Wrestlemania XXVI...

From walking all over God's country (literally) on Saturday in Oak Creek Canyon...(passed the tavern where Craig and I had lunch) to pedaling a bicycle on parking lot patrol at University of Phoenix Stadium on Sunday. I got up Sunday morning at 4:30am after sleeping like a rock after the hike. I had packed most of my security gear already so I showered, shaved, dressed and headed out the door... The weather called for over 80 degrees (do I love this place enough?) but remember that the hottest part of the day is around 4pm, so it was still a little chilly before dawn. I was scheduled to work from 7am to 10pm for Wrestlemania XXVI (oh, yeah, brother!!-please insert Randy "Macho Man" Savage's voice here). I was given the choice of walking the parking lot or patrolling on a bicycle... I chose the bike because the lot (the same one I patrolled for the Cardinal football games) was huge. I got over there and then found out that this particular lot was going to be an overflow lot... (used only after the other lots were full. But they weren't using all the parking lots. They had some in reserve because Paul McCartney was performing across the street at Jobing.Com Arena at 7:30 while the WWE kicked off at 3:30 (PST--only on pay-per-view!--insert Directv announcer voice).

Basically, I pedaled around the empty lot until about 1:30 when the action finally started. My partner pedaled looking for trouble and I did alcohol control leaving the lot... (no tailgating like at a football game, but you can't leave the lot with alcohol). The lot quickly filled up and then the fireworks started inside the stadium and outside too... (which I thoroughly enjoyed). You should have seen the outfits the fans were wearing...(anyone unfamiliar with wrestling can skip this next part). Gold Dust, the Macho Man, the Hulkster, ICP (Insane Clown Posse), CM Punk, and others were all represented with t-shirts and costumes. Fans sporting replica WWE Championship belts, Rey Mysterio masks, and hundreds of posters for the Undertaker and the Heartbreak Kid and Bret the Hitman Hart. Stone Cold Steve Austin and NWO (old school) tees were some of my faves. So after the people were inside the arena we went on break again (not a bad gig even though it was supposed to be 15 hours). Pedaled around to keep the legs from cramping up...(no foot pain today) and waited for the rush to egress (fancy term for leaving, but you already knew that). When the fans came out, all I did was told them to watch the exiting cars, have a good night, and safe trip...(and "Who won the matches"--I'm such a kid!).

The Undertaker beat the Heartbreak Kid (the Streak vs. the Career match) thus ending Shawn Michaels (HBK) career. Bret the Hitman Hart beat the crap out of Vince McMahon (who is 65 yrs old and still fake wrestling--did I write that out loud?). John Cena beat Batista for the Heavyweight Championship and Jack Swagger (great name) won the Money in the Bank match. I know you were all waiting for the results so thanks for reading the rest and not skipping to this part first... The fans filed out while the McCartney fans filed in (Glendale PD had their hands full that night with traffic control). The parking people took their usual abuse from everyone trying to get out of a packed parking lot that had two lanes of exit and I was chatting with the fans and redirecting the ones who came out on the wrong side of the stadium. The lot emptied around 9:15 with only a few cars remaining. I called command and they told us to return so we saddled up and rode across the parking lots back to command to sign out and sit in traffic for the ride home. I took the back streets I have committed to memory (in honor of Back Street Bob, my father) and while it took a little longer at least I was moving. Got home around 10:30, ate a little and crashed...