shaker
Team Rocket
The numbers don't lie - and they spell disaster for you at Sacrifice!
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Post by shaker on Jan 27, 2014 9:16:27 GMT -5
I was live at the Royal Rumble, and I have to say, this was maybe my most enjoyable wrestling show EVER to see in person, solely because of that crowd. I figured I'd make a post here to try and clear up any confusion people might have had.
Before the show started, there were the usual "Woo!" and "Yes!" chants that started up across the crowd. I honestly expected it to be like most WWE shows in Pittsburgh - an okay crowd that doesn't really go nuts outside of HUGE stuff. How wrong I was.
Everybody loved the tag match. The NAO were heels, but they didn't do much that was outright heelish, so people cheered everyone. Goldust moving like a 20 year old is still amazing to see and people loved it. So far, so good.
D-Bry vs Bray was awesome. I fully admit to being pro-Bryan biased, but I thought that was an excellent match. Crowd was 100% behind Bryan, I'm pretty sure he got a loud "YES" chant for every single thing he did. Believe it or not, nobody was super bummed with the ending. Why? Because that was a good, long match AND we still had hope Bryan would be in/win the Rumble.
Now is when it starts to fall apart a bit. Big Show/Lesnar wasn't any great shakes, but it was short. There were some "boring" chants during the extended chair beatdown, but overall people didn't react too badly to this one since it was short and sweet.
Cena/Orton was a perfectly servicable match, but NOBODY in that place wanted to see it. It was a combination of it being a match that's been done to death, us being hyped for the Rumble to start, and wanting D-Bry in the title picture. You guys all heard the chants - "We Want Bryan", "Daniel Bryan", "This is Awful", "Randy Savage", etc etc etc. And before you say we were just trying to get over or it was a super smarky crowd, there were a TON of families there who were just as into the chants. Especially anything involving D-Bry. I felt bad for Orton and Cena since I usually enjoy them both. They both seem like smart guys, too - I'm sure they had an inkling this kind of reaction might happen.
The Rumble itself was a TON of fun outside of the ending. Everybody got a good reaction, even an unknown like Rusev or an old fart like Nash. I'd say the most over guys actually in the match were Kofi, Punk, Reigns at the end, Sheamus at the beginning, The Usos, and The Real Americans (especially when Cesaro went on a tear through everybody).
But as the match went on, the crowd started to sour. Batista got booed on his entrance, which was not a good sign of things to come. When 30 hit, it was all over. Anyone short of Bryan would have been booed just as bad as Rey was. The funny thing was people kept looking back at the entranceway expecting something to happen. All the way down to Batista and Reigns facing off. When we realized nothing was going to happen, it was time to support Reigns 100%.
Batista won, and the LOUDEST and most sustained booing I've ever heard began. I can confirm that Batista did get into it with a fan and flip him off. Insanely unprofessional behavior from a guy who's going to be headlining Mania. He then did the "yes" chant with both middle fingers extended as people filed out of the buiilding.
And one last funny thing - they handed out flyers advertising Smackdown returning in June. Who was on the flyers? Daniel Bryan. I swear it's like WWE is bipolar or something.
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Post by Some Guy on Jan 27, 2014 9:25:32 GMT -5
Dolph wasn't one of the most over guys in the match? On TV it came off like he was the most over.
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Sparkybob
King Koopa
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Post by Sparkybob on Jan 27, 2014 9:30:19 GMT -5
Batista won, and the LOUDEST and most sustained booing I've ever heard began. I can confirm that Batista did get into it with a fan and flip him off. Insanely unprofessional behavior from a guy who's going to be headlining Mania. He then did the "yes" chant with both middle fingers extended as people filed out of the building Oh Batista that's why I can't truly hate you.
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shaker
Team Rocket
The numbers don't lie - and they spell disaster for you at Sacrifice!
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Post by shaker on Jan 27, 2014 9:30:37 GMT -5
Ohhhh yeah completely forgot Dolph since his time in the Rumble was sadly pretty short. Huge pop for him coming out, huge "Let's go Ziggler" chant. Tons of boos when he was eliminated, maybe the most out of anybody.
Go figure, we liked the guys who haven't been given a chance to shine yet and hated a guy who's coming back to promote a crappy movie and somehow gets a title shot for it.
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Post by king1836 on Jan 27, 2014 9:33:26 GMT -5
I was live at the Royal Rumble, and I have to say, this was maybe my most enjoyable wrestling show EVER to see in person, solely because of that crowd. I figured I'd make a post here to try and clear up any confusion people might have had. Before the show started, there were the usual "Woo!" and "Yes!" chants that started up across the crowd. I honestly expected it to be like most WWE shows in Pittsburgh - an okay crowd that doesn't really go nuts outside of HUGE stuff. How wrong I was. Everybody loved the tag match. The NAO were heels, but they didn't do much that was outright heelish, so people cheered everyone. Goldust moving like a 20 year old is still amazing to see and people loved it. So far, so good. D-Bry vs Bray was awesome. I fully admit to being pro-Bryan biased, but I thought that was an excellent match. Crowd was 100% behind Bryan, I'm pretty sure he got a loud "YES" chant for every single thing he did. Believe it or not, nobody was super bummed with the ending. Why? Because that was a good, long match AND we still had hope Bryan would be in/win the Rumble. Now is when it starts to fall apart a bit. Big Show/Lesnar wasn't any great shakes, but it was short. There were some "boring" chants during the extended chair beatdown, but overall people didn't react too badly to this one since it was short and sweet. Cena/Orton was a perfectly servicable match, but NOBODY in that place wanted to see it. It was a combination of it being a match that's been done to death, us being hyped for the Rumble to start, and wanting D-Bry in the title picture. You guys all heard the chants - "We Want Bryan", "Daniel Bryan", "This is Awful", "Randy Savage", etc etc etc. And before you say we were just trying to get over or it was a super smarky crowd, there were a TON of families there who were just as into the chants. Especially anything involving D-Bry. I felt bad for Orton and Cena since I usually enjoy them both. They both seem like smart guys, too - I'm sure they had an inkling this kind of reaction might happen. The Rumble itself was a TON of fun outside of the ending. Everybody got a good reaction, even an unknown like Rusev or an old fart like Nash. I'd say the most over guys actually in the match were Kofi, Punk, Reigns at the end, Sheamus at the beginning, The Usos, and The Real Americans (especially when Cesaro went on a tear through everybody). But as the match went on, the crowd started to sour. Batista got booed on his entrance, which was not a good sign of things to come. When 30 hit, it was all over. Anyone short of Bryan would have been booed just as bad as Rey was. The funny thing was people kept looking back at the entranceway expecting something to happen. All the way down to Batista and Reigns facing off. When we realized nothing was going to happen, it was time to support Reigns 100%. Batista won, and the LOUDEST and most sustained booing I've ever heard began. I can confirm that Batista did get into it with a fan and flip him off. Insanely unprofessional behavior from a guy who's going to be headlining Mania. He then did the "yes" chant with both middle fingers extended as people filed out of the buiilding. And one last funny thing - they handed out flyers advertising Smackdown returning in June. Who was on the flyers? Daniel Bryan. I swear it's like WWE is bipolar or something. WWE isn't bipolar, just stupid.
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Post by Confused Mark Wahlberg on Jan 27, 2014 9:37:35 GMT -5
Just when I think Batista can't be any worse...
He does something like this and completely redeems himself!
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ASYLUMHAUSEN
Fry's dog Seymour
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Post by ASYLUMHAUSEN on Jan 27, 2014 9:38:38 GMT -5
Fandango was over like rover too. I'd put him & Dolph in any biggest pops of the night rankings too.
Organic Fandangoing (like I saw from my seat last night) is still awesome...even if it was insanely brief due to the quick nature of his entrance last night)
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2014 9:41:24 GMT -5
Am I the only one that doesn't think Batista flipping fans off isn't so much unprofessional as much as it is pro wrestling?
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Zone Was Wrong
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Currently living off the high that AEW brings every Wednesday and Friday
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Post by Zone Was Wrong on Jan 27, 2014 9:42:50 GMT -5
Ohhhh yeah completely forgot Dolph since his time in the Rumble was sadly pretty short. Huge pop for him coming out, huge "Let's go Ziggler" chant. Tons of boos when he was eliminated, maybe the most out of anybody. Go figure, we liked the guys who haven't been given a chance to shine yet and hated a guy who's coming back to promote a crappy movie and somehow gets a title shot for it. Hey Hey Hey. I hate Bastisa as much as anyone, but this movies going to be awesome damn it. Rocket Raccoon and Vin Diesel as Groot!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2014 9:43:12 GMT -5
The Reigns thing is interesting because WWE really doesn't realize whats going on with the perception of their product.
This could have been a MUCH bigger moment for Reigns .... next Rumble. The way WWE is handling the writing of Daniel Bryan really hampers their attempts to make anyone else seem like a big deal. The crowd is so busy hating the company and its writing, they basically won't get behind anyone else until there are literally no alternatives left.
That is not how you make stars.
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shaker
Team Rocket
The numbers don't lie - and they spell disaster for you at Sacrifice!
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Post by shaker on Jan 27, 2014 9:45:20 GMT -5
The Reigns thing is interesting because WWE really doesn't realize whats going on with the perception of their product. This could have been a MUCH bigger moment for Reigns .... next Rumble. The way WWE is handling the writing of Daniel Bryan really hampers their attempts to make anyone else seem like a big deal. The crowd is so busy hating the company and its writing, they basically won't get behind anyone else until there are literally no alternatives left. That is not how you make stars. The weird thing is Batista was definitely playing the face and Reigns was playing the heel during the final 2. I don't think WWE expected the crowd to go the way they did. I seriously think they expected people to cheer for Batista since he was going up against the Shield. But I honestly think you could have had Alberto freaking Del Rio in there and he would have been cheered over Batista. It was just such an insane moment, you could feel the tension in the air.
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BigBadZ
Grimlock
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Post by BigBadZ on Jan 27, 2014 9:46:07 GMT -5
Am I the only one that doesn't think Batista flipping fans off isn't so much unprofessional as much as it is pro wrestling? Unprofessional? no. Childish?? yes
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2014 9:49:54 GMT -5
The Reigns thing is interesting because WWE really doesn't realize whats going on with the perception of their product. This could have been a MUCH bigger moment for Reigns .... next Rumble. The way WWE is handling the writing of Daniel Bryan really hampers their attempts to make anyone else seem like a big deal. The crowd is so busy hating the company and its writing, they basically won't get behind anyone else until there are literally no alternatives left. That is not how you make stars. The weird thing is Batista was definitely playing the face and Reigns was playing the heel during the final 2. I don't think WWE expected the crowd to go the way they did. I seriously think they expected people to cheer for Batista since he was going up against the Shield. But I honestly think you could have had Alberto freaking Del Rio in there and he would have been cheered over Batista. It was just such an insane moment, you could feel the tension in the air. Yeah. A insanely great moment though. In some ways I really feel that crowd was expressing more than just frustration over not seeing Daniel Bryan, but nothing ever really changing in the company. Ziggler and Kofi got great reactions. So did Reigns. Its interesting how all the more established/heavily used names really didn't.
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Hawk Hart
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
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Post by Hawk Hart on Jan 27, 2014 9:56:17 GMT -5
Am I the only one that doesn't think Batista flipping fans off isn't so much unprofessional as much as it is pro wrestling? I'd agree if he weren't the big returning babyface heading into Wrestlemania against a heel champion. When you're a face, especially a big time main event face, you don't mock the fans. Period. What if Cena reacted to the Daniel Bryan craze like this? Even going back to that Seattle Raw where the crowd hijacked the final segment in the name of Bryan, Cena rolled with it and has every other time it's happened. It's petty, it's childish, and it makes Dave look like a thin-skinned dickhead that handle not being the most popular guy in the building.
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shaker
Team Rocket
The numbers don't lie - and they spell disaster for you at Sacrifice!
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Post by shaker on Jan 27, 2014 9:58:54 GMT -5
Am I the only one that doesn't think Batista flipping fans off isn't so much unprofessional as much as it is pro wrestling? I think it was the way it happened, though. If he was a heel and played the heel? Yeah, I'd be fine with it. Hell, one of my favorite things ever was when heel Jericho yelled at those old guys and kicked them out of a WWE taping. But Batista played the face, did all the goofy poses and crap like that after winning. Then when he realized we weren't having any of that, he acts like a teenager and flips us all off. Guess what? We pay your salary by going to these shows and buying the PPVs. I understand you didn't book yourself to win (well, actually, you MIGHT have), so don't act like a little punk when the crowd isn't 100% behind you.
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Post by A Platypus Rave on Jan 27, 2014 9:59:31 GMT -5
Am I the only one that doesn't think Batista flipping fans off isn't so much unprofessional as much as it is pro wrestling? I'd agree if he weren't the big returning babyface heading into Wrestlemania against a heel champion. When you're a face, especially a big time main event face, you don't mock the fans. Period. What if Cena reacted to the Daniel Bryan craze like this? Even going back to that Seattle Raw where the crowd hijacked the final segment in the name of Bryan, Cena rolled with it and has every other time it's happened. It's petty, it's childish, and it makes Dave look like a thin-skinned dickhead that handle not being the most popular guy in the building. With the amount of times he's done stuff like this I think we can probably state Batista doesn't just look like one.
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Post by YAKMAN is ICHIBAN on Jan 27, 2014 10:14:47 GMT -5
The report of the booing at the end confirms my suspicions that they turned the microphones that picked up the crowd noise WAY down. You could hear a dull roar of boos where a moment earlier it was overwhelming.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2014 10:14:47 GMT -5
I don't blame Batista for getting pissed one bit. That had to suck for him, his BIG RETURN gets shit on by an entire sold-out crowd.
Not that the crowd was wrong to do it, by any stretch, but I can't hate on Batista for having a human reaction to it.
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Post by Apricots And A Pear Tree on Jan 27, 2014 10:18:54 GMT -5
He then did the "yes" chant with both middle fingers extended as people filed out of the buiilding. Credit for the idea goes to Excellence of Execution
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2014 10:22:55 GMT -5
Am I the only one that doesn't think Batista flipping fans off isn't so much unprofessional as much as it is pro wrestling? I'd agree if he weren't the big returning babyface heading into Wrestlemania against a heel champion. When you're a face, especially a big time main event face, you don't mock the fans. Period. What if Cena reacted to the Daniel Bryan craze like this? Even going back to that Seattle Raw where the crowd hijacked the final segment in the name of Bryan, Cena rolled with it and has every other time it's happened. It's petty, it's childish, and it makes Dave look like a thin-skinned dickhead that handle not being the most popular guy in the building. I don't think we should be any more off limits than the performers. There's something cringe inducing about a babyface getting booed out of the building while pretending everything's okay and everyone loves him too. I don't think it's a cut and dry thing, where "you're a babyface, you can't behave this way". If it's John Cena it would be a little jarring to see him giving people the finger and arguing with everyone, Batista reacted about how I'd expect Batista to react. He's not gonna go out and shake hands because no one's gonna wanna shake it, he's not gonna hang around and point to the sign more while his music plays because people aren't having that. There wasn't really much he could do in that situation. Sure he could have just walked away but if I were in that audience it's not like I'd leave the building saying "he's unhappy that after four years away we hate his guts. What an asshole."
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