THE RISING
Mon. 03/26/01 – Raw Taping – 10:00 am
Man, this month flew by; I only remember bits and pieces of it:
Andrea losing the Women's title to Ivory the next day on Raw.
The debut of the "prison yard" match, it was a cage that looked like Scott Steiner's "Asylum". Val was my first opponent.
Seeing Pantera at WWF NY, with the A.P.A.
The Hardys winning the WWF Tag Team Titles
My hosting job at WWF NY for Heat.
And the announcement of my Wrestlemania match, Ice vs. Steven Richards in a prison yard match for the European Title.
I just got off the phone with Dani; she is making a 30-person list for the trip to Wrestlemania. Tonight I am only making an appearance during the lumberjack match between Tazz and Steven Richards.
2:30 pm
Matt and I were in the Hardys dressing room talking about tonight and Wrestlemania, Jeff was out doing something with Amy.
"So your classmates are invading Wrestlemania huh?" Matt asked with a smile.
"Yup, the school is renting a tour bus and Steph is pitching in for a private jet to get us to Houston." I replied.
"Are you sure that's a good idea, letting 30 high school students on a private jet, where they can run wild?" Matt asked, I simply laughed. Amy then walked in. "I can't wait to meet your classmates." Amy replied. "I can't wait to bring them around…." I paused "…even though you've met some of them already." Amy and Matt laughed.
Thu. 03/29/01 – Principal Bender's office – 11:15 am
Mr. Bender called me into his office to finalize the list of who all was going to Houston, it took only 10 minutes. The people on the list included, Nicole Gussin, the Nelson brothers, Aaron and Alex, my entire first period Science class, which only has about eight people, the McKinneys, Ashley's brother Paul, Andrea's friends Staci and Michelle Sanders and Leah and David.
Fri. 03/30/01 – Attendance Office – 9:00 am
The school was busier then usual, people were in class; I was to make the announcement to call everyone who was going to the office.
"Attention to the 30 people going to Houston, Texas. The bus has arrived, so get your stuff together and get to the front of the school."
With that I grabbed my bags; I was wearing a black ruffled poet shirt from Hot Topic and black vinyl pants, and the European Title. Andrea and Ashley came out of the restroom, Andrea hi-fived me, Ashley didn't look scared anymore, she looked ready, and she'd better be, Andrea was facing Ashley on Heat, before Wrestlemania. Mr. Bender and Mr. Freidman were the chaperones on this trip, they came out of their offices as Geoff Boone and his girlfriend Rebecca Newmann arrived at the office, and over the next 10 minutes everyone arrived and we got on to the tour bus. We left the school at 9:30 am.
The tour bus – 10:00 am
I pulled a few string and got a promo shot for Wrestlemania, it was like the "Free For All", only longer and personalized for us, it hyped Wrestlemania, and all the matches, including mine with Steven Richards. We arrived at the airport at 11:00 am. We arrived in Houston at 6:00 pm.
Sat. 03/31/01 – Houston, TX – Houston Astrohall – WWF Axxess – 7:30 pm
I think I have carpal tunnel from signing so many autographs, the 30 people I brought wandered around the Astrohall generally having fun and meeting my co-workers. I think everyone had a good time.
Sun. 04/01/01 – Reliant Astrodome – 7:45 pm
Ashley vs. Andrea
Andrea threw Ashley around the ring like a rag doll, Ashley mounted very little offense, Andrea won with the "Tiger Bomb"
Tazz & A.P.A. vs. R.T.C.
Ice came out during the match and gave Val "Cold Comfort" and Bradshaw got the pinfall.
Ice vs. Steven Richards – WWF European Title, prison yard match
Steven entered the circular cage, quickly followed by Ice, as soon as the cage hit the ground, Steven never had a chance. Ice dominated the match; he used "Cold Comfort" and went for the pin, but then pulled Steven up and beat on him some more. Ice climbed up the cage, waited for Steven to get up and, when he did get up, Ice hit him with a missile dropkick; he then attempted a pin, and again pulled Steven up.
Ice then picked Steven up and lifted him above his head, and used his new move, the "Cold Snap" (a version of the "Tommy-hawk" done by Tommy Dreamer) Ice then went for the pin, and got the 1-2-3.
I arrived backstage and hugged Amy. We then, without speaking, went to visit the skybox my classmates were in. Amy and I walked in and saw Andrea and Ashley discussing future storylines, everyone cheered when we walked in.
After the crowd got quiet I asked "Show of hands, who is coming to Fort Worth tomorrow?" Victor Golovanov, Kris Doyle, the Nelsons, Staci, Nicole, David, Leah and the McKinneys raised their hands; I looked at Stephanie and said, "We've got our 10."
Stephanie then piped up and said, "Your main event push starts tomorrow." Nicole then interrupted " How can he get a push when he still has that." She said, pointing to the European Title around my waist. "Dropping the title tomorrow" Stephanie and I said in unison, Nicole then smiled and walked away. Tomorrow should be interesting.