TooCool

Hey guys. I went to the Pond last night for RAW. My first ever WWE show live. I thought the crowd was okay, but it did definitely feel dead. Here are my news + notes if you're interested.

Heat tapings were scheduled to start at 5:30. I got to the Pond by 5:10 pm. I was waiting outside at the North Entrance, waiting to get in... (Line was slow, the security check.) There were LOTS of buses parked right next to the North Entrance of the Pond. For those who don't know, it's the other side, where they don't show on TV, if you ever see the Pond on TV.

Well, it was Big Show that popped out of the bus! He was already dressed in his tights and waved to the crowd who were just in awe at how big he was. He only gave little kids high-fives and wouldn't "hit" the hands of adults and teenagers. He was escorted by security into the "Valet" entrance.

Anyway! I got in my seat my 5:20 and not even HALF of the people showed up yet. The traffic around Los Angeles is absolutely horrible. Especially during a start time like this, 5:30. Rush hour, I'm sure you all know.

Crowd kept going "Whoooo!" to the Heat announcer, who waved at us. Heat tapings start and I'll skip this part for spoiler issues, unless you guys want it I'll post it later. But for the most part, the audience never really came for Heat. That or no one cared for Heat. But when it was about 5 minutes left til RAW. The arena started filling up.

Lillian Garcia told us to get ready with our signs and to stand and cheer. We did so, and it lasted like 10 seconds and she said, "Thank you Anaheim!" The crowd literally went "That was it?" Then we wait some more, and the King comes out first. Followed by JR. Lots of JR Chants, but it wasn't on TV yet. Then Lillian "warned" us that there will be loud fireworks to start the show. Last week's RAW promo aired on the Titantron, followed by the opening music... and then the fireworks. We're all on our feet and cheering. The fireworks were definitely loud, much louder than I expected. It was fun!

HHH came out first, the crowd cheered. Then out came John Cena. Boos from guys. Lots of cheers from women and children. In fact, I think the guys were outnumbered by women and children on the cheering/booing part. Lots of people in the crowd were definitely "generic fans". I heard comments like, "Wait... why are people booing Cena? He rocks!" Vince came out to boos and fans tried to chant assholes. Lots of kids were "forbidden" from their parents to chant that, therefore the chants came out weak.

Keep in mind that people are still filing in to their seats, and it was like.. 75% full at this time.

After the promo RVD came out to cheers. Not as loud as I thought. There were definitely RVD chants, until he told us to do "ECW" chants. Here's where it died. The people around me, hated ECW. I tried a ECW chant through the Fatal Four way, but I get comments like, "ECW sucks man, stop chanting it".

So yes. Bad idea for RVD to tell the crowd to chant ECW. Again, the people in the crowd were way too generic unfortuantely. Masters get knocked out of the ring, people ask. "Did he get eliminated?" Its sad, because even Lillian Garcia explained the rules of the match too. Oh, Haas got no reaction... no one knew him. I felt like a fool really, cheering for almost everyone because I was so proud to see them and I respected them so much.

The match was nice, and people cheered at RVDs moves. Then after that it was Carlito vs Matt Striker. There were a few shouts of "Striker Sucks!" But that was it. Not as much cheering for Carlito as I expected... and crowd popped when Eugene came out. He got Carlito DQed and some booed Carlito when he attacked Eugene.

Then comes the DEAD part. The movie promo. I gotta say... its nice that Kane is in a movie, yadda yadda. But don't over do it. They played the trailer, had Todd interview the 3 actors... the commercial break. And before the trailer, it was a commercial break again too.

I believe it was Foley/Edge after that. The crowd was puzzled because this match was advertised as a Main Event. I instantly knew it wasn't going to be a match. Edge came out to cheers, then suddenly boos... I think people just cheered for Edge because of that long drought of no action. Mick came out to cheers. Then he did his promo, about ECW again.. which killed the crowd. Tommy Dreamer came out. I popped especially hard, mostly because I was surprised like hell. Crowd was dead though, they didn't know him.

The match was ugly too. Foley's heel turn had no suspense to it. He got the barb wire bat. Hit Dreamer right away, handed it to Edge. The crowd was already like, "So when is Foley going to hit Edge?" It's as if they didn't know he turned heel yet. Lots of "ohhhs" to some of the shots hit on Dreamer. Not much reaction really. Then another commercial break. During this time, Dreamer was helped out by 3-4 refs. Ring crew came and changed the bloody mat in the ring.

Women's match is next and I was shocked when no one except the people ringside stood up. I stood up only to be told to sit down... WOW. No one knew who ran in... and that was that.

Big Show vs Kane was surprising a good wrestling match. Unfortunately the crowd didn't want that. People were saying "Is this Brokeback Giants?" People tried a boring chant. Kids didn't know if they should cheer for Kane or Show. There were definitely May 19 chants, not sure if it came out on TV or not. Crowd didn't react much until the chair shots.

Then it was the Main Event I believe... Spirit Squad got major heat, loudest boos I've heard all night. HBK came out to cheers, then Cena came out to cheers and boos.

During the match, there were "F*ck you Cena" chants. I'm pretty sure it's censored. But those chants didn't last too long because HBK would get cheered and such. Crowd was shocked that HBK/Cena lost. HHH came out to cheers and the Pedigree was hit. The guys cheered, but it sounded weak since no women and children cheered. I believe RAW ended like this.

Then Lillian Garcia told the crowd that after a "short intermission" there will be a WWE Championship Triple Threat Cage Match. Crowd popped. Here's where I got annoyed. During the intermission people were actually discussing if Edge or HHH would win it. I boo Cena, but come on. It's a dark match. Do you expect Cena to lose the belt?

So the guys were setting up the cage... Edge comes out to his intro and smoke and everything still. He cut a promo on the ramp. Telling fans to sit their asses down. (25% actually left to beat the traffic) He said he wasn't going to choke like Kobe did, which got lots of boos. He said he will win the WWE Title in the Cage. After that he and Lita went to the back. The Cage finally finished setting up after 10 minutes, and it looks SHORT in person. I thought, "that's 15 feet?" Anyway. Edge came out again to his intro. Slowly got in the cage... and then Cena came out. Guys who booed were all gone... or that they weren't booing anymore. Instead, Cena got a massive pop, way louder than when RAW was showing. HHH came out to his King of Kings song. (He came out to the old one when RAW started.)

HHH took his time getting in the ring, and the match finally started. HHH and Cena were going at it, with Edge sitting on the turnbuckle watching. After a while, Cena and HHH talked to each other and both threw Edge off the turnbuckle. HHH fought Edge while Cena watched. Then HHH told Cena to attack Edge, and he watched. They were basically just throwing Edge at the cage. Then HHH quickly tried to give Cena the Pedigree, which he countered. Then 3 men fought each other as if the match was real. Cena lifted HHH for a FU but Edge speared Cena, which was cool to see. HHH eventually try to put Cena in another Pedigree, which Cena countered again. Cena got HHH in the STFU for a long minute. Ref lifted HHH's hand twice before Edge finally got up to break the submission hold.

All 3 men are down, until HHH climbs the cage. Here's the messed up part that I didn't like. HHH got to the top of the cage. Edge and Cena were still down on the mat. Edge finally crawls toward the door, and by this time HHH was on the OUTSIDE of the cage hanging there. All he had to do was drop down and win. But he waited for Cena to put the STFU on Edge. Then Edge quickly taps in like.. a second. Before HHH finally drops down outside "thinking he won".

Cena retain, crowd cheer... HHH threw the ref at the cage on the outside and left first. Then Edge and Lita left. Cena stayed and cut a promo saying the "west coast is the best coast in the united states". All kinds of thanks and stuff to get cheers. Then he finally left, and Lillian Garcia thanked us for coming... and that was it!

Outside the arena, there was RVD near the Valet entrance. He was taking pictures with kids on his shoulders and stuff. But the mob outside got too huge and he went back in the arena to get away from us. He was nice though, while it lasted. Then I left, I didn't bother sticking around to see who else would come out. I should have though.. because I was stuck in the parking lot in my car for 30 minutes... bleh!

All in all. Great show to watch in person. I'd definitely go again, if they ever come out here to the L.A. area. Unfortunately it's rare that they come here. Only like twice a year, if we're lucky.

Hope you enjoyed the post!

P.S. Here's another reason why the crowd was so generic. Some asked "Where's Rey Mysterio? Where's Batista?" I had to say, "They're on Smackdown, not RAW".