Meeting HBK, Shawn Michaels

Back on Saturday June 23, WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels and former White Sox player, Bill Melton were doing an autograph signing in Gurnee, Illinois. They were signing at a Bass Pro Shop store from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. My girlfriend and our friends Samantha and Nick came with us to a hotel up in Gurnee on Friday night. We decided to go over to Bass Pro Shop to scope out the area and see where the signing was going to take place. The employee that we talked to said that they had just found out that the signing was going on only one day in advance which I thought was pretty crazy. You would think that they would have known for quite some time that these guys were signing. So they were setting up tables right in the front of the store and no one was camped out just yet for the signing. What was surprising to me was the fact that Bass Pro had no promotion for the signing whatsoever, no signs, no posters, no anything. We went out to Key Lime Cove for dinner and then played some pretty sweet arcade games before heading back to the hotel room to retire for the evening. I hardly could sleep as I was so excited for this signing. My alarm went off at 6:30 a.m., but I was awake before then getting ready for the day. My girlfriend, Sam and Nick all woke up and they got ready as I waited for them. We left the hotel and headed to Dunkin Donuts for a little breakfast. We arrived at the signing at about 7:15 a.m. and we thought we were the first in line. After about ten minutes a guy came out and said that the line was on the side of the building and not in front. We walked over to the side and there were about 50 people in front of us. Apparently the people towards the front of the line had been there since 5 a.m. We waited and waited and we started talking with one guy that was waiting in front of us for the majority of the time. We talked about wrestling and other signings that we had been to. He apparently caught Shawn Michaels's shirt from a WWE Raw event years ago. He was going to have that signed which I thought was pretty sweet. After waiting and waiting for almost five hours, Shawn showed up and so did Melton. By the time we got in there, Melton had left because he suddenly became ill. I think that he was pretty upset that no one wanted his autograph and everyone was there for Michaels. We got in there and Nick went first to have his 8 x 10 photo signed and then Samantha went second to have her 8 x 10 photo signed. They really couldn't get pictures with him as they were trying to rush the line due to there being about 500+ people there. Next, my girlfriend went up and had her 11 x 14 photo signed that Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker are both on. Last, I went up and I got my WWE championship belt signed. After it was all said and done we met up with the guy that we had been talking to and his shirt looked pretty sweet signed. His kids got two hats signed and the guy's wife/girlfriend got a picture with Shawn. We shook the guys hand and said it was great talking with him and we bid him adieu. We walked through the mall and you would not believe the amount of people that asked me about my belt and how no one knew that Shawn was there. One guy even wanted a picture of my belt and he spun the emblem in the middle. I think about ten people asked me about my belt. I could not believe how many people asked me about the belt and how many peole really knew wrestling. After walking around the mall and getting Rainforest Cafe for lunch, we left and headed home. I fell asleep because I was so tired after getting barely any sleep and sitting outside for five hours for a signing. I have never waited that long for a signing before, but it was well worth it. This was my 61st signing and I cannot wait to meet more wrestlers down the road. I am not sure if I will wait that long again though as Shawn is argurably the greatest wrestler ever.