Post by Ed Becker on Aug 28, 2012 3:12:28 GMT -6
I was at tonight's show. Took some time to read the thread before writing. I have not watched any of the show. I'll try to do this as neutrally as possible. I'm also using the Torch's rundown to jog my memory.
Chronological thoughts on the evening:
- Jesus tap-dancing Christ! $20 to park?!? Guess it's been a while. Wanted to park closer to the building since I got there at about 6:45 local time for a 7pm TV start. Had no idea what the dark match or taping was between 6:30 and 7. I had to run to the station to get my tix. They were in the comp section so they might have been comped for contests or staff. Why weren't they at will call? We almost never do that as some asshole winner might claim the station stiffed them. That's why a lot of radio stations make you pick up your tix at the studio as there's a release to sign.
- Spent $8.50 on a brat and a bottle of water.
- Get to my seats just as the broadcast began. All of the 400 section (uppermost) is tarped off with the exception of the seats opposite the hard camera. I was in section 210, row B, seats 1 and 2 which put me on the far right of the hard cam, in the corner where the rink bends around. When looking straight ahead, I was looking at the lower right ringpost as you would see on TV. Row B is 2 rows up from the floor. Pretty damn good comps until the mark in front of me started holding up his sign. I went alone, too quick to find anyone. I like having a buffer seat anyways.
- Lawler got a nice ovation. Punk got a huge pop.
- Thwagger got a full intro for the live crowd, then the "Did You Know" gimmick played and Ryback came out to a huge pop. Some nice "Goldberg" chants. Crowd seems markish.
- Nattie got a full intro live, but I guess that was filler for the Milwaukee faithful. Seems to be a recurring theme here. It's a nice touch for the live crowd. At least I can gawk at Nattie instead of watching a DVD promo on the TitanTron.
- Vickie got nuclear heat. They popped like crazy for AJ. They just about blew the roof off of the place when AJ slapped Vickie.
- Cena got a huge, almost Hogan-esque pop coming out. Lotsa Cena green in the Bradley Center tonight. Miz got a meh reception. Loud dueling Cena chant. Holy Christ is Miz getting the heat! Wow! Every time he looks at the crowd they look like they want to jump the barricade. Cena with the win to a huge pop.
- I go to pee and smoke. Yes, in that order. The ushers didn't appreciate me not leaving the seat.
- Got back in time for Slater/Santino. Slater got a decent pop from the crowd, Santino as over as all hell. The match was.
- When they started the poll for the main, I immediately looked up to see the cage in the rafters. If you haven't watched yet, I'll bet you $100 that it's gonna be in the cage.
- Brodus out to a huge pop. Sin Cara got a decent pop too. They were kinda meh for Sandow but really shat on Cody. Couldn't tell from my vantage point if they had the goofy lighting for Sin Cara. Count me as one who thought SC was a bit creepy with the kids dancing.
- I'll admit I laughed at Kane in the therapy session.
- Smoke and pee break #2. Missed Truth/D-Bry. As I was passing urine in the men's room in the West Court, just across from the backstage door (which is legitimately just out side the exit to the smoking area), a guy in a ref shirt steps up a few urinals down. I pissed next to Charles Robinson!
- Got back for the HHH promo. Came out to a monster pop. During the promo, several chants tried to break out. Most were pro-HHH. One guy tried to start a "you tapped out" chant, but was probably quickly killed and eaten by the marks.
- Ziggler's Y2J troll was brilliant. Crowd popped huge and then shat on Ziggles. The way the Slam of the Week and the Y2J troll rolled out on the TitanTron, I thought they were rolling into a Jericho video package. Couldn't see if River Boy had a car or not. Crowd went apeshit for Orton. I farted. Sheamus was over big as well. During the match, Ricardo was all over the place. Crowd popped for the finish.
- Ryder was over decent, Otunga not so much. Crowd popped for Zack hitting "my balls, your chin" on Otunga. Kane got good heat for grabbing Ryder and teasing the chokeslam, but got a nice pop for nailing Otunga.
- Lil' Naich was out early to help with the cage setup, signalling instructions to the person lowering the cage. I also noticed that they rolled something out of the ring. Couldn't tell if it was the apron or the canvas. According to former ref Jimmy Korderas in an interview, they have multiple canvases in case of blood or other stuff.
- Lawler got a respectful showing for his intro. Punk got a good pop, but not as big as his initial entrance in the beginning of the show. Crowd didn't know what to do in this match. Didn't see if Punk geeked or got his color the hard way. Crowd came back to life when Cena ran in.
- Don't know when the show went off the air, but in the arena, they segued pretty smoothly going into the dark main with Show coming out with a mic baiting Cena as I was walking out of the BC to beat traffic.
Various general thoughts.
- It didn't seem like three hours. Seemed pretty well paced live. Also, when you're there, you're not a slave to what's on camera. I also like to watch the crews work and people watch. Maybe the people were fatigued by the time the main rolled around but I think it was more that they didn't know how to react. They love Lawler, he's been there forever but they aren't ready to wholesale boo Punk.
- The set, the TitanTron, the lights and pyro are all top notch. I didn't catch the mic botch in the opening segment. That crew busted their collective ass tonight.
- The people that were there were there to see WWE. It was a really, really markish crowd. Good chunk of all demographics: Kids, parents, a few MILF's, 20-30's, pretty much a good cross section.
- The Bradley center holds 18,800 for wrestling and 20k for concerts. I'm thinking that 18,800 figure doesn't account for the seating lost from the stage setup. I'd guesstimate that loses about 2500 seats. The way they have the floor seating set up to accommodate the set and for the boom/cart camera that knocks out another 300. That leaves us with a capacity of 16k for Raw. I'd also guesstimate that there were about 3000 seats tarped off in the 400 level. There were only a handful of the suites being used. Everything else was pretty much sold. I'd guess the crowd was in the 12-13k range.
Y'know what? I had fun overall. Was it the greatest night of pro-wrestling entertainment product that I ever saw? No. Would I go again if I got comps? Yes. Would I pay. No. For those wondering, none of my $28.50 spent went towards WWE. $20 for parking went to whatever outfit was running the parking lot and the proceeds of the $8.50 I spent on concessions benefited the Wauwatosa Knights of Columbus.
- Smackdown taping is in Green Bay, next WWE event in Milwaukee is a house show on 3/10/13.
- Drink count for writing this? 2 beers and 3.5 vodak/diet 7ups.
Chronological thoughts on the evening:
- Jesus tap-dancing Christ! $20 to park?!? Guess it's been a while. Wanted to park closer to the building since I got there at about 6:45 local time for a 7pm TV start. Had no idea what the dark match or taping was between 6:30 and 7. I had to run to the station to get my tix. They were in the comp section so they might have been comped for contests or staff. Why weren't they at will call? We almost never do that as some asshole winner might claim the station stiffed them. That's why a lot of radio stations make you pick up your tix at the studio as there's a release to sign.
- Spent $8.50 on a brat and a bottle of water.
- Get to my seats just as the broadcast began. All of the 400 section (uppermost) is tarped off with the exception of the seats opposite the hard camera. I was in section 210, row B, seats 1 and 2 which put me on the far right of the hard cam, in the corner where the rink bends around. When looking straight ahead, I was looking at the lower right ringpost as you would see on TV. Row B is 2 rows up from the floor. Pretty damn good comps until the mark in front of me started holding up his sign. I went alone, too quick to find anyone. I like having a buffer seat anyways.
- Lawler got a nice ovation. Punk got a huge pop.
- Thwagger got a full intro for the live crowd, then the "Did You Know" gimmick played and Ryback came out to a huge pop. Some nice "Goldberg" chants. Crowd seems markish.
- Nattie got a full intro live, but I guess that was filler for the Milwaukee faithful. Seems to be a recurring theme here. It's a nice touch for the live crowd. At least I can gawk at Nattie instead of watching a DVD promo on the TitanTron.
- Vickie got nuclear heat. They popped like crazy for AJ. They just about blew the roof off of the place when AJ slapped Vickie.
- Cena got a huge, almost Hogan-esque pop coming out. Lotsa Cena green in the Bradley Center tonight. Miz got a meh reception. Loud dueling Cena chant. Holy Christ is Miz getting the heat! Wow! Every time he looks at the crowd they look like they want to jump the barricade. Cena with the win to a huge pop.
- I go to pee and smoke. Yes, in that order. The ushers didn't appreciate me not leaving the seat.
- Got back in time for Slater/Santino. Slater got a decent pop from the crowd, Santino as over as all hell. The match was.
- When they started the poll for the main, I immediately looked up to see the cage in the rafters. If you haven't watched yet, I'll bet you $100 that it's gonna be in the cage.
- Brodus out to a huge pop. Sin Cara got a decent pop too. They were kinda meh for Sandow but really shat on Cody. Couldn't tell from my vantage point if they had the goofy lighting for Sin Cara. Count me as one who thought SC was a bit creepy with the kids dancing.
- I'll admit I laughed at Kane in the therapy session.
- Smoke and pee break #2. Missed Truth/D-Bry. As I was passing urine in the men's room in the West Court, just across from the backstage door (which is legitimately just out side the exit to the smoking area), a guy in a ref shirt steps up a few urinals down. I pissed next to Charles Robinson!
- Got back for the HHH promo. Came out to a monster pop. During the promo, several chants tried to break out. Most were pro-HHH. One guy tried to start a "you tapped out" chant, but was probably quickly killed and eaten by the marks.
- Ziggler's Y2J troll was brilliant. Crowd popped huge and then shat on Ziggles. The way the Slam of the Week and the Y2J troll rolled out on the TitanTron, I thought they were rolling into a Jericho video package. Couldn't see if River Boy had a car or not. Crowd went apeshit for Orton. I farted. Sheamus was over big as well. During the match, Ricardo was all over the place. Crowd popped for the finish.
- Ryder was over decent, Otunga not so much. Crowd popped for Zack hitting "my balls, your chin" on Otunga. Kane got good heat for grabbing Ryder and teasing the chokeslam, but got a nice pop for nailing Otunga.
- Lil' Naich was out early to help with the cage setup, signalling instructions to the person lowering the cage. I also noticed that they rolled something out of the ring. Couldn't tell if it was the apron or the canvas. According to former ref Jimmy Korderas in an interview, they have multiple canvases in case of blood or other stuff.
- Lawler got a respectful showing for his intro. Punk got a good pop, but not as big as his initial entrance in the beginning of the show. Crowd didn't know what to do in this match. Didn't see if Punk geeked or got his color the hard way. Crowd came back to life when Cena ran in.
- Don't know when the show went off the air, but in the arena, they segued pretty smoothly going into the dark main with Show coming out with a mic baiting Cena as I was walking out of the BC to beat traffic.
Various general thoughts.
- It didn't seem like three hours. Seemed pretty well paced live. Also, when you're there, you're not a slave to what's on camera. I also like to watch the crews work and people watch. Maybe the people were fatigued by the time the main rolled around but I think it was more that they didn't know how to react. They love Lawler, he's been there forever but they aren't ready to wholesale boo Punk.
- The set, the TitanTron, the lights and pyro are all top notch. I didn't catch the mic botch in the opening segment. That crew busted their collective ass tonight.
- The people that were there were there to see WWE. It was a really, really markish crowd. Good chunk of all demographics: Kids, parents, a few MILF's, 20-30's, pretty much a good cross section.
- The Bradley center holds 18,800 for wrestling and 20k for concerts. I'm thinking that 18,800 figure doesn't account for the seating lost from the stage setup. I'd guesstimate that loses about 2500 seats. The way they have the floor seating set up to accommodate the set and for the boom/cart camera that knocks out another 300. That leaves us with a capacity of 16k for Raw. I'd also guesstimate that there were about 3000 seats tarped off in the 400 level. There were only a handful of the suites being used. Everything else was pretty much sold. I'd guess the crowd was in the 12-13k range.
Y'know what? I had fun overall. Was it the greatest night of pro-wrestling entertainment product that I ever saw? No. Would I go again if I got comps? Yes. Would I pay. No. For those wondering, none of my $28.50 spent went towards WWE. $20 for parking went to whatever outfit was running the parking lot and the proceeds of the $8.50 I spent on concessions benefited the Wauwatosa Knights of Columbus.
- Smackdown taping is in Green Bay, next WWE event in Milwaukee is a house show on 3/10/13.
- Drink count for writing this? 2 beers and 3.5 vodak/diet 7ups.