WWE SummerSlam 2011: My SummerSlam Axxess 2011 Experience

What's up, ladies and gentlemen? My name is Eric Kanes and I just got back from this year's SummerSlam Axxess so I thought I'd write about it and share a bit of the experience. I have to say that WWE really knows what they're doing with these events as the place was packed and V.I.P. tickets were sold out.

When I came in, I immediately went and stood by the ring (I had V.I.P. tickets) and the event started with The Miz in the ring, who was showing off the PWI magazine where he is on the cover. I actually see Miz a lot since we work out at the same gym. Anyway, other than CM Punk, he was probably the most over with the fans and you could see why. The guy is very charismatic. The Miz then went on to sign autographs for the next two hours while a live match took place in the ring, featuring Natalya vs. AJ. AJ won with a roll-up. Not much else to note here.

I then went on to get my picture taken with Kofi Kingston. I was kind of surprised with his stature. He seems a lot bigger on TV. Meanwhile, Kelly Kelly was doing a Q&A in the ring. It was Todd Grisham asking her questions off of notecards, so it was mostly generic questions like "who inspired you to become a diva" and "who would you be if you weren't a diva?" Somebody asked who she'd want to work a match with if she had the opportunity, past or present. Her answer? Stone Cold Steve Austin. Yes! Book it for WrestleMania. COOMMEEE OOONNN!

Next, I got in line to get an autograph and my picture taken with Ezekiel Jackson. One thing to note is that the wrestlers who are signing autographs frequently stop to take pictures with disabled people, who don't have to wait in line. That's a nice thing to do...but that also meant that a bunch people were pretending to be disabled. I thought it was kind of funny at first but it wasn't that funny when I ended up waiting 45 minutes. They should make separate lines in the future. Nonetheless, Ezekiel seems like a nice guy. This was like my fourth time meeting him.

After that, I went to meet Wade Barrett but he left mid-way and Alex Riley took over the signing. Interesting to note that Riley was wearing a suit and dress pants...in 80 degree weather. Looked a bit weird since he was the only one dressed up like that.

Again, this line took forever since there were a lot of fake disabled people. While this signing was going on, The Miz and Jerry Lawler were announcing the WWE '12 roster in the ring. I could still hear it but couldn't see it. The roster itself sounds really solid. To end it, Randy Orton came out to talk about the game and he wasn't even advertised to be there. I missed the first part of it. A bit disappointed about that.

After meeting Alex Riley, I went down to the ring. I got there just a couple minutes before CM Punk was set to do a Q&A. CM Punk came down to the ring and easily got the loudest pop of the day. The Q&A was great. Punk was very charismatic and looked like he actually wanted to be there. A basic summary of what he answered to the questions on Todd Grisham's cards:

"When are they going to make CM Punk ice cream bars?" "We're working on it. If you want ice cream bars, make your voices heard through social media like Facebook and Twitter and I'll make sure it gets done."

"How do you feel knowing you're single handedly responsible for making wrestling fun again?" "I'd love my legacy to be the guy that made wrestling cool and fun again but honestly speaking, there are a lot of guys that want to say the things that I said but didn't get that chance. There are lots of people ready to make this fun again - like Dolph Ziggler, Evan Bourne, Zack Ryder..."

"How do you get away with saying the things that you do?" "Honest to god, at this point I don't care if I get fired."

Then, Punk said instead of answering the questions on the cards, he'd rather actually answer questions from fans. That got a nice pop as Punk went into the crowd. Somebody asked Punk who he wants to fight. Somebody else yelled Hulk Hogan. Punk replied, "Hulk Hogan, are you kidding me?" Punk answered by saying he wants to fight Mel Gibson. As for who he wants to wrestle a match with...Stone Cold Steve Austin. Too bad for Kelly Kelly, I guess.

A dude with a world championship replica asked CM Punk if he has an extra pair of tickets for SummerSlam. Punk's response? "You're the world champion, they'll let you in!" Man, Punk was great with these responses. This Q&A session was easily the highlight of the day.

Punk left the ring and I went to meet Triple H. This was the V.I.P. line so it moved quickly. Got a couple autographs and a picture with Triple H. That's pretty cool.

The last thing that I saw in the ring was a game that they always do at these Axxess events called "Name a Wrestler." There's ten people playing who name a wrestler. If you repeat a name, you're out. Fun story about this. There was an event similar to SummerSlam Axxess in 2007. I played the game against a bunch of kids. Guys I named included The Ringmaster, The Prototype, Rocky Maivia, and Mr. America. Easy win right there.

All in all, this was a fun and well-put together event. Nothing that I haven't seen before but if you're a wrestling fan and you've never been to one of these, you should definitely check it out when you have a chance.

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