Wrestlemania weekend 2012

I attended Wrestlemania this year in Miami. Like the past several Wrestlemania's there is a whole weekend of stuff to do. My weekend started with the Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the arena where the Miami Heat play:

It was a fun show with some very funny and/or deeply moving speeches. They had at sign outside the door warning the wrestling fans not to act like wrestling fans. 

 Sadly it didn't work.

The inductees this year were Mil Mascaras, Mike Tyson, Edge, The Four Horsemen, Yokozuna and Ron Simmons.

I got a nice shirt with every hall of famer listed on the back:

 I also got some amazing arena junk food:

First stop on day two was the Jackie Gleason theater. There was actually a WWE event nearby, but I would have driven an hour away to see the building where Jackie and Art Carney revived The Honeymooners (in color, no less!)

Out front is a clever stick figure of Jackie. Sadly the building was closed and the doors were locked. I have heard the place may be knocked down soon. I'm glad I got to see it for myself.

Next stop was Wrestlemania Axxess! This is a big event that is essentially a convention for WWE fans.

I got to meet a bunch of WWE stars including Jinder Mahal. Jinder is a stone faced, dull character on TV, but he was really funny in person!

Here is a legend, the great Handsome Harley Race:

Alright, these were just costumed goofballs that Mattel had on hand. But, the funny thing was, the actual Jimmy Hart was on hand as well!

Ricky The Dragon Steamboat:

The Usos:

Macho Man Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth:

 Just kidding, that was Derrick Bateman and Maxine. I barely heard of them either.

Here is former tag champ Heath Slater... greatest WWE name ever:

This guy isn't a wrestler at all, but he does have massive arms. This guy is a WWE superfan of epic proportions. I have seen him in camera shots at live events for as long as I can remember. I spotted him in line for Heath Slater and talked to him for a bit. Super nice guy.

You can see shots of him at old events here.


They have lots of crazy things you can do and see there.

I pretended to be in the Money in the Bank match:

I auditioned to be in a WWE movie:

I saw the limo that blew up on RAW:

and I stood next to a cardboard cutout:

After Axxess I had some sightseeing time and I went to see the Fountainblau hotel. Here are some videos I made:





Then it was time for Wrestlemania! It was held at the open air stadium that the Dolphins play at:

The next day I went to Monkey Jungle:

Here is a painting done by a gorilla:

I also made a Mold-A-Rama figure! Check out this video:

He stands in my basement now:

Then I had some wings over at Rickey's (as seen in the movie The King of Kong) and headed home.

It was a delightful weekend!