I'm 28 years old. The concept of a bucket list isn't really for people my age. Then again, you know not the time and place when the Lord comes a-callin', because death comes like a thief in the night. I know it's morbid, but regardless, I still have my bucket list of things I want to do before I shuffle off this mortal coil. Many of them have to do with wrestling. Here's the six biggies for me.
1. Go to WrestleMania
Really, is this even necessary to spell out? Unless your vitriol for the WWE and Vince McMahon surpasses that of Jim Cornette, Bret Hart circa 1998 and Phil Mushnick combined, you want to see the spectacle known as WrestleMania live if you're a wrestling fan. The fact that it's moved on to big arenas hurts my chances to see it locally unless Philly, NY or DC gets a big domed stadium, so I'll have to make a road trip. But wouldn't it be worth it? The Fan Axxess, being there live for the event plus soaking in the culture of a new city.
2. Watch a PWG event live in Reseda
It might be the opposite in scale to WrestleMania, but what I've heard about the Reseda crowd has made me want to trek out there to see a show. They've been compared to an ECW crowd at its height. Of course, it helps that PWG puts on dream matches every card. Plus, it's in sunny SoCal, which has a lot of other attractions to take in in my spare time.
3. Get a sign on TV
This might seem piddling compared to the first two, but it's always fun to be able to go back on the DVR or on the airdate if it's a taping and seeing yourself and your sign on television. Plus I can tell my friends to look for you. It's a bit on the egotistical side, but hey, at least it means that I've gotten great seats for a wrestling show, eh?
4. Witness a show in Japan
I've always been fascinated with puroresu. The aura around the main events, the big moves, just the larger-than-life shadow these guys cast over the business from across the ocean. I've been a part of some raucous American crowds, but I want to experience the opposite. I want to be a part of the mostly respectful Japanese crowd and see things from their perspective. Plus, the fresh local sushi and their spin on baseball doesn't hurt things either. The show doesn't matter, although I'd prefer to see Kenta Kobashi or another one of the guys I know.
5. Own a Championship belt
Not one of those chinsey plastic replicas either. I want to own a real leather and gold replica. It's just one of those things that any wrestling fan should have. It has to be a cool title too. Not the shitty pretty butterfly belt or the pedestrian new look US Title, but something like the Big Gold Belt or the WWF Championship, circa Brock Lesnar's reign, or the Intercontinental Championship from 1992. I can imagine my mancave having a wrestling display with my title belt as the centerpiece and all my collected lucha masks and wrestling posters as satellites around it.
6. Meet Chris Jericho
Seriously, you weren't expecting this? I love meeting people from the business and at least saying something to them, whether it's as terse as a "I'm a huge fan" to a nice conversation like the one I had with Lince Dorado before YLC VII night 3. It's easy to approach a guy at a Chikara show, and it's great when the guy lives up the street from you like Stevie Richards did back in 2002 (true story, I asked him about how stiff Bradshaw's clothesline was). But a bona fide superstar like Jericho, one that I've idolized as much as a wrestling fan can idolize a wrestler for the last decade plus? I can't even imagine how I'd get access unless it was at one of those trade shows or at the aforementioned WrestleMania Fan Axxess. But I want to do it. I mean, even though I think we have enough in common to have a conversation, I'll settle for a hello, a handshake and a "I'm a HUGE HUGE HUGE fan".
