Wrestlecade 2025 Graphing Recap

Last weekend, Wrestlecade was back in Winston-Salem; an annual wrestling convention that Chris and I had attended once before (last year).  We looked forward to it all year, and this iteration didn't disappoint.   I went to the convention with a plan to get Ron Simmons to sign an 8 x 10 photo from last year.  I also bought some cards of a few other wrestlers to get signed at the show.

I got Simmons quickly after we arrived (after getting Tito Santana and Big Show on a couple cards below).  I was only going to get Simmons and move along, but he kept calling me by my name and talked me into paying for another photo op (this time with Bradshaw) and getting a dual auto on another 8 x 10.  Let's face it, he could have talked me into buying a car while I was there. 

The photo op turned out great, and both guys were awesome.  Ron Simmins is such a cool guy.

Backing up a bit, my big planned meeting and greet was with Big Show.  I always enjoyed watching Show wrestle, so when I saw he was going to be there, I sprung for a card that I thought looked cool for him to sign.  The card turned out great (below).

He was really nice, as well.

Here are the cards I got signed.  I didn't get a photo of Santana, but he was very friendly.  He was the first person we met, and his line had only one person ahead of us.

Matt Cardona was really cool.  He greeted us as we walked by his table.  I went back a few minutes later and paid the money for him to sign his card he had on display.  

We were really glad to see Diego Hill again.  He's a local wrestler, who seems to have a very bright future.  He is always cool to us, so I gave him some money for another autograph, to throw him some support.  Once he masters cutting a promo, he likely will make it to the higher level wrestling companies. 

Nikita Koloff is a guy I watched as a kid.  I saw he was going to be at the show, so I bought an old wrestling card of him and got it signed.  He was awesome.  I told him he scared the hell out of me when I was little.  He told me he considered that the best honor he could receive from a fan.

Teddy Long was super cool.  Chris wanted to meet him, so I made the payment for the auto/photo op combo.  He got an 8.5 x 11 photo signed, and Long threw in a card for free.  I got to keep the card.  He asked Chris about his grades and said he needs to keep them up or he "...will go one on one with the Undertaker".  Chris was excited that Long dropped one of his catch phrases on him. 

Finally, we got a photo with Nic Nemeth, otherwise known as Dolph Ziggler.  We told Ziggler the story of three-year old Chris singing along with Ziggler's theme song, except he got the lyrics wrong, singing "I'm here to smell the world, I'm here to smell the world" (instead of "I'm here to show the world...).  Oh, little Chris.  He had a couple of those that he botched as a kid.  Ziggler thought it was hilarious. We had just mentioned it right before the photo.

Chris and I had a blast at the show.  In all, I got the following autographs: Big Show x 1, Matt Cardona x 1, Diego Hill x 1, Nikita Koloff x 1, Teddy Long x 1, Tito Santana x 1, Ron Simmons x 2, JBL x 1 and Butterbean x 1 (10 total autographs).

November 30, 2024 - Wrestlecade

Before all of the events that happened at Thanksgiving, I had bought tickets and an autograph vouchers for Wrestlecade 2024.  We were scheduled to go the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  I wasn't really feeling up to it after losing Grandma, but I thought it would be best that Chris and I get out and get our minds off of things.  I'm glad we went.

I had seen that Ron Si.mons would be at the show, and he was a last-minute decision to meet.  Im so glad I paid to meet him because he was awesome.  I told him that I remembered watching him win the WCW Championship way back in the day.  He told.me he goes back and watches t constantly.  It was impactful to me because at the time, he looked like a 'regular guy' as opposed to the flashy cartoon characters I was used to when watching WWF (WWE). I didn't know own at that time what a bad ass Simmons was as a college football player.  He is a legend at Florida State.  One of only 12 players to have their number retired at Florida State (at the time of his number retirement, he was only one of seven).

He was so awesome to meet.  I told him that I had been wanting to meet him for years. He responded with "I love being met."  He gave me a sweet deal on the photo op, and after the hug he gave us, I asked him if I could trouble him for one more thing; would he say it? He did, "Damn!"

Another cool.meeting was when we met Zilla Fatu.  He is a future member of The Bloodline.  Son of the late Umaga, Zilla is working his way up through the ranks in the independent scene.  A very friendly guy, Zilla hugged Chris and I after the photo op.

We got to see him in action later that evening in a nice independent show that came with our day passes.

The one autograph voucher that I paid for in advance was that of Jim Ross.  He was also super nice and signed the above photo I printed out of Mankind falling off the Hell in a Cell at King of the Ring 1998.  He inscribed the photo "My God, he's broken in half!"

We, then, met Mick Foley, who signed the photo and inscribed it "I was broken in half."

I did a decent job on the photo having recently learned how to use the snippet tool on my computer. I paused the match on YouTube and snipped the scene, printing it out on an 8 x 10.  Not bad.

I also paid to get former NWA wrestler Magnum T. A. on this little card.  I watched him on Friday nights at my cousin Lynn's house when I was little. 

I also got Jake the Snake Roberts on the above Topps Gypsy Queen card.  Of all the guys we met, he was the quietest.  He wasn't rude, he just didn't say much.  All of that being said, we were super happy with everyone we met. I'd definitely go back to Wrestlecade if I got the chance. 

In all, I got the following autographs: Zilla Fatu x 1, Mick Foley x 1, Jim Ross x 1, Ron Simmons x 2, Magnum TA x 1 and Jake the Snake x 1 (7 total autographs).