Meeting The Young Bucks and Finn Balor; New Orleans Wizard World Comic Con; WildKat Wrestling Show; ROH TV Taping!
These past few weeks have been INSANELY busy for me. Right before Christmas I had officially launched my YouTube channel SuperKicking It With Kelsi. I had released one promo-style video, but I had planned on going to Wizard World Comic Con in New Orleans to get my first real content filmed. My plans for content included: interviewing Jason David Frank about CM Punk and other things (but that fell through unfortunately), getting some interviews with artists selling wrestling-themed artwork, and I was hoping to stand in front of Finn Balor’s table and shoot a funny bit with Fake Nick about the Bullet Club defecting to Balor Club or something along those lines.
Things were going okay as I was walking around the Con with my friend Steve who was filming for me that day.
I quickly realized we were late for Finn Balor’s Q&A panel, and I wanted to get b-roll of that to use in my comic con compilation video. So we headed upstairs...little did I know what would happen next!
We walked in a little late unfortunately, and I saw people waiting in line in a not very crowded room to ask him questions. I debated getting in line for a minute or two, but I decided to just go for it even though I was a little nervous to go up there in my costume. As soon as I stepped up to the mic, Finn began to realize what I was holding: A Fake Nick Jackson. He really seemed to laugh and enjoy it. He asked if I could bring it up there, but the doll was attached to me by a belt so I asked if it was okay if I went up because it was physically connected to me, literally. He said yes. So I got to sit down and talk to Finn...he was laughing, and I was laughing. And really the feeling was indescribable.
And it’s surreal, but I wasn’t nervous somehow. I felt and still feel like I am made to do that sort of thing: Interacting and talking with people in the profession that I respect and love more than anything in this world: wrestling. It feels like it was a dream, but it felt very comfortable in the moment. And it’s a memory I will never, ever forget! I feel so lucky and grateful to have had that interaction with him.
Finn couldn’t have been a nicer person. He didn’t have to let me on stage. He didn’t have to interact with me for what felt like a good bit of time. He also had a really cute interaction with a little boy who was overwhelmed when he asked Balor a question later in the panel. Finn went down and picked up the little boy, and it was a very sweet moment. The story was even picked up by Bleacher Report and some other sites. Very cool!
Nick Jackson also posted a picture of me on stage with Finn. I guess someone sent that to him. That was really nice/funny of Nick to post that. And as I was about to find out first hand just one week after meeting Finn, the Young Bucks are also nice, cool, and genuine people just like Finn!
At Wizard World, I also met and talked with Luke Hawx of WildKat Wrestling which is a New Orleans-based wrestling promotion. We discussed setting up a future interview(s) for my YouTube channel! I had just attended their local show the night before our meeting. I had a lot of fun at the show and also got to meet Stevie Richards who is the current champion of the promotion. He couldn’t have been any more of a sweetheart!!
I also met and talked with Rhett Titus at Wizard World. He wrestles for ROH and had also wrestled at the WildKat show the night before. He was funny and very nice to talk with! He even asked to take my picture with Fake Nick so he could text it to real Nick Jackson, haha! That really was one of the things that helped make my day so special and memorable!
I had so much fun at Wizard World Comic Con, and I even made some new friends while there!
Shortly after too sweeting Finn Balor, Fake Nick deflated - he popped him (literally!) Luckily my mom and I were able to patch Fake Nick and restore him to perfect health later in the week (hahah!)
Monday I went to RAW in New Orleans. I saw Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. And marked out to see Jericho win the US title belt. I had a really fun time! Of course I had to sport my two Young Bucks pins on my shirt even while at RAW because I will always represent my boys [my bois--hahaha] You can buy these pins and a Kenny Omega pin at Patti Lapel’s website
Fast forward a few days to Friday, January 13th which is my birthday. Coincidentally it fell on a Friday this year, and I was actually born on Friday the 13th as well (some people say that explains a lot about my personality, haha!). Sometimes I feel like I’m unlucky, but these past few weeks have been like a dream, and I feel like the luckiest person in the world! On my birthday, I flew to Atlanta with someone I really like and think is very cool and fun, Paul. We had lunch with awesome people, went to my first basketball game (The Celtics vs The Hawks--I’m happy that the Celtics won since that’s who we were rooting for!), had a great time at Torched Hop Brewing Company, and went to a bar and listened to some live music after the game.
The next day was the ROH TV tapings at Center Stage Theater in Atlanta. I was going to participate in the meet and greet to meet The Young Bucks.
The Bucks requested I bring Fake Nick and wear my costume. Haha, it was really weird having to pack Fake Nick in my luggage...I can only imagine what the TSA guys thought when my bag went through the X-RAY machine!!! I also made a new element for my costume: a Matt mask (I printed out a picture of Matt Jackson’s face and pasted it on some cardboard, cut it out, and attached it to a Popsicle stick so I could hold it in front of my face if I wanted to). I think it came out really funny!
Getting out of the Uber and arriving at the show early, everyone stared at my costume. I felt really nervous but excited. It was funny but I saw a sweet boy and his dad who actually saw me at comic con in New Orleans at that Finn Balor panel. They told me they remembered me from the weekend before, and I talked to them for a good while. They couldn’t have been nicer. The boy loved my costume, we took a picture, and he was so sweet and cute!
Then we filed in for the meet and greet and got in the official line. It was the moment of truth (they say never meet your idols or someone you look up to because you could be disappointed or they could wind up being mean and you’d never think of them the same way again), BUT I’m happy to report that wasn’t the case with the Bucks!!! They were so cool, friendly, and down to earth. They seemed genuinely amused to see my costume. They took pictures to send to their wives, and told me to tweet the picture we all took together which they both ended up retweeting. I’ll never forget how nice they were. But again, it was so weird that I didn’t feel very nervous at all while talking with them. It just felt fun and natural.
Somehow, I managed to slip in between the cracks and meet Cody Rhodes without officially buying a ticket to get a picture with him. I went up to him and asked him how much it was for a picture, to which he responded, “You know what...screw the ticket, let’s take a picture.” Since I had a Bullet Club shirt on and had fake Nick, I said “Bullet Club 4 life” haha. I also said how much I enjoyed his matches at Final Battle as well as his debut at WK 11 (wish I would have remembered to tell him how much I enjoyed his Bullet Club vignette/video package. That was one of my favorite vignettes of all time--that’s the way you hype someone’s debut!). He thanked me and said he was very happy with his performance at WK. He also asked me if I wanted to see “something cool.” I said yes, and he pulled up his jacket sleeve to reveal the cuff links he was wearing...gold bullets! I said “Wow, that’s spiffy!” I really liked meeting him, and it was totally unexpected.
I had a few interactions with some other people as well. Larry Legend asked to take my picture for the ROH Facebook Page (which they posted later!). I was very honored and happy they enjoyed my costume. Legend tweeted about it just the other day, which also flattered me greatly.
I also met The Addiction! And Cheeseburger, haha. That was fun too! The people running the show and who work for ROH were so nice and accommodating. They came up to me and asked if I would like to store Fake Nick behind the merch table, which really helped because he was so difficult to carry around.
The seats were GREAT. The value of the tickets were GREAT. You go to a WWE show and you sit through a ton of commercials and watered down matches for a very high price usually, but the ROH tapings were worth every penny. It was very long; The show lasted about 5 hours, which did kind of hurt my back to sit for that long, but I think I got a great value for the price I paid for those tickets. And most important of all: the wrestling was PHENOMENAL. There were quite a few great matches throughout the night (they taped four episodes worth of content).
Seeing the Bucks and Cole wrestle live for the first time was really amazing and it lived up to my expectations. It created an energy and buzz in the room that gave me legit goosebumps (yeah, I know I am very corny...I don’t care!)
Lethal, Bobby Fish, and Christopher Daniels all had some cool moments throughout the show (I don’t want to say any spoilers so I won’t go into detail). There was a funny crowd interaction having to do with a broom that was ridiculous but a lot of fun at the same time. Rhett Titus was in a match so it was neat to see him again as well!
There were so many good quality matches. It’s going to be hard to attend other WWE events again and have it feel as exciting as this was to me.
I had an amazing time at the show and in Atlanta, and it’s truly a time I will never forget!
People doubted me along the way on this journey, but I think I am exceeding even my own expectations in what I am doing with my show so far. (and it’s only the beginning!) All I know is that making wrestling my life’s work is looking more and more like it’s in the realm of possibility (I hope!).
In this world, nothing has captivated me the way that wrestling has, and I am forever grateful for discovering it. It truly is the love of my life. Passion is contagious! And if I can spread this passion for wrestling to even one person through my excitement and passion for the “business that I love” and for the wrestlers who put their bodies on the line to entertain the fans, then all the hard work will have been worth it. I have never been so fulfilled and satisfied with the work that I have been doing in my entire life.
I can’t wait to see what the future will hold in this next year, and 2017 certainly has gotten off to an amazing start so far. #LUCKY
Support wrestlers, support wrestling, support each other! And thank you to everyone who always supports me - It’s always noticed, appreciated, and I truly am forever grateful.
<3 Kelsi - SuperKicking It With Kelsi
@theyoungbucks @ringofhonor
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