Posted by tHe iNformer on 09:58:36 10/08/02:

WWE Charity Dinner
Plaze Ballroom Melbourne
August 9, 2002
7.30pm - 12.00am

Melbournes elite, Australian celebrities, major sponsors of the tour and a team from WWFDU and All Star Wresting (A.S.W), gathered last night in support of Challenge - A Cancer Support Network.

The event took place at the magnificent Plaza Ballroom in Collins Street and attracted well over 1000 invited guests.The hosts for the evening were wrestling fan, celebrity to the masses and co-host of The Panel - Santo, as well as his sidekick and Panel host - Tom Gleisner.

The WWE wrestlers and Stephanie McMahon, made there way into the ballroom at 8.15pm. Welcomed by Santo and Tom, each wrestler came out to his or her entrance music video - playing on the big screen over the stage. In attendance, were The Rock, HHH, Kurt Angle, Brock Lesner, Chris Jericho, Mark Henry, Edge, Stacey, Torrie, Billy Kidman and TEST. All the wrestlers lined up on stage, were then officially welcomed, before finally making their way to their individual seats.

To everyones suprise, each wrestler was seated at a differen't table. tHe iNformer was lucky enough to be seated between 'The Worlds Strongest Man' Mark Henry, HHH and Stacey to the side.

Autographs and photo opportunities were aplenty throughout the evening. Wresters would stand up, walk around and were happy to sign and pose for the 3 hours they were in attendance.

So what news went down you ask ?

HHH got himself into a bidding war during the auction and eventually bought himself a huge "Head" (as pronounced by the auctioneer) Hogan painting. Triple H had the crowd on their feet and cheering.

Another highlight was the auction of the HHH paining, in which Stephanie eventually came out trumps in a bidding war with a man seated behind our table. HHH actually stood up and yelled, waiving his hands for the bid to go higher. With Stephanie the winner, the attendees gave her a huge applause and HHH then made his way to the paining to sign it.

Throughout the evening, wrestlers would make their way to the stage to be intervied by Santo and Tom.

The HHH interview was nothing more than short, sharp and without facial expression. I've never seen an interviewee answer excellent, full and precise questions with "YEP", "NUP", "YES", "YES" and the thought provoking "NO". Probably the worst interview in all my years as a masked journalist.

A highlight for me was a chance to chat with both Kurt Angle and Chris Jerich. Kurt will definitly be at the next Olympics and is already preparing. He was absolutely open to everyone on the night and I caught him viewing the silent auction items at the rear of the ballroom.

I spoke with Chris and he is VERY unhappy that FOZZY are not playing, as was origionally planned. His eyes did light up when I mentioned the band and he obviously has a huge passion for the music industry.

The Rock was genorous with his time, though I felt it strange that he had his own personal bodyguard for the evening, as no other wrestler did.

HHH and Stephanie left together at about 11.15pm and were cheered as they made their way to the awaiting black stretch limo.

WWFDU took many photos, and we will post some as soon as possible, for this - the biggest week ever for Professional Wrestling in Australia.

Stay Tuned For More News !

(tHe iNformer)