Instant crowd deflation.

[Abdullah]

I'm at the Divas tag match but I thought it was really telling how hot the crowd was for the opening segment and match and then Swagger/Fandango match happened and it was like a whole different arena.

That dead crowd mostly remained for the rest of the show, with even Harper/Ziggler being a little weak. WWE's roster depth issues were on full display.

[tms]

Dec 23, 2014 7:22:50 GMT -5 Abdullah said:

I'm at the Divas tag match but I thought it was really telling how hot the crowd was for the opening segment and match and then Swagger/Fandango match happened and it was like a whole different arena.

That dead crowd mostly remained for the rest of the show, with even Harper/Ziggler being a little weak. WWE's roster depth issues were on full display.

Both of them could have been in the top 10 most over wrestlers had they not been buried. Swagger's essentially Rusev's b!tch and should have been victorious at least once in their 6 or so matches, as theirs was the type of feud that could elevate both of them at once. Fandango used to be extremely over but has had his momentum squelched. Damn millenials or something.

[Push R Truth]

The crowd in general last night was just so .... odd. Maybe it's because there was a group of like 15 that kept trying to start random chants the entire night. Nothing like hearing them try to start "Ro-man sucks" like 37 times to drive you crazy. They were on the camera side right where the floor stops and the seats start going up. I noticed a couple "controversial" signs out of that group too. The best was something like "Stop adding fake crowd noise to Smackdown". I noticed the most active of the group got escorted out by security during the main event. You could see a lot of people around the group looking disgusted most of the night whenever they started to yell.


But I doubt 15 people could hamper an entire arena. Just felt odd all night. Like somebody popped their balloon.

I blame Kane.

[EoE: Well There's Your Problem]

Dec 23, 2014 7:42:52 GMT -5 Push R Truth said:

The crowd in general last night was just so .... odd. Maybe it's because there was a group of like 15 that kept trying to start random chants the entire night. Nothing like hearing them try to start "Ro-man sucks" like 37 times to drive you crazy. They were on the camera side right where the floor stops and the seats start going up. I noticed a couple "controversial" signs out of that group too. The best was something like "Stop adding fake crowd noise to Smackdown". I noticed the most active of the group got escorted out by security during the main event. You could see a lot of people around the group looking disgusted most of the night whenever they started to yell.


But I doubt 15 people could hamper an entire arena. Just felt odd all night. Like somebody popped their balloon.

I blame Kane.

The funny thing is, this week was probably the least airtime that Kane has had on a RAW for like over a year.

[Push R Truth]

Dec 23, 2014 7:44:36 GMT -5 EoE: Well There's Your Problem said:

Dec 23, 2014 7:42:52 GMT -5 Push R Truth said:

The crowd in general last night was just so .... odd. Maybe it's because there was a group of like 15 that kept trying to start random chants the entire night. Nothing like hearing them try to start "Ro-man sucks" like 37 times to drive you crazy. They were on the camera side right where the floor stops and the seats start going up. I noticed a couple "controversial" signs out of that group too. The best was something like "Stop adding fake crowd noise to Smackdown". I noticed the most active of the group got escorted out by security during the main event. You could see a lot of people around the group looking disgusted most of the night whenever they started to yell.


But I doubt 15 people could hamper an entire arena. Just felt odd all night. Like somebody popped their balloon.

I blame Kane.

The funny thing is, this week was probably the least airtime that Kane has had on a RAW for like over a year.

BAH HUMBUG is probably the most entertaining thing he's done this year.


But still, i'm blaming Kane. Somebody's gotta take the blame.


Or maybe we should be pointing the finger at King's amazing shirt

[g1megatronfan]

Hell...Fandango was on. That explains it all. The only thing people liked about him was Urkel-ing to his old theme. In addition to the fact that they've effectively killed Jack Swagger as a babyface. He's dead. It's all over for him. They could have had a new face on the roster but stupidity prevented that from ever happening. Typical of WWE with so many others.

With these two on...no wonder why the crowd was dead.

[A Platypus Rave]

Dec 23, 2014 7:38:00 GMT -5 tms said:

Dec 23, 2014 7:22:50 GMT -5 Abdullah said:

I'm at the Divas tag match but I thought it was really telling how hot the crowd was for the opening segment and match and then Swagger/Fandango match happened and it was like a whole different arena.

That dead crowd mostly remained for the rest of the show, with even Harper/Ziggler being a little weak. WWE's roster depth issues were on full display.

Both of them could have been in the top 10 most over wrestlers had they not been buried. Swagger's essentially Rusev's b!tch and should have been victorious at least once in their 6 or so matches, as theirs was the type of feud that could elevate both of them at once. Fandango used to be extremely over but has had his momentum squelched. Damn millenials or something.

Fandango's momentum died when he got injured a few weeks after Wrestlemania. Before that it was pretty blatant he was scheduled to win the IC Championship.

[Deleted]

Swagger was depressingly un-over. No one cares about that guy unless he's Murica'ing against Rusev.

[Abdullah]

Dec 23, 2014 9:45:33 GMT -5 @lovehater said:

Swagger was depressingly un-over. No one cares about that guy unless he's Murica'ing against Rusev.

That wasn't always true. He was legitimately over well into the feud with Bo - remember that? But his lack of direction killed him.

[Deleted]

Dec 23, 2014 9:58:21 GMT -5 Abdullah said:

Dec 23, 2014 9:45:33 GMT -5 @lovehater said:

Swagger was depressingly un-over. No one cares about that guy unless he's Murica'ing against Rusev.

That wasn't always true. He was legitimately over well into the feud with Bo - remember that? But his lack of direction killed him.

I honestly do not remember that. He's never felt truly over as a babyface to me, he gets almost no response outside of saying WE THE PEOPLE. The Real Americans were over, Cesaro was over coming out of it, but somehow we have Swagger as a face and Cesaro as a heel.

[Abdullah]

Dec 23, 2014 10:03:23 GMT -5 @lovehater said:

Dec 23, 2014 9:58:21 GMT -5 Abdullah said:

That wasn't always true. He was legitimately over well into the feud with Bo - remember that? But his lack of direction killed him.

I honestly do not remember that. He's never felt truly over as a babyface to me, he gets almost no response outside of saying WE THE PEOPLE. The Real Americans were over, Cesaro was over coming out of it, but somehow we have Swagger as a face and Cesaro as a heel.

I have to disagree. Like Cesaro, he was over. Like Cesaro, WWE pissed it away.

They could have done more to keep him going but WWE doesn't actually give a crap if you're over. They write their 'stories' regardless.

[CATCH_US IS the Conversation]

Dec 23, 2014 9:45:33 GMT -5 @lovehater said:

Swagger was depressingly un-over. No one cares about that guy unless he's Murica'ing against Rusev.

I care...

[Deleted]

I read a fan report from RAW and this is probably why they were loud, then flat, then loud.

Most readers saw the show so I'm not going to go through matches or anything, I just want to confirm the 3-4 hour marathon that everyone else talks about. The drag, the deflation, it's real people. My brothers and I have been huge wrestling fans/marks our whole lives. We love this stuff. Yet during the Roman Reigns vs. Big Show match, we looked around the place and there was just a down period. It was hilarious because we all were fully aware of our deflation, we just couldn't muster up the energy as we needed a break. I think WWE should either go back to two-hour Raw or modify the way they conduct their three-hour shows but that's a whole different story.

Here is the full report

[FAR5222]

Dec 23, 2014 7:42:52 GMT -5 Push R Truth said:

The crowd in general last night was just so .... odd. Maybe it's because there was a group of like 15 that kept trying to start random chants the entire night. Nothing like hearing them try to start "Ro-man sucks" like 37 times to drive you crazy. They were on the camera side right where the floor stops and the seats start going up. I noticed a couple "controversial" signs out of that group too. The best was something like "Stop adding fake crowd noise to Smackdown". I noticed the most active of the group got escorted out by security during the main event. You could see a lot of people around the group looking disgusted most of the night whenever they started to yell.


But I doubt 15 people could hamper an entire arena. Just felt odd all night. Like somebody popped their balloon.

I blame Kane.

At least those 15 people you claim were trying to have fun because they payed a lot to sit there were making noise. And this notion that the crowd was dead is insane. Did some of you tap out after Reigns/Show? The crowd was hot for Swagger and they were silenced from Fandango winning. They were good for Ziggler/Harper. They were hot for Mizdow and there was a loud pop (mostly female) for Brie when her theme hit. The crowd was fine. But there are dead periods that occur because they are there an hour before the show starts so 4 hours is always going to get people tired. And you must consider this, there was two rematches that just happened last week. People don't pay for rematches from a week prior that they saw for free (Rollins/Cena)

[RIHT]

Horrible crowd. They'd try to boo a guy like Cena, but wouldn't cheer a potential favorite like Ambrose or Ziggler that much. If those fans are tired of Cena, why not cheer new guys rather than just boo Cena with little rhyme or reason? Didn't Rollins get insane heel heat? The crowd was put to sleep in that god awful Swagger vs. Fandango match, then was murdered in that atrocious Reigns vs. Show match. Why do they keep doing the same matches each week? WHY? Why not have Reigns face Stardust or something? Cena vs. Goldust? Rollins vs. an Uso, maybe? Ziggler vs. Sandow? Use Cesaro? Jesus, the roster is thin, but they could easily just switch up some guys here and there to add variety for god's sake.

[xCompackx]

Dec 23, 2014 13:40:09 GMT -5 @conviction said:

I read a fan report from RAW and this is probably why they were loud, then flat, then loud.

Most readers saw the show so I'm not going to go through matches or anything, I just want to confirm the 3-4 hour marathon that everyone else talks about. The drag, the deflation, it's real people. My brothers and I have been huge wrestling fans/marks our whole lives. We love this stuff. Yet during the Roman Reigns vs. Big Show match, we looked around the place and there was just a down period. It was hilarious because we all were fully aware of our deflation, we just couldn't muster up the energy as we needed a break. I think WWE should either go back to two-hour Raw or modify the way they conduct their three-hour shows but that's a whole different story.

Here is the full report

Not sure I really buy that as it's been 2 years since Raw went to 3 hours and there's been plenty of hot crowds.

[FAR5222]

Dec 23, 2014 17:51:13 GMT -5 xCompackx said:

Dec 23, 2014 13:40:09 GMT -5 @conviction said:

I read a fan report from RAW and this is probably why they were loud, then flat, then loud.

Here is the full report

Not sure I really buy that as it's been 2 years since Raw went to 3 hours and there's been plenty of hot crowds.

Did you ever attend a 3 hour Raw taping?

[xCompackx]

Dec 24, 2014 3:47:26 GMT -5 FAR5222 said:

Dec 23, 2014 17:51:13 GMT -5 xCompackx said:

Not sure I really buy that as it's been 2 years since Raw went to 3 hours and there's been plenty of hot crowds.

Did you ever attend a 3 hour Raw taping?

Indeed I have, and both times I've been to Raw, the crowds were hot (to be fair, one of those times was Raw 1000).

[Allie Kitsune]

As a general rule, nothing will deflate a live crowd like "WELLLLLLLLLLLL, IT'S THE BIG SHOW!" blaring over the speakers.

[Old Jack Burton]

I'm still saying that there's no need for wrestling audiences to always be "hot". Wrestling is a show, sit down and enjoy the show. Take it in. There is no need to constantly be on your feet shouting or doing something else to show the wrestlers you "appreciate" them. Get up when something deserves it. Otherwise you're only distracting yourself.