By Shawn Valentino, PWTorch specialist

Magic, Memories, and Mania - Day 1 Log

(1) I arrived in San Jose on Thursday and checked into the wrestlers's hotel. As I got there, I saw that the whole city was decorated with WWE posters and marketing memorabilia. When I got into the hotel, there was a spectacular WWE Championship belt made out of chocolate at the entrance. WWE has essentially rented out the most luxurious hotel in the city, and it felt like I walked into a family reunion of wrestlers from the past 40 years.

(2) As I was talking to my friend, I heard the unmistakeable voices of Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels talking NFL football right next to us. Interestingly, I saw Flair and Bret Hart talking on a few occasions so apparently any heat they might have had in the past has cooled off.

(3) Nearly every top wrestler of the past three decades is here. We have seen Paul Orndorff, Roddy Piper, Nikolai Volkoff, the Wild Samoans, and more. It is fascinating to see all of these classic characters together under one roof and everybody is in great spirits.




There is a large Samoan contingent here, including The Rock's mom so it is guaranteed that Roman Reigns has some support on Sunday. We have not seen Reigns as of yet.

(4) There are numerous wrestlers staying on our floor so every moment has had a cartoonish feel. At one point, I went up the elevator with Volkoff trying to help him get to his floor. Then I went to get some ice and opened the door to see Kane filling his bucket.

(5) Tonight is the Hall of Fame, and I will be in attendance to see my childhood hero, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, finally get inducted. My favorite moment of the week took place this morning. I saw Lanny Poffo wandering the lobby looking for a breakfast buffet. I went up to him and wished him good luck on the induction. I also shared a personal story of meeting Savage. Realizing I was a huge fan of his brother, he pulled me aside and asked if he could go over his acceptance speech with me. I do not want to give any of it away, but it is definitely in classic Genius style.

Then, midway through his recital of the speech, Ricky Steamboat walked by and congratulated Poffo and wished him luck. Lanny introduced me as his friend, which was very nice of him. The next half-hour was absolutely surreal as I got to talk to them about the famous WrestleMania 3 showdown, which was the match that made me a fan. Both Poffo and Steamboat got teary eyed sharing memories of Macho. Then Dragon shared a beautiful story about how he only got a chance to speak to Savage a couple times after the Mania III match, but he recently bought a house in Florida, and it is literally down the street from the tree dedicated to Savage, the one he crashed into when he died. He said he drives by it every day. I was fortunate to be there for this conversation.

Expect to hear an emotional speech at the Hall of Fame capped off by a feel-good moment if everything goes as planned. I will share my live report from tonight's ceremony later this weekend...

(6) One of the funniest moments of the week took place with Rusev, who is staying right next to us with Lana. I am here with my friend, a brash Brit who calls himself O.J. Entertainment, and Rich Twilling, formerly of Prowrestling.net. We were all walking for the elevator and O.J. was screaming about meeting Rusev earlier and what a "bloody moron" he was. As we turned the corner to the elevator, who else was standing there on his phone but the Bulgarian Brute himself! It was a ridiculously hilarious awkward moment.

(7) Thursday night, I was walking to grab some food as the NXT show got out. The fans were thrilled with the show, and there is a tremendous buzz about the product. Will we leave WrestleMania just as excited on Sunday?

(8) Some of my friends went to Axxess and Mick Foley's comedy show, but I have chosen to stay at the hotel because it really has the best atmosphere in the city if you are a wrestling fan.

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