?Reported by Mike Siciliano of WrestleView.com

On Thursday, February 24, 2005 at 9:44 PM EST

Disclaimer: This column is a touch personal, but I guarantee you, when the smoke clears, it's about pro wrestling, specifically, the WWE. I hope you take the time to check it out. I hope it makes you think.

Being a father of three young boys, one of the things that I remember from my childhood that always seemed to be lacking was a 'glimpse' of the high life. Some assemblance of my ordinary, simple life reaching toward a goal that just seemed so insurmountable, yet, there I was, on the precipice of stardom. Meeting a celebrity of any type would be such a feat. Unfortunately, my parents were not the autograph type, so I assumed, by default, neither was I.

When I began my descent in to madness concerning pro wrestling, and specifically, WWE, my family went with me. And we went for it all. Figures, CDs, DVDs, the works, pretty much everything under the sun except for live events, and if you ask me why no on live events, three small children under the age of 12, 2 of them with significant medical histories, need we say more?

So, here is this family of five, buying action figures by the triple, and sometime, quadruple, and it's insane. Yet, I saw an opportunity to take it to the next level. I saw through the grapevine a store near my hometown hosting Shane "Hurricane" Helms for an autograph session. At the time, my kids were HUGE Hurricane fans. I mean, huge. My wife made home-made capes, they wore the Hurricane tee shirts, cruiserweight title belts, you name it. So, we decked them all out in their regalia, and off we went to the Sunrise Mall in Massapequa, New York, to the little store (not so little), known as New York Sports Works, where Hurricane is signing autographs.

(Cheap plug = NY Sports Works website - Click here.)

Ok, we go to see Hurricane, and I got no idea what to expect, but, low and behold, Hurricane turns out to be a gentleman to the last, loving the tribute from my kids, taking pictures with them, pip pip and the whole schmere. Well, we got hooked. My family became hooked. Here is a celebrity, a genuine celebrity, however well known or not he is, and he's actually human! He's laughing, being cordial, and I'll be damned, being a nice guy. Where do you see that now a days in any of facet of famous people?

So, like I said, our quest had begun. Since then, we have had the fortunate experiences of meeting such WWE stars as Matt Hardy, Version 1, Edge, Jackie Gayda, Lilian Garcia, Mr. Thursday Night, Rob Van Dam, Rey Mysterio, Victoria, Randy Orton, Dawn Marie, Kurt Angle, Hilbilly Jim, Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit, and yes, even Evolution members Triple H and Ric Flair. But, that wasn't the end of it, no, my wife luckily got access to the Wrestlemania 20 press conference last year with my son, Jonathan, who has significant medical concerns, and from that access, she has pictures of Jonathan with Goldberg, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Eddie Guerrero, with my son holding the WWE championship.

Now, quickly, before I continue, on Goldberg. Goldberg has gotten a bad reputation for scuttlebutt somewhere, but I want to say this. Goldberg, when he saw my wife and child, made an absolute beeline to see them, and stayed with them for not 1, but 3 pictures, probably a good 5 to 10 minutes. Not to mention the fact that I wrote Goldberg's website, totally out of the blue, and told him about my son, and in his response, I received not one, but seven autographed promo pictures, 3 of them personally autographed to me, my son Jon, and his doctors. I just recently saw one of his doctors that Goldberg signed a picture for. This neurosurgeon told me that this picture of Goldberg in his office is one of his prize possessions, and he constantly gets comments on it. Not too bad for someone who is always scoffed at for being a self-centered lowlife.

Ok, back to the lecture at hand. One individual in our quest deserves a special nod, and that is the current #1 contender for the WWE championship, John Cena. We've been fortunate to meet John not once, but on four separate occasions. Each and every time, John has been nothing short of a prince. The last time out, I kid you not, he remembered my family, and that, is no small feat for someone who probably signs upwards of 1000 autographs per session.

Well, I told you all about this quest because it continued tonight. Tonight, amongst the snowfall of middle Long Island, I was given the pleasure of meeting the Intercontinental champion, Shelton Benjamin, and the Diva Search winner, Christy Hemme.

Ok. Now, I am a red blooded American Male, I am married, and I am gonna get beaten for saying this, but hell, I'll take the pounding. Damn, Christy is one hot woman. There is no way on the face of the planet that I could describe to you how Christy looked, except to say that there were literally men all around me with their jaws simultaneously dropping to the floor when they hit the table to meet the newest Raw Diva.

Meeting da champ was again, a unique experience. Shelton seemed to be a lot more shy than the rest of the superstars we have met during our quest, but he did take to a big toothy smile when I mentioned to him how I enjoyed so much his exterior design work on Snitsky's face with that chair shot last monday night on Raw. He grinned from ear to ear, and I could tell he was grateful that people were recognizing his work in the ring. I certainly am a major league Shelton Benjamin fan, and I hope to have the pleasure of meeting da champ again. In the meantime, I can soak in the fact that I own a replica Intercontinental title belt with signatures from Edge, Shelton Benjamin, and Randy Orton on it. Not too bad, eh? Should I ebay that sucker?

Anyone on the greater Long Island area should get out to Massapequa and check out this joint. More stars are coming. I won't go in to details, just check the site where I put the cheap plug. Bottom line here is this, ladies and gentlemen. WWE may be wallowing in its own sea of mediocrity when it comes to creative programming. WWE may be wallowing in its own sea of political jargon with one of its champions. However, the people that make WWE, the superstars of the company, understand and respect the individuals that keep them doing what they do, day in day out, the individuals that help them receive their paychecks, that being the fans. Each and every one of the superstars we met during our quest has been nothing short of sensational. I would, if you have small children looking for a star to reach for, highly recommend meeting these talented performers whenever you can.

Next time out for me will be a review and results from UXW GENESIS, my first ever attempt at an independent wrestling show. I am almost a little bit nervous about it, so, I'll see you guys next week with thoughts from the Palace.

Feel free to drop me a line to talk about this at my email address, PALACE@WRESTLEVIEW.COM.

Till next we meet, KIMOSABE, SUMO!??!?