Wrestlemania

28 years ago...

March 27, 1987.... was one of the happiest day of my life.  My mom was going to bring my brother and I to go watch Wrestlemania.  Hogan vs. Andre the Giant!  WHOA!!! That's impossible!! She hates wrestling... she hates us watching wrestling... we're poor and we never spend money.  But she automatically shot up to be the best mom in the world!  

So my mom... my 70 yr old grandma... Big Bro and I took the bus from the safe havens of Chinatown alllllll the way to the outskirts, unexplored world of San Francisco... the infamous Cow Palace.  I've heard of this place before.  Only the coolest things in the world take place in Cow Palace.  And now... I'm here.  

I vividly remember being in the lobby.  My heart pulsating cuz I get to see Hulk Hogan... my hero, my idol.  I'm going to see Randy Savage... the guy who broke Steamboats throat - almost killing him.  I am now moving from poor Chinese immigrant... to a regular American boy.  

"Go buy the tickets already!" I remember thinking.

Mom walks over to the box office with grandma.... grandma, who's deaf in one ear and blind in one eye.  Big bro and I look around... hoping to see a superstar.  Then mom comes back. "OK!! Let's go in!!"  Except... that's not how the story ends. 

Mom says, "Ok... let's go home."

No.... she did NOT just say that.  She's suppose to be the best mom.  Why is she doing this??? Why is she being the worst mom??

Mom then says, " And it's not watching real people. You're watching TV"

No... I don't care.  I'm here! I need to go in.  

The next thing I remember.... we were sitting on the bus.  Big bro and I were flipping through a program.  We came all the way from Chinatown... came within two doors of Wrestlemania... and we go home with a program.  We cried on our way home.  This wasn't fair.  This isn't how the story ends. I was suppose to be a regular boy.  I told all my friends I was going to Wrestlemania.  How can this happen??  

Flash Forward.... 28 years later...

Mom did everything right.  She didn't know how much Wrestlemania would cost.  She didn't know it was a simulcast.  She was one woman...who barely spoke English... with a 70 year old blind/deaf woman... and two rambunctious boys.  She laid down the smack down... and did everything by the book.  If I was her... I'd do the same.

Flash Forward... 28 years and 2 days later.... March 29, 2015.

Levi's Stadium - me and my two best friends fulfill this child hood dream.  This void that was left, not just empty, but cold... can finally start to heal.  I can finally be a regular boy. And the first thing Geoff did... he ran and bought me a program.

Wrestlemania... isn't about me, or big bro, or any childhood dreams and ambitions.  In the end... Wrestlemania will be a memory of my mom... I wish I still had that Wrestlemania III program.  So I can give it to my mom and said.... "Thank you for being the best mom."