Thoughts on Fanfest

[thrifty211]

I would just like to hear from the people that went and how they liked it this year.

I really enjoyed this one more then any of the others one reason was the numbers on the tickets. You didnt have to stand around and spend all of your time at the hotel. You could go grab lunch and know you still would get everyone, which is alot more relaxing.

The lineup was great and alot of new faces. I have meet Terry Funk before but he stole the show. Very nice and signed everywhere.

The Q&A with Funk & Cornette was the best ones I think that they have had so far.

Also the vendors brought in alot of different people that alot of people has never had teh chance too meet. Alos alot of good merchandise for sale. The wrestling show on Saturday was great also.

Thanks Greg and great job!!!

[bobbyryates]

i had way too much fun.
stingmark came in from las vegas to go with me. with that, we went. we quickly met up with a TON of guys from this and other boards. i met up up with many old friends and met MANY more. even all the Atlanta Boys came up and we messed around alot that, is the essence of fanfest. at least to me it is.
oh, then there was the wrestling. i finally met bret hart. got up with many more stars i have met many times before, maybe once or twice, and had a blast meeting them either way.
having lunch with two of the greatest managers of all time was a huge blast for me. i had a great time.
the saturday night matches were great, not a stinker out of 7 bouts. sunday's were good, but not as good as saturday nights.
i took SSTEWARD and his family to the airport this morning. the took our new pal from the UK, "sitting still" to the bus station to send him off to georgia.....what a blast!!!
oh, and i won the raffled ring bell that was autographed by all the fanfest stars.
anyone i talked to and spent time with, let's keep up with each other. let's keep the fun times alive!!

[thetacoguy]

I had a kick ass time. I was only there for a few hours but i did as much as possible and it was one of the best days i had in a long while. There were great vendors(completly broke from the barrrow load of Tapes and dvd's) and The people in charge ran every thing smoothly. I had a fun time talking to all the other people who came and the wrestlers were extremely great. It was such a great feeling how you felt like one of them because themselves were all there as wrestling fans.

I got all the autograhs i wanted, had my picture taken with hart and heenan, Had a cool conversation with aj styles, and molly holly said i was very handsome ;D.
All and all it was a great experince and i hope They have another one in nc very soon.

[GarvinStomp]

I had a blast at Fanfest! Everyone was awesome!!!! This was my first time ever meeting any wrestlers so I had a great time. I too thought the event was ran very well and smoothly and I also plopped down my share of dollars on DVDs and VHS. The wrestlers were great. The people who post on this board who I met are all great people. I made so many great friends and everyone was just fantastic. I would name all the great guys I met, but I dont want to leave anyone out. The Q & A sessions rocked. Jim Cornette is a nut but hilarious. Terry Funk was great and hilarious as well. J.J. Dillon had some interesting things to say. But I must say that Bret Hart truly spoke from the heart. He was very forthright and seemed very honest in his comments. The autograph sessions went very well as did the matches on the two cards. All in all a great, great weekend. It couldn't have gone any better.

[mattburns]

My third fanfest in Charlotte and have never been disapointed.................many thanks to Greg Price and his staff for all the hard work.................good to see the friends from the message boards..................the guys from the Mid-Atlantic Gateway and Wrestling Memories.

Matt Burns AKA BARRY7X

[kcwcwman]

Fantastic weekend. Almost everything from first Fanfest was fixed. Loved the numbering because it made for an orderly autograph session.

I can't say everything went smoothly but overall the weekend was great. 1 problem was a delay in the polaroid sessions. I wanted to attend the Mulkeys but it started late. It was suppose to start at noon and was advertised as such in the autograph room but when we got there, we were told the Mulkeys weren't there. We weren't given a time when they would be there so we went to get something to eat. When we came back for the next autograph session we found out we had missed them. I was really bummed but ran into them in the hallway and they posed for a picture with me so it was no big deal.

The second issue was the last Q&A getting moved back an hour. We had to be someplace so we missed the Bret Hart session.

Third issue was an announcement made on Sunday morning that VIPs needed to be in their seats by 11:30 and then having us stand around until 11:45 before we could get to our seats.

As for the matches on Saturday, they were great. I had never seen the AMW or Naturals in action, but I was impressed. The other matches were no slouches either. Saw some young and upcoming talent.

Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars only because of a few delays. I would definitely go to the next one.

[superstarsimms74]

Had a GREAT WEEKEND!!! Was the best of the three fanfests i have been to. Thanks Greg for such a good time, making dreams come true meeting such greats as Bret,Heenan,Terry Funk and many oters for the first time,and others i have seen before. Always a blast!

[kocroyal]

I have to say with this being my second fanfest attended, this one was a lot more fun than November and i had a great time then. I do not think I really got much rest from Friday to Sunday, I am still coming off of this weekend. Met a lot of people and got to talk some of the peopel I wanted to talk to. Funniest was Ox Baker scaring people by coming out of no where and saying hey and that voice of his ( i think he got Molly Holly and Ivory good one time). I really wished he would have stayed around the whole weekend because it was funny to see him do that. Plus with all the weddings and revivals going on, it would have been really funny to see him interupt those..... I definitely hope to see him at the next festival. It was always a pleasure to see Gary Hart and Humperdink again, they are great to talk with, i thibnk they were baflled by the revival as well as Hump was peaking in the door and I think Gary was convinced it was the Blues Brothers....lol. Meeting Cornette finally was also very awesome, he was very nice and seemed more happier than ever being gone from WWE (same goes for Ivory and Molly). JJ and Scott Teal were good to speak with as well. I am sure I am leaving someone out and if so I apologize. It is always a pleasure to meet up with some of the other fan that come down that i seen in November. It was a long weekend though so I am going to try and catch up on some sleep. Thanks to Greg for another great weekend!!
I did get to meet stingmark from Vegas on Sunday and it was great meeting him, hopefully i will see him at the next fest.
KOCRoyal

[thegreatbologuy]

GREAT!


GREAT!


GREAT!

[dmtdj]

I have been to each of Greg's FanFests and been a VIP for each one. It was great to see some different faces however, I do have some complaints.

Now, I know that once you read this, you'll say, "man, if that's all you have to complain about, you're not doing too bad." To be honest, you'd be correct. But, here goes...

The one thing that has always impressed me about Greg's shows is his selection of photos. Let's face it, they don't get any better. Needless to say, I was very disappointed to see that there were only six new photos. 3 of which were Bret Harts. 2 Midnight Express and 1 Mr. Wrestling II. My friend emailed Greg days before the FanFest and asked if new photos would be available of the new participants as well as the veterans and he was told "yes". Well, I suppose he was referring to the photos that Highspots was selling on the side of the ring. They did not come anywhere close to what Greg prints up. I don't collect magazines, programs, posters, figures, etc...so photos are my only source of signable material. I HOPE that at the next FanFest, Greg will take it upon himself to print up HIS photos for those of us who like them.

Next, I have a feeling that many (if not all) of the wrestlers were told to refuse taking photos with the fans prior to their polaroid sessions. To me, the accessibility of the wrestlers in the lobbies, hallways, rooms, elevators was always part of the appeal to the hardcore fan. Now, I had relatively good luck with getting photos. The only ones that eluded me were Bobby Heenan, Mr. Wrestling, and Bret Hart. Looking back, I should have just paid to get theirs. I couldn't believe how willing Dick Slater was to pose for photos. I couldn't believe that Dory wouldn't take ANY photos with anyone (speaking from what I saw)!!! That blew me away. Don't get me wrong...if something is worth it to me, I don't have a problem paying for it. But when you're so used to something being a certain way, it's kind of a shock when it doesn't happen that way any more.

One question...where were the Mulkeys for their autograph appearance?

I didn't like the fact that the numbers for the VIPs meant nothing on Sunday afternoon as they mysteriously disappeared. I did like the ability to leave your seat, knowing that your number was your number.

All in all I had a GREAT time. Just two things...Greg should make ALL of the photos and the Wrestlers should be at their own free will to pose for pictures at their discretion. If they weren't told any restrictions, I apologize for misspeaking.

Can't wait until next year when FanFest comes to my neck of the woods....Rockville, MD...only 45 min. away.

Be Well!

[saddogcuzsawyer]

I gave Greg a hard time on other message boards about the Mulkeys being there and I had every intention of going. Unfortunately my vacation time became exhausted because of family situations. I didn't want to be like the current WWE school teacher turned wrestler Matt Stryker and call in sick. I hope to attend the next fan fest. I hope Sting mark and everyone else had a good time. Once again Greg it sounds like you put on a good show and my props go to you.

[flair1]

I had a great time....how could I not? I thought everything was very well organized with the VIP seating. Even when the numbers were gone from the chairs on Sunday, most people seemed cooperative. I had no trouble keeping my seat all weekend.

Terry Funk is funny, and a very nice guy. He's the type of guy that could strike up a conversation with a stranger and entertain you for hours.

I can't believe that so many people left before Sunday night's matches. AJ Styles was great. It was almost funny, everyone was so into the action that you could hear a pin drop at times. Saturday's matches were great too. It's always fun to see matches in such an intimate setting.

I wish that I had more cash to spend at the vendors. Okay, I had the cash, but the wife likes me to keep a limit.

The only thing negative I have to say is that one of the security guys gave me crap about going through the autograph line again (he told me he would "bust my ass" if he caught me again). I thought I had heard them anounce that once you went through, that you could line back up at the end. I may have been in the wrong, but I thought the guy could have been a little more polite and respectful. But this only a minor thing. I'm sure those guys go through a lot of crap and have a long day of work.

Thanks to Greg and all those who made this one of the most memorable weekends a wrestling fan could have.

[fredatl]

flair1 said:

I thought I had heard them anounce that once you went through, that you could line back up at the end. I may have been in the wrong,

In the past, you could get back in line if there was still time left in the autograph session, but it was announced (at least online and via email) that due to the size of this crowd, only one trip would be allowed.

Fred, Atl

[stevej]

At this point, I get as much enjoyment out of seeing new and old friends as anything else. It was great to see Dick Bourne and David Chappell, Scott Teal, Keith McBride, Mike Hicks, Fred, Jon Serenchen ... I know I'm forgetting some --- and to finally meet Bobby R Yates, Shannon Steward, Graham Cawthorn, Juanita Timbs, Bruce Mitchell, Wayne Brower, etc. etc. etc. If guys like that were not present, and it was just an autograph fest, I know I feel like I'd miss out on a lot.

Steve Johnson

[ssteward]

flair1 said:

I thought everything was very well organized with the VIP seating. Even when the numbers were gone from the chairs on Sunday, most people seemed cooperative. I had no trouble keeping my seat all weekend.

I can't share those same views. It was fine on Fri and Sat. But when the stickers were removed from the chairs, the idiots in the back thought this was there chance to move up. Before Sunday's auto session, some guys were in our seat but they were nice enough to move.

But at the Bret Hart Q&A, these guys wouldn't move and my girlfriend literally cussed the guy to get him out of our seats. They were trying to say that VIP #'s weren't in effect anymore.

This was a prob when Greg wasn't around - no one else knew a thing. No one was enforcing anything, except to keep the auto lines moving.

Then at Sunday's matches, people were being told by the guy at the door that they could sit wherever they wanted. Our seats were taken. Well then why did I pay $10 to keep my seat? I realize everyone ended up paying $10, but still. If we would've been a few people more behind in line, we wouldn't have even been in the front row anymore. We were lucky.

The VIP # gimmick is great, but when Greg wasn't around and when the stickers were pulled from the chairs, it wasn't being enforced.