WWE Fan Robbed of History

I saw this posted on one of my favorite sites, 1wrestling.com and thought i'd repost it here

FAN EJECTED FROM WWE PPV -- SHOULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED?

By: Derek Greser

This past Sunday at WWE Armageddon 2008, history was made. In a shocking conclusion to the event, Jeff Hardy captured the WWE Championship. This would mark the first time that the high-flying Superstar would capture what is considered to be crown jewel of the sports entertainment business.

Any fan of the WWE and/or Jeff Hardy can tell you this has been a long time coming. The event emanated from HSBC Arena in Buffalo, NY. The event marked the 2nd ever Pay-Per-View event in the city and venue’s history, as well as its first major title change.

29-Year-Old Tom Griffith attended the event, and had front-row seats. Tom has been a 20-year tenaciously loyal fan of the WWE. I know Tom personally and I can say that without question, the WWE is one of the biggest passions in his life. Tom has attended over 25 live events in Buffalo, Toronto, Philadelphia and Rochester. He has purchased countless WWE DVD’s and box-sets (many on their release date), video games, memorabilia, clothing, and roughly $7000 dollars on pay-per-view events.

Unfortunately for Tom, he was not able to witness history. Prior to the main event, Armageddon featured a mid-card bout between Batista and Randy Orton. Tom, an avid fan of Randy lead his friends in a raucous chorus of boos Batista’s entrance. They even dared to direct a naughty hand gesture (The same that mega-star Stone Cold Steve Austin used on television for years) at the 300 plus lb. powerhouse dubbed “The Animal”. Batista himself made eye contact with Tom and his friends, and got right in their face before ascending the ring apron. Due to the quality of Tom’s seats, this was clearly visible to fans at home as well as in the arena.

Tom then received a signal from one of the cameramen working outside the ring. This WWE employee made the “slit the throat” gesture at Tom which universally means “cut it out”. Tom nodded, and decided that he had expressed himself enough. Minutes later, approximately 8 imposing looking men dressed in gray suits asked if they could speak with Tom in the aisle. Tom obliged and was then walked out of the arena, concluding in the gray suits tearing his ticket up in front of him. The explanation Tom was given was “The person renting this building tonight has requested you be removed from it”. Tom spent the rest of the event outside in the freezing rain waiting for his friends who were still inside to drive him home.

In the past, WWE has encouraged their fans to express themselves. Vince McMahon has encouraged fans to bring signs to their support, or anti-support of his performers. This leads to the question; why was Tom removed? He was not involved in an altercation with anyone performing at or attending the event. He was not publically intoxicated. The only possible reason Tom was removed is that the powers-that-be at WWE wanted to protect the image of their Superstar Batista, who is presented as a fan-favorite.

The right thing to do here is to refund Tom’s ticket price. In the interest of fairness, this should be the very minimum. The best case scenario is to give Tom priority seating at the next WWE event at HSBC to make up for this obvious mistreatment of a great patron and fan. This article will be sent to World Wrestling Entertainment as well as HSBC Arena and Tickets.com. The ball is now the court of these companies. Will any of them step up to right this wrong?

I am asking for the support of the Pro-Wrestling community to please let Tom’s story be heard. Let’s protect the right to express ourselves as fans, and paying customers.

- Derek Greser

What do you think? was the WWE right in doing what they did? or was this a company impeding freedom of speech/Freedom of expression and owes this fan somewhat more than an apology for there behavior and the way they handled this matter? What do you think should be done here? What are your thoughts?

Quotable Quotes of 2008

A lot was said that has grabbed our attention over the past year, whether bizarre, funny or extremely annoying. From politics to songs and films... So, without further ado, here are some of the most memorable quotes of 2008:

Sarah Palin - "It's time that normal Joe Six-pack American is finally represented in the position of vice presidency," and, because it rhymes, "Say it ain't so, Joe!" I know that Sarah Palin had a lot of memorable (and horrible) quotes this year, but these two paved the way for Joe the Plumber, and made conservative average Joes and Josephines fall even more deeply in love with the moose murderess.

Barack Obama - "Why can't I just eat my waffle?" Hillary supporters and Republicans were quick to jump on Barack Obama's response to a foreign policy question while he was eating breakfast at a diner. The response even led to a waffle mix being named in his honor.

Barack Obama - "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig." This remark was taken out of context by Sarah Palin supporters who likened it to Sarah Palin's comparing hockey moms to lipstick-wearing pit bulls, except this remark was apparently offensive. Obama was really referencing pork barrel spending, but we all know he had to be thinking the obvious!

George W. Bush - "The biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq." It was nice to finally hear George W. Bush (somewhat) admit that he was wrong and that we shouldn't be in Iraq. Unfortunately, we're still there, and his regret won't bring back all of those that have lost their lives.


Matthew McConaugheys' mom Kay in her book 'I Amaze Myself' - "I was just so proud to show off my big old Jim McConaughey- and his gift." In one of the most bizarre quotes of the year, Matthew McConaughey's mother recalls how her husband died while they were having sex and how she wanted him to be carried out of their home naked because she was so proud of his manhood.
So now we all know why Matthew turned out the way he did.

Jennifer Aniston - "What Angelina did was very uncool." Before her notorious nude GQ photo shoot, Jennifer Aniston did a little whining to 'Vogue' about Angelina's gushing over her relationship with Brad Pitt, which, at the time, was taking place without her knowledge. But don't worry, Jen, you've got one thing on Angelina: not having had three kids pass through your body.

Heath Ledger as The Joker in 'The Dark Knight' - "Why so serious?" This quote from the most popular film of the year was also the name of a very popular website and marketing campaign for it. Unfortunately, the film didn't need too much hype after actor Heath Ledger died.

Katy Perry in her hit song - "I kissed a girl and I liked it." Scarlett Johansson was the other big girl-crush of the year for the non-right wing political types, and singer Katy Perry penned the most popular, overused song of the year about her desire to lock lips with the voluptuous beauty.

Ernest Borgnine - "I masturbate a lot." Ernest Borgnine is a great actor. From his role in the films 'Marty' and 'The Wild Bunch' to the voice of Mermaid Man on 'Spongebob Squarepants', he's always been one of the best and brightest acting personalities. He gave an extremely cheerful interview for FOX News in which one of the reporters asked him what his secret to staying so young and vivacious was. Ernest didn't want to tell the reporter at first, but after being pressed, he finally leaned over and whispered in his ear, "I masturbate a lot," not realizing that one of the microphones picked up his response. It was, in my opinion, the greatest FOX News moment of the year!


Computerized Moment of Truth voice - "That answer is...false." This little phrase ruined many a marriage and family relationship at the beginning of the year. America was riveted as contestants were asked tough questions that they had to be truthful about for cash. Of course Lauren Cleri is the most notorious contestant from the show. After revealing that she thought she should be married to her ex-boyfriend and not her husband, had stolen money, and had cheated on her husband, she walked away with nothing for answering "yes" to the question, "Do you think you're a good person?"

Some of these quotes have made us laugh; some have shocked; some made us groan; and others have even changed lives. With the New Year ahead of us, let this be a lesson to us all about how powerful a few words strung together into a few sentences can be.

Until next time....