Friendly Encounters

This is a regular series featuring friends who have met celebs.

Previous to his recent reports on Legends of the Ring, when we last saw Josh Watko, he was meeting the Icon Sting.  Today, Josh is going to tell us about meeting the King, Jerry Lawler.  Before we get to that though, I'll give a little update on Josh.
Josh's website is JW's Wrestling Memorabilia. and it is full of great wrestling stuff.  Josh covers autograph signings, live events and products (new and old).  He also writes wrestling opinion pieces and other interesting posts.  Josh is gaining exposure and is already widely known within the wrestling circle.
I have asked him to share some wrestling stories and he has contributed one about meeting Mike McGuirk, Mae Young and the previously mentioned meeting with Sting.  Finally, here are Josh's thoughts on Jerry Lawler.
Back in 2001, it was Jerry Lawler's name on the marquee that got me to attend my first independent wrestling show.  Ten years and many meetings with The King later, I once again encountered the WWE Hall of Famer at a show for the very same promotion.  Although many stars fill IWC's annual Night of Legends show, it was clear that Jerry was the draw of the night.
The King, despite his often rotten in-ring character from years past, is one of the most fan-friendly wrestlers of all time.  He always has time for a word, a handshake and of course, photos and autographs.  A friend of mine even asked why his legendary piledriver did not come into play at his recent match at WrestleMania.  (The answer:It was discussed but ultimately shot down by the WWE.)

Lawler also has one of the most beautiful signatures I've ever seen.  I've always felt that this may be due to The King being an accomplished artist.  If you have paid attention to the announcer segments on Raw in recent years, you may have seen Jerry's shirt which includes a large facsimile of his exquisite John Hancock!
As always, I appreciate Josh sharing his experiences.  I like his insight.  As a longtime autograph collector, I can appreciate his insight about Lawler's signature.  If you have any interest in wrestling or even if you just want to check out some interesting things, give a look to Josh's site.

John Watko and Jerry Lawler in Elizabeth, PA-May 2011.

At Legends of the Ring

As promised yesterday, Josh Watko is presenting his report from the Legends of the Ring event yesterday.  I am excited about this, especially because Johngy's Beat is getting the story even before Josh puts it on his world famous site, JW's Wrestling Memorabilia!
Now I turn it over to Josh...
Legends of the Ring 12 was yet another great success from promoters Terrence and James. Early on in our journey to Jersey on Friday afternoon we learned of cancellations from both Dusty Rhodes and Terry Taylor. Rhodes was due to a death in the family and Taylor due to back surgery. The two were replaced on the superticket lineup by MVP and Carlito. Cancellations are an unfortunate reality in events such as these. It's no secret that despite meeting my all-time favorite wrestler a half a dozen times before, I was very much looking forward to seeing Dusty again. Taylor was also someone I was looking forward to meeting. The situation was handled very well, as always, and both names are said to have been rescheduled for the October Legends of the Ring event.
The show seemed to go off without a hitch with nearly every talent being top notch. Joanie "Chyna" Laurer was a total class act to the many fans who came out to meet her in a rare appearance. The extra special treat of being able to meet several top stars from New Japan Pro Wrestling was quite the thrill as well. Being a fan of his since his initial WCW appearances in 1991, Jushin "Thunder" Liger's appearance was very significant to me. He seemed just as enthusiastic to meet his fans as we were to meet him. "Once in a lifetime opportunity" is thrown around a lot on all convention scenes, however this is one case where the phrase may ring true.
From Ken Shamrock to Jim Ross to rare appearances by Bill Eadie and Barry Darsow (Demolition Ax and Smash) in their Masked Superstar and Krusher Kruschev gimmicks, respectively, LOTR 12 had something for everyone...and everyone went home with a smile.
I am quite sure Josh went home with a smile.  This is one of the best wrestling conventions and I am so glad that Josh gave us this report and picture and I promise to have more stuff from Josh in the future, especially around the next Legends of the Ring event.  Until then, check out his site for even more great wrestling stuff.

Josh Watko and Joanie "Chyna" Laurer in Monroe, NJ-May 2011.

At Legends of the Ring

I have featured Josh Watko several times on this site.  Josh is a fan of wrestling and runs his own site, JW's Wrestling Memorabilia, which is full of all sorts of wrestling fun.  Josh is my kind of wrestling fan.  He is knowledgeable and respectful, without being over-the-top.  He enjoys it and he likes writing and talking about it...and he knows his stuff.
This weekend, Josh is attending the Legends of the Ring event in Monroe, NJ.  As the East Coast Director of Wrestling for Johngy's Beat, Josh will be sending a report on this year's event.  At the top of Jason's 'want list" are Dusty Rhodes and Chyna (Joanie Laurer).  I look forward to his report, but for now I have a short Q and A with Josh.

Q-Why do you like wrestling?
JW-I guess it's just in my blood to be a wrestling fan. Growing up in Pittsburgh, my parents both watched Studio Wrestling with Bruno Sammartino and announcer Bill Cardille. I was learning to talk just as the "Rock n Wrestling" era was taking off and there is audio tape of me saying "Junkyard Dog" and "King Kong Bundy" at a young age. The marketing machine of that era gave me great items to collect and it took off from there.

Q-Which (active or retired) wrestler haven't you met but would most like to meet?
JW-I'd have to say Hulk Hogan. He's eluded me so far and it just feels like he's the one left that I really need to meet at least once. Other than him, I'd have to go with women's star Leilani Kai who is finally starting to hit the convention scene. I'm a big fan of classic women's wrestling and my fandom is something that developed after meeting some of the ladies. It seems to me that most of them adjust better to "life after wrestling" than their male counterparts. When they realize that fans are out there wanting to meet them and still enjoying their career work, it's a big surprise for them.

Q-Which wrestler whom you have met was the most pleasant surprise?
JW-This one, without a doubt, goes to Ole Anderson. Ole has quite the reputation out there but has been nothing but fan friendly every time I've met him. He has become a staple of the NWA Fanfests by holding court in the lobby telling stories, posing for photos, and signing autographs. He's like a gruff old uncle that, deep down, really cares about his family. He's not even in the best of health but continues to come in for Fanfest. When he's gone, a huge void will be left just like that left by the death of Oliver Humperdink earlier this year.

Below is a picture of Josh meeting two wrestling legends, Terry Funk and Mick Foley at Legends of the Ring IX.  I wonder if Josh was trying to talk them into reforming a tag team, with himself as their manager.
Josh is a great guy with a cool site.  Meeting people like Josh is one of the real pleasures of running this site.

Terry Funk, Josh and Mick Foley in Monroe, NJ-May 2008.

Friendly Encounters

This is a weekly feature highlighting friends who have met celebs.

I have written about Josh Watko a couple times. He runs JW's Wrestling Memorabilia, a website loaded with wrestling pictures, stories and nostalgia.
A couple weekends ago, Josh had a great experience at the NWA Fanfest in Charlotte. Much like his site, this weekend was full of wrestling nostalgia. I asked Josh to share a story and as always, he graciously agreed, but deciding which story to tell was challenging. Finally he settled on Sting, stating that he had the most appeal to fans young and old.
With so much to do at NWA Fanfest, it can sometimes get a little overwhelming. Between waiting in line to get autographs from the featured guests to perusing the vendor floor to trying to meet the extra "vendor guests" who only appear for a few hours, you rarely have time to catch your breath. One guest that fans young and old had to make time to meet was NWA/WCW Legend and current TNA headliner Sting (Steve Borden).
Sting was brought to Fanfest by the promoters of the northeast's premier wrestling convention Legends of the ring. Fans, who paid for a "Superfan" package, received a signed 8x10 TNA promo photo, one of their own items signed and a photo op with Sting, which was quickly printed as a beautiful 8x10, also signed by the legend.
The Stinger, who is known to be one of the more private and reserved wrestlers, was very friendly to his fans of all generations. Dressed in his current TNA attire and face paint, these particular photo ops were some of the most amazing to come out of Fanfest. While fans chose items from all eras of his career, I chose a 1990 WCW Wrestling Wrap-Up magazine from my collection. The entire run of this particular title, albeit short-lived, are extremely hard to find and rarely turn up for sale. This issue features a shot of Sting just after he won his first World Heavyweight Championship from Ric Flair at the 1990 Great American Bash.
It was great that Josh got to meet Sting. I just missed him at the Bound for Glory pre-show event a couple years ago. Josh also met Jim "JR" Ross, Tammy "Sunny" Sytch, Terry Funk, Harley Race, Mickie James and many others. You can check out all of the photos and stories on his site. Hopefully, in the future, he'll share more of his stories here.

Sting (Steve Borden) and Josh Watko in Charlotte, NC-August 2010.

Friendly Encounters

This is a weekly feature highlighting friends who have met celebs.

Josh Watko is the creative force behind JW's Wrestling Memorabilia. It's a great collection of wrestling stories, pictures and random info. About a month ago, I wrote about Josh meeting Mae Young. Today, I am featuring Josh with Mike McGuirk, a former ring announcer for the WWE.
McGuirk, who was with the WWE from 1987-1993, was known for wearing a tuxedo to the ring to perform her duties. Since she left the WWE, McGuirk has remained out of the spotlight.
Josh recently attended the Legends of the Ring X, where he met McGuirk, making a rare public appearance. As usual, I'll let Josh tell his story.
I think the winner of the nicest star at the Legends of the Ring X convention goes to Mike McGuirk. Mike seemed truly as happy to meet the fans as we were to meet her. She also seemed happily overwhelmed that people wanted to meet her.
Keeping a personal tradition anytime I meet a classic WWF announcer, I had her pose with the 1990 WWF Toy Microphone which is a great facsimile to the real deal. Like Mean Gene Okerlund and The Fink before her, she seemed to really like the idea.
Ms. McGuirk is a classy lady who is looking forward to doing more of these shows and meeting more fans.
Josh will be making more appearances here in the future. Until then, check out his site for continually interesting stories.

Josh Watko and Mike McGuirk in Monroe, NJ-May 2010.

Friendly Encounters

John Watko, This is a weekly feature highlighting friends who have met celebs.

I recently came across a great wrestling blog, JW's Wrestling Memorabilia. Josh is the creator and wrestling aficionado behind this site. Josh and his crew (dubbed the "Pittsburgh Posse" by other convention attendees) have been going to wrestling conventions since 2004.
Josh says that Roddy Piper was the best meeting. He was just far above and beyond all of them and a total thrill for all of us who grew up on 1980's wrestling. While that's the wrestling most fond in my memories, I actually enjoy watching, collecting and meeting the stars of the 60's and 70's the most. Maybe it's the mystique of being from before I was born or possibly because it was the last couple of decades before the national expansion of wrestling. That era has a true "wild west" feel of the grapplers traveling show to show, territory to territory, just doing what they could do to get by during the day and performing in the sport they loved at night. It's magical to me.
It's that type of passion and enthusiasm which comes across clearly on Josh's site. There's a lot of great stuff there and on his Facebook page, too.
So who is Josh's latest and greatest coupe? I'll let him answer that one, too.
Mae Young. Of the hundreds of wrestlers I have met over the years, The Fabulous Moolah passed away before I had the chance to meet her. Her longtime friend and trainer, Mae Young, was just as important to me and I finally got the chance to meet her at the K&S WrestleFest convention in New Jersey.
She was just as sweet as you picture in her many skits on WWE television. She even popped a few guys, including legendary wrestler Ox Baker, in the stomach. And along with a few autographs, I got my kiss!

Josh and Mae Young in Carteret, NJ-April 2010.