NWA Fayetteville Fanfest

[cawthon777 0]

I just got back from the NWA Fanfest in Fayetteville, NC last night and thought I'd give a little recap for those who couldn't attend.

 

Some names previously announced couldn't make it but that was made public about a week or so before the show. Sting, Dustin Rhodes, and Bobby Eaton were among those names. I would have liked to have met all of them but it will take more than that to keep me from coming.

 

Really bad weather throughout the weekend. I think the hurricanes in Florida kept Dory Funk Jr. from flying up. Tony Atlas was also a no show but I'm not sure where he was coming in from so I don't know the circumstances.

 

Got in late afternoon on Friday. My friend Brian and I decided to stop by the hotel the convention was being held at to go ahead and register and get our VIP pass. After spending some time in the ballroom (we weren't allowed in at that time) and getting a scoop on all the merchandise that would be available the following morning, we walked down the hall to the registration table. As we're rounding the corner, Brian comments on how cool it would be to bump into Mick Foley and get a free picture with him (Foley was going to be in the $10 polariod room the following day). Just as I tell him to expect low so that you'll always be surprised (for instance, expect to run into one of the enhancement guys that was scheduled to appear), who walks in front of us but former PWI editor Bill Apter ... with him ... Mick Foley.

 

A collective whisper of "Holy shit" could be heard in the lobby as Mick signed in at the desk. He was surrounded by a small group wanting autographs and since neither of us wanted to be that annoying fan guy, we decided to hold off for the next day or at least until he got back from having dinner. He must have come back through a seperate entrance or we just missed him. Moments after seeing Mick, I had my picture taken with Bill Apter who - surprisingly - remembered me from being in Charlotte at the January fanfest.

 

We soon entered the bar which was about 10 feet away and as we're about to sit down, we walk right by Rob Feinstein of RF Video. That was another "Holy shit" moment as neither of us expected to see him show his face after all that controversy from a few months back. The rest of the night was spent at the bar, drinking, saying hi to Scotty Riggs and Robert Gibson who showed up, and explaining the significance of the weekend to a female non-fan who was also drinking the night away.

 

I'll be back later with a recap of Saturday's events. Now that was a VERY long and eventful day. Pictures are on their way.

[cawthon777 0]

Saturday was busy. Woke up, hit the Shoney’s breakfast buffet (the more food in the morning the better since we were going to be at the convention all day), and went over to see how things were going.

 

I brought with me a large box of tapes to either sell or trade and, thankfully, my friend Sam Finley – who had a table right next to Gorgeous George (yes, Savage’s ex girlfriend) – gave me $100 in credit for them. I thought that was a good deal since most of the tapes were the lesser quality Coliseum Home Videos, along with WWF pay-per-views circa 98-01. So from him alone, I picked up a signed Ric Flair book, Blassie’s book, a crap load of old Apter mags and pre-Apter mags (one of which was already autographed by Dusty Rhodes), a Bruno / Zbyzsko Boston Garden program, a WWF Brian Pillman action figure still in box, and a few other items.

 

There were two convention rooms that were used – 1) the larger, autograph signing room with the more well known wrestling-related people from RF Video, Georgia Wrestling History, Mid-Atlantic Gateway, Wrestling Classics, as well as tables for Sensational Sherri, Terry Taylor, David Flair, Jimmy Garvin, Penny Banner, Ole Anderson, Scotty Riggs, and Bob Roop selling their various books and merchandise and 2) a smaller room with more vendor tables, among them tables with George, Steve Corino, and the Maestro from WCW (he looks totally different now, I didn’t recognize him at first).

 

The first signing session included Mick Foley, Mr. Wrestling II, Magnum TA, Jimmy Garvin, Precious, George South, Tommy Young, and David Isley. I had items for most of the names and if I didn’t, I just had them sign the convention program. For Foley, I had him sign “Have a Nice Day” and my Roanoke Raw taping poster from November 97. After handing him the poster, he glanced it over and said, “Where am I? Oh, here at the bottom.” (that got more than a few laughs, me included) Then nudged Magnum and made a funny comment about people saying he wasn’t a main eventer. To make himself feel better, he said something to the effect of, “Well Shawn’s listed at the bottom too … so that’s okay.”

 

On our way out to get gas and hit the ATM machine, we saw Sensational Sherri smoking outside. My friend Brian has bumped into her on many occasions and she remembered him. Jokingly I said, after seeing her with the cigarette, “That might not be the best thing for you.” Her response was something like … “When you get to be as old as I am and go through all the bullshit I’ve gone through, then you tell me what I can and cannot do.” Needless to say, I was afraid to move at that point. But the moment Sherri realized we had stuff for her to sign, she became as giddy as a 16-year old girl who’s just been asked out by the quarterback of the football team. By the way, Sherri was staying at the same Motel 6 we were in, located a block or two away.

 

Later in the afternoon, after deciding that 2 autographed Foley items wasn’t enough, I paid the $10 fee to have my picture taken with Mick – hoping that he would sign my WrestleMania XX ticket. He was happy to oblige.

 

The second session featured Ricky Steamboat, Tim Horner, Tommy Rich, Gene Ligon, Penny Banner, and Bill White. Stan Lane, Dory Funk Jr., and Tony Atlas were also scheduled to appear but didn’t for whatever reason; I believe Dory couldn’t make it due to the hurricanes. I know Stan showed up late, claiming to have gotten lost since the promoter of the show Greg Price didn’t call him back to help him with directions. He signed autographs in the lobby or hallway for a short time before leaving, saying that Price made it clear that he wasn’t welcome. I don’t know all the facts about the incident but even if he was a few minutes late, I know there were a ton of fans who were very much looking forward to seeing Stan and to send him home wasn’t necessary in my opinion.

 

Rich made the session even more disappointing by just walking out after a few minutes. He returned a half-hour later, signed for a little bit, and again left. He gets the Buddy Landel award for those who know what happened at the last convention in Charlotte. A little upsetting for Brian since he brought his NWA world title replica specifically to have it signed by Tommy (he already had it autographed by Dory, Steamboat, Dusty, and Ron Garvin in Charlotte).

 

At around 6pm we headed back to the hotel for a quick rest before coming back for the two Saturday night Q&A sessions. But before leaving, I picked up a 10-hour Superstar Billy Graham video set, a 6-hour Backlund tape, a 6-hour Muraco tape, and a tape of all the Shotgun nightclub shows from 97 – all for only $30. Brian bought a 5-tape Backlund set and a Snuka compilation.

 

The first Q&A was hosted by former WWWF / WCW ring announcer Gary Michael Cappetta and featured Tully Blanchard, with Baby Doll and JJ Dillon later joining the panel. A very interesting experience.

 

What touched me quite a bit was Baby Doll’s story of being pregnant with her second daughter and Sam Houston – her then-husband – giving her $100 and then leaving her to fend for herself. She spent the next few minutes visibly holding back tears.

 

Near the close of the session, Cappetta – who had been taking questions from the crowd throughout – asked the panel what they were up to now. Baby Doll is a department manager at Wal-Mart in, I believe, Arkansas. She said she was happy with her life and has been with someone for about 2 years, though she’s not looking to get married again. Tully, for those who don’t know, visits prisons to spread the word of God. He mentioned that sometimes at the prisons, he shows the I Quit match with Magnum to help in his sermon.

 

JJ works in Delaware, has been married 3 times and divorced 3 times, and said he was very grateful for all the fans that showed up to give their appreciation to the wrestlers. He continued by saying he appreciated the fans’ support as much as they appreciated him and then broke down crying. The audience responded with a standing ovation. Cappetta, JJ, Tully, and Baby Doll then embraced on the stage as the room was lit up by flash bulb lights.

 

I’ll be back later with memories of the second Q&A as well as Sunday’s happenings.

[bob_barron 0]

Sounds you like had a good time Cawthon.

 

The two reports I read at PWInsider did not sound like it was a fun weekend as it was very disorganised

[cawthon777 0]

It was a lot more organized than the last one. The autograph sessions went by a LOT faster.

 

The second Q&A was hosted by Bill Apter and featured the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express. Ricky Morton did most of the talking. Talked about working indy shows and how some of them can have 20 matches on the card … the crowd couldn’t wait for him to bring up the topic of Kevin Nash; Ricky tore into him pretty good, saying he doesn’t know the business and has no right to bad mouth Ricky and talk about Ricky’s life when he doesn’t know enough about him to make accusations or comments … I asked them about their WWF / WCW pay-per-view spots in 93; they didn’t elaborate too much but did say Watts was planning to bring them in but as soon as Bischoff took over he dropped them … both praised the Hardy Boyz as a team they would enjoy working with … Ricky told a great story about hanging out with a drunk Ric Flair and Flair had the notion to go out on his boat (Ricky said it was more like a yacht). Ric ends up falling out of the boat and it takes Ricky about a half-hour to find him since it’s at night. So Ric shows back up at his house in boxers, a sock, and a shirt (he was in business attire when he fell in) gasping for air as he told his wife how lucky he was to be alive. Her response, “He (Ricky) should have let you drown.” … Ricky had his young son with him during the weekend … They are thinking about doing a book in 05.

 

After the Q&A, I was talked into having a few more beers at the bar. Spent a good amount of time talking to Doug Gentry from RF Video. He’s a great guy. He was aware of my website, which was pretty nice. Then Gary Michael Cappetta came over and just chilled out right next to me, smoking a cigarette. So I talked to him for about an hour. Apparently back when he was with Vince Sr., he also worked as a high school Spanish teacher in NJ – which is what he’s also doing now. Told a great story about working for WCW and when they would run a show in New Haven or the area, Pat Patterson or Howard Finkel would always show up in disguise and sit in the crowd. So one time Gary is sitting down at ringside and someone starts tugging at his jacket from behind. He turns around and it’s Patterson wearing a raincoat so no one would see him. Shortly thereafter, Bill Apter came over and joined in on the conversation. I think I finally got to bed around 3am. I was hoping to go to the morning church service with Tully, Nikita, Ivan, and George South since I heard good things about it in Charlotte but there was no way I could get out of bed to get there by 8.

 

Sunday’s signing included Ivan and Nikita Koloff, Larry Zbyzsko, Ole Anderson, JJ Dillon, Tully Blanchard, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, and Baby Doll. We were lucky enough to get in the front row for the signing, hoping to get out of there around 1pm since there was a long drive in front of us.

 

I had Zbyzsko sign the Boston program of him and Bruno in the main event. He took some interest in it and flipped through the pages commenting, “Ah, the Samoans … those were the good ole days.” Also had him sign a PWI Weekly with the cover story being a possible NWA / AWA working relationship (he and Sting, being the champions of both companies, were featured). He started reading it and then said that Gagne wanted to do an invasion angle but the NWA backed out. He claimed it was because they were afraid he was going to expose Sting in the ring and make him look bad.

 

Brian was in front of me in line and as he was leaving Ole’s spot, Ole asked if he had bought his book. Brian said yes, then Ole turned his attention to me and asked the same. I paused and gave a very smart answer of “Not yet.” He replied with, “What the hell is wrong with you? Security, throw this guy out!” After the security guy and I jokingly exchanged words, with me saying I wouldn’t fight fair (the same security guy that compared me to Ferris Bueller throughout the weekend … I’m not sure where he got that but I took it as a compliment), Ole happily signed a few JCP video covers. I was honored to have Ole go off on me.

 

JJ remembered me from Charlotte, which was very nice. All I had to say was, “I was the guy with the 3-ring binder up to here (my shoulders).” He had taken interest in the fact that I had the 1 MSG show he was part of listed in full.

 

After going through the line, we did one last walk-through of the tables and even bumped into David Flair. David was selling autographed 8X10s and signed boxed figures of his dad at one of the tables. Said he was working a regular 9 to 5 job now. We then hit the RF table one more time and hit the road.

 

Like I said before – just a lot of fun. I know that some people were pissed about one thing or another but I went for the experience, not solely to have so-and-so sign whatever. And I had a great experience.

 

I have pictures posted on my website but if you haven’t seen them already here’s a link:

 

www.angelfire.com/wrestling/cawthon777/fayetteville.htm