Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
After Mania week, I'm a bit wiped but I have a few Raw live thoughts.
The crowd is what it is, and I bought my ticket, I knew what I was getting into. At points, really fun crowd live. At other points (i.e. beach ball chants, the wave, women's speech, We are Awesome) d-bag fans putting themselves over before the workers.
After watching a few segments on DVR upon arriving home, they DEFINITELY had the crowd muted at times and cranked up at others.
As I wrote Dave prior to show start, if Roman was showed on screen, the boos rained down.
Vince got a nice pop with the sing-a-long with No Chance, and when he put the crowd over as crazy. I wish I could have seen Eps' face when Shane walked out, but another cray pop live. Say what you want, the crowd loves Shane. I thought it might be Smackdown time, but with him running Raw, really not a major impact the rest of the show.
New Day is just massively over. The Lion King Booty-O is just ridiculous and had folks crying/singing a long. The League, well, it's starting to get the we don't want to see you heel heat (except for the Irish/UK fans chanting Sheamus & Barrett). Of course, the crowd realized Barrett was probably gone after this and were singing him out even before post match angle. When the wave started, it was acknowledged in ring, but upon return from commercial they told Xavier to start playing to break it up. Good move. New Day winning was a given and fans around wondered who was next.
Post Match with League/Wyatt
The fans want to see Bray actually do something so much. Shame Harper got hurt, as I think he would be more viable than Stroman/Rowan. Nice "Whole World" sing-a-long and Thank you Wyatts while taking out the League.
Sasha vs Summer Rae
Quick match, disappointed we didn't get to hear Sasha point out she didn't lose. It will be interesting to see how the "divas" of the women division start to be used.
Breeze vs Crews
A lot of shock with the announcement of Crews debut next. Did get a Tyler's Gorgeous chant so some fans still want to see something from the guy, but the outcome was never in doubt. Crews has something in person, and the crowd was impressed with his athleticism. My fear is if he doesn't lose the smile some, the fans are going to hold it against him.
Roman Empire
The crowd was muted on TV. Period, this was the most heat I've witnessed in person in a while. At least at Mania, some of the fans (kids/women) were cheering him, but they were completely drowned outtonight. I could see what they were trying to do with the I'm the Guy, but it is still not working.
A "Save us Y2J" chant started upon his arrival. The fans loved being crapped on by Jericho and were not buying into his heel tactics to help Roman.
Still a nice pop for AJ, a bigger pop for Owens, and a monster sing-along pop for Sami. Crowd was into the brawling, of course, until the Spear. It's some "Die Rocky Die" type heat, whew.
Corbin vs Ziggler
Crowd popped for Corbin's entrance, and Ziggler got some as well. It was during this match that I started getting fed up with parts of the crowd as the inflatable beach balls arrived until confiscated by security, which lead to more chants at them instead of focusing on the match. Way to help kill a guy in his debut, idiots. Some of it came across on TV. At one point "A-Hole" chant started for security, and Corbin ate it up thinking it was for him, so good reaction from him there in the ring. Fortunately, guards finally found guy with the beach balls, unfortunately, it took them too long.
Ryder vs Miz
The crowd knew it was over for Ryder during his speech. When the Miz music hit, the heel hit started. They were hoping for someone from NXT to arrive or Cesaro to come and take the belt away. Lots of "Woo Woo Woo" chants probably lost on Vince. Ending was a bit telegraphed, and the crowd just shook their head at it. At least Maryse looks great still.
Women's Ceremony
This was not the night to do this, at least with this crowd present. I give props for chanting for Bayley and Women's Wrestling chant (that looked like it actually hit Charlotte some) but the singing to Be My Girl and other things, was just d-baggery self-promotion from the crowd again. The "Paige" Walkout wasn't the way to go either as crowd just didn't care. Nice pop for Nattie hanging around.
Usos vs Dudleys
Usos are starting to head the way of Apathy City. The upper deck crowd was starting to count superkicks. Their offense is just predictable as hell. Crowd was way more into the Dudleys and did not want to see the same finish as last night. Nice pop when the Duds won, but a few "How ya Doin'?" chants were already fired up in the match.
Enzo & Cass
HUGE POP and the crowd knew the entire speech. So glad to see these guys get the call-up (shame no Carmella yet, but she could be saved for another debut). Crowd was loving Enzo going after the Dudleys and nice that the Dudleys were up the ramp and not in the ring being stupid stand there and take it heels. Great intro and something to definitely look forward to with these two teams.
#1 Contender's Match
Crowd feared Cena's return. Huge pop for Cesaro. Hell of a match and the crowd was actually on point here with the chants. Great match from all the workers and AJ winning was a HUGE SHOCK, especially after WM (everyone thought it was going to be Jericho, maybe Cesaro, and knew KO and Sami are on a crash course). It was a pleasant way to send the folks home happy after the WM weekend.
I left after this as it was time to catch the train home. Thanks for the coverage on the site from everybody for a Great WM Week.
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
