Big reaction from live fans proves Laurinaitis character is working
HERSHEY, Pa. – Any WWE fan over the age of about 15 probably looks back on the Stone Cold Steve Austin-Vince McMahon feud fondly. It was easy for people everywhere to relate to the "evil boss" revenge fantasy, and the result was arguably the signature storyline of the...
Smackdown thrills crowd in return to Toledo
TOLEDO, Ohio — The last time WWE came to Huntington Center, for a Smackdown taping in Sept. 2011, the attendance was all-time bad, as less than 3,000 people attended the taping. Tuesday was a different story, as fans filled much of the building and were loud and...
McMahon, Triple H join roster in wishing Cena a happy birthday after Raw
DETROIT -- Every so often, you hear about something really fun happening following a taping of WWE Monday Night Raw. Monday was one of those nights in front of a sold out crowd at Joe Louis Arena. After the live show went off the air and the dark match was complete, a...
Live Raw hits all the right notes for Mania
ATLANTA -- In the sports world, when athletes refer to big games as having a "playoff atmosphere" it's about as cliché as possible. However, calling tonight's Raw Supershow anything less than a "PPV atmosphere" would be a disservice to the great show put on by the...
Montreal crowd loud and passionate for WWE
MONTREAL -- WWE champion CM Punk rightfully praised a hot crowd on Friday night: "With Wrestlemania on its way, with so many shows, packing, unpacking, doing laundry on the road, not being home, to hear the crowd react so much for every single match tonight makes it...
Ah, the joys of a 14-year-old boy at his first WWE show
TORONTO - It's 7:15 p.m., Friday night. The weather has turned on a razor's edge, it’s getting dark and the wind whips us around as we push into the crowds and the anticipation builds. My son Liam and I are standing in the parking lot of Toronto's Ricoh Coliseum. Liam...
WWE leaves Buffalo on a high note
BUFFALO, NY -- House shows like Sunday afternoon's Raw roster edition in Buffalo are geared specifically to treat the fans, and are a little bit like the old MTV Unplugged concerts: relaxed, informal, and usually a bit more fun -- for both the fans and the wrestlers....
House show upgrade helps WWE show in East Lansing
EAST LANSING, Mich. — For years, WWE house shows were completely bare bones. It was a ring and some lights. Nothing more, nothing less. To get the complete production, you had to go to the big city and see a taping of Raw or Smackdown. Now things have changed. Last...
Punk, Jericho get big pops in the ‘Peg
With the Winnipeg Jets having a well-deserved night off between games at the MTS Centre, WWE swept into town for their lone appearance in the River City for 2012. Billed as a "Supershow", the card featured the best of both Raw and Smackdown over eight matches. The...
Rhodes makes WWE Vancouver show memorable
VANCOUVER -- On Saturday night, Vancouver was treated to its yearly WWE visit (yearly thanks to a cancelled show in the summer) and while the card lacked a number of stars due to various injuries, the action that was provided had most fans walking away happy. The...
Punk, Ryder capture hearts in Hershey
HERSHEY, Pa.–Once upon a time, one of the most common criticisms of the WWE was that the promotion wasn’t succeeding at developing the next generation of wrestling stars. With “Attitude Era” headliners like Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, The Undertaker and Triple...
Live in Atlanta, Raw was full of treats
ATLANTA - For the first time since WrestleMania XXVII weekend, the WWE returned to Atlanta, Georgia, for Monday Night Raw. But this is no ordinary Raw. Not only is it Halloween, but Raw has a group of special hosts: The Muppets. While five years ago this pairing may...
Cleveland loves Cena, Ryder at Raw
CLEVELAND -- One day following WWE's successful Night of Champions pay-per-view, the company packed up shop and headed to Quicken Loans Arena for a rocking edition of Monday Night Raw. Unlike the Sept. 6 Smackdown taping 90 minutes down the road in Toledo which was...
Buffalo fans left satisfied, wanting more
A golden rule of entertainment is to always leave ‘em wanting more. If that’s what the WWE was shooting for, then they delivered in Buffalo for Night of Champions. It was a night that gave the fans less than the majority seemed to hope for in terms of who won and who...
A double Edge-d appreciation night in Toronto
TORONTO, ON - With Edge in his home digs for what he calls his "real" retirement, there are well-wishers, handshakes, autograph requests, and people that are thrilled to see the man in person. That's not all about the nearly 15-year veteran Edge, though, as a...
Small crowd sees Smackdown in Toledo
TOLEDO, Ohio — Tuesday's tapings of WWE Smackdown, Superstars and NXT wasn't notable because of what happened in the ring, but rather because of what was happening outside the ringside area. Or more appropriately, what wasn't happening. Toledo's second WWE show of...
Hart return & Kidd homecoming highlight Calgary Smackdown
When WWE makes its annual visit to Alberta, for the last several years Calgary has been the home to the live RAW show while Edmonton hosted Smackdown. On Tuesday night the Smackdown brand returned to Calgary for the first time since a 2004 house show, and taped TV for...
‘Raw’ live in Buffalo: Blue-collar appreciation
BUFFALO, NY - A sports-talk radio personality recently pegged sports fans in Buffalo as just a little more down-to-earth than those in other major markets. Buffalo’s economy is understood to be stuck in a dismal state, so when fans fork over their money for the Bills,...
Edge ruffles Ziggler’s feathers in Toronto
World heavyweight champion Edge retained his belt Saturday with a victory over challenger Dolph Ziggler in a Toronto street-fight main event of the WWE's Road to Wrestlemania Smackdown house show at Toronto's Ricoh Coliseum. In front of a packed home crowd, The...
Live report from Raw in Detroit
DETROIT - After a disappointing showing from the crowd when WWE last made its way to Detroit in September, fans in "The Motor City" came out en masse on a cold winter night as WWE's flagship show, "Monday Night Raw" made its return to the city for the first time since...
Hart-felt return makes lackluster RAW memorable
CALGARY - Before Superstars started taping, Bret Hart's music blasted through the Scotiabank Saddledome and the crowd erupted... only to groan when it turned out to be a commercial for RAW vs. Smackdown 2011. As chants of “We want Bret” echoed through the arena it...
Small crowd enjoys self at WWE Detroit taping
DETROIT — Less than two years ago, WWE completely sold out Joe Louis Arena for the Royal Rumble. Tuesday's taping of Smackdown, NXT and Superstars taping was a vast contrast from that January night, as with the exception of a few random rows, the entire upper bowl was...
Toronto puts its own stamp on RAW
“Hello, Toronto! It’s good to be home!” And with that, seven-time former WWE women’s champion Trish Stratus blessed last night’s RAW. She looked lean and mean, and the capacity crowd responded warmly to her return, despite booing her positive appraisal of previous...
Bob Kapur’s Twitterish WWE tour: Ottawa supershow
OTTAWA -- The WWE wrestlers aren't the only ones on a road trip this weekend through Ontario and Quebec. SLAM! Wrestling's "Bloodthirsty" Bob Kapur and photographer Mike Mastrandrea are hitting each town too. Follow Bob's travels here each day. In this installment,...
RAW’s Calgary return lacks spark
CALGARY -- It says a great deal about the current state of the WWE when after four years away, the biggest reactions at last night's Monday Night RAW broadcast was for a 60-year-old wrestler long past his prime, and a local hero who wasn’t even in the building. The...
Families make up big part of Toronto WWE audience
TORONTO - The holiday season is here, and for many, it’s seen as a wonderful opportunity to spend some quality time with family. Watching a wrestling show seems to be part of that quality time, judging from the number of families in attendance at last night’s WWE...
Armageddon anything but a downer in Buffalo
BUFFALO -- Google Armageddon and you’ll get everything from an on-line countdown to the end of days, a synopsis of Michael Bay’s asteroid spectacle, and, amongst other things, a recognition that something special happened in Buffalo, New York on Sunday, December 14,...
Orlando fans as emotional as Flair
ORLANDO, Fla. -- After a night of high emotion at Wrestlemania, one might have expected the Orlando fans to bask in the afterglow and mellow a bit for Monday Night RAW. Instead, the night took things to new levels, culminating in the fans and the company pay loving...
Wrestlers were stars of the live show
ORLANDO, Fla. - Maybe WrestleMania doesn't need help from other entertainment personalities to set itself apart as the king of wrestling pay-per-views. That's no knock against the celebrities who did take part in the 24th edition. Floyd Mayweather's match with Big...
Live, Toronto shows no love for Cena
TORONTO -- Monday Night Raw is live in Toronto and a boisterous crowd could mean some strange fan reaction for WWE Superstars. Will Toronto live up to their reputation of going against the typically expected fan response for wrestlers? Technical wrestling fanatics are...
Hamilton hot for WWE house show
HAMILTON, ON -- It has been nearly ten years since the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton hosted a WWE pay-per-view. But listening to the audience in attendance on Friday night for a RAW-brand house show, one might easily have thought WrestleMania was in town. From the...
Toronto reacts predictably for Trish & Edge
TORONTO -- From an emotional fiance of Trish Stratus (sitting well off camera in the stands) to John Cena's hug of his father after his victory, Unforgiven was proof that family still means a lot in the WWE. Scores of kids and their parents were in attendance Sunday...
Boston crowd basks in SummerSlam
BOSTON -- Let it never be said that the people of Boston don't enjoy a good fight, and they weren't hurting for a reason to start one at last night's Summer Slam pay-per-view. As if last night's Red Sox loss to the Yankees didn't provide enough fodder for argument at...
Finlay the hero in Smackdown Belfast show
BELFAST - After what was a very entertaining RAW brand show on Tuesday, expectations were high that the WWE's Smackdown crew –- led by arguably much better ring technicians in Rey Mysterio, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, and hometown boy Finlay -– would at least replicate...
Raw stars make last European stop in Belfast
BELFAST - At around 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday, the WWE's Raw superstars landed in Belfast, Northern Ireland for the final date of their Wrestlemania Revenge tour. Six hours later, and one hour before bell-time, SLAM! had the delightful opportunity to chat to the lovely...
Reflections on SNME’s return from Cobo
DETROIT -- Just like old times, some may say when talking about the return of WWE's Saturday Night's Main Event. In person, though, this one did not feel the same. The original aired at 11:30 p.m. on Saturday in place of Saturday Night Live, a comedy sketch show on...
Calgary loves getting RAW
CALGARY - Usually when the WWE rolls their TV cameras into the Saddledome in Calgary, you know you are in for an exciting evening of sports entertainment. Moments like the classic Chris Benoit vs. Steve Austin title match in 2001, Edge vs. Kurt Angle in a steel cage...
Vancouver fans happy with RAW return
A beautiful Saturday evening did not hurt the attendance for the RAW brand house show at the PNE Agrodome in Vancouver. Over five thousand fans made their way through the turn-styles for what turned out to be a very entertaining show put on by the WWE Superstars. A...
Raw wraps up Mania week in Hollywood
LOS ANGELES - If this weekend's broadcast of Heat seems to have a rather sparce amount of attendees, it would be because of a printing mix up that saw many tickets with a 5:30 p.m. start time. The doors actually opened at 4:30 p.m. and saw the tapings begin almost...
Regal screwjob mars Manchester Raw
MANCHESTER -- RAW was something of an unique experience last night. It was a textbook example of how you can turn a crowd that popped for anything (including a frigging promo for a video game) to not giving two craps about anything. And it's all because of one “Dusty...
Smackdown okay at the Corral
The empty seats throughout the Stampede Corral, which at capacity holds a mere 6500 people said all that needs to be said. The Smackdown brand isn't a draw. The WWE has failed to make fans care about that roster, and thus they weren't willing to plunk down between $20...
WWE draws poorly in Vancouver
VANCOUVER, BC - The WWE returned to Vancouver for a Raw house show Friday night, but only drew about 3,000 people. Some of the advertised matches never took place and the lack of real star power did not help this show. Overall it was pretty good but I have seen much...
Live report: Benoit homecoming rocks Rexall
Edmonton - For fans who jammed Rexall Place, just off of Wayne Gretzky Drive, last nights Backlash show was memorable for three reasons. First was the return to action of Ric Flair. "The Nature Boy" has only wrestled in Edmonton once, a 1992 bout with Roddy Piper....
Philly fans’ pysche further beaten down at Rumble
AT THE RUMBLE -- In a town desperate for a championship, fans will latch on to any ray of hope, even that of a professional wrestler. Welcome to Philadelphia. I saw this first hand at the Royal Rumble in Philadelphia, home of the Eagles. A team that lost in the NFC...
Thoughts from the seats in Hershey
By NICK TYLWALK AND DALE PLUMMER HERSHEY, Pa. -- As the adage goes, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. The WWE may have laid an egg at Badd Blood, its first Raw-only pay-per-view, but it responded with a much better effort Sunday night. Unforgiven played...
Angle on top in Hamilton house show
HAMILTON -- The WWE juggernaut rolled into Copps Coliseum in Hamilton on Sunday. The arena was half to two-thirds full. Curtains blocked off most of the upper deck. During the opening announcements, Tony Chimmel mentioned the blackout, which drew boos from the fans....
Saddledome Smackdown lacks sizzle
CALGARY -- On paper, Saturday's Smackdown! brand house show at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary looked awesome. The main event Wrestlemania rematch of Kurt Angle defending against Brock Lesnar had the potential to be the best house show main event in Cowtown since...
WWE lays Smackdown! on Toronto
Wrestling fans in Toronto came out in full force to attend a Smackdown! taping last night at the Air Canada Centre. Since SLAM! Wrestling's Dale Plummer normally covers the broadcasts, I'm not going to steal his thunder and only offer you my own twisted insights into...
Getting Smackdown-ed in the San Jose Heat
SAN JOSE -- I am no longer a Smackdown! virgin. Without the UPN affiliate in my current cable package, I had never up until tonight seen WWF Smackdown! Already I long for those innocent days of yore. Tuesday night at the San Jose Sports Arena, home of the...
Big Show steals the show at post-Mania L.A. Raw
LOS ANGELES -- One could probably get very used to life out here in California, particularly if your WWF Monday Night RAW is delivered at 6 pm Pacific Time, rather than the 9 pm Eastern Time that this reporter is used to. I'll confess that I rarely stay up until 11 pm...
