Jimmy Korderas, former WWE referee of over 20 years, blogged on CSRWrestling.com about WrestleMania 32 being a homecoming to see old friends. Here’s a sample:
They say you can never go home again. This weekend in Dallas, Texas at WrestleMania 32, it felt like I never left. This year’s WrestleMania will not only go down in the record books as having the largest crowd ever, it may have surpassed WrestleMania 24 as my favorite from a personal standpoint. I have been extremely fortunate to have participated at 14 WrestleManias in my WWE career. I have also attended a few as a fan which was a lot of fun. This trip was different as I was part of the international media contingent. As busy as we were, I still managed find time to see some old friends and make some new ones.
As a fan, you set your own schedule. You go to the different appearances and events you choose to take part in. There is always so much going on that the biggest problem you may encounter as a fan is trying to decide which event to go to. Every year, the non-WWE events continue to grow including the ones sponsored by my good friends at Chair Shot Reality, Justin LaBar, Josh Isenberg and their crew (Foley like plug there). Much like other years, many other wrestling promotions were in town. I can run them down but you all pretty much know which ones were there. In a nutshell, the entire wrestling world converges on the city or area WrestleMania emanates from. It’s good business sense to capitalize on by riding the WWE’s coat tails. Not a knock on them, it’s smart. As a fan, I attended many of those events in the past and enjoyed them immensely.
When you are working for WWE at a WrestleMania, there is very little if any down time. As a referee and part of the ring crew, I was on call 24/7 and had to be ready for anything. From doing any number of things they ask me to do at Axxess, setting up at the stadium to going over my match assignment, there is always something on one’s to do list. I was also required to attend other related events such as the Hall of Fame ceremony unless I was performing other duties at that time. WrestleMania week is non-stop for everyone involved. That said, being a part of WrestleMania is an amazing experience and never gets old no matter how many times you are there. I thought that nothing would surpass WM24 as my personal favorite moment but I may have spoken too soon.
It is not much different when you are a part of a media outlet covering WrestleMania as far as having some sown time. You are given an itinerary and every day is full of events and activities to attend and cover. Upon arrival in Dallas, I met with the rest of my colleagues from the Sportsnet #AftermathTV crew over a bite to eat and went over our itinerary and game plan. Then we were off and running. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect from the WWE superstars as many are friends and acquaintances. Some talents know about my post WWE career but others do not. The first interview I conducted was just after 6am Friday morning. My interviewee was none other than NXT General Manager and one of my favorite people William Regal. He was a little surprised to see me holding a microphone in my hand but happy to see a familiar face so early in the morning. We had a nice chat before he had to move on. I felt like we could have stayed there all day just talking and catching up.
It’s funny that I can go out in front of more than 80,000 people in a stadium and perform as a referee in a match but I felt somewhat uneasy chatting or interviewing friends. I guess I believed that they would not see me as their friend and colleague Jimmy and more like Jim Korderas; journalist. I shouldn’t have felt that way as I was made to feel welcomed. Superstar after superstar began to make their way into the media area and I began to feel more comfortable in these surroundings. So many friendly faces began to show up like Renee Young, New Day, Paul Heyman, Kevin Owens and many others as part of that early morning craziness. It was great to see old friends again even if it was for only a few minutes.
CLICK HERE to read who else and where else Jimmy ran into some old friends.
