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Post by Nathan Bridger on Jan 21, 2013 1:16:25 GMT -5
Considering how big and technical everything about the production of Raw is now, it's almost unbelievable (but true) that more than a few editions of Monday Night Raw took place in high school gymnasiums and auditoriums in 1994 and 1995... and drew crowds of less than 2,000 people.
I'm wondering what the rationale was behind that decision... an attempt to continue that closed-in, intimate setting of the Manhattan Center? Was business really that far down at that time and it made more sense to rent a small gym in a small town for Raw?
And more than that, remembering my own high school gym and how small it was, how could they even do Raw from places like that? We barely had a dressing room at my high school, how are 30 or more professional wrestlers and referees supposed to be accommodated in such a small venue? Not to mention the ring and the Raw set (small as it was back then compared to now) and all the television equipment?
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Post by thegame415 on Jan 21, 2013 2:40:19 GMT -5
All I know is that the question "Did Raw ever happen in Struthers, OH?" could stump a lot of folks.
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Post by Medicinal Thunder Liger on Jan 21, 2013 17:54:17 GMT -5
straight up, buisness was down. look at all the shows from the new generation days, a lot of them are extremely small buildings especially from those coliseium video house shows. it wasnt until around 97-98 that they really picked up heavy production for raw with the stage and everything.
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Post by thetimetraveler on Jan 21, 2013 18:02:24 GMT -5
I don't remember Raw ever being taped at a high school gym. Maybe they still did house shows in high school gyms, but I cannot really remember a Raw ever taped at one. When did this happen?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2013 18:10:21 GMT -5
I don't remember Raw ever being taped at a high school gym. Maybe they still did house shows in high school gyms, but I cannot really remember a Raw ever taped at one. When did this happen? |
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Post by thetimetraveler on Jan 21, 2013 18:17:31 GMT -5
I don't remember Raw ever being taped at a high school gym. Maybe they still did house shows in high school gyms, but I cannot really remember a Raw ever taped at one. When did this happen? I cannot believe they did that and it wasn't a benefit of some kind. That's kind of insane. |
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theryno665
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Post by theryno665 on Jan 21, 2013 18:20:11 GMT -5
Yeah, Raw was taped in some small venues. I remember watching the Best of Raw Seasons 1 and 2 set and seeing some place advertised as a "country club" only it looked like the inside of a shed.
Oddly enough, even though business was very much down, the transitional period between New Generation and Attitude is probably still my favorite era of WWE.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2013 18:33:18 GMT -5
The high school thing is news to me, but it doesn't surprise me. Business was very weird from '94-97. They were very clearly taping multiple shows in much smaller venues (typical house show locations and even smaller) than they'd been doing for the last several years of Hulkamania.
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Sephiroth
Wade Wilson
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Post by Sephiroth on Jan 22, 2013 23:09:35 GMT -5
Business was down, yeah-and its a lot better from an image standpoint to go to a smaller venue and have the place look packed rather than go to a big one and show empty seats. But RAW was also a brand new show at the time and still had to build the audience to the point that bigger venues were possible. And lest we forget, WWE's flagship at the time was still their Saturday show-RAW was a second string show for its first season or two.
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zeez
Patti Mayonnaise
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Post by zeez on Jan 22, 2013 23:22:38 GMT -5
It would have been tight but most high schools can handle that many people in the back.We did musicals that had close to 100 people crammed into a few dressing areas. Indy shows manage.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2013 1:19:01 GMT -5
It would have been tight but most high schools can handle that many people in the back.We did musicals that had close to 100 people crammed into a few dressing areas. Indy shows manage. I figure they all just changed on Man Mountain Rock's Double Decker Luxury Bus. |
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Post by Oh Cry Me a Screwball on Jan 23, 2013 8:31:01 GMT -5
WWF @ Struthers, OH - High School - June 5, 1995 (1,450; sell out) Monday Night Raw taping: The Undertaker defeated Kama Shawn Michaels pinned Psycho Sid Bob Holly pinned Chris BenoitWWF Tag Team Champions Owen Hart & Yokozuna defeated the Smoking Gunns WWF IC Champion Jeff Jarrett defeated Razor Ramon in a ladder match Bret Hart defeated Hakushi 6/5/95 - included the Lex Luger "I'll Be Your Hero" music video to add hype to the following week's Luger / Yoko match: Savio Vega pinned Kenny Kendall Skip (w / Sunny) pinned Barry Horowitz Jean Pierre Lafitte pinned Jerry Flynn 6/12/95 - included Bob Backlund finding Man Mountain Rock's guitar backstage and destroying it: Bam Bam Bigelow pinned Duane Gill Kama pinned David Haskins Man Mountain Rock defeated Bob Cook via submission Techno Team 2000 defeated John Chrystal & Mike Khoury KOTR Qualifying Match: WWF Tag Team Champion Yokozuna defeated Lex Luger via count-out following a legdrop on the floor; moments prior to the finish, Yoko attacked Luger's flagbearer on the floor which prompted Luger to roll to the floor; the flagbearer was announced as Scott Anton, later known as Scotty Riggs 6/19/95: The Undertaker pinned Mike McReynolds Adam Bomb pinned Bill Payne Psycho Sid & Tatanka (w/ Ted Dibiase) defeated the New Headshrinkers (w/ Afa & Capt. Lou Albano) at 8:56 when Tatanka pinned Sionne after Sid hit the powerbomb on the arena floor Hunter Hearst Helmsley pinned Buck Quartermaine Shawn Michaels pinned Gus Kantarrakis at 4:16 with the superkick, moments after hitting the superkick on the floor and knocking his opponent out; after the bout, Michaels fought off an ambush from Kama; during the bout, both the Undertaker and Mabel made appearances at ringside, scouting their potential semi-final opponent in the King of the Ring tournament Not to sidetrack this, but that was a dark match, right? I didn't think Benoit had any television matches in 95. |
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suave
Dennis Stamp
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Post by suave on Jan 23, 2013 8:35:17 GMT -5
WWF @ Struthers, OH - High School - June 5, 1995 (1,450; sell out) Monday Night Raw taping: The Undertaker defeated Kama Shawn Michaels pinned Psycho Sid Bob Holly pinned Chris BenoitWWF Tag Team Champions Owen Hart & Yokozuna defeated the Smoking Gunns WWF IC Champion Jeff Jarrett defeated Razor Ramon in a ladder match Bret Hart defeated Hakushi 6/5/95 - included the Lex Luger "I'll Be Your Hero" music video to add hype to the following week's Luger / Yoko match: Savio Vega pinned Kenny Kendall Skip (w / Sunny) pinned Barry Horowitz Jean Pierre Lafitte pinned Jerry Flynn 6/12/95 - included Bob Backlund finding Man Mountain Rock's guitar backstage and destroying it: Bam Bam Bigelow pinned Duane Gill Kama pinned David Haskins Man Mountain Rock defeated Bob Cook via submission Techno Team 2000 defeated John Chrystal & Mike Khoury KOTR Qualifying Match: WWF Tag Team Champion Yokozuna defeated Lex Luger via count-out following a legdrop on the floor; moments prior to the finish, Yoko attacked Luger's flagbearer on the floor which prompted Luger to roll to the floor; the flagbearer was announced as Scott Anton, later known as Scotty Riggs 6/19/95: The Undertaker pinned Mike McReynolds Adam Bomb pinned Bill Payne Psycho Sid & Tatanka (w/ Ted Dibiase) defeated the New Headshrinkers (w/ Afa & Capt. Lou Albano) at 8:56 when Tatanka pinned Sionne after Sid hit the powerbomb on the arena floor Hunter Hearst Helmsley pinned Buck Quartermaine Shawn Michaels pinned Gus Kantarrakis at 4:16 with the superkick, moments after hitting the superkick on the floor and knocking his opponent out; after the bout, Michaels fought off an ambush from Kama; during the bout, both the Undertaker and Mabel made appearances at ringside, scouting their potential semi-final opponent in the King of the Ring tournament Not to sidetrack this, but that was a dark match, right? I didn't think Benoit had any television matches in 95. Wow, a match with the guy who won the WWE Title at Wrestlemania XX! And Chris Benoit was there too! |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2013 11:07:58 GMT -5
WWF @ Struthers, OH - High School - June 5, 1995 (1,450; sell out) Monday Night Raw taping: The Undertaker defeated Kama Shawn Michaels pinned Psycho Sid Bob Holly pinned Chris BenoitWWF Tag Team Champions Owen Hart & Yokozuna defeated the Smoking Gunns WWF IC Champion Jeff Jarrett defeated Razor Ramon in a ladder match Bret Hart defeated Hakushi 6/5/95 - included the Lex Luger "I'll Be Your Hero" music video to add hype to the following week's Luger / Yoko match: Savio Vega pinned Kenny Kendall Skip (w / Sunny) pinned Barry Horowitz Jean Pierre Lafitte pinned Jerry Flynn 6/12/95 - included Bob Backlund finding Man Mountain Rock's guitar backstage and destroying it: Bam Bam Bigelow pinned Duane Gill Kama pinned David Haskins Man Mountain Rock defeated Bob Cook via submission Techno Team 2000 defeated John Chrystal & Mike Khoury KOTR Qualifying Match: WWF Tag Team Champion Yokozuna defeated Lex Luger via count-out following a legdrop on the floor; moments prior to the finish, Yoko attacked Luger's flagbearer on the floor which prompted Luger to roll to the floor; the flagbearer was announced as Scott Anton, later known as Scotty Riggs 6/19/95: The Undertaker pinned Mike McReynolds Adam Bomb pinned Bill Payne Psycho Sid & Tatanka (w/ Ted Dibiase) defeated the New Headshrinkers (w/ Afa & Capt. Lou Albano) at 8:56 when Tatanka pinned Sionne after Sid hit the powerbomb on the arena floor Hunter Hearst Helmsley pinned Buck Quartermaine Shawn Michaels pinned Gus Kantarrakis at 4:16 with the superkick, moments after hitting the superkick on the floor and knocking his opponent out; after the bout, Michaels fought off an ambush from Kama; during the bout, both the Undertaker and Mabel made appearances at ringside, scouting their potential semi-final opponent in the King of the Ring tournament Not to sidetrack this, but that was a dark match, right? I didn't think Benoit had any television matches in 95. Yes, the first 6 matches listed were all dark matches. Some clips of Benoit/Holly were shown on Benoit's DVD, though, so WWE has it on tape. Benoit also had two more dark matches the next two nights at the Superstars and Wrestling Challenge tapings against Adam Bomb and Owen Hart. |
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Post by DZ: WF Legacy on Jan 23, 2013 21:20:47 GMT -5
"Bob Holly pinned Chris Benoit"  |
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Post by DoubleDare on Jan 23, 2013 22:01:40 GMT -5
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Post by joebob27 on Jan 23, 2013 22:45:01 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2013 0:35:09 GMT -5
It's not that big of a deal. The WWF taped TV for many years in smaller venues in front of sometimes 1,000 people. Their main TV buildings were all smaller places. Agricultural Hall in Allentown, PA. The Hamburg, PA Fieldhouse. Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, NY. The Manhattan Center capacity for Raw's initial shows was less than 2,000. All basically the size of high school gyms, except not actually high school gyms. TV tapings at huge arenas only came about during boom periods for wrestling. Allentown:  Hamburg:  Poughkeepsie:  A video of a fight at the WWF Hamburg venue with house lights on: |
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