I saw my first wrestling match 23 years ago when my grandmother took me to the Florida Sun Dome in 1978. Since then, I have seen thousands of matches, hundreds of pay-per-views – and dozens of live shows. I have watched wrestling, commentated wrestling, filmed wrestling – and even participated in wrestling when I was in a battle Royale – obviously, I didn’t win. But despite all of those things, there is one thing that I used to be – but am not anymore. The one thing that made me a member of this business – but the one thing that I have not been for a very long time – until today – for today – I am a fan again.

Today, I was the fan that I was when I had custom made wallpaper of hundreds of wrestling posters perfectly covering my walls. Today, I was that little boy that made sure he was in front of the television every Saturday morning without fail. Today, I was the kid that screamed in excitement for hours when his fan letter was printed in the April/May 1985 edition of the WWF Magazine – and today – I am sitting in front of my television watching WrestleMania X7 with the same enthusiasm I had when I watched WrestleMania 2.

Tonight – I am a fan again. Tonight, I forgot that I was the host of a TV show about wrestling – which believe me diffuses your excitement about watching it – because why watch it on TV when you can go in the locker room? But tonight – I am a fan again. I am a fan because this year’s WrestleMania was the first one that I have looked forward to in a very long time. The reason for my anticipation for this year’s WrestleMania is for a number of reasons.

The first and most obvious reason for my excitement surrounding this year’s WrestleMania is the fact that this is the first WrestleMania where you saw and heard the letters WCW. No matter what the main event, this year’s WrestleMania defines true victory. In his own words, Vince McMahon “grabbed the competition by the throat and squeezed the life out of them” and turned his competition from just that to a conglomerate of his billion dollar corporation – and single-handedly held the fate of each and every wrestler that at one time left him for the “other Monday night show” as he said, “in the palm of his hand.” – talk about the ultimate finishing maneuver.

Another reason that this year’s WrestleMania is truly the granddaddy of them all is that both the owner and the superstars of the ECW are involved in this year’s WrestleMania. The owner of the ECW is commentating WrestleMania with a story line involving the WCW. Talk about your three way dance.

But the most obvious reason for the hype surrounding WrestleMania X7 is because the two biggest names in the business today clashed in the main event of the biggest pay-per-view of the year – the Super Bowl of wrestling if you will. And this year’s main event is the equivalent of taking the fired up fans who saw Hulk Hogan get pinned by the Ultimate Warrior and dousing them in kerosene. Tonight – the fans got to see “The Most Electrifying Man In Sports Entertainment Today” meet “The Toughest SOB In The WWF”. Talk about the biggest match of the year – and talk about my luck in picking this match to decide to become a fan again.

Being a fan of wrestling again is a great feeling. To rise to your feet and cheer when someone is pinned, or shout when a shocking moment occurs – like seeing a limousine pull up to WrestleMania with a WCW logo on the license plate, or root for one opponent over the other – or to sit in a room with good friends and enjoy the sport for what it is – a demonstration of physical endurance of Olympic proportions, a theatrical performance of Oscar like stature – and at one point a daily part of my life for the past 23 years.

There is one drawback about tonight – this is the first WrestleMania in history without the biggest fan of them all. The person that has watched the most amount of wrestling with me – and the person that went from my commentating partner when we talked to a TV screen at home to the person that commentated with me when we talked to a live audience and a TV camera – and someone who I am a very big fan of – this is the first WrestleMania without Bradd Beck.

If I think of ten pay-per-views that I have seen in my life – Bradd watched nine of them with me. But besides watching wrestling with me – he was my co-host years before I had Ring Fever. So while I am a fan again – I can never be a fan with Bradd again. But if I know him – I’m here at home and he is there commentating with Gorilla Monsoon – I just wish he was here with me.

So if you’ll excuse me – I’m going to go back when wrestling was an everyday obsession – I am going to return to the time in my life when the letters WWF came out of my mouth at least a dozen times each day – if only for a moment – and I am going to enjoy the second half of the first WWF pay-per-view I have looked forward to in a very long time – once again as its biggest fan.

Thanks grandma. I love you.