Live Fan Report From Last Night’s Monday Night Raw

Credit Dan Strauss and prowrestling.net:

There were a few tarped off sections in the upper deck on the hard camera side. Otherwise, the available sections seemed pretty full. There were quite a few loud Brock Lesnar chants in his home market, and many of us still remember him wrestling at the University of Minnesota.

The best sign I could see said “Eat. Sleep. Skip Show. Repeat.” I think even some of the biggest Lesnar fans (even myself) think WWE and Lesnar have poorly managed his situation. It’s hard to blame the “individual contractor” (Lesnar) as he did what most Americans do and sought out the best deal for the most money that worked out for him. The problem is his absence, both physical and storyline, have diminished his defeat of The Streak and his possession of the WWE Title. It also pokes big, obvious holes in storylines. If you were the guest Raw GM, whom everyone seems to have to listen to, wouldn’t you just book a Lesnar match?

Anyway a very, very surprisingly good show. My expectations were extremely low as historically I think WWE chalks the Christmas week episode up to the fact that everyone is busy and no one watches. My family didn’t even buy tickets until Hulk Hogan was advertised and we realized it could be our last chance to see him in person (thanks to Dot Net being spot on with breaking news). Having said all that, this was a thoroughly entertaining show that greatly exceeded expectations.

Most readers saw the show so I’m not going to go through matches or anything, I just want to confirm the 3-4 hour marathon that everyone else talks about. The drag, the deflation, it’s real people. My brothers and I have been huge wrestling fans/marks our whole lives. We love this stuff. Yet during the Roman Reigns vs. Big Show match, we looked around the place and there was just a down period. It was hilarious because we all were fully aware of our deflation, we just couldn’t muster up the energy as we needed a break. I think WWE should either go back to two-hour Raw or modify the way they conduct their three-hour shows but that’s a whole different story.

What the three-hour shows do allow for is the three great matches we saw last night. Hats off to John Cena, Seth Rollins, Luke Harper, Dolph Ziggler, Dean Ambrose, and Bray Wyatt for putting on unbelievable efforts.

During the main event I noticed a fan on the side the hard camera have his sign taken. An employee (don’t know if it was WWE or arena employee) hopped the railing into the crowd, getting my interest. I watched him bend slightly at the waist and kind of jog/sneak over to the fan like he was sneaking up on an animal or something. He then ran by the fan and just yanked the sign away. I never got to see what the sign said but the employee was showing several other employees as well.

After the show went off the air, Bray Wyatt sold everything pretty well by needing the referee to physically help him to the back. Ambrose ran back, brought Wyatt back out and placed him on a table. Ambrose then climbed the ladder and jumped onto Wyatt and through the table.

Everyone seems to do the “biggest pops/most heat” so I want to do a different list from a live audience perspective. Here’s the Top 5 list from an effort standpoint:

1-2. (Tie) Ziggler and Ambrose. From a fan standpoint I hope at the end of the day these two can look back and be pleased that they gave it their all because I don’t think they held anything back.

3. John Cena. This may cause hate on me, which is fine. As many Dot Net staffers have pointed out, John Cena can really work a good match with people. Rollins was in control of most of this match and Cena sells and bumps like a true pro.

4. Damien Sandow. On TV I’ve always thought his “stunt-double” act was cute and/or campy. Seeing it live I did me some LOL. He works so hard and bumps on the outside floor (obviously harder than the mat) just to get his gimmick over. Hilarious.

5. WWE live event crew. These guys never get enough credit. I personally feel that WWE sound/screen/ring crew/anyone else running around making stuff happen is just as good if not better than any major sports production.