Black Widow
11-12-2008, 10:39 AM
NO wonder the WWE love coming to the UK so much.
In America they often struggle to fill arenas, even for PPV events.
Yet over here the Smackdown brand alone sold out London’s huge O2 Arena.
On a Monday night.
For a non-televised show.
Sure there were some empty seats at the start and end of proceedings – as punters were either stuck in traffic or trying to beat it – but for almost the whole night every one of the O2’s 17,000 seats had a bum on it.
The WWE’s ‘house’ shows – which are not filmed for TV or DVD – are a great way for us sometimes more cynical fans to keep our feet on the ground.
Mainly aimed at a younger audience, it’s amazing to watch the huge pops something as simple as Triple H pointing to the stands or R Truth shouting ‘Wassup’ can get.
And Great Khali, who usually gets bombarded with ‘you can’t wrestle’ chants by the ‘smarter’ PPV audience, is adored by the more casual crowd.
Of course the wrestling on the WWE’s ‘Survivor Series tour’ - sponsored by the Smackdown vs Raw 2009 computer game - is nothing like what we’ll see at this month’s actual Survivor Series event.
House shows are all about stalling, tests-of-strength, posing and anything else to get the crowd going without risking injury.
And it’s amazing how well it works for the big personalities.
The Undertaker only has to tease an “old-school” rope-walk to whip up a frenzy – and fans were genuinely more excited about Triple H’s lengthy post-match celebration that his actual bout with Kozlov.
But, in the wrestling-starved UK, even the opening acts fared well.
R Truth may have won the TNA title in the past, but his new catchphrase is what will keep him employed in wrestling for the rest of his life.
The Brian Kendrick also has an amazing way to get fans to hate him, while the Divas unsurprisingly always get a good reaction from the hormonal fans.
The other thing you come to expect when the WWE is not on TV is mostly wins for the good guys – after all it’s best to send fans home happy so they pay their money to come back again.
Carlito opened the show beating Kendrick, followed by Khali pinned Ryan Braddock and Maria & Michelle McCool winning the Diva duos match against Natalya and Maryse.
Shelton Benjamin kept his US title against Truth and Carlito’s brother and then Jeff Hardy downed MVP – Jeff’s Swanton Bomb getting one of the best pops of the evening.
After the break we got the only real filler match, Ezekiel Jackson downing Kun Fu Naki, followed by the two main events.
Hunter beat Kozlov by DQ and Undertaker made Big Show tap out in two run-throughs for what may occur at the Survivor Series.
They’ll have to improve on the in-ring efforts, but if the WWE get half the reaction on PPV as in London it will make Vince McMahon very happy.
The Sun
In America they often struggle to fill arenas, even for PPV events.
Yet over here the Smackdown brand alone sold out London’s huge O2 Arena.
On a Monday night.
For a non-televised show.
Sure there were some empty seats at the start and end of proceedings – as punters were either stuck in traffic or trying to beat it – but for almost the whole night every one of the O2’s 17,000 seats had a bum on it.
The WWE’s ‘house’ shows – which are not filmed for TV or DVD – are a great way for us sometimes more cynical fans to keep our feet on the ground.
Mainly aimed at a younger audience, it’s amazing to watch the huge pops something as simple as Triple H pointing to the stands or R Truth shouting ‘Wassup’ can get.
And Great Khali, who usually gets bombarded with ‘you can’t wrestle’ chants by the ‘smarter’ PPV audience, is adored by the more casual crowd.
Of course the wrestling on the WWE’s ‘Survivor Series tour’ - sponsored by the Smackdown vs Raw 2009 computer game - is nothing like what we’ll see at this month’s actual Survivor Series event.
House shows are all about stalling, tests-of-strength, posing and anything else to get the crowd going without risking injury.
And it’s amazing how well it works for the big personalities.
The Undertaker only has to tease an “old-school” rope-walk to whip up a frenzy – and fans were genuinely more excited about Triple H’s lengthy post-match celebration that his actual bout with Kozlov.
But, in the wrestling-starved UK, even the opening acts fared well.
R Truth may have won the TNA title in the past, but his new catchphrase is what will keep him employed in wrestling for the rest of his life.
The Brian Kendrick also has an amazing way to get fans to hate him, while the Divas unsurprisingly always get a good reaction from the hormonal fans.
The other thing you come to expect when the WWE is not on TV is mostly wins for the good guys – after all it’s best to send fans home happy so they pay their money to come back again.
Carlito opened the show beating Kendrick, followed by Khali pinned Ryan Braddock and Maria & Michelle McCool winning the Diva duos match against Natalya and Maryse.
Shelton Benjamin kept his US title against Truth and Carlito’s brother and then Jeff Hardy downed MVP – Jeff’s Swanton Bomb getting one of the best pops of the evening.
After the break we got the only real filler match, Ezekiel Jackson downing Kun Fu Naki, followed by the two main events.
Hunter beat Kozlov by DQ and Undertaker made Big Show tap out in two run-throughs for what may occur at the Survivor Series.
They’ll have to improve on the in-ring efforts, but if the WWE get half the reaction on PPV as in London it will make Vince McMahon very happy.
The Sun