ESPN Experiences 'All Access,' Shinsuke Nakamura At WWE's Performance Center
KC Joyner of ESPN recently went to WWE's "All Access," a interactive tour of what it's like to be a wrestler for the fans. After signing a number of legal forms, "Each participant is offered a one-day promotional contract, and Matt Bloom, (a.k.a. Prince Albert and A-Train in the late 1990s/early 2000s days as a WWE performer), who is the head coach of the Performance Center, welcomes fans to the event with a formal ceremony, complete with a WWE camera crew and photographers (to provide some visual memories to the fans after the event is complete)."
After the wrestlers were introduced, fans get a chance (after some initial training) to a cut a promo of their own, just like the wrestlers. Fans also get a shot at doing some color announcing, alongside Mike Rome.
"Rome did a superb job of setting up the fan announcers to provide quality insights, but the main takeaway here was that it gave everyone a new appreciation for just how difficult it is to do color commentary. Doing it well requires a lot of prep work, and future versions of "All-Access" could benefit from walking fans through some of the prep process as a lead-up to donning the headphones."
During lunch, a meet-and-greet was held, in this case, Scott Dawson, Dash Wilder, Billie Kay, and Peyton Royce spoke with the attendees. Next up was a full ring entrance where each fan was guided by a wrestler, Joyner wrote:
"I was fortunate enough to have NXT champion Shinsuke Nakamura as a guide. He was friendly and helpful, and even gave me a heads up on where the hard camera (the main camera for a televised show) would be in a setup of this nature. But what really stood out is how quiet and reserved he was; on-screen, Nakamura is one of the most charismatic performers in the business, and getting to see another side of his personality offered a view of just how much of a transformation he goes through in becoming 'The King of Strong Style.'"
@shinsukenakamura surprises the #PCAllAccess with a live rendition of his iconic entrance!
A photo posted by WWE (@wwe) on
WWE then put on a small show that included six matches and had the fans get involved in various non-wrestling roles. Joyner was actually a heel manager for his team of Tino Sabbatelli and Riddick Moss. After the show, fans were given 30 minutes to hang with the wrestlers, take photos, and given a gym bag full of WWE merchandise.
This story was from the November 14th "All Access" event and tickets were advertised at $1,499 per person.
Source: ESPN