Eugene and Mickie James Autograph Signing

The question I asked Mickie James: So...is Trish a good kisser?

The question I should have asked Mickie James: So...what was it like having your head in Trish's crotch?

Perfect Timing

First off, fuck the House of Blues! They really need to state on their tickets that no cameras are allowed in their crappy venue. What exactly is the harm? They allow drinking so that people can walk out belligerent, and before Chicago’s smoking ban went into effect, they allowed smoking so that people can come out wreaking of cigarettes, but you can’t take pictures so that you can take your sentimental mementos home? I’m never going there again.

All in all, other then spending $30 on a ticket that I didn’t use and an extra $15 to cab me to and from that shithole, I still can’t complain. Everything happens for a reason, and I guess I wasn’t meant to be there. I know because I really was meant to go to the Triple H book signing instead...because I’m special…

After being rejected at the House of Blues, I somehow managed to take the train back to my car and drive to Blooming –bufu – dale in about 30 minutes. Getting to Tower Records was a little discouraging seeing as it was 10 minutes before Trips was to arrive and there were over 200 people waiting in line for his autograph. So much for the effort…

I decided to see if I can get into the store as a shopper to at least check out his book when out of nowhere a black limo - Triple H’s limo – comes right at me and almost hits me head on. While most people would have their life flash before their eyes, all I could think of was living out one of the storylines in the career mode of Raw vs. Smackdown (that should come as no surprise - I’m also the one who fell into an ice cold river screaming “Camera!” instead of screaming for help).

Knowing that Trips was now in the area, I ran into and then around the store frantically searching for his book. No book. Like a dumbass, I was searching in the CD section and then the DVD section when I asked myself out loud why Tower Records, a place that sells music and movies, is having a book signing when the friggin store doesn’t even sell books. Someone must have heard my thought because a cashier said that the books were up at the register.

I was going to leave the store to hopelessly wait in line just so I could get back into the store within the next two hours to meet the man who slept with the boss’s daughter and is still living and living well when a store employee said that all the people in the store would have to make way for Trips. I noticed that all the people that were in the store grouped together in what looked like a line so I joined them. Another employee headed toward the door and turned the latch – the store was locked down, no one could enter, but no one could leave either. I was going to meet Triple H…and I didn’t have to wait in line!

Trips walked into the store, did a quick interview, and started the book signing. The first person was a kid in a wheelchair with his parents. The next person in line was another kid, this time with downs syndrome, and was also with his parents. After realizing that the first two kids were “special,” I began to notice the 10 other people who were in front of me – they were either kids with disabilities or the parents of these kids. I also noticed that all of them were wearing green wristbands. To make matters worse, I was the only one not decked out in wrestling apparel, which made me stick out even more like a tall Asian Filipino.

When I finally got to Triple H, he shook my hand and gave me a funny look. It was like he was trying to figure out what was wrong with me, the thing that made me “special.” It didn’t take very much thought because as he was signing my book, the only thing I said to him was, “Hello Mr. H.” I felt really, really special at that moment.

Oh well, it beats having to wait in line for hours.

Tyson Tomko and Trevor Murdoch Autograph Signing

Candice Michelle Autograph Signing

WWE Diva, Godaddy girl and April 2006 Playboy cover person Candice Michelle at the Virgin Music autograph signing.

What WrestleMania Means to Me

In a way somewhat similar to how the television show “24” began each episode in their first season,

My name is Erwin, and this week will be one of the most memorable weeks of my life.

Like “24,” the twists, the turns, and the buildup that have occurred throughout the past WWE calendar year will finally reach its climax this Sunday in the pinnacle of professional sports entertainment…WrestleMania!

“Wrestling is fake. Wrestling is scripted. Why would you spend all that money to see that shit?”

Why? Because going to WrestleMania has been a childhood dream of mine since I was seven years old. To all you haters out there, when was the last time you had an opportunity to achieve something that you really wanted since you were a kid? I’ll tell it like it is: If everyone lived out their childhood dream, there’d be a hell of a lot more doctors and astronauts than there are today.

WrestleMania is where bitter feuds come to an end, while the seeds for even greater battles are being planted. In some cases, WrestleMania is where good finally triumphs and overcomes the obstacles that have been in its way. It took Hulk Hogan several tries to body slam Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III in Detroit, Michigan in 1987, and with every attempt that passed, all 90,000+ people in the Pontiac Silverdome were asking themselves whether or not the irresistible force could really defeat the immovable object.

Watching the body slam seen around the world on WGN news later that night, that’s when I knew I wanted to be there.

I had a chance to live out my childhood dream, going to my first WrestleMania four years ago in Seattle. It was an experience being in a baseball stadium with close to 50,000+ wrestling fans, many of whom die-hard like me. In the airports to and from Seattle, I met people from London, Germany, Australia and Japan. I met people from the States that lived out east in New York and out west in Hawaii. This Sunday, over 15,000 people from 16 countries and 41 states will pack the AllState Arena and more than 90 countries will watch the grand daddy of them all. How many single day events are out there that are truly global in nature? There’s only one that comes to mind: WrestleMania.





This WrestleMania will be just as memorable as my first but for completely different reasons. One, this year’s WrestleMania is in my home city, Chicago! Two, I’ll be sitting ringside! And three, when WrestleMania is finally upon us, the 402 day road to WrestleMania that began on February 24th, 2005 will come to a bittersweet end. Aside from getting married, I can’t think of another reason why anyone would countdown that number of days for anything else.

On that day, I know there will be a moment where I take a step back like I did at my first WrestleMania four years ago, and it’ll finally hit – I did it. I’m at WrestleMania!

I may not have the opportunity to main event for the world heavyweight title, but being there live and witnessing the matches between those who can is enough of a championship win for me.


We are all mortals. Our bodies, though strong, cannot defy time. One day, we will die... What matters most is the legacy we leave behind....

Did we become all that we are capable of becoming?

Did we make the difference we came here to make?

Did we pursue our dreams when all around us thought we were chasing illusions?

Only those who dare to rise are able to lift themselves above horizons...

Only those bold enough to chase dreams are the ones who catch them...

WrestleMania: The Showcase of the Immortals

A Chance to Rewrite History

Around this time in March of 2003, I was counting down the days until my very first trip to Seattle, where I would be living a childhood dream and attending my first ever WrestleMania. At the same time, I was torn apart and stressed out about the job situation, having to choose between two great companies knowing that I would be burning bridges with one to go to the other.

Flash forward to present day March 2006: Three years and so many frequent flyer miles that I’ve earned a free trip to anywhere in the United States later, I embark on another weekend trip to Seattle. In 23 days, I will be living that childhood dream again by attending my second WrestleMania which I truly believe will be just as memorable as the first not only because it is happening in the best city in the world, CHICAGO (cheap Mick Foley pop), but also because I’ll be sitting ringside at the big event, the pinnacle in sports entertainment.

As the joy and excitement has been building, however, so has the stress and anxiety about my current job situation. Again, I am faced with the choice of working for either of two great companies knowing that the announcement will surely burn a bridge with one of those companies.

Notice the eerie similarities?

While I’m pretty good at not second guessing my own decisions, when it comes to the choice I made between the two jobs three years ago, I can’t help but ask myself more and more, “What if I chose the other job instead?”

By no means do I regret the decision I made. Working for the largest private company in the world is a pretty smart choice (but then again, working for one of the top Fortune 500 companies would have sounded good as well). And if it wasn’t for the place where I worked, I wouldn’t have met so many people who are now my friends even after the sad events that took place in the later part of last year.

Although the more I think of the order of those events, from the announcement to the eventual demise, I still can’t help but ask myself if I had made the right choice. Would my situation now be any different if I had chosen the other job? Hopefully that question will go away with my acceptance of an offer at the new job that I will start on Monday. After three plus years of wondering “What if,” I finally get a chance to see what the other path would have been like, and I definitely plan on making the most of that opportunity.

WrestleMania 22: The Home Stretch

30 Days Away...

What happened 371 days ago? Relive the announcement...Relive the excitement....

Click here to read the announcement that marked the official beginning of the Road to WrestleMania 22 journey.