Last night I was able to attend WWE Night at MCU Park, the ballpark of the Brooklyn Cyclones (The Single A Affiliate of the New York Mets). It was the first time I had been to the Park and it was a really great night for a baseball game. MCU park is a nice atmosphere for a game, located at the center of Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York.  This gives you the chance to can see some of the landmark roller coasters going right behind the game as it is going on.  WWE night was obviously in conjunction with the promotion of Summerslam week here in and around the New York City area. The event was presented by Tapout which is now being heralded as the official athletic apparel of WWE.

Photo Courtesy Of WWE

The game started with a celebrity softball game featuring local disc jockeys like WFAN’s Craig Carton & Z100’s Skeery Jones, newscasters Rosanna Scotto & Greg Kelly (who actually both had their bobble heads given out prior to the game), New York Mets legends John Franco & Edgardo Alfonzo and of course WWE Superstars Fandango & Intercontinetal Champion Ryback as well as WWE Divas Eva Marie & Charlotte.

 Following the game Eva Marie, Charlotte and Fandango (who was accompanied by Ryback) each threw out a ceremonial first pitches and there were giveaways from both WWE and Tapout throughout the night.  There were even 8 tickets to the, impossible to come by, sold out Summerslam event on Sunday, given out at random to fans who attended the event.  There was also autograph signings with the WWE superstars and MCU Park was smart to separate out the Superstars and Divas so that there were more opportunities for the fans to meet the Superstars and Divas.  At one side of the park Ryback and Charlotte greeted fans while Fandango and Eva Marie signed for everyone else.  Here are some quick observations from the event in general…

• Interesting to note that Ryback did not participate in any of the baseball related activities.  Ryback did not play in the softball game and did not throw out a first pitch like the rest of his peers.  I’d assume that this is likely due to Ryback having a big match on Sunday and also recently recovering from his staph infection on his knee.  That said, it was great to see the big guy and the people really seemed most excited to see him as their was a fear that his injury would hold him out of the event.  Their were many fans who lined up on the Ryback/Charlotte line from the second they entered the park. 
• Charlotte is someone who is really gaining a following especially from her father, “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair.  There was a big “wooo” chants every time she came to the plate.  This was nice to see and a sign, to me at least, that the Divas Revolution continues to gain a following throughout WWE.
• Eva Marie was booed quite heavily at times by WWE fans throughout the event.  I’m a firm believer that when you pay your money to go to a WWE live event, you should be able to cheer or boo whomever you’d like.  However, this was a charity event.  This was not the time or place for fans to boo Eva Marie, or anyone for that matter.
• It has to be stated that a lot of fans spent upwards of 2 hours waiting on line to meet the superstars and walked away with nothing.  The falls on the shoulders of the event planners.  It’s completely acceptable to cut off a line once you get to 100 people and I know the event planners wanted as many fans to meet the superstars and divas but when you allow people to get on line, they expect to get autographs.  This also led to people getting upset with the Superstars and Divas for leaving prior to the fans getting to meet them but it really isn’t their fault.  At the end of the day the Superstars and Divas only signed up for a limited amount of time and couldn’t sign for the never ending line of people that were allowed to line up.  What they could have also done was separate each and every one of the Divas and Superstars to create four lines and more opportunities for people to meet the Superstars and Divas. 
• At the end of the game, MCU Park donated $5,000 to the New York Police and Fire Widows and Childrens Benefit Fund.  A really classy event all around and it was for a really worthy cause.

In closing, this was a great start to Summerslam week.  It reminded me of those really old school WWE softball games that you would see clips of during the 1990s.  It was a fun night at the park and it was a great deal to boot.  MCU Park does this promotion called “WayBack Wednesdays” in which tickets at only $10.  This means that for $10 you got admission for the celebrity softball game, autograph signings with the WWE Superstars and Divas and admission into the regularly scheduled Brooklyn Cyclones game after that.  It doesn’t get much better than that.

That’s going to do it for me but I actually just returned from the Sam Roberts Live Podcast Event In New York City this evening and will have coverage for all of you upcoming.  Until then be sure to hit subscribe so that you can get all of the Summerslam coverage on the site all week.