It
is with pleasure that I took my ringside seat (as
usual) on the first day of their sale in order to
attend the WWE European tour and the coming to Paris
of the Smackdown roster for a House show (not a TV
show). Banking on the success of the last Raw
European tour which was also stopped at the Zenith
in Paris, it is in a slightly larger room, Bercy,
that the Smackdown roster kindly comes. It is also
important to note that given the rather pathetic
wrestling supply in the country, a WWE live event,
either Raw or Smackdown, even only a house show is
an appointment not to be miss for any true fan.
So it was
with a genuine excitement that I prepare my trip to
the France’s capital, bringing my faithful "Stars
& stripped" and my ticket, which has cost me the
very modest cost of €120. More expensive than a live
event in the US. But we don’t whine, this is the
first time the Smackdown roster comes to France, and
the second time that the federation is in France
after an absence of nearly 14 years. First good
surprise, our team learned the day before the show,
the presence of an autograph session at 4PM the next
day, WWE Superstars at Virgin Megastore in Paris.
Only 200 people may attend and go to pick up their
free tickets at the store opening. Neither one nor
two, our little group of 4 people decided to leave
on Thursday evening to arrive as soon as possible.
You can’t miss a WWE autograph session. So we left
Lyon the 13th in the evening to Paris, to arrive
around 3:30 AM the next morning where we met again,
with joy, a Toulouse team we had met at the previous
arrival of Raw in Paris. So it's a long wait that
emerges in our minds, 3:30 to 10:00AM. But hey, Love
means giving without limits! For the second time,
the Toulouse group beat us, we will not be the first
on the scene. They tell us they arrived yesterday by
air. Seriously, can’t do better than that ! But
apparently the team of Virgin did not anticipate any
particular organization. Did they Suspect who was
the WWE and especially the quantity and the passion
of its fans in France? I do not believe. So it's
with no more information than we waited, in the
cold, at the gates. I have to say I was a little
afraid to find more than 200 people at 3:00 am on
the Champs-Elysées, but in fact the crowd only began
to become significant around 7:00AM. Impressed, many
bystanders asked us why we were expecting. It was
with surprise they discovered we were expecting
autographs from some of American wrestlers. Ah those
French ... If our team was divided into two, thank
to the crowd control, the fateful hour finally came
and we could get into the Virgin to withdraw our
Holy Grail. The store had taken care to place some
T-shirts (no officially licensed product) and
wrestling dvds on the way hoping to kill two birds
with one stone. Well done because it was a real
success that we witnessed.
Here
is the line up in front of Virgin at 7 PM
Ghost
Rider bike
I'll
skip the details to focus on what interests us, the
autograph session and the show. We arrived half an
hour early in front of the Virgin to discover that
we were among the first to attend dedications. It is
with great joy, that once inside, French honored
their passion for wrestling. If only the hexagon
remains a ghostly haze from its past, the passion of
the fans is always there. The atmosphere of the
store had no reason to envy other countries. The
highlight was reached when we finally saw the
attractive composition of the session, because so
far, we did not know either the number or the name
of the wrestlers who will be present. Two Smackdown
famous figures appeared in front of our eyes, like
in a dream, for our biggest pleasure. A wrestler and
a diva, the U.S champion M.V.P. (Montel Vontavious
Porter) and Torrie Wilson. Once again, the WWE
wasn't joking. From the beginning, the atmosphere
was electric. The American champion saw itself
booed, in a funny way with some " You suck! ".
Playing with us, he took the microphone to tell us,
in English, " no, no, Torrie Wilson doesn't smell
bad. ", provoking the hilarity of the diva. I was
having fun walking in front of the stage taking
pictures of the autograph session, when a person
from the security gave me a sign so I won't lost my
turn, which we can all agreed would be a shame. The
first bodyguard smiled to me watching me arrived. A
young man wearing a Dallas Cowboys jacket, a U.S
flag on his shoulders and an Operation Iraqi
Freedom cap on his head. There are not a lot of guys
like me around here. He friendly told me " is the
flag for me? ", "Of course not" I answered him
laughing. It’s M.V.P. which seemed more surprised
when he saw me, I was of course much more excited
than him, normal. I'm going to shake his hand, the
usual polite way, he shakes my hand and holds it for
a few seconds, he look at me and then said with a
straight face: “It’s not dangerous to display such
American values here in France? ". Amused, I reply.
This was followed by a brief chat, much to the
discontent. It follows a brief conversation to the
chagrin of the security agent. This allows me to
have a special dedication from MVP. Then it was time
for the very charming Torrie who enjoyed my jacket,
her being a big fan of the Cowboys too, I understand
her. The session went quickly but was of a rare
Intensity, really good. One good thing this is for
the fans and the WWE. Note that not every fans get
an autograph, the number of people was limited to
200, it was necessary to provide this in advance. So
many people came in the Virgin to attend the
autograph session.
The
arrival of M.V.P and Torrie Wilson
Our
dedication in the pocket, we decided to go towards
Bercy for the show. The arrival was without
incident, except that I did not go unnoticed with my
US flag on his shoulders.,In short, let's talk
English a little to reassure those Frenchies, and
yes my friends I am coming to your city as a
tourist, I am not staying. Once seated in my place,
I realize that being placed next to the ring I could
shake hands with the wrestlers. The room ends to
fill, shops are already empty, the lights went out,
the Smackdown music was heard. That's it, I'm at
home. It is with pleasure that I see passing by me a
pretty blonde that I have never ceased to hope
seeing the beautiful Maryse. Gosh, she is wonderful
Guys! Reaching to shake her hand, she entered the
ring and the show begins. I won’t tell you all the
matches that took place that night, leaving this
privilege to others, I would simply give you my own
impressions of the show. What a pleasure to have
been able to see and touch Maryse Torrie, MVP, Jamie
Noble and the Smackdown roster. What an impressive
performance from the roster, and such memories in my
head. Between the beautiful Maryse who has come to
us each time she came to the ring. I even surprised
myself to cheer for Mark Henry, an unpopular
wrestler who, from the ring, was surprised to find
someone supporting him in English. And yes, there
were not only French speakers that night! Advancing
towards me and telling me to shut up, he took my
flag, took it to the entrance of the stage, showing
it to everyone, put it on his shoulders and then
wiped with it. After all, is he not a heel? But my
best memory was Rey Mysterio's entrance and to have
been one of the few to have been face-to-face with
him. Resting his head on mine, he spoke in English
with a strong Hispanic accent, thanking me for
coming to see him and God keep me (yes to us, God is
everywhere), but it is I who thank him for coming.
Then he went to do the same to a ten-year-old boy.
That was a highly emotional moment.
That's WWE’s magic and Smackdown proved us again
tonight. It is not to deliver some great wrestling,
even if i think this show was much better than the
one from Raw, it’s for you to enter into another
world, even for an instant to forget your problems,
just for one night to experience strong emotions,
just for one night, to give you the strength to hope
that anything is possible when you believe it. The
crowd was of a great diversity combining all age
groups. The highlights were numerous. Torrie Wilson
entering with the French flag, Maryse and Lilian
dancing with Jimmy Wang and falling over. Finally,
Rey Mysterio saying us, "I speak English and Spanish
but not French. Can you teach me? And Batista
continued. All the WWE knowledge, showing us some
American patriots being Pro-French. I love it and
want more of it. Where do I sign?.
We
all go home with a souvenir more or less significant
and with the hope to be present at the next tour
because after all, you are a fan or you are not. I
will always remember Maryse, her so cute Quebec
accent, and the ring announcer Lilian Garcia which I
could finally tell her how much I loved her album.
"Thanks you," she said, a little surprised. You
would understand the WWE challenge was successful,
full house, public conquered, all merchandise sold
out. WWE is not just about wrestling, it’s above all
an experience and this to the delight of all!
