Thanks to Mike Johnson of PWI for this report:
WWE held the first Wrestlemania AXXESS Session Thursday evening at the IZOD Center.
Legends brought in to sign were Jimmy Snuka, Howard Finkel, Pat Patterson, Jimmy Hart, Dusty Rhodes, Ron Simmons, Jimmy Snuka, Diamond Dallas Page and Ricky Steamboat.
Current WWE talents who signed were Antonio Cesaro, Sin Cara, Epico, Primo, Camacho, Hunico, Vickie Guerrero, Brad Maddox, Mark Henry, Alex Riley, Great Khali, Teddy Long and AJ Lee.
CM Punk and The Undertaker signed for VIP Ticketholders.
Rosa Mendes, The Prime Time Players, 3MB and The Usos took part in photo sessions with fans.
The lone complaint we’ve heard is that the set-up in the Arena forces fans to wait far longer than they traditionally had to in order to get autographs. Unlike the past where they had stations set up with winding lines that went back and forth (as you would see in amusement parks), due to the IZOD Center’s space, fans are lining up in sections of the Arena’s permanent seating and being brought up, row by row, to the talent, stationed at the top of that section. One person, who’s attended AXXESS in the past, said that in the time it used to take him to get 4-5 talents’ signatures in the past, he only was able to get through two lines for autographs.
The flipside to the waiting was that while you were in the seats, fans could watch WWE NXT matches that were taking place inside the IZOD Center. So, while the wait was longer, you could watch some live wrestling.
Thanks to Chris Palama of Prowrestling.net for this report:
-The Andre The Giant statue looks great in person, everyone stopped to take pictures with it.
-Good mix of legends and current superstars (DDP, Ricky Steamboat, Ron Simmons, Dusty Rhodes, Teddy Long and Jimmy Hart were the legends on hand).
-Impressive collection of title belts on display. Very sloppily placed though, half of them were hanging off the hooks. Also the Hardcore Belt was the Tommy Dreamer license plate style one, not the Mankind one I remember.
-WWE did put some of their better draws out there (Mark Henry, AJ, Jack Swagger were the closest you’ll get to top of the card status). The biggest issue I had is time with the Superstars. Obviously, they have to get to a lot of people in a small amount of time, but the staff was rather pushy and forcing people in and out. Little kids or anyone for that matter who wanted a picture were out of luck, it was sign-it-and-get-out. Disappointing for fans who spent hard earned money to meet their wrestling idols.
I will be attending tomorrow night as well. Hopefully it will be better organized.
Wrestlevessel sent in this report:
I was there. I got to meet Steamboat, DDP, Teddy Long, Ron Simmons, Bo Dallas, Epico, Primo & Sin Cara. Getting into the building was awful as they made us stand out a while and even let us in a few minutes late. Fans got impatient. The guys trying to make things quick was good. It is better to try to meet as many guys as possible. We only have 4 hours so if fans got to talk to wrestlers lengthy then you meet less guys. AJ Lee line was extremely guy. One guy was even a stalker and handed her a gift bag. Me, my brother and his 3 friends put Scott Stanford over and chanted his name. He loved it and had us meet him after the Axxess ended. I had a good time and got to meet 8 guys just for $50. I want to know what VIP people got. Besides meeting Taker for an outrageous price did they get backstage stuff? Did they get to meet Vince? Anyone do VIP? I want to know what you got to see.
Kel sent in this report:
I was there yesterday as well. The wait was pretty bad, but it was still cool seeing all of the Legends. Jimmy Snuka was drunk as a skunk. He ended up hugging me and resting his head on my shoulder (Not sure why), but he seemed to want to hang with us for a while. DDP was awesome too. I got a picture of him setting me up for a Diamond Cutter, and he kept yelling “Sell it damnit!” I made sure to thank him for all of his work with Scott and Jake, told him he was my legit hero and that I would be ordering DDP Yoga soon.
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