Fans Relive Childhood at Wrestlefest 2

After the success of their first Wrestlefest in November 2019, Heroes Hideout, the go to place for all your POP!, WWE and other action figure fixes and pop culture meet and greet events, teamed up with D365 Promotions, Captains Corner, and several other promotional companies to hold their second installment of Wrestlefest inside Colonie Center on Sunday, March 8th. 

Wrestlefest 2 was headlined by the “Best there is, the best that was, and the best there ever will be,” Bret “The Hitman” Hart. Hundreds of fans lined up until the very end of the 3 hour event to get a picture, autograph, or both with “The Hitman.”

Several past, and current professional wrestling superstars were on hand during the event that included Jake “The Snake” Roberts, Demolition, Lita, The Killer Bees, Jimmy “The Mouth of the South” Hart, Tony Atlas, JJ Dillon, Gangrel, Mr. Bob Backlund, Little Guido/Nunzio and Tony Mamaluke from the F.B.I, Max Moon, Debra McMichael, Randy Hogan, Pat Tanaka, James Ellsworth, Barry Horowitz, Essa Rios, The Ascension Konnor and Viktor, and Christy Hemme.

Fans could pay for an autograph or photo op with their favorite superstar, or save on a little bit of cash, and purchase the combo autograph/picture option. 

Pre-orders were offered for all the talent weeks prior up until the end of the week leading to the event with some options selling out before the show. Fans who pre-ordered items were allowed to line up first for each talent. 

The late “British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith’s daughter, Georgia, was on hand with the “British Bulldog Experience.” The experience was an assortment of her dad’s ring gear and other items on display. Fans could try on Smith’s black leather Hart Foundation vest when stopping by. 

Nostalgia was not only in the air for the fans, but it was also there for the superstars as well. Watching some of the superstars catch up with one another, and some meeting for the first time was amazing to witness. Seeing the human side of the superstars interacting with each other like Jake “The Snake” and The Killer Bees taking a selfie together, Gangrel posing for pics with several other talents like Mr. Hughes and Bensonhurst, NY native Tony Mamaluke, were special moments you can’t get anywhere else.

Throughout the whole show, every superstar eventually made their way over to Bret Hart and gave him a hug. Mr. Backlund was in character at some points going crazy shaking fans and screaming. He even took a small break and went to the second floor of the mall and starting screaming down to everyone at the event. 

This was the biggest meet and greet event to date for the toy store, and they did an amazing job with the space they had available in organizing the event. All the superstars were very friendly and engaging with fans.

Some fans worried leading up to the event that they would not be able to meet every superstar available if willing to purchase an option for each talent. With all the wrestlers on hand, the event went smoothly with more than enough time to meet every superstar for those willing to purchase every meet and greet available.

Keeping up with the Coronavirus crises spreading around the globe, each wrestler had several bottles of hand sanitizer to help keep germs in check after shaking fans’ hands.

One drawback, although not major, that I noticed, and fans noted after the event on social media, that it was a little hard for disabled fans to get around, as the isles for the event were a little narrow. HH is already looking for solutions so this does not happen at the next Wresltefest event. 

James Spence Authentication (JSA), had a table near the event exit to authenticate each item for $10 per item for any fan wanting their autographs documented as a legit autograph from each superstar. 

Wrestlefest 3 is slated for November 15, 2020. Follow Heroes Hideout on social media as a headliner announcement for Wrestlefest 3, and other talent appearing will post sometime this summer.  

Other upcoming meet and greets and events scheduled for pre-order include:

• March 21 – Immortal Championship Wrestling’s Mall Madness live pro wrestling event at Colonie Center.  
• April 10 – Meet Impact’s Rosemary in store brought to you by D365 Promotions.
• April 18 – Meet NXT superstars Keith Lee and Pete Dunne. 
• April 19 – Meet WWE Legends Tony Garea and Ivan Putski. 
• May 1 – Meet WWE Diva Alexa Bliss
• May 16 – Meet WWE Diva Trish Stratus.
• July 18 – Meet Kate Flannery aka Meredith from the hit show The Office. 
• Sept. 26 – Meet Ernie Hudson from Ghostbusters, Oz, and the Crow.