For almost 13 years now I've been an avid WWE fan,from the time I was 5 years old until now,at age 18,I have followed the WWE almost religiously.While other girls were playing with barbie dolls and having tea parties,I played with wrestling figures.And from the moment I fell in love with wrestling,I fell in love with Shawn Michaels.Everything about him fascinated me to no end,I was hooked.13 years later now,I still am.I've stuck with him through everything,good guy,bad guy,it never mattered to me,as long as I got to see Shawn.And then Wrestlemania 14 came along,and when I found out it was his last match I felt my heart break into a million pieces.For as long as I've been a fan it had been my dream to someday meet him.Mind you I had met a few WWE Superstars in my day - Taker,Psycho Sid,the Steiner Brothers,Kurt Angle,and John Cena to name a few,but as nice as it was to be able to meet them,it would never compare to meeting Shawn for me.I felt like it was all over after Wrestlemania 14.I still followed wrestling as much as I did when Shawn was still around,but deep down some of the fire that I used to have for it had been put out.Something was missing,I knew what it was,but there was nothing I could do about it.And so life went on without Shawn,for me,and for the WWE.
Then one fateful day,I sat and watched Raw with my dad as I always did.And I had gone down to the basement to check something on the computer,when I heard the upstairs door open and my dad yell for me to come upstairs for a minute.And so I did,and when I got upstairs I saw Kevin Nash standing in the middle of the ring,I got there just in time to hear him talking about the newest member of the nWo.My heart sank a little thinking that there was no way it could be Shawn."He's retired," I thought to myself.And that's when I heard it.That all too familiar music I knew by heart,and it would be an exaggeration to say my heart stopped.I froze in my tracks and stared at the tv,thinking "no,it's gotta be some kind of trick,it can't be...can it??" And then I saw HBK himself come waltzing out from the top of the ramp.I had all I could to not to scream,if I had the whole world might have been able to hear it.From that point on,the fire that I felt watching the WWE was back again,stronger than ever now that I had Shawn back in the WWE.But still part of me kept a close eye out on everything possible,hoping that one day Shawn would come to Cleveland for some reason - whatever reason,I didn't care! My dream was back - and my dream was to meet the Heartbreak Kid himself before he retired again - for good.
Two years had passed since Shawn's return to the WWE and I couldn't have been more happy.Until I saw the ad in the paper one tuesday morning for the Tri-Star Sports Collectors Convention at the IX Center in Cleveland.The show usually came a few times during the course of the year,so I quickly scanned the few names that were in there,of the guests that would be signing autographs.And that's when my radar turned on full blast,because there before me,in bold print,was the name SHAWN MICHAELS.My heart stopped,I couldn't believe it.The first thing that ran through my mind was "oh God,I'm finally going to meet him.I don't believe it." The next thing I did was text message one of my good friends Jackie with the message 'OH MY GOD IM GONNA MEET HBK!!!" So the next day,I purchased tickets for myself,my dad,and Jackie.In the end I would end up paying $55 for everything,but it was money well spent and I would do it again in a heartbeat.I was on the edge of my seat the rest of the week,I still couldn't believe that after 13 years I was going to meet the man that had practically gotten me into wrestling in the first place,my hero.
When saturday finally came I was actually pretty calm until we actually got to the IX Center.Shawn was scheduled to start signing at 2:00,and by the time we got there it was 1:30,so I was glad it meant a shorter period in line for us.The first thing I did was get in line for my Photo Op with Shawn - yes I got my picture taken with the Heartbreak Kid himself!! As is the case with most guest signers,he was delayed a few minutes signing stuff in back for employees there,but finally at 2:10 he came out!! He was wearing a tan long sleeved button down shirt with black jeans,and I was in awe.He was standing a few feet in front of me,my hero,my idol - the Heartbreak Kid! Thankfully there weren't that many people in line,and I was #18 for the photo op anyway,so it went quite fast.When I finally got up there though,I was in awe.I smiled and shook his hand,we exchanged hellos,and he put his arm around my shoulder,and before I knew it the moment was over.Before I headed over to the autograph line I shook his hand for the first of three times.The shirt I wore in that picture still has not been washed. Next I headed over to the autograph line,and I knew I had to take the cake as far as things to have autographed went.About eight or nine years before,as a birthday present,I bought a long sleeved button down denim shirt,and took it to a specific store in my local mall that I knew did airbrushing.I gave the guy a picture of Shawn from an interview from a 1996 WWF Magazine and had the picture airbrushed on the back of the shirt,and as an added bonus,the guy also airbrushed Shawn's tattoo on the pocket of the shirt.It was beautiful,and I still take extra care of it whenever I even take it out of the closet.It was what I was going to have signed,and I knew it would make a lasting impression - turns out I was right.When it was finally my turn to stand in front of the man himself,I laid the back of the shirt out in front of him and watched.For a split second he stopped - I stopped HBK dead in his tracks folks! LOL. He stopped and just looked at the shirt,I was blushing like crazy,and the next thing I heard him saw was simply this..."WOW"...Jackie,seeing that I was in a state of shock,asked him to sign it on the pocket for me.Then he looked up at me and smiled,and asked "so did you do this?" - and in turn I cracked up laughing before saying "yeah right,I wish! No I had it done professionally." So he signed it the pocket of his airbrushed picture in black sharpie,after he was done,I took a simple moment and looked at him.Finally I was able to say what I had been keeping inside of me for 12 years..I looked at him and said "Thank You...thank you so much,I've been waiting 12 years for this." To which he looked at me,smiled,shook my hand and said "well thank you for waiting." - Little did he know I would have waited forever if it meant a chance to see him in person.
I walked out of line shaking like a leaf.My knees were weak,my heart was pounding in my chest,and tears were forming in my eyes.My dream had come true.I had met the Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels,and it was everything and more than I thought it would be.Little did I know my day was far from over.After we had gotten out of line,the three of us went to get lunch.I was still too in shock to really eat,but managed to anyhow.Incidentally my friend Jackie picked up an HBK cross pendant that someone had dropped - she made out for free! After we were done eating though,we decided to look around the rest of the show - seeing as we HAD paid to get in.So we walked around for about 45 minutes,and as we neared the back where Shawn had been,Jackie and I noticed something - he was still there.I looked at her,and she looked at me and we did the only thing we could think of - left my dad in the dust and made a mad dash for him! Actually we only ran a little,when we got back there,we just stood a few feet away for a while and listened to him talk - I had no problem with that,I could have done it for hours anyway.After my dad finally caught up,and two tries by both of them to get me to leave,my dad said he wanted to go up and shake his hand.So we walked up to the table he was standing by and just listened for a few more minutes,before my dad shook his hand,and he noticed the two of us standing there.Then my dad and Jackie - being the moral support group that they are - proceeded to do what they have always wanted to do - embarrass me in front of Shawn.No it's not really as bad as it sounds.My dad started telling him how I've been a fan for 12 years now,and how I've stuck by him through every thing - no matter if he was a good guy or a bad guy,and Shawn smiled at me and said "atta girl,there's a true fan right there.You liked me when I was a bad guy even though you knew I wasn't really bad" - and by this point I was ready to go into cardiac arrest.Jackie,being the good friend that she is,blurted out "yeah she's in love with you" - but that was during the picture we took.So we asked him if he was going to be at Survivor Series the next day to which he unfortunately replied no,and then said jokingly "trust me I've seen enough wrestling matches." Then Jackie had to ask him something that had been on her mind,if he was even coming back at all - to which he replied yes,to my relief,sometime in January around the Royal Rumble,unless there's some really big storyline they want him involved in. But what amazed me the most is how this man stood and talked with my father,my friend,and myself as if he had known us his entire life.We stood and talked for a good 15 to 20 minutes,and to be perfectly honest I was in heaven.My dream had come true and then some.And finally before we left,Jackie decided to be bold and asked him for a hug - to which he graciously replied "sure,of course." - after she had gotten hers I kind of slowly moved forward and asked - extremely quitely - if I could have one too.And my dream became a reality,I got a hug from the Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels.No moment in my life will ever compare to the feeling I had meeting him,it was a dream come true for me.It was something that I never thought would happen,but somehow managed to make a reality.But more importantly - I realized what a wonderful human being he is. He truly cares about each and every one of his fans,and I think he finally realizes how much we really do appreciate everything he does for us.Everything he did moved me to tears.He has been my hero for 12 years,he will continue to remain my hero for as long as I live.