Over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to meet some amazing people from the world of pop culture and indeed wrestling. At time of writing, it is less than a month until I add more wrestlers to add to the list of ones I’ve met. For this blog I have decided to show my favourite 5 magazine covers I have had signed by some people from the land of professional wrestling. I will be doing a blog soon about my favourite photographs I got with wrestlers but with a twist. I’m not allowed to have them on both lists! Stay tuned for that one.
First up are two honorable mentions
With this one from WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus, I didn’t get this in person but got this from Retro Wrestling where you send in an item and give them a description of what you want on it. For Trish I got “Happy you saw my Hall of Fame speech Live at MSG” 2013 was the first trip to America for me and seeing Trish getting inducted into the Hall Of Fame was wonderful. This was a magazine I already owned and got sent in!
The last honourable mention is Sting! Why hasn’t he made the top 5? To be honest Sting has been great in all he has done but I haven’t really watched a lot of his WCW stuff. In fact I probably watched him more in TNA to be honest. Sting was good to meet but would have preferred him to have his makeup on and his sunglasses off. He was a nice person to met and I really loved this magazine when I saw it online and got it straight away. I really liked how it showed him with and without the paint on his face. A nice item to have in the collection.
Ok here is Number 5
I met Bret Hart at Wrestlecon 2013. I had no luck with that meeting at all. A member of staff takes the photo for you, mine was blurry. I got a magazine and Bret signed it. It wasn’t until I got home from my Wrestlemania trip that I noticed it was ripped in the top left hand corner. Bret Hart was then announced for doing a meet and greet as well as a Q&A in Belfast. Thankfully I got a ticket and then managed to snag this issue for him to sign and think it looks good signed as well! Oh and my photo with him turned out great as well! Thankfully I can give Bret a higher mark than 4/10 (kudos if you get that joke). Bret was nice to meet and I explained about what had happened and he said “Lets hope we do better this time”.
Ok number 4
This was another magazine I owned! Lita was another wonderful person to meet. I mentioned to her about how beautiful she was at the Hall of Fame the previous night. She wore a lovely red dress and went to the event with CM Punk. Lita asked where I bought the magazine from, and I said that I had it since it came out. The member of staff who took the photo seemed to want to know where I was from and was asking me a ton of questions which irked me as I was wanting to talk to Lita. One thing I loved about this magazine was how she made it out to me with the number 2.
Number three, you think you know me?
Now this was meant to be even cooler!! Lita was announced for London Film Comic Con July 2018. I had planned to get another autograph from her as well as a new photograph but sadly she cancelled her appearance. Edge I met at Wrestlecon 2014 and he was amazing to talk to. I even had my Mania 27 Edge World Heavyweight championship shirt on which he commented on and I said oh you have to represent!! The “superticket” my friend Ben and I was not without its problems and when Ben said about how bad it was, even Edge commented “You’ve no idea kid”. I never got a professional photo with him and Christian like many did at LFCC 2017. Cuts had to be made and sadly he was one of the cuts I had to make! He is certainly a character and an entertaining one at that too!
Number 2 – there are two autographs. Let me explain….
Wow….words fail me about this guy. In a good way though. I met Roddy Piper at Wrestlecon 2014. I was able to talk to him about my father and how he was battling lung cancer. Roddy had beaten cancer and I remember telling Dad this and he turned into someone we would talk about. Upon telling this to Mr Piper, I became very emotional and Ill never forget him putting his hand on my shoulder. It meant a lot to me and when I finished talking to him, he thanked me for the respect. That meant so much to me. A bit later he came over to Belfast for a meet and greet/q&a like I talked about Bret Hart earlier and I wanted to meet him and get a professional photo taken. I found the magazine online and when I put it down for him to sign, I remember him saying “oh man, was I in a bad way then”. I was talking to him about meeting him in New Orleans and also paid for another autograph for Dad which he had framed and put in the hallway of our old house. Both men went from this world too soon but both have left lasting memories with me!
Number 1…..can you guess?
This for me encapsulates the WWF. Hogan with his 24 inch pythons and his ripped shirt. This was one I got signed in 2013 when I first met Hogan. I cannot tell you how nervous I was meeting him and thanked him for doing the meet and greet. The photo im not that keen on but this signature with my name on it will always have a place in my heart and my collection. This was MY favourite wrestler and I remember meeting him and collecting my stuff and taking a deep breath. I had met the guy I always loved seeing in the ring and especially his music. Still one of my favourite tracks. I met him a year later at Wrestlemania Axxess and that photo I much preferred as it was a professional one. Still going to your first wrestlemania and meeting your favourite wrestler is something you just couldn’t plan!
After doing this its only now that I look back and all these people Ive met are all WWE hall of famers! That’s just a happy accident that I picked these people who have given me a great experience whenever and wherever I have met them. Now comes the tricky part of choosing the photos!
Thanks very much for reading and until we step through the ropes again!
Chris Vint
The vint-age blog 