WWE gives Florida family a 'historical' gift

WWE gives Florida family a 'historical' gift

TAMPA, Fla. -- For the Scott family, attending Raw's historical 800th episode celebration at ringside from Tampa's St. Pete Times Forum was a testament to everything good about life.

"I almost cried when I heard we were going to tonight's show. I never cry," said Shannon Scott. "Seeing my kids smile means more than anything. That's all I care about."

Their joy was challenged earlier this year when their house in Indiana burned to the ground. (WATCH My FOX 13's report

"We lost everything. We lived in a travel trailer. It was too cold in the winter, so we decided to move to Bradenton, Fla., and enroll the kids in school," Scott said. "Our kids missed out on Christmas, their birthdays, everything, so to make up for it I decided to take the kids to WrestleMania XXIV. So, I went online and bought tickets."

On March 30, what was supposed to have been a merry occasion under the Orlando sun inside the Citrus Bowl with nearly 80,000 screaming fans, turned cloudy. The Scotts discovered the pitfalls of shopping on the Web at unofficial sites. After paying nearly than $3,000 for WrestleMania tickets, the Scotts were told at the box office their tickets were invalid, and they had been sold fraudulent tickets.

"For me, the hardest part was watching the disappointment on my kids' faces," described Jackie. "We had to take it one day at a time. At times, it was difficult to do so, but I had to, especially for my family."

Angry, Shannon and Jackie contacted Tampa's local station My FOX 13, whose sister station, MyNetwork TV 38, airs Friday Night SmackDown. FOX contacted WWE's Stamford headquarters to tell the family's story. Upon receiving the news, WWE executives acted swiftly and sent the Scotts tickets for front row seats to Monday Night Raw's 800th episode celebration, tons of WWE merchandise and arranged meet and greets with WWE Superstars. (Get the gear at WWE Shop)

"We weren't going to disappoint this family. Without the fans there's no WWE. We wanted to make sure this family was taken care of and felt special," explained Bret Hart, WWE's Senior Vice President, Live Events. "It's disappointing that the fans couldn't watch WrestleMania XXIV. These were little kids and they were all let down. For someone to sell them tickets that were worthless, makes me angry."

WrestleMania 25 tickets are on sale now. Hart offered some advice for the WWE Universe anticipating on attending the live spectacular in Houston April 5. (Get WrestleMania 25 tickets)

"Always buy your tickets from a reputable source -- Ticketmaster or the box office. Don't go to the brokers. Don't go to scalpers. It's a crapshoot if you try to buy tickets from the street. Don't go that route. There are a lot of people trying to sell tickets and a lot of people get burned," Hart expressed.

Although the Scotts didn't get to see entertainment's biggest spectacle, WrestleMania, the kids were thrilled to witness history -- the 800th episode celebration of Monday Night Raw. (WATCH Raw's 800th episode)

"Now, it's OK that we didn't get to go to WrestleMania XXIV. It's amazing, because we can say we got to go to Monday Night Raw. It's awesome," said Josh, 12.  

Josh's brother, TJ, echoed his reactions to seeing Raw live from ringside.

"I'm as excited as I've ever been," the 16-year-old said with a smile. "It's just as exciting to know that I was coming here to see Raw. It's pretty cool."

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