WWE Live Greenville NC 1/21/18

Dear Wrestling,

I will probably never have another wrestling day like this. To be honest, I'm not sure my heart could take one! I'm in waves of alternating shock and bliss, so that's just fine.

First things, to me, first: I met Sami Zayn. Better, I gave him his letter, and he said he would get Kevin's to him as well. I didn't realize how much tension I was carrying around with those envelopes until it was gone. It almost feels like performance anxiety: once you go out and Do the Thing, whether you made a fool of yourself or not, it's over. Everything is in the hands of the audience now.

He was literally kinder than he had to be, which won't surprise any of his fans. He was running late but since they were just three or four of us, he came over. He took pictures with the others, and offered to me. I said, no, I don't want to make you late, it's fine. And that's true, all I wanted was to give him his letter! And I was actually quite pleased, because we'd had exactly the level of interaction my poorly wired brain could handle without flipping out.

He turned to go, and then turned back. "It only takes two seconds, are you sure?" So then I started shaking and got a picture with him and I've been told it's not blurry, even!

I, uh. I haven't looked at it yet.

Look, I have serious anxiety! Including about my appearance! He looks great, so it's fine.

I've carried those letters around for months, waiting at shows for somewhere around 12 hours all told. I don't say this for pity, just to emphasize how much Sami and Kevin mean to me. The waiting is fine, I'm really really good at waiting.

SO other highlights in an exhausted stream of consciousness blur: I met Shinsuke! He was so nice and so so funny, I always lose sight of that and then he surprises me and makes me laugh again. He's such a delight. And he had on the best brown dad-sweater! I want it, dad-sweaters are my entire aesthetic.

Based on previous tries, once he'd come around, I thought for sure that would be it...but there's always a chance. It was the most beautiful early spring day (waves at my Quebecois friends like an asshole): not a cloud in sight, mid 60s, slight breeze. And I had a book! I decided to hang and see.

So then the New Day showed up and came around--ALL of them! Last WWE show I was at only Kofi did, so this felt very special. He was joking with fans about a football game today, so I assume his beloved Cheatriots played. And cheated.

Carmella came over, and Nattie, and Aiden and definitely other people I am forgetting because my dumb ass was awake at 2:30am thinking, Oh, I should just go now! I don't need to sleep! It'll be an adventure! Cold, what cold? Sigh.

Sami was the very last to arrive, and I am so so glad I stayed. And that he was so kind.

Because I'd released this weight from my soul, this was the first time I was actually able to really *see* him wrestle. The first time, he was a surprise, and it was the first time he and Kevin had tagged in years so my mind was blown from that--plus I was trying to get at least a few good pictures for the Steenerico Society. Then at Starrcade, that was their first chance at the tag titles, so again I was freaking out and also trying to at least be ready to take pictures in case they won.

This time I'd done my duty, and there wasn't anything huge on the line. And seeing him, really seeing him in the moment...it was so beautiful. I cheered for him like a maniac but I was nearly the only one: he was fully committed to heeldom and performed it superbly. I was/am so proud. He suffered as well as ever, and pulled off that magic trick of the uke: making it all work. The threat has to be real, the damage suffered, and then the recovery of the hero--so much of it lies with the heel. Sami is such an incredible pleasure to watch. Because of the other things on my mind before, this was kind of my first time seeing him live.

The show overall was a lot more playful than other WWE house shows I've seen, and the crowd was warm and slightly kid-heavy--which meant there was more buy-in than usual, I think. The New Day and Rusev and English danced and played, Baron Corbin even responded to Shinsuke's "COME ON!!!" with his own variation, and they even had a brief Michael Jackson-inspired dance-off! It was a delight.

Being that Sami was in the main event, this also makes the first WWE live show I've sat all the way through. Which means I sat through Jinder Mahal and Bobby Roode, which was exactly as laborious as I thought it would be. Look--I'm not stupid: I know not all wrestling or ever wrestler can be everything to everyone. And given my own countercultural tendencies, I'm going to tend to dislike the most popular thing. Hell, I even do that with Hindi movies! It's not for me, I'll make sure to skip it in future (because there's no sense in sitting there being a wet blanket to those around me).

Overall it was a massive exhausting charming delightful surprising relieving day.

Hug me, hold me tight (because I'm shaking apart),

Autumn