Meet Your Idols, You Won’t be Disappointed

by John M. Ellison IV

On October Wednesday October 6th, 2010 wrestler/author Mick Foley had a book signing at Border’s in Rockville, MD. I’m not sure where to start with how important this is. For my readers who aren’t aware of who Mick Foley is, you might know him better as the outlaw Cactus Jack in ECW and WCW and also the Freudian Mankind and the tye dye t-shirt clad hipster Dude Love in WWF (Now WWE). When it comes to it, I’ve always been a huge fan of wrestling in general, especially WWE.

In fact, I was born the same year as the first Wrestlemania, 1984.

In 1998-1999 during WWE’s Attitude Era/Monday Night Wars, this was a moment that pro wrestling turned a corner in pop culture. Those moments being, the laughably bad “Exposed Pro Wrestling’s Greatest Secrets” and the monumental Barry W. Blaustien documentary, “Beyond the Mat.” I noticed a few conversations with other wrestling fans and some wrestlers on how they felt that “Exposed” destroyed the magic of pro wrestling. With me, I became more intrigued by the artistry behind the scenes as well as in the squared circle. I remember watching Beyond the Mat and out of all the wrestlers profiled, aside from New Jack, Foley’s was the most interesting.

When it comes to it, I’m in the entertainment business. More in the music branch, but the umbrella term is still entertainment. Wrestling/sports entertainment falls under the entertainment umbrella.
As a huge fan of wrestling, I see and recognize the kinship between all performing arts and I urge all artists to defend their creative brethren.

One of my biggest anxieties when meeting someone that I respect and admire is making a total ass of myself in front of them. I mean, I hate to say there is a slight stigma with wrestling fans being ignorant because
of their entertainment choices. But, to me the ignorance can be and in this case is a two way street.
I mean, the idea of someone thinking fans of wrestling in this day and age aren’t aware that pro wrestling isn’t predetermined are naïve themselves.

But I digress, with moments like this; I try to make an impression on people. So, the missus and I thought, well might as well do some “shameless” yet tasteful self-promotion. In this case, I made a t-shirt that had the “G” with liberty spikes but the color scheme was an allusion to the black and red flannel of Foley’s sleeveless shirt. The shirts were a process and a mofo to create themselves. But that’s an anecdote for another time.

So, after the shirts were made, “road crew” (my mom, sis, the missus) headed over to “Border’s” in Rockville. The idea of me meeting one of my pro wrestling heroes had me shakier than a meth head sitting on a la-z-boy made of jell-o. When we arrived at Border’s, I noticed nobody was there…I thought, did I get the right address? Was this the wrong day? Then I looked over and noticed a sign that said Mick Foley book signing. I realized it was on the third floor. So, sis and the missus and headed upstairs and purchased two copies, one for me and one for my dad who couldn’t be there because he had to work. So, after purchasing the books, we headed over to where he was.

The crowd was thick, but sis found a clear spot that was actually closer. So, thanks to this, the missus and I were roughly 12 feet from him. He read a few excerpts from his book including stories from his personal life, such as how a well meaning dead on impression of Rocky Balboa that he left on the answering machine into his son picking up the phone and him improvising and trying to get off the phone. He also explained how he became active with RAINN after meeting with Tori Amos.

Then with these events, naturally there was a Q&A section. Which was nerve racking, there was so much I wanted to ask, but I couldn’t think of a really good question.

I admit it, I blanked out. Then after the Q&A section, a line was formed where we could get all of our books signed. When we were lined up, the missus, my mom and sis were there and noticed how nervous I looked. So, they tried talking to me to help loosen me up. In fact, my sister took a picture of Foley and he gave his trademark thumbs up and sent it to my phone. I didn’t notice the picture until she mentioned it.

In the midst of the line, this woman in front of us who had the 60’s flower child look and vibe. I’ll call her “Moonbeam.” Noticed my sister “people watching” and making up goofy names for them. “Moonbeam” said she does the same. She was very pleasant and said she picked this book up for her son who is now in Florida and works at Disney. To paraphrase some of what “Moonbeam” said she explained that her son’s still a fan and he would be elated if he got this book. It was a pleasant conversation. She talked about how since her husband was in the military, she and her son lived in Germany and Japan. Everything was cool…until somebody (as my dude in Texas, Troy would describe as) had an expulsion of gas that was “Silent but Violent.”

After Moonbeam was up, she got her book signed and I was up next…I only had one thought repeating, basically a mantra of “don’t mark out, don’t mark out” He was very pleasant and he signed my book. I took a picture with him and walked off. The missus had the same book meant for my dad and Foley noticed a similar name with the book that the missus had. In this case, my dad’s book was John M. Ellison III. I overheard my name called; it was Foley flagging me back to talk a little bit! He thought it was sweet that I got a copy of the book for my dad since he couldn’t make it. He also noticed my shirt, with the flannel design and asked what Ghettopunkrocker was.

I explained what it was and he thought it was cool. Honestly, when he noticed my shirt, I actually for a split second forgot I had a site and didn’t know what he was talking about. I was elated that he recognized my shirt that I made for the occasion. There so many questions I wanted and still will ask him, but I was considerate for the other fans that were there also to meet their idol.

For example, I wanted to tell him about the time mom, sis, Keesh and I were decorating the Christmas tree and how my mom slipped and fell through the glass table.

I was in a trance, and I was grateful and glad to know that one of my favorite wrestlers was everything I expected him to be. So, the road crew and I headed back home and I proceeded to read “Countdown to Lockdown.”

Special thanks to my sister, Rishele for taking the pictures. Check out her site Risheleonline.com

Check out Mick Foley’s blog
The official Mick Foley blog

Pick up “Countdown to Lockdown” from Amazon.com.