You Should Attend Walemania

This Past Weekend was Wrestlemania, the Super Bowl of Wrestling where fans all across the world come to the host city and indulge in all things pro wrestling. From conventions to numerous independent shows, and of course the main show. Right in the middle of the festivities is WaleMania, a annual concert now in it's fifth year held by renowned wrestling fan rapper Wale. I've attended the last two WrestleMania's and this was my first WaleMania, after attending I had to ask myself why the hell did I miss the last couple of WaleManias?

Held at Sony Hall in New York City, The show started as a live podcast from the WrassleRap crew interviewing Joshua Williams of Wrestle N' Flow, Charly Caruso from WWE and ESPN, ROH wrestler Kenny King, legend MVP, WWE commentators Corey Graves and Vic Joseph, WWE wrestlers Richochet and Lio Rush and many many more guests. After a toast was held for the guest of honor 5x Champion Booker T. who showed his support for Kofi Kingston and proclaimed he'd been waiting to pass the torch "For a long motherfucking time.", things went a bit "left" as WrassleRap cohost Kaz mentioned.

From there the tables were removed and the party begin. Featuring performances by Flex Kartel, G4 Boyz, ADE, even former Young Gunner Young Chris made a appearance to spit some bars. Smoke DZA and Westside Gunna who are huge wrestling fans much like Wale also performed. When The New Day made a appearance the crowd went into overdrive with KofiMania.

The party went on until 3 in the morning and it seemed like a who's who of professional wrestlers from various promotions and rap artist were in the building. WaleMania is a perfect combination of the wrestling and hip hop culture, showing both cultures equal love and appreciating everyone in the building, a very diverse crowd that was all bought together by their love of wrestling and hip hop. Despite as both Wale and Wrassle Rap cohost Kaz mentioned the haters and their usual shtick of "that shit fake".

I'm so glad I stepped outside of my comfort zone and attended WaleMania, it definitely was a experience and I can see why it has gotten bigger every year. To be able to party with people who love the same thing you do, as well as mingle with rappers and wrestlers in relaxed settings is worth the price of admission. Hell Wale even showed some wrestling skills hitting Cryme Tyme member Shad Gaspard with a stone cold stunner. It truly is the perfect marriage of Hip Hop and Wrestling even if it's for one night.  WaleMania VI is next year in Tampa and I'm already putting the event in the books to be there, if your planning to be in Tampa you'll want to be there too.

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ALL IN Experience

This past weekend was the biggest independent wrestling show in history, and I was ALL IN. The brainchild of Cody Rhodes and Nick and Matt Jackson bought thousands of wrestling fans into the Chicago area for a weekend full of the culture, excitement .

   I arrived Friday morning and kicking off my experience was a trip to Pro Wrestling Tees to meet the best in the world CM Punk. The line stretched around the block and the heat was sweltering but it was worth it. Kudos to the Pro Wrestling tees staff for managing the line to meet Punk and the line to enter the store effectively and efficiently. Entering this narrow ass alley to the backroom of the store,once I met Punk he was joyful, smiling, and overall appreciative of the line of folks who wanted to meet him. After meeting Punk I ventured into the actual store which had all kinds of awesome T-shirt’s you won’t find anywhere else, other collectibles and a very important neon sign that displayed “Wrestling is an Art”. It’s tight as hell in the store and anyone who may be claustrophobic would have had serious issues with that many people in a tight space.

Courtesy: Pro Wrestling Tees

  Next up for me was Starrcast a wrestling convention for anyone who proclaims to be a wrestling fan. This time the brainchild of wrestling podcast legend Conrad Thompson, it’s full of Meet and Greets, parties, panels, memorabilia, and is a event in itself. It began Thursday and ran til Sunday, I attended The convention on Saturday and even with attending Wwe axxess and wrestlecon before, I was still pretty overwhelmed.

   The layout was not one of an traditional convention, soon as you walked into the Hyatt Regency you were greeted in the lobby by all things Starrcast related. Merch tables, podcast row, video game tournament, hell fans walking around just enjoying themselves. Some stars were hard to find as they were stationed in little nooks and crannies of the hallways. I met the goats as far as cruiserweights in Rey Mysterio Jr. and Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, and JJ Dillion of the four horsemen. Both interactions were pleasant and bucket list meet and greets. There were other meet and greets available but I didn’t take a photo with any of the other legends and stars.

     The memorabilia was awe inspiring, Ric Flairs robe you could wear, championship belts from various eras. Event posters, ring attire, all within a couple of feet of fans. Classic wrestling arcade games, too much to take in at one time. I swear there was a room or two of additional memorabilia I couldn’t find and am still annoyed about that.

 I did have some food from ODB’S food truck and damn it was good, even picked up a bottle of her whiskey sauce. One thing that was awesome is how accessible the stars were and approachable, you could literally walk by one of the greats and spark up a small conversation. Be in line behind them at the food counter, sit next to them in the lobby. Everyone was respectful for the most part and didn’t really mark out. The best part to me besides a fans wet dream of the memorabilia was talking with other wrestling themed podcasts. Networking and seeing where everyone was from and how they got their start.

   On to the main event ALL IN, which lived up to the hype. With production values that were honestly on par with Impact , and a loaded 10 match card. The card contained emotion such as when Cody won the NWA world heavyweight championship. Surprises such as when Chris Jericho appeared to attack Kenny Omega, comedy with Joey Ryan returning from the “dead” and his “dicks” carrying Adam Page away (have to know the character to get it). The Women’s fatal four way between Tessa Blanchard, Britt Baker, Chelsea Green, and Madison Rayne to show who’s really leading the women’s revolution. Black Machismo returning, Stephen Amell showing with real training he may have a future in wrestling and more. Besides a few hiccups including the abrupt ending to the main event due to time constraints, it didn’t distract from the event and the young bucks acknowledged it. The show received a “A” in my book. If anyone knows the name of Tessa Blanchards and Rey Mysterio theme please let me know.

    Cody and the Young Bucks bet on themselves and with their friends and family as support, and the fans it came out to be better than anyone imagined. They teased that their ready to go “double or nothing” and I think it’s safe to say everyone will be right along for the ride. I know I will be, when ALL IN 2 and Starrcast swings back around I’ll hop on that train. I’d definitely do more days at Starrcast strictly for networking and being with other people who love the wrestling culture. ALL IN was not only a victory for the power players involved but for the fans and the future of independent wrestling.

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