Posted by tHe iNformer on 20:03:27 07/08/02:

Wrestling With The Lot
By NUI TE KOHA
07 August 2002

WRESTLEMANIA hits Melbourne today with the superstars to get five star treatment.

Thirty performers from the World Wrestling Entertainment stable will have round-the-clock bodyguards and enjoy private training and dining during their four-day stay.
Wrestler-turned-movie star The Rock, believed to be flying to Australia aboard a private jet, has a personal chef to prepare six daily meals that include two filets mignon, a raw fish feast and protein shakes.

The WWE's Global Warning tour, with a 70-plus production crew, is very expensive to stage.

Best access to the WWE stars for the next three days will cost diehard fans about $1325.

"This is really a kick-off event for a bigger presence in Australia," said WWE's live events strategist, Roger Marment.

"It will really be a three-day event, not just coming in and leaving.

"We will spend more face time with the fans because that is what they want."

WWE-related events include Fan Frenzy: eight two-hour meet-the-stars sessions at the Crown Showroom tomorrow and Friday, costing $45.

From there, the WWE begins flexing some serious money-making muscle.

The Rock, Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Triple H are guests at a $250-a-seat black-tie charity dinner for the Challenge Cancer Support Network at the Plaza Ballroom on Friday.

Then, $280 will buy select fans access to a pre-show hospitality function at Colonial Stadium on Saturday.

Five WWE stars will be present and fans will receive a buffet meal, free drinks, a showbag and Russell Gilbert jokes.

Fans are entitled to one autograph per star but stars warn they will not pose for personal happy snaps.

The main event, Global Warning, at Colonial Stadium on Saturday night, has sold out.

Seats cost between $750 for ringside to $29.95 for back of the house.

Five inner-city bars and clubs have been appointed as WWE "after-hours hubs".

Sources close to the tour say the demands made by the multi-billion-dollar, stock exchange-listed WWE were polite but firm.

They include first and business-class travel, a five star hotel, 24 hour security by plain clothes bodyguards, a list of local gyms and a private dining room.

The inner-city hotel hosting the WWE ordered extra gym equipment and closed off a restaurant as a private dining room.

The Rock, real name Dwayne Johnson, is undoubtedly the superstar of the tour, with the hit movie Scorpion King under his belt and four new films in the works.

A star in the $15 million a movie league, The Rock starts shooting Helldorado, with Christopher Walken, in late September.

Other projects include a biopic on the Hawaiian king Kamehameha, a spy film and a bounty hunter role in an action comedy.

WWE boss Vince McMahon is also keen to set up WWE recruitment camps in Australia.

"We would like to find wrestling stars from around the world because that is what will help drive our expansion," he said.

(tHe iNformer/ News Limited)