Ace Masters - What WrestleMania Means To Me

Hmm . . . it was my idea for Dave, Wes and I to pen these ‘What WrestleMania Means To Me?’ pieces on the eve of the 33rd Edition of the Show of Shows. I have to admit I really had no idea what to write, and I’ve actually ran through any number of ideas, but few of them meant anything.

So, I decided to do something I do very well, free form this stream-of-consciousness style and just let it flow.

WrestleMania means everything. I’ve seen every one live and I’ve attending one here in my back yard of Glendale, AZ.

Wrestling has always been a big part of my life – therefore WrestleMania as well. The Emotion, the Pageantry, The Spectacular, The Awesome Matches and the Large the Life Comic Book like characters. You know, the Ultimate Warrior, Randy Savage, Sting, Ric Flair – people who exist in real life, yet don’t.

But truly what WrestleMania means is the Emotion, and the Emotional Connection it creates with fans.

I remember as a 15 year-old crying at the greatest moment ever when the Ultimate Warrior pinned Hulk Hogan. Nothing topped that (still doesn’t). I remember the excitement that coursed through me when the Road Warriors finally made the ring at Mania.

How about the emotional connecting made World-Wide when Randy Savage won the WWF Title Tournament? Or years later, when he was retired by the Ultimate Warrior.

What about the anger felt when Bret Hart lost the Iron Man Match, but the elation for Shawn Michaels’ fans.

It didn’t stop with the show. I remember going to school as a kid, or work later as an adult and recounting the events of Mania with excitement – often with people I would never talk to and didn’t like.

I remember my father. I loved him. We had three big things we bonded over: Movies, Comics and Wrestling!

My Dad had drifted away from wrestling for a while, but still checked it out from time to time and followed it when he felt like it. Then came late 2009 and the announcement WRESTLEMANIA would come from the University of Phoenix Stadium in Phoenix (actually Glendale), AZ.

BAM – The fan returned. When tickets went on Pre-Sale we spent three hours in line and purchased the best seats we could get. We had the entire week planned out – all the axxess events we could hit. We both even took Thursday and Friday off work that week.

Then, tragedy. My mom and dad we driving home that Monday when my dad had a minor heart attack. He went without blood or air to his brain for almost 10 minutes. When the heart attack happened, a blood vessel to his heart had collapsed.

We kept him on life support for the week, but he never recovered. That Saturday afternoon, we took him off and he went into hospice care. I was going to give our WrestleMania tickets away, but that never happened.

My mother, friends of my parents and mine, and my family all encourage me to go. As my grandmother said, the healing must start. I know my father would have wanting me to go on, and continue living. I ended up going, with one of my closest friends.

I had a great time. I never realized until later, I held my dad’s wedding ring in my hand the whole show. After the show, I bolted over to the hospice facility, sat by my dad’s bed and told him blow for blow what happened.

A few hours later, he finally passed. His body drew its last breath. The last things I ever talked to him about was one of our great loves – WWE and WrestleMania.

For all I have written, that is something I have never written about, and shared only few times.

That is what WrestleMania means to me: The Emotional connection it can generate. The Love. The Anger. The Excitement. How it can bring people together and create bonds.

Everlasting memories.

 - Ace