In December I took a trip to good ole New York City for Ring of Honor's Final Battle PPV. I went with a normal riding partner, Scott, and a couple of other friends who I have never traveled with before, Jay and Frank.
It was a quick trip. Out on a Thursday, with a small detour to Pottsfield, PA to pick up another rider, and into NYC on Friday for the Ring of Honor Final Battle 2012 event, and back out on the road. It was Christmas weekend and people had to get back home. It makes the trip difficult.
The event just didn't live up to the expectations I had hoped for. It was a solid card, but not worth driving out there for. I would have been just as happy watching it on PPV. With our short turn around not a lot of time was spent with friends for the East Coast either. Only a few short hours.
There was a time when I didn't want to miss a single show and did everything possible to get there. Those days are gone. I'm content with the handful of events I can get to each year. The product has changed. Maybe I have too.
And as I've stated before, it's far more about the friendships made over the years and not the wrestling.
A couple of short weeks later, my friend Greg invited everyone out to lovely home in the Washington DC area. Part of the deal was going to the Ring of Honor TV taping in Baltimore on Saturday. I needed a true vacation. A place just to relax and hang for a couple of days. And it was my birthday. So my usual traveling partner, Scott, and myself hopped in the "Freedom mobile" aka my Jeep Patriot and headed East.
We arrived in good time on Friday afternoon. This was a smaller gathering and only about ten of the normal group came, all arriving at different points throughout the day. Greg, being the generous host he always is, had a loose plans surrounding Saturday's wrestling event. The plans on Friday changed. We ended up eating some awesome Chinese food and sitting around drinking all night. Great conversations with great people. Life's finer pleasures.
Saturday morning came bright and early. My buddy Larry woke up shortly after me and we decided to take a walk around the town of Chevy Chase. A couple of hours, a few miles, and a coffee stop later we get back. We all get cleaned up and we all head to Dave and Buster's to play some video games. Honestly, I really didn't want to go, but decided what the hell. A couple of hours later it was back to Greg's to get ready for wrestling.
A short time later we all headed out to Baltimore. This was my first RoH TV tapings. I was a little hesitant at first, since they do four shows in one session. The show began I was in the front row banging away and having a blast. By the end of the night it ended up being one of the best wrestling events I've been to awhile. A fun night and wrestling card from top to bottom.
We all got back to Greg's late and chowed down on some leftover Chinese, had a few more drinks, and more conversation into the wee hours of the morning.
Sunday arrived too early, but we had to get back. Scott and me loaded back into the Jeep and headed back home. We took a route I've never driven before, through the handle of Maryland through West Virginia and into Ohio.
It was a long day. I got home, unpacked, and crashed. Work comes on Monday morning.
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