But the thing that really stood out about this night was that when I opened my bag to take out my wrestling gear, I realized I had forgotten my "King" jacket! I had left my jacket that I needed to wear during my personal appearance in New York, and to all the events in Australia, at home! So now, instead of leaving from Little Rock, I was going to have to drive all the way back to Memphis, get my jacket, and then leave from there. So, after the show, I headed back to Memphis in my P.T. Cruiser (which I love!) A two and a half hour drive that was going to put me in Memphis at around 2am and then I was going to have to leave my house at 4am to catch my flight to New York. That was bad enough, but things got worse in a hurry. I was driving along and making good time and was actually about 50 miles from Memphis when all of a sudden I saw a tire...still on the rim, laying in the middle of the Interstate right in my lane. There was no time to swerve, so I hit the tire and it was like hitting another car! My car went over the tire, but as it did, the rim of the tire busted the bottom of my radiator out! I pulled over and got out and looked and immediately realized all the water was pouring out of my radiator on to the ground. I was lucky to make it to a rest area about a mile away before my car completely overheated. To make a long story short, my car had to be towed in, I had to call someone from Memphis to come all the way out and pick me up and take me back to Memphis, and I finally got to my house at 4am, just in time to pick up my jacket and walk back out the door and go to the airport!
I flew to New York and arrived at 11:30am where I was picked up and taken to an appearance for Acclaim Video, called "Play Date". For a couple of hours, I stood and talked to toy buyers about the new "Legends Of Wrestling" video game from Acclaim. It is, by the way, a really great new game that is going to be in stores by this Christmas. There is more about the game elsewhere on my site right now.
After the appearance for Acclaim, I was taken back to JFK Airport in New York City to catch my next flight of the day. At 5:30pm my plane took off for Los Angeles. I flew for 6 hours, then landed in L.A. got off that plane and got right on another flight, and flew for 16 hours to Sydney, Australia. When I finally landed in Sydney, I got off that plane and got right on another plane and flew for 4 more hours across the entire country of Australia, to Perth. All in all, it took me about 28 hours of flying to get here, but it has been worth it. After I got a little rest it has been all good! We have done shows in Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Wollongong, and now we are set to do a PPV in Sydney tonight that will be broadcast all across Australia and New Zealand. Tomorrow we will do a show in Melbourne and then Sunday we will be in New Castle. When I leave here on Monday morning, I fly back to Los Angeles, then connect to Las Vegas to make another appearance for Acclaim Video on the 30th of October. Then I will finally fly back to Memphis on Halloween and get home at about 4pm.....whew!! what a schedule!!
My appearance in Las Vegas for Acclaim is going to bring back some memories, because it is at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino. That is where, September 29th a year ago, Stacy and I got married. It is still hard to believe that after being together for 12 years, we couldn't stay married for one year. And, speaking of Stacy, there is really nothing new to report. We are still trying to come to some sort of settlement and get the divorce finalized without having to go through a bitter court fight. I hope that happens soon, but who knows....these things have a way of dragging on and on.
Being here in Australia, such a beautiful place, seeing all sorts of amazing sights for the first time, really makes me realize how much I miss having someone to share things like this with. It would be great to have someone here to experience all of this neat stuff with. Looking at the sights, shopping in all the stores, going into all the restaurants, is not nearly as fun as it could be when you have to do them by yourself. As nice as Australia is, I am sad to be here by myself. I am really looking forward to meeting someone that will want to spend some time with me and experience some of the neat stuff that I get to see on my travels. I am sure that will happen someday, but until it does, it is tough being alone. My hat, or crown, is off to all of you people that have to, or want to live by yourself....I don't know how you do it! Everyone says that staying busy helps keep your mind off being lonely....well, I have certainly been staying busy. I can't say that it completely takes my mind off of it, but it does help.
November is shaping up to be just as busy for me as October was. I am booked to wrestle several dates in November in Maryland. I will give the exact dates and locations in my next update that will be coming soon, I promise. Also in November, I have signed to participate in a TV taping at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. This has the potential of turning into something very big in the wrestling world. A lot of big names are going to be involved, including Hulk Hogan, Jimmy Hart, Sting, and a host of others. I really wish another wrestling organization could get off the ground. I think it would benefit everyone, including the WWF. It is healthy to have competition, and I think Vince McMahon would be the first to admit that. Speaking of Vince, I had my first face to face meeting with him when the WWF came to Memphis to do Smackdown a few weeks ago. It was a very pleasant meeting. As a matter of fact, it was great to see everyone that I hadn't seen since last February. Everyone went out of their way to make me feel welcome and I really enjoyed being back among my old friends and co-workers for an afternoon. Vince and I, along with J.R. had a chance to speak at length and clear the air about things, and it really made me feel good when Vince said to me, "King, You know this is your home, and you're always welcome here, but we know you want to get your personal life in order, and when you get that done, we'll talk again." Hearing that from Vince McMahon is reassuring, to say the least. I would like to think that somewhere in the future I can once again work with the WWF. I think I still have a lot to offer the WWF and can help make their shows even more entertaining than they already are. Well, I will get back on the computer in a few days and continue this update. If you people only knew what a lousy typer I am, you would understand why these things are so few and far between. It almost takes me as long to type these as it does to fly to Australia! Stay tuned.....