As I am sure I have mentioned in past column pieces, Hubby is a HUGE professional wrestling fan. This isn’t an interest that grew overnight; heck, when we first started dating and he invited me over to his home, I noticed he had a Hulk Hogan poster on his wall. But for a long time, his desire to watch a bunch of folks throw each other around in a ring was squashed. Sure, he would talk about his childhood idols like Rick Flair or Dusty Rhodes, but he didn’t have any interest in watching the current performers … until a couple years ago when he discovered an alternative to mainstream wrestling – All Elite Wrestling (aka AEW).
The AEW mission is to inject a new spirit, freshness and energy into the industry, and the founder, CEO, general manager, and head of creative Tony Khan (who just so happens to also be the co-owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars football team) is doing just that. Seriously, watching my Hubby watch his shows is so much fun. His playful spirit and childlike excitement are contagious! So, when I found out that once a month, the AEW does live tapings on the backlot at Universal Studios and the tickets are FREE … I knew I had to try and score a couple.
The tickets are dispersed through Eventbrite. I followed AEW on that site so that I would get notifications as soon as they announced the next taping because I realized quickly that the tickets go FAST! (Did I mention they are free?) They currently are doing two different tapings, one at 2 p.m. and the second one the same day but at 7 p.m. I was able to score us some tickets for the evening taping, which was perfect because it would allow us time to go to dinner first and then head over to the backlot. And that is exactly what we did. A quick bite to eat at Margaritaville and a nice adult beverage (because, let’s face it, I had no idea what I was getting myself into), and then we headed over to get in line and wait for the soundstage doors to open.
Before I go any further, I have a confession. I had a whole bunch of preconceived ideas of what I was about to see. I thought for sure I was going to be the only female there, and I believed that while at first the sight of sweaty muscle-y guys in tights would keep my attention, I would eventually grow bored and need to fight to stay awake. Boy, was I wrong. Not only were there other women there, but there were also cute little kids and rowdy adults with clever signs and so much going on that there was no way I could fall asleep. But what really surprised me was how funny it was. Yes, pro wrestling is a sport, but even more, it is a performance. A huge soap opera filled with villains and heroes whom you are encouraged to boo and cheer. The best part is the soundstage isn’t that big, so you are seated very close to the ring and can hear all the grunts and funny side comments. And because there are not so many people there, they even let you take pictures and get autographs after the show.
What I thought was me being super nice and choosing something that I thought only Hubby would enjoy turned out to be a great date night! I discovered that wrestling is big and campy and often even ridiculous, but really, those are some of my favorite traits about HUBBY! No wonder I had so much fun. That said, there will be no posters of Orange Cassidy or Evil Uno going up on our living room wall any time soon.
For more information about the AEW and all their shows, check out their website at https://www.allelitewrestling.com/. To get notifications when the tickets to the free studio tapings at Universal Studios go live, follow AEW on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/all-elite-wrestling-18527647992.
