Sharing the Same Building with Your Heroes

One of the things I miss about my pro wrestling fascination as a child is the thrill that came with attending a live event. I grew up in Michigan, but far enough from the WWF's most frequent mitten stops (such as Flint and Detroit) that convincing my mom to take us to those shows wasn't happening.

Luckily, though, I hadn't been a wrestling fan two years when I got to experience my first live event. It was October 1991 and though my then-hero Hulk Hogan wasn't on the card, I got to see my second favorite star Bret Hart successfully defend his Intercontinental title against the beastly Warlord.

While digging through a box of my old stuff the other night, I came across some of the match listings included with the programs from events I attended in the '90s. The scanned listing at the top of this post is the actual one from the second show I ever went to.

Honestly, I don't remember much about it, other than it being a last-minute plan. A friend came to school earlier in the day insisting that his dad had bought tickets for some WWF show in town that night. Even though he invited me, I wasn't sold. This was the same kid who'd delivered some of the finest fabrications I'd ever heard at that point in my life. As it turned out, he was telling a rare truth.

The show paled in comparison to my first live event. Even looking at the match listing, I can scarcely remember what happened, other than Bret Hart was a no-show. The only really notable thing to come of that evening was my friend's father purchasing both of us pairs of the Hitman's shades. I made sure to take those to school the next day and convince anyone who would talk to a kid wearing pink sunglasses that Bret himself had bestowed those upon me. Never mind we had sat what seemed like a mile away from the ring. Regardless, they became one of my more prized possessions, even if Bret had never been within 500 feet of me. I still have them today.

What are some of your earlier live wrestling event memories?