No Way Out was the first wrestling event I've attended, and as a guy who hasn't kept up with the WWE for a couple years, seeing the event live was way better than watching it on TV. I bought my tickets just a few weeks ago, so I tried to get caught up on at least Raw before I went to the show, and the first episode I watched was Shane's girl-fight with Orton, which I was embarrassed to see because non-wrestling fans were in the room, and it was incredibly bad. I never saw ECW or Smackdown though, so I had no idea what their matches were going to be before they happened (other than the elimination chamber). Here are the thoughts I had as I sat in the arena:
1.) A wrestling crowd is a weird mish-mash of demographics, and as a 23-year-old guy, I felt a little out of place. The first amazing observation I had was "My god, wrestling is still Hillbilly entertainment!" Around 30-40% of the crowd was from the boonies (which is a feat in Seattle, as you have to drive at least an hour in any direction to find areas like that). I'm positive the guy next to me thought wrestling was still real. He hated that I cheered for Jericho, saying "He would be OK if he didn't run his mouth so damn much." It was fun to sit next to someone like that though, because he was definitely into the show, which rubbed off on me. The next largest group was families whose kids had forced them to come, which I suppose makes sense, but wrestling doesn't seem that family-friendly to me. The rest of the crowd was split between regular Joes such as myself, and people who looked like they were only there to be seen (they filled most of the floor seats). I don't know who WWE is trying to appeal to, but I don't think I'm the target.
2.) The Undertaker's entrance is SO COOL. His was the most impressive, but the WWE presentation on the whole is outstanding. They do a great job at making the wrestlers seem larger than life, and the pyro will give you Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome if you're near the ramp.
3.) There is no way to get someone out of the chamber after being eliminated that isn't awkward. On TV, they just keep the camera off those guys, but if you're in the crowd, its so weird to watch a guy stumble around the cage trying to stay out of the way, and then just walk to the back.
4.) Crowd reactions are somewhat different than I expected. There are of course huge cheers (or boos) during entrances, and some big spots get reactions, but for the most part, the crowd is pretty quiet. It's weird that the same guys that were over 5 years ago when I last followed wrestling weekly are still the only guys that people cheer for. The Undertaker gets huge reactions, and I was surprised by how loud the crowd still gets for HHH. All the friends I used to watch with hated him, not for being a heel, but for being boring and on top all the time, but the live crowd was in love with him. I think Cena is really boring, and has that "Love me because you're supposed to love me" feel to him, but he gets a huge pop as well, although he was the only face that had audible boos to go with the cheers. On the other hand, Jericho was the only heel that had mixed cheers.
5.) The way Orton hits his finisher is impressive. That thing, while you KNOW it's gotta be coming, is pulled off so fast. That match had my favorite finish, and was better than I thought it could be given it's build-up on Raw.
6.) Why is ECW on this card? Swagger got no reaction, Finlay got some cheers, the match dragged on for a couple minutes, suddenly a gut-wrench happened, and the guys walked to the back. Hornswoggle hid under the ring for a while, then came out for no reason, stood by the ring for a few minutes, then walked up to the apron in time to get knocked off. I didn't see the build for this match, but I can only assume it was bad. I heard Christian came back this week, but he didn't make an appearance. What a bummer.
7.) JBL is terrible. He's a good on-camera heel, and his match had the best build, but he is so bad in the ring. His offense consisted of 3 punch combos, 2 whips, a bear hug, another punch combo, 2 clotheslines, and a whip to the out side. Boring! The only match the crowd was less into was the ECW match, but they did get into this one when Michael's hit his moves and ended it.
8.) Why was Edge allowed to stay in the final match? Did they reference it on the broadcast, because they sure didn't for the live crowd. I'm fine with it because the match was entertaining, and before Edge was in it, there was no way Cena was going to lose. Kane never wins anything, who the hell is Mike Knox, Kofi is not going to be Heavyweight champ (I offended the guy next to me again when I said that out loud), Rey will last a while before being eliminated because although its fun to see him jump around with bigger guys, he makes for an awkward champ, and Jericho may or may not being doing something with Mickey Rourke. Although it made no sense, having Edge in there made the match matter, because there was someone who could take the title from Cena. It was just cake when Cena got pinned 3rd.
9.) I'm glad there weren't any Women's matches, but what happened to the Tag Titles, the Intercontinental Title, and the US Title? I know for sure that there is a feud for the IC belt, so why weren't CM Punk and Regal on the card? And there is still a US belt, right?
Sorry for the essay, but I can't talk about wrestling without having eyes rolled at me, so this seemed like the best place to get this out. I'll probably DVR Raw tonight, but I doubt this is going to get me back into wrestling. I used to love it, and I wouldn't mind watching it again if I thought it could be as good as I once thought it was. Is wrestling just lame now, or did I jump back in at a bad time?
ing.stale. Someone must have the biggest hard on for this guy on the back because I just don't get it. So now we get to see him have a 20 minute celebration where he throws up the horns and makes out with Vicky. The belts don't mean anything when they keep passing them around like STDs. And Rey Rey pinning Kane? Do they even try to be believable? Rey is terrible too. He doesn't have it anymore. I wish one of the big guys would just dart him Nash style.
