowd forming in the Bookends parking lot.:
Crowd forming in Bookends parking lot
Thankfully, we ended up being right in the middle of the line. About a hundred or so people lined up after us; in fact, there was even a separate line for “standbys” – people who did not reserve a book but would be offered one if someone who reserved canceled/no showed. Sadly, I’m not sure if many ended up canceling and I’m afraid more than a few kids left unhappy.
Observation: I saw more than a handful of kids show to this signing decked out in full John Cena gear. Seriously. Cena is the merchandise king for a reason, I guess.
We waited on the line for a long, long time. The signing was supposed to start at 6:00 PM but there was no sign of Daniel Bryan. Finally, at 6:30ish PM, an SUV with a smiling bearded man in the backseat pulled into the parking lot.
It wasn’t too long before the line began to move. It actually moved fairly quickly until it came to a grinding halt roughly 20 minutes after they began letting people in. Once you brought into the store, you had to go downstairs to join another line and I guess they let in one too many people – thus the hold up. That kind of sucked, only because we were making good time.
Anyways, it was well after 8:00 PM – the signing was supposed to end at 8 – when we were finally let in. We were directed downstairs, to another line, and were immediately hit with humidity. There was no AC! That’s bad considering how many people were down there. They did have a couple of fans blowing but that wasn’t enough.
Luckily, it wasn’t too bothersome because we were so close to meeting him:
Daniel Bryan signing books and memorabilia for fans
It was another 15-30 minutes before it was finally my turn. You handed a Bookends employee your book + extra item and your cellphone/camera to another Bookends employee. Bryan’s handler quickly ushered you next to him for the photo op.
Here’s Bryan signing my stuff:
Daniel Bryan signing my stuff
After he was finished signing my stuff, I quickly shook his hand, told him I was a fan, and took this pic:
Daniel Bryan and I
GREAT PIC! The meeting was short but Daniel Bryan was VERY nice and greeted EVERYONE with a smile and thanked everyone for all the compliments and well wishes that were raining down on him. He was really easy going and I thought the two and a half hour wait was worth it. Here’s what he’s signed:
Daniel Bryan’s autograph in the first page of his bookDaniel Bryan’s autograph in his entry in the WWE Encyclopedia, Vol. 2.
I don’t get action figures signed – I don’t have the room for them and I don’t want to constantly worry about their condition. The Encyclopedia is enough for me and I’m REALLY happy to have his signature in my Encyclopedia.
Overall, an awesome day. Go out and meet Daniel Bryan if he does a book signing near you!
The 2nd to last Superticket talent for Legends of the Ring XXI has been revealed:
Solid choice. That’s 11 revealed, 1 to go! By the way, less than 20 Supertickets remain. If you’re planning on attending LOTR and want to meet the majority of the S.T. talent then PLEASE invest in a Superticket (which includes admission!). You’ll be saving some dough.
It was roughly 1 month since I last attended an autograph signing at the Wrestling Universe, so I was obviously eager to return and meet another wrestler. And I’m very glad that wrestler was Drew Galloway!
The signing started at 3:00 PM and I arrived at the Universe at roughly 3:50 to find a small line, which was a bit surprising. As it turns out, there was a group of people who decided to meet him together and that’s what caused the very small backup. No biggie!
After about 10-15 minutes of waiting, it was my turn to meet Galloway and I was immediately taken aback with how tall he was! Of course, he was equally impressed with my height – I’m 6’5 – and he commented that I was a “big fella.” That I am, Drew.
We shook hands and he signed his entry in the WWE Encyclopedia, Vol. 2. We then posed for this picture:
Drew Galloway and I
Funny that he wanted to do the “Too Sweet” pose.
All in all he was a GREAT guy and I recommend meeting him, readers!
Next signing: Daniel Bryan this Wednesday (7/23) at Bookends in Ridgewood, New Jersey.
WWE Battleground ended nearly two hours ago and it did not end without controversy. The Undertaker is back, Seth Rollins is still WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Charlotte made Brie Bella submit to the Figure 8, and…
And…
John Cena defeated Kevin Owens. Actually, Cena made Owens tap out to his STF after the two tore the house down for well over 30 minutes. There seems to be two different points of view regarding the finish of this match:
Owens still looks strong because it was a hell of a match and he gave it all he can
or
Cena simply buried Owens and made himself look like Superman once again.
I don’t think Cena buried Owens. And I won’t be foolish enough to say that Owens’ loss is now the end all, be all of his career. I’m confident he’ll have a successful career in the WWE because the guy is flat out talented and he demands to be noticed.
That being said, however, I’m very disappointed with the finish of this match and I think the WWE has completely blown a tremendous feud. Seriously, think about how awesome it would’ve been had Owens passed out while locked into the STF. Cena wins but Owens never tapped out and he was never pinned. This sets up the ultimate match at Summerslam where Owens defeats Cena – cleanly – for the United States title in front of the smarkiest crowd in all of the land.
Instead, Owens tapped out. He submitted to the mighty Cena. He’s now lost back to back matches against Superman after defeating him cleanly in their first encounter.
Just silliness. What incentive do I, as a fan, care about Owens challenging Cena for the title once again? His first win looks like a fluke after back to back losses to Cena. Plus, he no longer deserves a re-match. He’s lost twice in a freaking row!
Sure, they can have him accept the Open Challenge tomorrow and have him absolutely demolish Cena because he’s all angry but, in my opinion, that’s not nearly as satisfying to the alternative presented to them.
So Dan Spivey was announced as a Superticket guest for Legends of the Ring XXI a few days ago. He’s also going to be a vendor guest at Big Event IX, courtesy of TMART Promotions.
Prices are as followed:
$15.00 for 1 Autograph or 1 Photo Op
No combo and the pricing is the same at LOTR XXI. HOWEVER, it is noted that Spivey will be reunited with his former tag team partner Sid and TMART is jumping on the chance to capitalize on that. Prices:
Sky Scrapers Tag Team Photo Op: $30.00
Sky Scrapers VIP Package (2 Autographs and Photos with each): $80.00
Squared Circle Conventions 