Man, the last WWE show I went to in Cincinnati was a SmackDown taping, when Stephanie was feuding with Vince (?). The show featured a video taped interview segment that lasted for 20 minutes. I became the biggest heel in my section, screaming "boring" and other phrases at the top of my lungs (I did watch my language for the kiddies - I may be uncouth, but I'm cognizant of my surroundings). No sooner did I know it, but people were yelling and screaming at me to sit down and shut up (like they were at a
in' country club golf event). I believe I had a few things thrown at me, but I was so drunk I could have passed for Ted Kennedy.
To this day, my younger brother seems to hold me in high regard because I evidently tried to walk backstage to tell the Undertaker he sucked, but was told by security to go back to my seat.
So, the show being a total disappointment, I haven't gone to a WWE show since then.
Here's the lesson for the day: it won't always suck. The first show I skipped was the Raw event where Shelton Benjamin went over HHH for the very first time (and what a match it was; I kicked myself for not going). The next event, although not as memorable, was excellent as well (though I don't recall the specifics). I attended neither of those events, and kinda sorta regret it. That shit's too expensive: $30-40 on tickets, $30-40 on beer, and if I drink enough, that's when I buy WWE merchandise ('cuz I wouldn't buy inflatable John Cena hands sober).
Guyver's avatar reminds me of going to HWA shows post-WCW buyout. The WCW guys were pretty well split between OVW and HWA, but the OVW guys came up from time to time (they only were 1 hour away); I saw Sean O'Haire wrestle a few times. He struck me as an extremely slow wrestler, as if he had no idea what to do next. It made for very boring matches.
The third match I saw him in was against Leviathan (or maybe Spanky? not that it's hard to confuse those two
). It was, hands down, in my top five worst matches ever seen (including TV matches). At one point, O'Haire had his opponent in a rest hold, and I yelled out "Are you *always* this damn slow?"
Keep in mind, it's a small building; there are 5 rows on two sides of the ring, and no rows on the others (it's narrow, too!). It's easy to pinpoint who's yelling shit. So he looks at me and screams "this is for you!" and proceeds to obliterate his opponent (which leads me to think that it was Spanky). He becomes stiff as all hell, punching him in the face in the corner, just infuriated. Every few moves he lets out a peculiar growl, a combination of frustration, testosterone, and the realization that he went from wrestling in front of 5000 people to 60 in 3 months. After the match, he starts fronting and screaming at me. I'm not gonna lie; there weren't any barricades. There were only three rows between him and me, and nothing stopping him. I truly thought that he was gonna destroy me. So, although I tried to verbally fight back like a champ, he certainly won the day as he punked me out. It all boiled down to me responding "yeah, well you still suck" in the tiniest, mousiest voice that you ever did hear.
Which also reminds me, add the Pillman 2001 (or 2002?) show to my resume.