Ben Roberts sent us the following live report from last night’s WWE Monday Night RAW TV taping:
– The crowd was really pro-Reigns before the show, so I was really surprised with the reaction he got. It was almost like the cameras started rolling, so the crowd felt obliged to boo. Probably the biggest heat of the night. Everyone wanted the handshake, too. Huge reaction for Triple H when he came out.
– The New Day was without a doubt the most over act on the show. Constant clapping and chanting before, during and after the show. The whole arena erupted when their music played, and everyone joined in with Big E’s introduction.
– Reigns vs. Big Show had the attention of literally nobody. Plenty of ‘boring’ and ‘please retire’ chants.
– Kevin Owens is great live, first time seeing him. Obviously I haven’t seen the televised Raw yet, so I’m not sure what made it, but he cut a great heel promo on the British crowd. Quick match, a few Kevin Owens chants.
– Paige got a big reaction when she was being interviewed by Renee Young, as expected. Enjoyable match, everyone seemed to be into it. Heat for Charlotte when she made the save.
– Dolph got a nice reaction when he came out. The crowd was pretty flat for this one, though.
– I’m not sure if this was aired, but Alberto and Zeb came out and cut a promo. The pairing seems even more odd live. They simply plugged Alberto’s appearance on Smackdown. Strange one.
– Naomi and Natalya was a painfully short match, and the vast majority was just Natalya’s mocking. Big crowd displeasure when it was announced that it was Naomi wrestling and not Sasha, who was totally over. Constant ‘We Want Sasha’ chants throughout.
– Sheamus and Cesaro put on the match of the night. The crowd was very into it. Cesaro got one of the biggest pop’s of the night. Huge reaction for the Rooney slap, as expected. Great match.
– Dean Ambrose got a huge pop when he came put. A few NXT chants for Tyler, who didn’t like out of place in there with Dean. The crowd loved Dean’s mocking of Breeze on the barricade.
– Like I said, the crowd were majorly into The New Day. Huge pop for the trombone. Not a great match, although Neville got a nice pop for his dive off the top rope.
– A lot of people thought that was it after Bray’s speech before the video package played. Everyone around me was just shouting ‘Please! Come on!’ and when the gong sounded, I’ve honestly never heard anything like it in my life. The place erupted. The place was electric for the whole segment, and the raised fists to close the show probably got the biggest pop of the night.
Overall, an enjoyable night. A few idiots in the crowd behind me, but I guess you have to expect a few. The vast majority of people had either Roman Reigns or Finn Balor tee’s on; his debut will really be something.
Biggest pop of the night;
– The Undertaker and Kane
– The New Day
– Triple H
Biggest heat of the night;
– Roman Reigns
– Zeb Colter
– The Big Show
