Growing up, I loved wrestling.
All right. You got me. I was downright fanatical.
Every weekend over the span of what had to be two years, I picked up a wrestling tape from the movie store (Remember those?) when my parents gave me and my sister free reign of the place.
Not only that, but I staged my own wrestling matches — complete with back stories and all — with stuffed animals. I’m not ashamed to admit that. Putting on an entire card of matches takes skill and creativity. If I remember correctly, Bear and Big Bunny put on some classics — mostly of the hardcore and last-man-standing variety — while Mickey Mouse and Goofy crushed the tag-team division.
You’re totally judging me now, right? Awesome! Let’s move on.
Fast forward 20 years and I never really scratched that wrestling itch.
While I wasn’t creating new wrestling federations with stuffed animals, I still kept up-to-date with what happened in the WWE on a weekly basis. I also watched occasional pay-per-view events, like the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania with friends and when they didn’t buy them, I ventured to area ‘blast sites.’
Imagine my reaction when I found out WrestleMania 30 would be held at the Superdome in New Orleans — an eight-hour drive from where I lived in Texas.
Like the perpetual, professional procrastinator I am, I waited on buying tickets. I brought up the idea to my friends and some said they wanted to go as well, but when it came down to it, none wanted to pull the trigger with me.
So I went alone.
At first, I thought I made a terrible mistake. What was I doing? Why am I spending this money to go to a stupid wrestling event? Where am I going to stay?
Then I got some great news and it set the tone for an amazing weekend.
Here are some highlights in bullet form.
- I had some amazing seats. See the view from the main image of the post and down below. How did I get those? I responded to a Craigslist ad (yes, Craigslist) and as fate would have it, the guy who he bought them from had his YouTube video shared by none other than Hulk Hogan.
- Many considered this to be the greatest WrestleMania of all-time. The first match (Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H) and last match (Daniel Bryan vs. Batista vs. Randy Orton) brought the house down. Not to mention, WrestleMania opened with Hulk Hogan, The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin in the ring at the same time.
- I met some great people on my own accord and through a little thing called ‘Mania Crawl,’ which was a bar crawl created by reddit members. Bourbon Street was Bourbon Street (we’ll let you figure that one out) and all in all, it was an unforgettable experience.
- Lastly, I stayed in a perfect location. I had my doubts about the neighborhood (Just Google ‘Ninth Ward’ and ‘Hurricane Katrina’), but the house was immaculate and the host was great. I’d fully recommend going through Airbnb for travel.
If you ever have an opportunity to live out a childhood dream, do it.
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