Diva Dirt’s Mr Glamazon brings us her exclusive daily blog detailing her adventures in Atlanta for WrestleMania 27 this weekend. Check back each day for a new entry!
I admit I stress about it too much. What am I going to wear? What tie should I pick out? Did I wear this color last year? It basically takes me a few weeks to make a decision. This year I even jumped on eBay and bought a new pocket square… you know in case I wanted to go with a pocket square (what am I, 60?) I hang the suit in my closet and try all sorts of color combinations. Finally I settle on an outfit, until I change my mind a few days later. It’s exhausting.
But it’s all worth it because the WrestleMania Art Show is one of my favorite nights of the year. I had such a good time the past few years that now I have really high hopes. So yeah I go overboard but when a normal night is sitting on our couch, watching American Idol, and drinking a bottle of cheap wine, well, you tend to get really excited for these things. (I truly wish we had 4 more kids, 2 just isn’t enough work…)
So I finally put it all together: black suit, blue striped shirt, black and blue tie. Perfect.
Before Jamie and I headed to the Fox Theater we met up with Cryssi and her friend Ashley so we could all walk over together. Yes, that Cryssi. Diva Dirt’s resident superstar. I mentioned yesterday how excited I was to meet her (or anyone, really) who I’ve worked with all this time. Cryssi and Ashley met us at our hotel and I immediately felt like we had known each other for years. She is just as I pictured her… fun, sassy, cool. Whatever happens in Atlanta this week, meeting Cryssi in person will be the highlight for me. Turns out her friend Ashley is really nice too so we all headed over to the show, ready for a great night.
As soon as we got to the theater we saw a bunch of our old friends, Zac, Brittany, Jay, Darren, and some others. It was so nice to see everyone. As I said, these friendships have made the WrestleMania week so much more special than the WWE events. Everything was in place for a perfect night. So… did the Art Show deliver as expected?
Well, yes and no.
The Art Show is no longer the hidden jewel of WrestleMania week. There were a LOT more people there this year. That made the entire event feel a little less intimate. There was a great deal of press there which you expect, but the size of the theater (and the entrance in particular) made it feel like tight quarters. I guess the theater itself was fine but it just didn’t compare to the beautiful scenery last year in Phoenix. The stars arrived on the red carpet and each got a nice response from the crowd.
The art on display was lovely, you could tell the stars had worked really hard on their pieces. One major difference was the inclusion of autographed photos of individual WWE stars. In the past it was just original artwork. That’s OK, some of the autographs were really nice. Also, the food and drinks were fine. But the major difference from previous years was the access to the Superstars and Divas. In the past they were available right at the start of the show. Last night they didn’t join the crowd until well into the evening. Matt Striker was the emcee (he’s pretty good actually) so he introduced the political honorees and stars to the crowd, which was fine it just took a really long time. In the past this was time spent chatting and eating with your favorite wrestler. People were getting restless.
When the stars finally did mingle with the crowd there was only about an hour left to say hello, get pictures and autographs, and finish the silent auction. It felt rushed. But I will say this, every WWE star I had the pleasure to chat with was super nice and friendly. You can tell they like this event. Several of the Divas thanked Cryssi and me for the work we all do at Diva Dirt, for the balanced coverage and support we try to provide. It was humbling to know our efforts are appreciated. Most of the girls even check our site on a regular basis. (Gulp… I guess I better spell check from now on.)
Of course I sought out the Divas to thank them for all of their hard work this past year. I was fortunate to chat with Vickie Guerrero, Alicia Fox, Natalya, Beth, Tamina, and Melina. I particularly enjoyed meeting Tamina and Melina because I had not met them before. (Umm, Gail Kim, please attend the Art Show next year in Miami. Thanks.) We cover these girls all year long and sometimes it is easy to forget they are “people” not just “matches on Monday night.” I like being reminded of how special they are as individuals and how amazing it is to get to the level of success they have achieved. When I told each of them “thanks”, I felt like I was speaking for many of us who enjoy their work.
The special guest of the night was Booker T which was fine but I was holding out hope that Trish was going to make an appearance. I won’t see her Sunday
night so I was slightly disappointed. Booker and Jerry Lawler each did original drawings for the live crowd that drew high bids. For me personally I didn’t win anything this year. I put a bid in on The Rock’s autographed photo but someone outbid me in the end. Oh well… I guess I didn’t “bring it.” I was sad not to win anything because I love the pieces I have from previous years but my wife was relieved because we can now replace the dishwasher. (I guess that’s more important to her than a giant picture made of Skittles. I have to side with Melina on this one though, I thought her picture was awesome!)
All in all we had a nice time but it felt a little less special than years past. A little too rushed. A little too crowded. The nice thing is that all the WWE stars were fantastic which in the end is what’s most important because they are role models and inspirations. I am definitely looking forward to next year’s show in Miami.
After the Art Show a bunch of us went out on our “Snooki Takes Atlanta” Tour – we bar-hopped and had a great time. We thought if we stopped into enough places we would bump into the Jersey Shore star somewhere. Oh well, maybe tonight… because as HBK would say, after Axxess it is time to “tune up the band.”
By the way my friend Jamie is basically a self-educated meteorologist. Before I packed I should have checked with him about the weather here in Atlanta. It is COLD! I’m a little underprepared. But in the end Mother Nature can’t rain on my parade because as long as I’m not shoveling it, I’m happy.
More tomorrow…I just hope Cryssi can handle seeing Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler tonight…
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