Originally Posted by Deadspin
It was June of 1987 and my mother had scored tickets for Phantom of the Opera in NYC, which at the time was a nearly impossible feat. Once we arrived at the theatre, sitting in the upper balcony, mind you, my dad, who started me on pro wrestling when I was all of six years old, turns to me and says "hey, look over there, its Vince McMahon!"
At first, I didn't believe him, but after prodding by both of my parents, I walked by where he, Linda and Shane were sitting (yeah, no Steph...too bad), just to confirm that he was indeed VKM. And by god, he sure was, wearing one of his classic powder blue blazers, just like he did on TV every weekend. So, while the rest of the crowd watched the first half of the show, all I could do was stare at Vince and wonder why someone like him was sitting up in the balcony with regular people like me and my parents. When the show reached intermission, my mom told me that she was going to get a drink and that I should come with her because maybe we would run into Vince. I was petrified at this point, because one thing had totally blown me away from that earlier walk by: Vince was HUGE!!! At that point in my life, I had never seen a guy that was that big!
After trying to back out of the trip to the concession stand, I begrudgingly went, and there he was, standing right on line in front of me. Because I was so star-struck (remember, I was only 12 years old), I could not/would not say anything to him, so my mother took the initiative and tapped him on the shoulder and introduced herself and me to him and informed Vince that I was a huge WWF fan and never missed a show. He cranked up his TV announcing voice/character and asked me if that was true. I must have looked like Ralphie seeing Santa in A Christmas Story at this point and vaguely remember nodding my head and grunting in the affirmative. My mother proceeded to smack me in the back of the head and told me to talk to him because I'd probably never get the chance again.
Vince laughed and asked me if Hulk Hogan was my favorite wrestler, as I guess he thought would be the stock answer of a kid growing up in that era. In a daze, I told him that it was not Hogan, but Rowdy Roddy Piper. Vince did a double take and looked dumbfounded. He then asked my why I liked Piper and I told him that he was cool and because he hit Jimmy Snuka with the coconut a few years before. Vince asked my mother "is he okay?" to which my mother just shook her head and asked "what can you do, right?" Vince laughed, said he totally understood and that his son was very similar. He then graciously autographed my Playbill from the show, which is still one of my most prized possessions.
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