Vince appears at Smackdown taping...Not Happy!

[Loki]

The Authority does seem to have ushered back in an era of 15 minute promos to start Raw.  Reminds me of 2002.

 

I don't mind the odd super HHH promo, but not every week.  I'm not convinced it's the best way to get the crowd into the show.

[King Pitcos]

The Authority does seem to have ushered back in an era of 15 minute promos to start Raw.  Reminds me of 2002.

What else has Raw started with since about 1998?

[tiger_rick]

 

The Authority does seem to have ushered back in an era of 15 minute promos to start Raw.  Reminds me of 2002.

 

What else has Raw started with since about 1998?

There was a match that time.

[garynysmon]

 

I don't buy into the whole "Well they aren't making sound because they aren't into the current product" bollocks. If they aren't into the current produect, then why the fuck have they bought tickets to be there then?

 

Because the WWE brand still carries enough name value and recognition to get people to go on that strength alone. I know a bunch of people who went to the Cardiff show last week who are lapsed fans and only went for nostalgia purposes.

 

I know what you're saying. But as a largely lapsed fan myself, I'm not going to buy tickets to a WWE show in 2014 and expect to see a Ric Flair v Randy Savage in a cage, followed by Hulk Hogan v Earthquake (unfortunately).

[Trout Stain]

For what its worth, the house show at Brighton was bloody good while this shambles was seemingly going on

[The Dart]

Shambles? It was a great show. I didn't think the crowd was that bad. Seemed just like Vince McMahon having a but of fun.

[KillerTwist]

The Smackdown/Main Event taping was better than Raw in my opinion. The reason it was quiet is because literally half the arena was empty.

 

Bit depressing to see it so empty really, but it's to be expected considering they run back to back nights and Smackdown is presented as a B show where nothing of consequence happens. Perhaps if the tickets were cheaper for the Tuesday night it would help attendance.

 

For anyone that has been to tapings at the O2, is the Smackdown show as poorly attended there?

[MVP RULZ]

The Smackdown/Main Event taping was better than Raw in my opinion. The reason it was quiet is because literally half the arena was empty.

 

Bit depressing to see it so empty really, but it's to be expected considering they run back to back nights and Smackdown is presented as a B show where nothing of consequence happens. Perhaps if the tickets were cheaper for the Tuesday night it would help attendance.

 

For anyone that has been to tapings at the O2, is the Smackdown show as poorly attended there?

 

It gets less then Raw for sure at the o2, for Raw they use the whole top tier, Smackdown usually has at least half, maybe even 3/4 covered over.

 

Lower tier is always sell out

 

Was at Brighton as well and was a fairly decent effort for a house show, the crowd were very loud and into it as well, the fact they hadn't been down this way for 20 odd years helped as for many it was there 1st ever live show 

[The Dart]

 

For anyone that has been to tapings at the O2, is the Smackdown show as poorly attended there?

 

Yes (arena size taken into comparison).  And everywhere in America too.

 

America gets smaller crowds for Smackdown without having done Raw in the same arena the night before too.

[energisewrestling]

I don't remember it as dead...god i remember 2011 that was a millpond in comparison ....   both Nights where brilliant...smack down as always is less well attended but it wasn't that bad at all.

[The Dart]

Double Post

[PunkStep]

 

 

The Authority does seem to have ushered back in an era of 15 minute promos to start Raw. Reminds me of 2002.

 

What else has Raw started with since about 1998?

There was a match that time.

There was indeed, John Morrison VS The Miz. Literally the only example I can think of from the top of my head.

[Supremo]

.

. I really wish they'd used the taped nature to do a two-hour show and maximised the rest of the time with character development stuff or skits, mind. Get Titus and Slater knocking around backstage where they bump into Fandango and tell him they thought he was dead, do a sitdown interview with Ambrose about his deadbeat dad, anything. Boil down the in-arena stuff to shite the crowd will react to.

Not just on tape delayed RAWs, this is the type of stuff that should be on every episode.

 

If you want to look for reasons as to why guys aren't over, I'd definitely cite the lack of backstage skits and vignettes to flesh out their characters.

 

Remember when people would sit there with stopwatches and complain that there wasn't enough actual in-ring action on Raw? Well, I hope they're happy. All Raw feels like these days is matches after matches after matches, with one or two backstage bits only ever involving The Authority. The show would benefit massively from more skits and sit down interviews. Fandango sleazing on women, guys just goofing around, Jim Ross/Mick Foley style interviews, etc.

 

That thing with Ambrose's dad is the perfect example. Coming out of the blue the way it did was just lazy and stupid. But had it actually been explained a month or so ago it would have meant loads more when a heel made a joke about it.

 

Even when they write storylines that require backstage skits, like the Bella servant storyline, they still do almost nothing with it.

 

Is there any truth to the idea that they try and do as little backstage stuff as possible in order to make it easier to understand for overseas viewers who speak a different language?

[Loki]

I'd like to see John Cena going to Brock Lesnar's castle in the Rocky Mountains and confronting him in his throne room.

[tiger_rick]

 

.

. I really wish they'd used the taped nature to do a two-hour show and maximised the rest of the time with character development stuff or skits, mind. Get Titus and Slater knocking around backstage where they bump into Fandango and tell him they thought he was dead, do a sitdown interview with Ambrose about his deadbeat dad, anything. Boil down the in-arena stuff to shite the crowd will react to.

Not just on tape delayed RAWs, this is the type of stuff that should be on every episode.

If you want to look for reasons as to why guys aren't over, I'd definitely cite the lack of backstage skits and vignettes to flesh out their characters.

Remember when people would sit there with stopwatches and complain that there wasn't enough actual in-ring action on Raw? Well, I hope they're happy. All Raw feels like these days is matches after matches after matches, with one or two backstage bits only ever involving The Authority. The show would benefit massively from more skits and sit down interviews. Fandango sleazing on women, guys just goofing around, Jim Ross/Mick Foley style interviews, etc.

That thing with Ambrose's dad is the perfect example. Coming out of the blue the way it did was just lazy and stupid. But had it actually been explained a month or so ago it would have meant loads more when a heel made a joke about it.

Even when they write storylines that require backstage skits, like the Bella servant storyline, they still do almost nothing with it.

Is there any truth to the idea that they try and do as little backstage stuff as possible in order to make it easier to understand for overseas viewers who speak a different language?

I've always thought the shift away from tons of backstage stuff was to keep the crowd in the show and to get better reactions from stuff happening in front of them.

 

There could be truth in the foreign shows thing though. Be nice if they put the effort in and then just cut it to ribbons for non-English speaking countries. Better to be red hot in the US, Canada and the UK than mild everywhere.