With Fiona safely on her way home, Dark Meat and I packed up our junk for the last time on this leg of our journey, took a picture with Fiona’s sister and beautiful family, then slogged our way four hours east to our final destination – Houston.

Fiona’s Sister Denise and Family

The end of a ride, any ride, is always miserable. And knowing what lay in store from us in the coming days didn’t help at all. This particular Wrestlemania, number XXV, is my XIth time working the show. I know from past experience that a week of complete, utter and absolute chaos is just around the corner.

We made our way from one set of friends house to another, rolling along Route 290 from San Antonio to Houston. My friend Pat, another of the WWE audio crew, just happens to live in the same city that Wrestlemania is in, so we stopped by to drop off some extra gear with him.

Pat and Family

And with that last, symbolic gesture (leaving my dirty clothes in Pat’s garage) the Road to Wrestlemania was officially over. Time to get to work.

This is where it starts to get weird.

Leaving Pat’s house, Abi and I rode directly to Houston Intercontinental Airport and parked in the Green 10 section of the C Concourse garage. Although Wrestlemania is being held in Houston, TX, before we get to have all that fun, we have to fly to New York and set up for a Wrestlemania press conference at the Hard Rock Cafe. Of course.

Hard Rock Press Conference – Audio Room – NCP 7 Mobile Unit

After two days of working (and washing my fried liver) in NY, it was straight back to Houston’s other airport – Hobby. Houston is so big it has two airports! For comparison, the entire Kingdom of Rhode Island only has one. And unlucky for us, when we landed, we realized the motorcycles were parked 45 miles away at Concourse C Green 10 section of the other airport – Intercontinental.

Of course. Wrestlemania is one problem after another. An $80 cab ride solved our current problem.

Then, it was time to set up for the big show. The scale of Wrestlemania is so much larger than what we normally do, everything is magnified by a factor of ten. 72,000 people were expected to attend, as opposed to our normal average of 14,000. As I said, everything is bigger in Texas.

Dark Meat Snack and I set up for two days, then had to leave for the Toyota Center. Every year we end up working the ‘smaller’ show, the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony on Saturday.

Smaller, but still complex.

Hall of Fame – Audio Room – Denali Silver Mobile Unit

The Hall of Fame setup was a nightmare, but the show was a success. Completing that broadcast, it was straight back to the Wrestlemania venue for final checks and tests before the big day.

It may look like all work and no play, but somehow we manage to find a little time each day for some fun.

With enough begging, a little time can also be found for a clandestine photo shoot.

Suddenly, it was show time. 72,744 fans, eagerly anticipating the show we spent the past week building, perched at the edge of their seats. As they always do, adrenaline levels increase during those final moments before a live broadcast. The producer starts the final sequence. “Tonight’s a good night to have a good night everyone. Black the house.” House lights fade, and the crowd erupts. The sequence continues. “Five – Four – Three – Two – One. Roll and track Z and put it on the Tron.”

With that simple command, Wrestlemania XXV officially was underway.

People cheered. Kid Rock rocked. Wrestling happened. Everything we spent so long setting up, testing, moving, changing, re-testing and re-checking worked flawlessly.

In other words, everyone did have a good night.

Four hours later, that good night ended. It was time to put away our toys and move on.

And the very next day, the Road Away From Wrestlemania began.

To be continued here…

Author: frenchy