Wrestling fans fired up over tickets
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer
The action was furious yesterday as hundreds of fans of wrestling superstar and former Hawai'i resident The Rock lined up in droves at the Blaisdell Arena.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
Before it was over, many were in a fightin' mood themselves.
A Blaisdell Center official helps direct fans waiting to buy tickets for the World Wrestling Entertainment event featuring Dwayne Johnson, also known as The Rock.
And this was just to buy tickets for The Rock's big June 15 match.
The main event at the box office yesterday was the result of a random ticket-purchasing scheme that left fans who had been there since Friday (and at least one guy who had been waiting since Thursday), with the same chance of getting a good ticket as someone who showed up one minute before 8 a.m.
Those who showed up after the 8 a.m. cut-off point were given red "consecutive" paper tokens. Those who were there earlier were issued green and purple "random" tokens no matter how long they had been waiting.
Although the random token holders got first shot at buying tickets when they went on sale at 9 a.m., the process still took hours, and there was no guarantee that any among them would get preferred seating.
Some fans who hadn't understood the process were noticeably riled. But Rudy Vegas, events coordinator for Blaisdell, said those who showed up Friday were informed by security guards that it would do them little good to wait for hours until tickets went on sale.
Vegas said the wrestling fan who had waited since Thursday was especially un-thrilled.
"The first person didn't understand what random was," Vegas said. "So, we explained it to him. And he was not too happy. Obviously he thought that he was going to be No. 1. Obviously he was not No. 1."
However, most who crowded into the covered walkway near the box office made the best of the long wait.
Scott Davis, 32, watched the scene unfold from the comfort of a lounge chair he brought with him at 4:30 in the morning.
"These people are insane," said Davis, who brought bottled water and granola bars to tide him over what turned out to be a seven-hour vigil. "I can't believe they got so upset about this. Some who had been here since yesterday were screaming at the ticket people."
By contrast, Davis, a security supervisor at the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, formed a friendly tag-team alliance with Vince Redondo, 25, a personal trainer. Redondo, who showed up after 9 a.m. and was issued a red token, had been lucky enough to snare a free random token from a woman who didn't need it because a friend had picked up her tickets when he got his own.
Thus, when Redondo's random number was called out at 10:30, he picked up tickets for himself, three clients, Davis and a friend of Davis' as well.
"Whoa!" Redondo said. "I got six $75 tickets in Section 14, right by the entrance. We've got a great view looking right down at the ring."
Before the two new friends left the Blaisdell, Davis handed his green random token to total stranger David Rapalee.
"Hey, this'll save me a couple of hours," said a smiling Rapalee, who then pitched his red token.
The Rock, six-time World Wrestling Federation champion who has appeared in "The Mummy Returns" and "The Scorpion King," will face off against Chris Jericho in the June 15 bout.
Reach Will Hoover at 525 8038 or whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.
