The WWE Experience - Part Two

So, when we left off last time, I had completed my live shot with John Cena. I had expected him to pretty much leave as soon as we wrapped up. However, one of the other stations in the Macon market showed up to tape an interview with "the champ". That lasted long enough to the point that we had finished our second block of the newscast, and we were already in the break before sports.

My wife Carol is a very good sport. I rarely drink, don't smoke... One of my few "vices" is pro wrestling. She puts up with it and to some extent follows what's going on. We had tickets for the show later that night, so of course I got her in backstage with me for the interview. So, while I was preparing for my last live shot of the night (which was to be nothing more than a little hype for the show), she stood off to the side with her camera. She had already taken some pictures of me preparing to interview John... a classic one is where I'm smiling at her camera, while he's sticking his tongue out... quite humorous.

The reason I bring this up: As the sports block began, John was signing autographs for a few folks who had gathered around (mostly the TV folks and staff from the Macon Centreplex). He couldn't have been more friendly... which when you read about other folks who have interacted with him, it's the same story. He's a nice guy who goes out of his way to make sure folks are happy. So, my co-worker was about to toss back to me at the Centreplex... as he does, I start talking. John is leaving the room, when out of the corner of my eye, I see Carol call him back... she asks him something... the next thing I know, he's leaning back against the wall, smiling, and watching me conduct my live shot!

If you look back at my last blog... I said live shots are the most dangerous for reporters because you can't completely control your surroundings, no matter how much you prepare for them. Seeing Cena do a complete 180, and stick around caught me off-guard, flustered me a bit, and I proceeded to stumble over my words. The Champ was nice enough to help out... and I'll let the video take over from here: (Hugh's note: You'll see my eyes jump around 40 seconds into the live shot... it's at that point where Carol called out to John.)

Speaking from a completely biased position... this was certainly an awesome moment. John was not supposed to show up again... he just decided to walk into the shot, and obviously he knows what to do when there's a microphone in his face. This was a moment that certainly stood out. For the next three months, I would be at the grocery store, the mall, a football practice, and I still had folks asking me, "Hugh, you still excited?!"

I've also heard from folks that my two live hits with John probably pushed the ticket sales for that night through the roof. Macon fans are notorious for not showing up to anything in town, or waiting until the night of the event to make a decision. For the first time in recent memory, the Macon Centreplex was practically a sell-out (close to 8,000 fans)! While I'm sure it was John Cena "over-selling" the excitement of the night, I'd like to think I played a little part in that success.

Once the live shot was over, John was nice enough to stick around for one more picture with me and my wife... (see above)... and it turns out that's what Carol was asking... would he mind hanging out long enough to take a picture with the both of us. He may get booed by half the crowds he performs in front of, but after that night, I'll always be cheering for John Cena.

Hope you enjoyed the look back... now lets look ahead to my picks sure to go wrong for this week (since I started this blog, I'm currently 30-24 in my picks... got to love the NFL - sarcasm):

Thursday Night -

NY Jets at New England: NY JETS

(I made my picks Thursday afternoon, so I'm off to a 1-0 start for the weekend.)

Sunday -

Denver at Atlanta: ATLANTA

Minnesota at Tampa Bay: TAMPA BAY

Baltimore at NY Giants: NY GIANTS

Oakland at Miami: MIAMI

New Orleans at Kansas City: NEW ORLEANS

Detroit at Carolina: CAROLINA

Philadelphia at Cincinnati: PHILADELPHIA

Chicago at Green Bay: GREEN BAY

Houston at Indianapolis: INDIANAPOLIS

St. Louis at San Francisco: SAN FRANCISCO

Arizona at Seattle: SEATTLE

Tennessee at Jacksonville: TENNESSEE

San Diego at Pittsburgh: SAN DIEGO

Dallas at Washington: WASHINGTON

Monday -

Cleveland at Buffalo: BUFFALO