I stopped in here last night to check out WrestlePro AK, an independent wrestling circuit that was…read morein town for a show last night at 7PM. I have to be honest. I was a big fan of the WWF/WWE in the 1980's-mid 2000's and haven't followed wrestling at all since a lot of the big names from that era retired. However, there was a meet and greet being held in the arena at 5PM prior to the show and it included one of the biggest stars from the Federation Era: Bret "The Hitman" Hart! I don't want to deviate from the main reason for this review which is for the venue itself. When I arrived at 4:30PM, there was a small line gathered in front of a closed sliding door entrance. I realized that they didn't open the entrances to the arena until the actual event starts. The only problem with this arrangement was that this was located at the ticket stand which had a very small space past the main entrance. Pretty soon, a lot of people started to show up and the line started snaking around this small room filling it to capacity. The least building management could do was to open the sliding doors and have everyone stand in line right by the meet and greet area. The line and the space in the ticket lobby became so cramped that had they been late to open the doors at 5, people would've been forced to stand in line outside in the freezing cold. Fortunately, that didn't happen and the sliding doors were opened before things got worse. There was also some confusion with employees accepting tickets for the event. Those that paid for the event online were instructed to print out their transaction via PayPal and present it to the ticket takers. At first, some of the fans were turned away before several people explained what the wrestling promotion instructed online customers to do once they arrived. This was a communication issue that could've easily been prevented between the management and the promoters. Because of this error, people that paid for only the meet and greet were waved in without question. That is an unfortunate loss of money for the business promoting this event. The meet and greet consisted of long rectangular tables where the wrestlers performing that night sat for autographs and photo ops. I came to see Bret Hart, but he was nowhere to be found at the tables by the ticket booths which initially caused some confusion with a lot of people wondering where he was at. None of the employees gave any information as to where he was at and people were forced to wander the hallways until they saw the rest of the performers down on the main level of the arena. Once I got to the main level, things got a lot better for everyone and myself. Everyone was excited to see some of the main event wrestlers, but most of all two WWE Hall of Famers seated at the far end: Animal from the legendary tag team Legion of Doom and the Hitman. Bret Hart himself was very friendly and laid back. It was an awesome moment to shake hands, sign autographs, and take pictures with a living legend which easily made the problematic wait well worth it.

A great arena I'm sure... if you're coming to see a sport event or something on a smaller scale…read morelike a comedy show perhaps? I do not recommend this if you're coming to see Cirque du Soleil. This arena just does not do it justice. Where to start? The people who greet you are so strict and ademant about shutting off your cellphone that they forget to smile or even say welcome. Instead it's did you shut off your cellphone? To then pass another person "is your phone shut off?!"......"YES it's shut off!" I GET IT, I GET IT. What a hassle, annoying and truly just not the first impression a place wants to set for a show by the infamous cirque du soleil. A word about the layout. It was absolutely not conducive to a show that everyone can enjoy. Unless you're in the small section that faces the stage then you will not get a great view of anything that's going on. This show was clearly meant to be enjoyed by the audience directly facing the stage. Then they seat you so high that all you can really admire is all the metal above the stage and then the performers just look tiny. And this my fellow yelpers is what $77 will get you. It's that or pay $195 from what I heard from others for still what might just end up being a seat with a side view of the show. No thank you. This show would've been reasonable at $40 or $50. Ticket master doesn't even let you see a seating map. Unless you know the arena by heart, then you really don't know what a good seat is going to be. So about the show: There are some beautiful costumes but let's just say when it comes to stunts and being impressed, Vegas has spoiled me rotten. The first half of the show was alot of dancing and prancing and a few tricks but I was not thrilled. The second half was more entertaining, but the first half of the show had numbed me to a bore that I was only mildly amused the second half. I guess I expected more people to be suspended in the air and all sorts of crazy things but the show stayed very close to the ground. Again, the arena doesn't allow for much. Throughout the show there's this orb that looms over the stage. What is the purpose of it? I don't know but it was distracting. Some of the acrobats would get on it but just stand on it and that's about it. It was just so distracting and took away from the rest of the show. This experience could've been so much better but the show just didn't make sense and was not what I expected. If you'd like to enjoy cirque du soleil I recommend it in Vegas or other established locations. Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful but only a few acts caught my eye. Overall this reminded me more of a Broadway show where you have some aerial stunts but everything is mostly happening on the floor and there's dancing and prancing in colorful costumes. In the mean time, enjoy the arena for sports and such. It's not a bad place at all.....just does not deliver the caliber of performance I've been to.