The Best & Worst Stories Of Attending WWE Events

Hi, I’m Justin Watry. You may remember me from such classic columns as March 2012’s “WWE WrestleMania 28: Sheamus Should Defeat Daniel Bryan in Less Than a Minute” and October 2015’s “WWE NXT: Bobby Roode, You’re Next.”

Reader Feedback

mjh: Or – if you are THAT smart maybe you’ll realize that Watry’s column posts on Tuesday mornings and that is when it is a part of the main wrestling page. So if you don’t want to read him then Tuesday mornings on 411wrestling may not be your day. It is a pattern that is at least a year old by now I would think…..

Pretty much. I’m not home or online Monday nights/Tuesday mornings, so I actually have no idea exactly when my column is posted. Usually check Tuesday afternoon/night, and it’s there!

Luisho: What I dont like about HHH costing Roman the title is that we would be back to square one for the time being, Roman being the “underdog” back in the title hunt well on his way to break Cena’s record. Whereas if he costs Seth the title it will be HHH/Seth when it should be Roman/Seth.

I’d prefer a summer long battle between The Shield and The Club, but that is just me. Not sure if The Club is still strong enough worth rebooting with AJ Styles or Finn Balor as the leader. Going to take a very STRONG effort to get Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows to the top of the card. Will be interesting to see how Summerslam card ends up, assuming Triple H is back for the event. Maybe there is truth to the report he will feud with Shane McMahon instead…

ChicagoMade: good luck turning Rollins face “officially” after last night’s turn of events. Triple H looks obvious after Seth’s interaction with Steph. anyone with half a brain can see that’s likely but they blew the most incredible opportunity they’ve had since CM Punk to have a real face of the company last night. I am still extremely disappointed. I didn’t waste a breath telling everyone for months prior that bringing him back as a heel would be one of the worst mistakes they ever made. in fact, I see a face Triple H taking out Seth and beating him at SummerSlam. nothing will save his career after that. what a disappointment.

Um, what? No, none of that is happening.

*looks at user name*

Ah, that explains it.

Connie: Great column mate.

Thanks. Hope you enjoy this week’s as well!

Backstory

Tonight’s WWE Raw took place live from Green Bay, Wisconsin. It marked the epic return of John Cena (minus a WrestleMania 32 cameo), as he has been off television for way too long. In my opinion, it is a very welcome sight to see as WWE has seen one star after another get hurt throughout the past year or so. With the push towards Money in the Bank as well, it is an exciting time for wrestling fans with the summer upon us! Where this column came to be is I wanted to attend tonight’s Memorial Day edition of RAW from Green Bay, Wisconsin. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. However, the column was already being written since early May, so it is being posted!

Because of RAW returning to my state, I thought it would be cool to look back on some live wrestling events I have attended throughout the past 16 years and share some stories NOT seen on television…

2000 Live Event

I say past 16 years because my first live event experience was a house show in June 2000. Seemed like a sold out crowd with 15,000 fans there – fitting for the business at the time. For some reason, I think it could have been late May 2000 as well. Sorry, couldn’t find the ticket stub. Either way, it was an eye opening revelation to me that these things were NOT televised! I remember hearing radio commercials with the announced card and thinking “Huh? Weird all the matches are set.” My memory tells me the main event was The Rock and the Dudleyz vs. DX in the main event…or was it The Rock and Too Cool teaming up? Plus, it was a Saturday! What the? I thought Raw was taped live in 2000. Of course, as I arrived, I noticed no set, no lights, no commentators, and that is when I learned about the live event aspect of the company. Anyways, the real takeaway was I felt bad for my sister who had made a sign for The Rock, hoping it would get on TV…oops!

First And Only WCW Show

WCW Mayhem 2000 – one of the final WCW pay-per-vies was held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A quick Wikipedia search says the attendance was 3,8000. Honestly, that may be pushing it. Despite Ric Flair (pretty sure it was him) claiming “20,000 screaming fans” were there in a segment before going live, it was nearly empty. I know I got free tickets, and my section in the upper level was a ghost town. Sad to see where WCW was; six months later, it was gone. Needless to say, the show was completely forgettable. Without the free tickets, I doubt I would have been there. My first and only WCW show…

The Night After Backlash 2001

About thirty minutes before Raw went live on air, we were shown the previous night’s Big Show vs. Shane McMahon Last Man Standing match. Cool way to get the crowd all jacked up. Everybody simply filed in, sat down, and talked as it aired, but when Shane O’ Mac jumped off the titantron, people were watching and clapping. Good show here with a lot of focus on Triple H, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kane, and The Undertaker. That was the main event scene at the time. Not quite what was drawing massive money after Rocky left, and one of the many reasons why the Invasion story line is NOT to blame for the business decline in 2001. It was down long before that even started.

Six Days Before Vengeance 2001

Another RAW, another good show. Like many, I assumed we were building up a huge Stone Cold vs. The Rock rematch from WrestleMania 17 for all the marbles at Vengeance 2001 for the new Undisputed Championship. How wrong we were. WWE had quietly been moving Chris Jericho up the card during a lot of 2000 and into 2001. He had arrived as a top level performer, and he was being primed for the title. Only problem was Steve Austin beat him fairly quickly on this night – just six days away from being given a main event WM push. Just a way to “SWERVE!!!” folks. The highlight was probably Rocky and Trish Stratus being together on Raw to force Vince McMahon to kiss The Rock’s (ended up being Rikishi’s) backside later that week on Smackdown. A memorable moment still over a decade later for the Blue Brand.

Triple H “Wins” The World Title

In September 2002, Brock Lesnar was the WWE Champion, appearing exclusively on Smackdown. While it may have seemed like a great idea to make the IC Title a main event belt for RAW, come on! Get real; that wasn’t happening. One week after Brock walked out of RAW to go to Smackdown, Eric Bischoff walked to the ring and handed Triple H the new World Title. I was fine with this, as it made him an even bigger heel for this ‘achievement.’ Plus, if we are being honest, it should have been HHH as champ at the time anyways. Side note: I often see WWE articles and magazines saying this historic moment took place in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Wrong. It was Milwaukee…I was there.

Two things worth noting from this Raw:

1. People tend to forget this, but Triple H DID defeat Ric Flair to officially become champion. Yes, he was handed the big gold belt, but the guy did have a match an hour later with the championship on the line. Makes up for the hand out a little bit. Kinda. We were also treated to a great promo from Bubba Ray Dudley backstage talking down to Triple H face to face.

2. Also, bring on the hate mail, but having Rob Van Dam as the top face winning the tag team main event was disappointing. No Shawn Michaels. No Brock Lesnar. No appearance from The Undertaker. Instead, we got RVD?!?! Seriously. No hindsight here. I recall being pretty upset that HE was the one positioned as a challenger to Triple H. No way was he anything more than a stop gap feud. The payoff was between HBK and HHH. Not RVD. Zero surprise he was defeated at Unforgiven 2002 and shoved to the side shortly thereafter. Also, zero surprise when WWE did fully get behind him in 2006, he blew it by getting arrested three weeks later.

Kevin Nash’s Return Gets A Diesel Powered Crowd Reaction

This April 2003 edition of Raw was eight days after WrestleMania XIX. I got my tickets in early 2003, but that was before The Rock was announced for the show and certainly before anybody knew Bill Goldberg would be with WWE. Definitely lucked out on getting a very stacked show with a bunch of legends appearing. Chris Jericho, Jeff Hardy, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, The Rock, Goldberg…and a returning Kevin Nash!

Quick story on Kevin Nash returning in Milwaukee. I know his run in 2003 is often joked about and mocked, but let me tell you something about being in that building when he came out. The place WENT WILD! I swear. I am not making this up. No sarcasm involved. To this day, any Youtube clip or WWE Network viewing of this moment does not do it any justice. The video makes it seem like a nice, calm, pleasant applause. That is too bad because I was there, and it was one of the loudest crowd reactions I had ever heard at a wrestling event.

Taboo Tuesday Debuts

In a lot of ways, the internet/social media craze began with Taboo Tuesday 2004. Obviously, that has its’ pros and cons, but I can forever say I was a part of the initial event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. First off, I actually got an excused day off of school for the press conference weeks earlier. It was there that WWE announced an “MVP” would be voted on by the live crowd only that night after the pay-per-view went off air (never happened). Plus, it was there that I heard Triple H say a promo literally word for word he would use a week later when running down Randy Orton and other wrestlers. Pretty funny.

As for the event, it was probably the least attended WWE show I have ever been to. For a pay-per-view, it was a small crowd. My blame is on the Tuesday night date and fans not knowing what to expect with the concept but whatever. The show was fine and had a fair share of hidden gems. The evening ended with Pat Patterson saying goodbye to the company and leaving on a high note. Also, this was the one and only show where I was sitting close enough to be able to bring home a PPV collectible chair. Still have it to this day.

Big RAW In May 2005 – Quite a few big moments from this show. First off, I believe it was the first (and still only?) time Paul Heyman, Eric Bischoff, AND Vince McMahon shared the same ring at the same time. It was for the “ECW funeral.” Lots of buzz that night for the brand’s upcoming pay-per-view.

Secondly, this was right before the 2005 WWE Draft that stretched throughout the entire month of June. Each show one person would jump ship. The final week of June, two people jumped ship each show. I really liked that approach and wish it would return.

Thirdly, the main event this evening in Green Bay was Edge (just joined with Lita) vs. Batista for the World Title. The funny part is Edge was already the current Money in the Bank briefcase holder, yet he still won the #1 contenders tournament for this title shot. Very weird dynamic at the time.

Finally, this was the ‘swerve’ ending with Ric Flair giving Batista a low blow, thus bringing back Triple H from his hiatus. The entire thing was a set up (Flair was not turning face, shocker!), and we got the big Heck on a Deck announcement for Batista/HHH Part 3 at Vengeance.

The Next Night…Smackdown! – From Raw in Green Bay to Milwaukee’s Smackdown 24 hours later! This was an early birthday gift that was very much appreciated. Back to back wrestling shows.

Truthfully, I have three stories about this night, but before getting to them – this was my first and last Smackdown taping. Even though this was actually a really fun show, there was just a different vibe to it. Hopefully, with Smackdown being moved to Tuesdays live, it will REALLY change this time, unlike all the other ‘reboot’ attempts.

1. The main event was a giant battle royal with the winner picking ANY match they wanted. This was memorable because I picked Kurt Angle to win, while everybody else in my section had Rey Mysterio winning. Sure enough, it came down to those two…and yep, Angle won! Haha.

2. I will not name any names, but I ran into a WWE Superstar in the bathroom making sure his ‘look’ was precise. He was right there using the mirror going over every little detail. He did have a match that night…I just wonder why he used that public bathroom instead of one behind the scenes. As I exited, I noticed the two big bodyguards blocking the entrance. Didn’t see them before. Oops, guess I just walked past them or something?

3. Last but not least, my one takeaway from this night was my epiphany that John Cena was going to be a MEGA-STAR! This was two days after his Judgment Day 2005 I Quit match victory over JBL, and his momentum/popularity was riding high with the new CD selling big time at the merchandise stands

On the titantron, it showed something like “John Cena up next!” Now, I had never been to a Tuesday Smackdown taping, so I figured I had a minute or two for a quick bathroom break before the show came back on. Little did I know there was not much designated commercial time for a taped show. Literally, right as I get into the bathroom, John Cena’s music hits!

Let me tell you, the live crowd just exploded. I mean, it was a massive reaction I heard through the hallways of the arena. Even more so, every single guy in that bathroom went RUNNING out the door to see him come out! I am not kidding. No washing hands, no zipping up, nothing. I swear. They all bolted out that door and rushed back to their seats…as did I. People were freaking out for Cena, and even more than WrestleMania 21, THAT was when I knew he had arrived in the main event.

RAW in April 2006 – Unlike 2003, this post-WM RAW-RAW was not as memorable. I know the Mickie James vs. Trish Stratus feud was still happening, and the Edge/HHH/Cena stuff was cool. Other than that, we got a vignette about “God” in a church and not much else. I am pretty sure I met Ron Simmons at this show though, saying hello to fans entering the arena.

RAW In September 2007 – Ah, Vince McMahon and Carlito vs. Triple H in a steel cage match. Ah, the good old days. Hornswoggle as the son of the boss and Cena humiliating The Coach. What a wonderful era, huh?

WrestleMania Rewind – Luckily, Milwaukee was rewarded in March 2008 with a WM Rewind night. A bunch of past Mania bouts…and Chris Jericho beating Jeff Hardy for the IC Title. A very, very strange bout and not much of a “WM Rewind” at all. Well, little did we know, it was because Hardy was being suspended for another Wellness violation and had to drop the belt. Highlights included The Undertaker defeating Mark Henry in a Casket Match, and Floyd Mayweather and Big Show weighing in for their upcoming clash.

The Week BEFORE The Rock Returned In 2011 – Hey, I know the Green Bay Packers had won the NFL Super Bowl a night earlier, but R-Truth, this is MILWAUKEE! Milwaukee, not Green Bay. Got it? Good. He still gets boos from us every single time.

Oh, and CM Punk’s rap against John Cena deserved to make air.

I have two stories about this night. First is that when Vince McMahon came out to announce a WM27 host would be announced the following week, I immediately looked at my buddy and said “It’s gotta be The Rock.” Really, there was no other choice. The rumors were Bob Barker and Justin Bieber, but come on – that was laughable. It was clearly The Rock, and waiting seven days for his grand return was tough. Worth it in the end though. His comeback was a MASSIVE moment that saved WrestleMania 27 and brought them the huge 1.1 million pay-per-view buys – one of their best numbers ever.

Ultimately though, I remember this night because it was right in the middle of the 2.21.11 hype. When the latest teaser aired, take a guess as to what the crowd reaction was. Take a guess…

…go ahead…

…you ready for the truth?

Every single person in the building started yelling out various things for The Undertaker.

“Taker!”

“The DeadMan is coming back!”

“Un-der-ta-ker!”

Not one person said anything about Sting. Not one. Admittedly, I did see one lone Sting/2.21.11 sign later on, but in that moment, all the fans in Milwaukee suspected Taker. As usual, the online conspiracy theorists went wild and did their normal routine of fantasy booking…for Sting. Yeah, he was a free agent. Yeah, he has said he was ‘close’ to signing, but I was there that night. Fans thought The Undertaker, The Undertaker, and nobody else but The Undertaker.

Elimination Chamber 2012 – This was probably my favorite live WWE show I ever attended. Great seats, great fun, great crowd, etc. It was great. I loved the Santino Marella inclusion into the World Title bout and wrote as such beforehand it would be spectacular. I loved the few returns on this show entering the General Managers’ story line. I even enjoyed the John Cena vs. Kane Ambulance Match closing the show.

Side note: When fans left the show and filed out, a vast majority of them were singing Cena’s theme music. Not booing him or ripping into his character or blah, blah, blah. Out the door and into the streets – singing his theme music!

Triple H Teases Retirement – In late August 2012, Triple H was reeling from a Summerslam loss to Brock Lesnar and was contemplating a post-WWE career. Of course, we all knew better and suspected a big return around WrestleMania. Still, it was a cool segment with him (and his long hair) basically moving on from wrestling in the middle of the ring and taking on more of a role behind the scenes.

Milwaukee was also treated to the beginning of the Team Heck No awesomeness in therapy, AJ Lee being one of the most popular acts in the company, and a forgettable CM Punk vs. Jerry Lawler steel cage main event. What a loooooong three hours it was.

Sadly, this is what did it for me. Three hours was too long that night, the next week, and every single week since. I couldn’t do it anymore and last year, my LIVE viewing of Raw on television went away too. Despite all my amazing moments attending shows live, the experience on TV is an entire different beast. If there is one thing WWE can do to add on top of the Smackdown/Draft news, it is to make RAW two hours again.

While writing this column, I didn’t really know how I would end it. About halfway through, it hit me! For the past 16 years of going to shows, they have all been unique and different in their own way, and unfortunately, that feeling has gone away in recent times. With this new era upon us, I wish for WWE to create more moments for the TV audience but also for the fans live in attendance.

Maybe when 2016 comes to a close, I can add one more WWE ticket stub to my collection…

Self Promotion

Multiple columns posted all the time – Jay’s Ways focused on the WWE Draft, Smackdown going live on Tuesdays, NXT’s future, why a brand split is asking for trouble, new WWE Network shows, Cody Rhodes’ release, Seth Rollins’ return, and much more this past week!

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