By Jason Powell, editor of ProWrestling.net (@prowrestlingnet)
Dot Net reader Tom H. from St. Paul attended the WWE Raw event in St. Paul, Minnesota at the Xcel Energy Center on Monday and submitted the following report.
I was in the lower bowl, while guys with the floor seats tended to have bigger reactions, my ratings tended to reflect those without the high cost seats. The top cup and hard cam side were fully strung. Out of the tickets they sold, I would estimate that about 95% of them were sold. I’m not quite sure how standard the club is, but from what I could see it was sparsely populated.
Otis vs. Riddle: Randy Orton had a pretty good reaction before the game, but once the game started most of the crowd seemed to be for Otis.
Bianca Belair vs. Doudrop: The crowd didn’t care. Looking at your report I don’t see any mention of it so maybe it was during a hiatus but Belair went to get some head scissors and it didn’t go well at all and there was a whimper. collective in the crowd.
Gable Steveson’s intro got the second best reaction of the night.
Bobby Lashley vs. Kevin Owens: The crowd was somewhat indifferent. They reacted well for Lashley, but they also had his pyro, which probably helped. There seemed to be some confusion with the live finish in the building. It was hard to tell that KO was typing. He looked like he was fighting the take.
Becky Lynch had a solid babyface reaction and even during her promo there was a lot more cheering than booing. No one seemed to care about Liv Morgan, they weren’t rejecting her, they didn’t care.
Finn Balor and Damian Priest vs. Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler: Roode and Ziggler came out after Balor and they barely started their intro when Priest started his, but then they just stood in the ring. I had to take my nephew to the bathroom during this but heard the crowd weren’t that enthusiastic.
Rhea Ripley vs. Queen Zelina: Carmella had the best reaction, but it seems mostly horny guys reacting. Zelina’s intro was more laughing than anything else. There was nothing in the game and the crowd never entered.
Bobby Lashley vs. Seth Rollins: The crowd was there for the intros. There was a decent reaction when KO missed, as it was nice to see a pretty smart heel. Once the bell rang, most people turned to the stage, waiting for authority figures to restart it. At this point my nephew was wondering why we kept seeing Lashley.
Miz TV: The video packages got a lot of laughs. Edge has by far the best reaction of the evening. Maryse slapping Miz also laughed a lot with Miz chasing her down the ramp.
Bobby Lashley vs. Big E: The crowd was dead for the intros. Part of it could be the hour of the night and because we had seen these guys so many times before. The tables had a pretty good reaction, as were the people who browsed them. Other than that, it seemed like everyone knew what the outcome of the match would be and were waiting for the run ins.
Other Notes:
-Belair vs. Lynch was the dark match but we didn’t stay for that.
-In your Raw review you mentioned the guy with the sign “Aaron Rodgers Owns Seth Rollins”. The other side said Lions 29 Vikings 27. Editor’s note: I held up my own sign at home that said Vikings 34 Packers 31.
-Maybe it’s just me, but they seem to put in too much and then go on to advertise. It really seems to bring the crowd down and it’s just plain silly for the wrestler to walk in, dance, sit on the ropes or at ringside while the crowd sees the WWE commercials and then they get up and start again. to dance
-They do a kids cam thing during a commercial where they want the kids to wave “you can’t see me”. It starts with the intro music by John Cenas and there was a point where the crowd thought we were getting Cena.
-The crowd seemed disappointed that we didn’t get the number one contender match with Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio against The Street Profits. They didn’t want to see the game, but the kids wanted to see Rey.
-There were a lot of kids around me who seemed to be really enjoying themselves, including my nephew, but the adults on the whole were indifferent.
We are seeking reader reports on all WWE, AEW, NXT, Impact Wrestling, MLW, and other notable pro wrestling events. If you are going to an upcoming TV show or live event and want to help out, email [email protected]
