My Most Embarrassing Brush With Fame!

The year was 2005. The WWE was coming to an area close enough to get tickets. We were in the midst of the Afghan conflict and still getting used to our new way of life, not that that would have stopped me from getting tickets. To make things even better, the WWE and some of the superstars were doing autograph signings to support the families of soldiers suddenly being called overseas. My dad, having served in the military, gave me a love and respect for our men and women in uniform so I went out of my way to make it to the signing. By this point in my life, I had an eleven-year-old son who also happened to be a huge Shawn Michaels fan. Shawn had come out of retirement and was back as a full-time performer so we had a chance to see our hero. At the time, the biggest draw for the young, youngish, and let's face it, guys with working eyeballs was none other than Trish Stratus.

The tickets were already there at home. All we needed to do was figure out the autograph signing. I took the day off from work a month ahead of time. I arranged with my sons' school and his teachers to get him out of school to go out of town with me. It was going to be a long night so he would need Monday and Tuesday. As a straight-A student, he was ready to go well ahead of time and all of his work was done before he left school the previous Friday.

We got to the Southpark Mall in East Moline Illinois at about nine o'clock in the morning. The autograph line was already starting to form so we were shocked to find out we would be about a hundred and fifty people from the front. We had a long day in front of us, but as I said, it was for a good cause, and my son getting to meet his childhood wrestling hero was going to make all of it worthwhile. It was an entertaining day, as kids, teenagers, adults of all types came out to meet the wrestling A-listers and have their brush with fame. About an hour before we started moving one of the promoters came around and announced that Big Daddy Cool, Kevin Nash, wasn't going to make it but there would be a replacement at the table. Kevin Nash had been one of the big ones I really wanted to see. Being a bigger(Taller) guy, I wanted to stand next to the big man for a photo, if he was willing. Fortunately, a friend of mine that just happened to be at the QC Airport that day wound up getting a picture with the big guy, and yeah, I would have looked small next to Kevin in his prime.

When it finally got close to the time for us to get up to the autograph table the performers present were Trish Stratus, Chris Jericho, Shane Helms, and Mr. Wrestlemania himself, The Heart Break Kid, Shawn Michaels. Hearts begin to speed up, palms begin to sweat, and excitement begins to fill the room enough you can cut it with a knife when these meet and greets are this anticipated and everyone that came was in the moment. The stars of Raw and Smackdown were close enough you could reach out and shake hands with them. For ten dollars, you could get all of their autographs on a Support the Troops poster. How could it go wrong?

When it came to our turn, and quite unexpectedly, Trish started standing up and greeting people before putting her signature on the posters. She was half hugging the men that brought their kids with them. Meeting her was one thing but a handshake was an unexpected gift. When she looked up at me, after signing my sons' poster, she actually said, "you must be the dad." She stood up, shook my hand and my reply was...well it was inarticulable. Something along the lines of "bl...tri...boya...bla"...

I wanted to crawl in a hole, the smallest one I could find. If I could have shrunken between the cracks in the floor tiles and disappeared I would have. I would have gladly clicked my heels at that moment and gone home. There was no escaping it, though, and I had to move along as the fifty people behind me were starting to crack up. As if I wasn't embarrassed enough, the one and only time I had ever gotten tongue-tied speaking to a woman aside, the next two performers didn't help. Shawn Michaels looked like he was biting his lip, trying not to laugh at the ordeal. It was Chris Jericho that drove the pain home. As I got to him, he looked up, shook my hand, and proceeds to comment, "She's just a girl, man. I'm sure you've seen one before, right?"

Then the Hurricane, Shane Helms, got in on the act with his trademark, "What's up with that?"

By the time I got to Shawn Michaels all I could think to say was thank you and glad you made it back from your injuries. My son has had fun with this story, right around this time of year, every year since. This story occurred during Wrestlemania Season and it was the day after Wrestlemania. With Wrestlemania less than two weeks away, wonder if he'll be bringing up this year. So if there are two wrestlers that I'd love to get in the ring with it'd be Chris Jericho or Shane Helms. It was bad enough, why couldn't they just leave it alone.