...in Newcastle (UK), my first WWE show in about 22 years...
The last show I went to was Sheffield in 1992 I think, where I saw Bret Hart and Ric Flair.
The show was pretty good overall, and the crowd was into most of it. It's a little strange at times as you're so used to things like ad breaks and commentary, so it whips along quickly with match after match. They did have a couple of backstage clips that were shown on the big screen, but only to set up the following matches.
The business/merch promo is quite heavy, with the announcer plugging the Network, signed photo's, and Connor's Cure bracelets through the night. They even had Bo Dallas and Zack Ryder promoting the free month for new subscribers. (The Network is £9.99 in the UK as well, a bit of a con when the exchange is currently £1:$1.50)
Random thoughts:
- Most of the matches were a good length, 10+ minutes I think. The Bo Dallas / Zack Ryder was the only quick one.
- The ring railings were the old school metal ones, with the chairs 6-8ft further back, so the security had to get everyone seated during the matches, and then the crowds would rush forward to the railings before/after every match.
- They had a big screen to show the wrestlers entrance VT, but I was surprised they didn't use it for anything else, like a live feed camera of the match or something? The last rock concert I went to had several cameras (manned and stationary) which were fed onto the big screens. It might require a few more staff, but they already had a regular photographer taking photos constantly during the matches, so why not just give him a camera? It would be a nice feature to get live replays of the finishes, or footage from ringside of the crowd.
- Bo Dallas doesn't look in good shape at all, even my wife pointed out the gut on him.
- Luke Harper is very athletic for a big guy, he could really do something if they pushed him properly.
- Not many big spots, which is a good thing I suppose where the talent is concerned. The only major bumps were in an Orton/Rollins match, with a suplex from the turnbuckle, and then an RKO on Rollins as he came off the turnbuckle as well.
- Sitting near late-teen/early 20's marks is a pain the ass, all night long they were telling each other the name of every move performed, almost like their own commentary. But really loud. And every move. "A double axehandle!", "Beautiful enzeguri..." Really?
- They'd got a local footballer (soccer...!), Jermaine Defoe, to be Special Guest Timekeeper, which was pretty random. He actually plays for the local team's rivals, which meant he got booed. They didn't have a chair for him at first, so he had to crouch on the floor at the side of the ring until someone found him a seat.
- Most of the faces stuck around ringside for a minute after each match, signing autographs and getting pics with the fans. Orton in particular went around the ring, up both sides of the aisle and also up the sides of the entrance stage, high fiving the kids.
- The Orton/Rollins match finished with a DQ when J&J interfered, but Randy recovered and performed an impressive three quickfire RKO's on all three of them, finishing with the one on Rollins from the top. Nice finish and good to see live.
- The Ascension are garbage, the crowd just weren't into anything they did, not even booing them. Luckily they were facing the Lucha Dragons, so the crowd got behind the high-flyers.
Biggest pops of the night: Dean Ambrose, John Cena, Ryback, Randy Orton and of course Paige. Goldust got a good reaction from the crowd as well, which he seemed to appreciate.
It was good fun overall, next time we might even take the kids!
