Colt Cabana has been a wrestling fan since he was three years old. His earliest memory of watching wrestling was when Andre the Giant was attacked by Big John Studd and Ken Patera and the two villains cut the French grappler’s hair. Years later Cabana went on to become a wrestler and a podcast trailblazer, but did you know he has had his own WrestleMania moment?
Like many fans who couldn’t attend some of the first few WrestleManias live or at a closed circuit location the young Cabana rented WrestleMania II from the video store. “We were waiting for it for months and we were finally able to rent it,” said Cabana at an Empire State Wrestling show in the summer of 2014.
“So we rented it and I remember when we started watching it, it was light outside and by the time [King Kong] Bundy and [Hulk] Hogan came up it was dark outside. It was a long show and, boy, did I watch every single second of it.”
Watching WrestleMania as a fan is the equivalent of a football fan watching the Super Bowl. While many people have that common bond of watching the event not many people can say they were a part of a WrestleMania match. At 17 years old Colt Cabana made his mark on March 23, 1997 at WrestleMania 13.
“I have been a huge fan of wrestling forever. Whenever wrestling would come to the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago my father would take me,” said Cabana. “By the time I was 17, 1997, WrestleMania 13, I was able to drive so it was a huge benefit. So my friend and I were able to get seventh row, I’d say ninth seat in from the aisle to WrestleMania 13.”
Cabana was very excited to be at his first WrestleMania and his enthusiasm was unrestrained. “What would happen is since we were so excited whenever anyone would come down the aisle we would run past everybody to get to the aisle,” recalled Cabana. “That was our thing. We wanted to be interactive and see the wrestlers and get on camera.”
The Nation of Domination, comprised of Faarooq, Crush and Savio Vega, battled The Legion of Doom, Hawk and Animal, with their partner Ahmed Johnson in a Chicago street fight. “With the Chicago street fight, the Legion of Doom and Ahmed Johnson verses the Nation of Domination went everywhere,” said Cabana. “When they made their way to the aisle we saw an opportunity and made our way to the aisle. Then they came over so I started throwing some punches trying to get in the action.”
This nugget of WrestleMania history remained buried for many years. “Nobody would have known about it had [C.M.] Punk not outed me on the 100th episode of my podcast [The Art of Wrestling],” said Cabana. “I was okay about it and I had told people about over the years. It was funny especially before YouTube, I would say ‘If you have WrestleMania 13 pop it in and check it out.’ I enjoy it because I put it out there.”
Why would Cabana risk getting thrown out of the biggest wrestling event of the year? “I was a hectic fan. I wanted to be part of the action,” said Cabana. “I knew it wasn’t going to hurt him; Road Warrior Hawk was huge. I was just getting into it. I was part of Chicago and I wanted to be part of the street fight and so I just dove right in. I didn’t think a second of it. Now as a performer myself I would hate that kind of fan.”
Recently his WrestleMania moment came full circle when he interviewed Jamie Dundee for his podcast. Dundee had been a part of the entourage of the Nation of Domination at WrestleMania 13.
“I did a podcast with Jamie Dundee and he had the chair from WrestleMania 13 and he went back and had all the wrestlers sign it,” said Cabana. “I go, ‘Do you want me to sign this?’ He says, ‘Why?” I said, ‘I was in the match.’ And he goes, ‘What are you talking about?’ I told him. Jamie Dundee was a part of the match as one of the rappers for the Nation of Domination and he loved it so much he had me sign the thing.”
Perhaps Colt Cabana was not listed on the card of WrestleMania 13, but he made an impact that has been remembered many years later. Not all WrestleMania memories are made in the ring.
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