DEJ Experience District Jeremy's DEJ Blog from Orlando: God lays his fingers on our car and stops it from moving on way to ROH Mar 31, 2008 - 12:21:21 PM

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By Jeremy Maes, DEJ Experience Member

It is almost time for the main show here in Orlando and it cannot come any sooner. So far everything we have tried to accomplish has either blown up in our faces or just came out poorly. (Please save all the jokes about this being any different than every time in the past. okay?) We have the audio shows all recorded and ready to go, but there seems to be a problem with our formatting. After a short round of speed bar binging and hamburgers out of a trailer on International Drive, Eric should have it handled and hopefully there will be something to show for our work for PWTorch VIP members.

It’s like using the bathroom at someone’s house during a dinner party. You do your business and when it is time to flush, the toilet not only stops up but also backs up spilling the contents all over the floor. You then reach for a towel and the towel bar falls off and you end up slipping and smacking your head on the bowl and fall in it all. This pretty much sums up our frustrations with the audio portion of our weekend.

It really all should have been clear the first day we checked into the hotel. First thing we attempted to do was get on the Internet only to find out their server had crashed and we were in limbo. Then there was the ill-advised trip across the street to Bennigan’s. We all put on our best Butters impersonation and gleefully entered the dark, dank, joyless, and soulless restaurant before we headed out to the first ROH show. Almost an hour later we got out of the place with plenty of time to spare. Yep, plenty of time to spare.

Here is a quick travel warning for everyone who plans on traveling to Orlando. Driving on International Drive is a constant exercise in patience and complacency. If you decide to travel this road, you must realize your part in the venture and realize you have no control. You must be complacent in your positioning life, the world, and you inner being. If not, this section of road will cause you and internal strife the likes only a movie slasher film villain can know.

We had 45 minutes to get to the Friday ROH show and this should have been plenty of time. What transpired next, though, was nothing short of the finger of God coming down from the heavens and placing it squarely on top of our car and apparently every other car and a few traffic lights. We suddenly couldn’t move. According to our Garmin GPS Navigation System we only had 0.8 of a mile to go and we should arrive at ROH in 12 minutes.

So, crammed in the back of a dusty gold Dodge Magnum we saw the time on our arrival time at ROH steadily climb as traffic refused to move. What should have been a fifteen minute or so ride turned in to a 45 minute ride with nearly 30 minutes spent just on International Drive.

Apparently, International Drive is the main tourist drag. Who knew this vital information? Not our crew. I guess a little research into Houston will be in order for next year’s events. Yes, we plan on doing this again next year as long as no one jumps off the roof of our two-story hotel, that is. Okay, that would be just me; I have been talked down off the ledge once already.

We arrived at ROH just in time to hear Nigel McGuinnes finish his promo and the show was underway. It is too bad the show didn’t build in to Saturday’s show as ROH really put on a show that could have built a bigger and better audience. Having given a taste of the Dragon Gate wrestlers, the possibility of seeing them all in the same match would have been a better draw. All that was needed was a brief reminder in between every second match, going in to and out of intermission, and then after the show as people were leaving after what was hopefully an enjoyable experience.

ROH had some fine promotional tools in the crowd as they had small glossy cards announcing their return on Oct. 10 in Coral Springs and back in Orlando on Oct. 11. The cards were professional, glossy card stock in full color featuring a majority of wrestlers who appeared on the card for both shows. They also handed out the same glossy cards featuring some DVD releases as you headed out of the building. They smartly featured C.M. Punk and Samoa Joe so that the tourist crowd that is taking in an ROH show for the first time can see a direct correlation between the show they have seen and the alumni that have moved on. That being said, the Bloodstained Honor DVD may not be what some people are looking for, but to each his own.

Saturday night’s show was one of those experiences that probably cannot be captured on DVD. There was a level of excitement that was missing from the Friday show. It probably has to do with the fact that this was more of an ROH show than Friday’s Dragon Gate challenge matches. This was the missed opportunity on ROH’s part. This was a better indication of their product than the night before. The crowd didn’t look any thinner this night, but it didn’t look any fuller. It is entirely possible there were more people in attendance Saturday, but there were a lot of the same faces. How many new faces would have been added with a little more promoting? Am I harping too much on this?

At least we made it to the show Saturday. International Drive wasn’t the problem this time, but there were definitely problems once again. That is for later.

Jeremy Maes is the “J” of the DEJ Audio Experience. You can listen to that group of organized crime perpetrators every Wednesday night on the member’s portion of PWTorch.com. You can read Jeremy’s thoughts every Sunday on PWTorch.com. You can even contact Jeremy or any member of the DEJ faction on the PWTorch VIP Forum, or by email at torchmaes@yahoo.com.

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