No VIP? NO Hitman!

Bret Hart is coming to town!

I'm going to MEET Bret Hart!!! Uh ... I mean ... The BOYS are going to MEET Bret Hart!

Or at least I thought we were going to.


One night last week, around 2am when I couldn't sleep, I caught a commercial that pushed thoughts of sleep right out of my head, and replaced those zzzzzz with visions of black leather jackets, aviator shades, and pink leotard.

It was an advertisement for the Maritime Wrestling Expo, featuring WWE Superstar and Hall of Famer, the legendary Bret "Hitman" Hart!


So anyone who's been around the Korner awhile, knows the boys are HUGE WWE fans.

Mama, on the other hand, despite a 15 yr hiatus, is old school, and was a HUGE Bret Hart fan, back in the day.

Yes. I just said, 'back in the day.'

And now that he's buried the hatchet with McMahon, and has been making a comeback on the WWE, he's become a FAMILY favourite.

Oh yeah, this good Canadian girl still has a small thing for Canada's first son of wrestling!

Just a small one ...

Did I mention ... Bret Hart! In MY back yard! WooHoo!


The Promoter for this event is Mainstream Wrestling Entertainment.

It's the organization's 10th anniversary, so to commemorate the event, they have organized a Wrestling Expo which will feature merchandise, matches with worldwide competitors, nostalgia, and of course, the picture and autograph session with Bret Hart, as well as the 'salutation and ceremony' honouring him.


The day after seeing the commercial, I checked out Ticketatlantic.com

Compared the prices, and decided for this particular event, I'd go for the floor seats.

Usually I go for the cheaper lower bowl seats, but I wasn't sure what security was like at this venue, and at the Metro Centre, they won't let the kids down on the floor when the wrestlers are coming in and out, unless you have a seat ON the floor.

So ... for this particular event, a possible 'once in a lifetime' view of Bret Hart. I wanted the floor.

The website divided tickets into VIP (first 5 rows on floor), floor, (row 6 to bowl) and bowl/bench.

I figured for the sake of five rows, I'd save myself a few bucks, and the boys would still have the opportunity to get close enough to the Hitman and the other wrestlers.

At lunchtime, I went to one of the ticket outlets, and got our tickets.

Oh yeah, Baby!!! Happy Dance!!!

Row 6! SIX people!!!!

Seats 6, 7 & 8.

WOOHOO!!!

After I picked up the tickets, I then emailed the guy I met back in May, Armband Dude, who I had purchased the Jeff Hardy Armbands, and Rey Mysterio masks from.

Remember, the guy who let the boys go into the wrestling ring for their birthdays?

I was curious if his organization had anything to do with this expo.

Wasn't long before I got a reply back, letting me know that, 'YUP!' it was HIS show!

At dinner that evening, I had the boys close their eyes, and placed the tickets next to their plates.

They opened.

They saw the word WRESTLING.

They freaked.

They saw the name Bret Hart.

They freaked even more.

Then ... THEN I told them about the autograph session.

The Meet & Greet.

Adam looks at me, and says, 'You mean ... I'm going to be RIGHT next to him, and I can say Hi Bret Hart, my name is Adam!'

I'm not sure which one of us was more excited when I replied, 'YUP!!!'

Now, when I first purchased the tickets, seeing the only difference listed between VIP and the rest of the floor, was that it was the first five rows, I just ASSUMED that the autograph session was included in the 'overall' ticket price.

Imagine my surprise, when later that evening, I'm on the website for Mainstream Wrestling Entertainment and it jumped out at me, NO VIP ticket, no admission into the autograph lineup.

No VIP? No Hitman!

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

You're KIDDING ME!

Don't get me wrong, as much as I'm sure the boys would enjoy any LIVE wrestling match, it was Bret Hart, and the possibility of them being 'that close' to him, that was the reason we were going.

Well DAMN!

Mama screwed up!

BIG TIME!

Now ... how was I going to fix it?

I couldn't bring the tickets back and exchange them for VIP. The vendor wouldn't allow me to do that.

Should I go out and buy three more tickets? And try to sell the regular floor ones I had?

Maybe if I had that kind of extra cash.

Or ...

Or ...

OR ...

If there was ONE person in the world who might be able to swap my tickets for me, it was the promoter!!!!

Suddenly, I could hear my mother in my head.

'Kimberly, you never know unless you ASK! All they can say is NO!'

And so, I asked.

I emailed the guy from Mainstream Wrestling Entertainment, who had given the boys so much fun for their birthday, and I asked.

I asked if he'd be willing to swap my tickets for VIP ones.

I explained how I hadn't realize that the regular floor did NOT include the meet and greet, and now I was going to have a VERY unhappy couple of boys on my hands when I had to tell them the difference.

Before I contacted the promoter, I mentioned my Operation Ticket Swap to a couple of people at the office.

They weren't very optimistic I'd be successful.

I believe one quote was 'He won't do that!'

I had to try.

I have a little boys who asked me 'You mean ... I'm going to be RIGHT next to him, and I can say Hi Bret Hart, my name is Adam!'

To which *I* had replied, 'YUP!'

I asked.

And you know what he said?

'No sweat.'

NO SWEAT!!!!

Oh believe me my friends, this mama was SWEATIN'!!!!!

And so, we did the swap.

Before we met, I wasn't really concerned WHERE our seats would be.

I figured anywhere in the first five rows would be VERY cool!

The whole point of upgrading the tickets was to make sure we got into the Meet & Greet, however, an inevitable seat upgrade in the process would be an added bonus too!

I gave him my tickets, he opened his envelope and asked, 'Do you think the boys are going to mind these seats?'

Later, I asked the boys, 'OK, so would you be really upset if we got to meet Bret Hart, but ended up getting kind of crappy seats instead?'

Adam gave me a full out, 'Yes!'

Alec was trying to be more understanding, but I could see the disappointment already registering on his face.

That's when I pulled out the new tickets, and said,'Sorry, this was the best he could do. But remember, we STILL get to see and MEET Bret Hart ... OK?'

I then handed this to Alec ...

UM ... YEAH ... that's row ONE!!!!!

ONE!!!!

Row one, seats 1,2 & 3!

OH. YEAH. BABY!

(If you're REALLY interested where that is, you can view the Seating Plan.)


I couldn't believe it!

Something in the first five rows, I expected.

Row ONE?

Knocked me flat!


Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, Devin!!!!!

You came to my rescue and saved the day, and my butt!


AND put it in the FIRST row!

Now, the ONLY thing that might make that day/night any better, is if Mr Bret Hart says YES, when Adam invites him to come out for pizza with us after the show.

Cause ya KNOW he's gonna ask him!

Oh ... and Mr Co-worker, remember ... NEVER doubt a woman when she says she really wants something, and more importantly, the power of asking nicely ;-p

K.

P.S. Due to my latest 'adventure', the Ticketatlantic.com has since updated their info on what's included with the VIP tickets. Yeah. That me. Changing the world, one website at a time! ;-p