Tips on Attending Live Events

I have made plenty of trips to professional wrestling shows over the years. I have been to four pay-per-views, two live Raw shows, five house shows, and multiple independent events. Each time has been a different experience for me. Plus, I am attending Heroes and Legends Wrestling inaugural event on March 23 so this will help prepare me for the day.

First of all, do not take your children if they are too young. This focuses primarily on the pay-per-views. I attended WrestleMania 23 when I was 14 years old, and I loved going. However, whenever I look back at that day, I realize I made so many mistakes. I chose poor moments to use the restroom; I focused more on taking pictures of the "TitanTron" than watching the in-ring action. The worse thing about the night was the younger kids who sat behind us. They left midway through the show. I'm assuming to prevent the children from staying up too late on a school night. Don't take young people to big wrestling shows. It will be a waste of money.

Attending shows with friends follows not taking children. Whether or not they watch wrestling on a regular basis, taking a few friends to tag along makes for a great time. From my experiences, those who do not watch regularly have a good time which has made them want to watch more often. Wrestling shows allow anyone to be loud and obnoxious without judgment coming from anyone.

These fans had a blast attending EWF's Diesel Powered event in June. Don't be afraid to cheer when you attend wrestling shows. It adds to the enjoyment. (Photo/ Michael Vanderkolk)

Along with attending with your friends, make sure you buy tickets that allow your group to sit with each other. When I attended Raw this past June, my friends and I decided to sit in the front few rows. We also wanted to pay for them separately. The only problem that occurred was not finding seats next to each other. We ended up with three tickets that were in three different rows. Luckily (somewhat), one of my friends could not attend so we had to sell his ticket. This allowed my other friend and me to sit two rows from each other rather than on the opposite side of the arena. The show entertained us, but we both would have enjoyed it more sitting side by side.

The Beauty of Independent Wrestling

Professional wrestlers who work for the WWE are able to enjoy fame and fortune. Those who work for TNA receive less than the WWE but more than plenty of others. Those others are the independent wrestlers.

Most independent wrestlers begin their careers by receiving training from others who have a knowledge in the business. Training usually costs the aspiring wrestlers hundreds or thousands of dollars. This puts the wrestlers in some debt. Debt that many may not ever pay back. That's because small-time independent wrestlers usually do not get paid, but if they do it is not much.

So why would they keep wrestling? The do it because they either love to do it or want to improve their skills in order to earn a big payday someday. Either way, they provide fans with entertaining shows. Well, they try to at least.

I didn't watch much independent wrestling early in my life, but lately I have spent just as much time watching it as I do WWE. That's in large thanks to independent wrestler Mark Vandy.

My brother not only wrestled Kevin Nash, he pinned him. What made it better was that it was the day before my birthday. (Photo/ Michael Vanderkolk)

Why lie to you? He is my older brother. However, he is young and talented in the ring. He's only been doing it for a little over a year now, but has made a name for himself all over the state of Indiana as well as parts of Ohio and Massachusetts. He was even mentioned by Kevin Nash in his infamous article with Grantland when he called Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero "vanilla midgets." However, Mark is not the only reason that I enjoy watching his shows.

Fan and a Friend Podcast

I'm trying to convert his friend JuJu into becoming a professional wrestling fan. Here's a little conversation about us going over some professional wrestling basics. I hope you enjoy it and let me know. If you don't, still let me know so what I can do to fix it.

Thanks,
Mike

Edit: Would you look at that? I learned how to convert my audio into a video. I'm learning already! Either the link or the video works.

- Mike