Official Raw/Smackdown Aftermath, Ratings and Review Thread

[Fire Marshall Bill]

I said it in the LD and I'll say it here. Cena seemed to oversell himself as a babyface last night, circa DB and his slow heel turn with the "YES!" chants. I don't believe at all that he'll turn heel at WM29, but I think they're trying to tease it.

I loved Ryback using Santino as a weapon. Funny to see, especially from a face.

No Diva's champion...there's a surprise...

 

[Ian Flames]

Props to DC for letting Cena know that he is a piece of garbage. I hope NY/NJ amplifies the hate to a higher degree.

CM Punk proves once again that he is the best in the world at what he does. I'm watching Wrestlemania because of him.

Punk is on a roll right now. Absolutely brilliant ending to an otherwise fairly average pre-Wrestlemania Raw.

I'm ordering WM solely for Punk vs. Undertaker and Lesnar vs. HHH. I don't care about Rock & Cena's match so much. We all know how it will most likely end (clean Cena win, handshakes).

 

[TheBadGuy92]

As a young kid watching the Attitude Era and suffering through the god awful PG Era its been nights like tonight that have kept me around I was literally smiling, laughing and marking out all night! Barret champ. Undertaker and Kane. Shield. Ziggles champ. EXTREMELY HOT CROWD. And the nights not even over!! How is everyone else feeling about it??

 

[Mr_billy]

I must admit I'm intrigued and having a good time watching this. I think the live crowd has realized that this should be fun and lately WWE hasn't been.

 

[JefeJp]

I usually never log in or write, but this post...
ABSOLUTELY I AGREE! The crowd is not only hot but yelling things like "holy shit" and chanting for legends, its chanting for heels! I feel as if half of them are drunk.
Even Cole just acknowledged that this is one of the hottest crowds in recent memory.

Also, anyone know why there are a lot of flags in the crowd??

 

[Dice]

I usually never log in or write, but this post...
ABSOLUTELY I AGREE! The crowd is not only hot but yelling things like "holy shit" and chanting for legends, its chanting for heels! I feel as if half of them are drunk.
Even Cole just acknowledged that this is one of the hottest crowds in recent memory.

Also, anyone know why there are a lot of flags in the crowd??

Most likely because Raw is in NJ so it's much of the same crowd from Wrestlemania which are from all over the world.


And I totally agree, this crowd is HOT and I'm loving every minute of it.

 

[Frostfire9]

This Raw episode was going to make or break it for me because I was disappointed by Wrestlemania but I think the energy the crowd is giving off and some cool title changes MIGHT make me continue to watch it for another few weeks, if they can keep up the excitement.

 

[Kelso1ftw]

This is awesome. Last years crowd in miami was huge and honestly gave the biggest rub to daniel bryan and started the take off of the yes chant. This year is even more insane, all of the random chants they are doing from chanting all the commentators names (including cole!) to the thank you edge chants as well as sexual chocolate! just making this raw feel that much more energetic. And that pop for dolph ziggler was insane! happy for the guy just for getting that big of a pop

 

[Takerluke]

As a young kid watching the Attitude Era and suffering through the god awful PG Era its been nights like tonight that have kept me around I was literally smiling, laughing and marking out all night! Barret champ. Undertaker and Kane. Shield. Ziggles champ. EXTREMELY HOT CROWD. And the nights not even over!! How is everyone else feeling about it??

Its because of a uk and europe crowd we aren't spoiled the most people in the us its special, plus a different culture eg football chants

 

[buckba]

Tonight's RAW has been the best in years and sadly enough has blown a $70 PPV out of the water. The only PPV I will ever take part in getting from here on out will be the royal rumble and that is only because we bet on the rumble match.

 

[Takerluke]

I think im with everyone that said maina was bad and this raw is miles better ordered both and sadly theres only one winner

 

[thebowtiekiller]

have to miss raw tnight bloody typical as it sounds the best one in ages. ive noticed a lot of peeps mentioning the crowd been awesome like last years post mania raw thats one of the things i miss abowt the attitude era the crowd always seemed to be really enjoying themselves nowadays the crowd Is usually dead the crowd can help make the show imo

 

[TheChampionOfTheWorld]

It sounds like Raw has turned out to be really good, however I was so unpleased with the opener. I think the whole beat your opponent and you get to face them again concept is idiotic. What happened to having #1 contender matches or just creating a match. Especially competing against the NCAA Championship Game, just think the Main Event they set up was incredibly dull, especially with the hot crowd. I changed the channel and will watch Raw later.

 

[#heel420]

This Raw was more exciting than Wrestlemania. I marked out tonight for the first time in a while thanks to that Ziggler cash in. And tonight was just all around great. It's what wrestling needs to be. After last night I kinda thought we would see 3 hours of everybody sucking up to Cena, luckily it wasn't that. That Ryback attack at the end was perfect. The crowd kept the show interesting and stayed hyped for all 3 hours. Tonight shows you can have a great show with out Punk, Lesnar & Rock. Thanks to the fans in attendance I was entertained.

 

[scottyshowman82]

All hell broke loose with the crowd when Sheamus took on Randy Orton.

From what I could tell, the chants I heard in no order

-"JBL"

-"Jerry Lawler"

-"Michael Cole"

-"ECW"

-"RVD"

-"Randy Savage"

-"HBK"

-I think I heard "DDP"

-"Thank you Big Show" (when Show knocked interrupted the match and attacked Orton and Sheamus

-"Olay Olay Olay Olay" Soccer Chant

I mean one could look at this in different ways. Are the fans just having fun or is it a situation where the fans are frustated with the turnout of Raw, they're tired of being ignored and are just taking over the show. Orton and Sheamus cannot be happy that their match was virtually ignored and turned into a chant free for all. I wish all crowds were like this, so Mcmahon would have to stop thinking what he knows what the fans want and just give them what they want.

Other chants throughout the night:

-"Daniel Bryan"-During his match with Big E Langston
-"We want Ziggler"- during the Del Rio handicap Match with Swagger and Zeb Colter

Very entertaining NJ crowd, I wish they were all like them. And ya the night ain't over yet!!

 

[HBsam31]

I have said many times on these forums that a hot crowd like that can really make a show. I live in Pittsburgh Pa and I have to say we have the worst wrestling crowd lately. Last time I went was a Smackdown taping and the crowd was absolutely dead to the point it was annoying me. A crowd can take a decent show and make it great. Loved Raw tonight, and it was a step up even from Mania in my eyes

 

[TheBadGuy92]

All hell broke loose with the crowd when Sheamus took on Randy Orton.

From what I could tell, the chants I heard in no order

-"JBL"

-"Jerry Lawler"

-"Michael Cole"

-"ECW"

-"RVD"

-"Randy Savage"

-"HBK"

-I think I heard "DDP"

-"Thank you Big Show" (when Show knocked interrupted the match and attacked Orton and Sheamus

-"Olay Olay Olay Olay" Soccer Chant

I mean one could look at this in different ways. Are the fans just having fun or is it a situation where the fans are frustated with the turnout of Raw, they're tired of being ignored and are just taking over the show. Orton and Sheamus cannot be happy that their match was virtually ignored and turned into a chant free for all. I wish all crowds were like this, so Mcmahon would have to stop thinking what he knows what the fans want and just give them what they want.

Other chants throughout the night:

-"Daniel Bryan"-During his match with Big E Langston
-"We want Ziggler"- during the Del Rio handicap Match with Swagger and Zeb Colter

Very entertaining NJ crowd, I wish they were all like them.

Oh man!! The Randy Savage and RVD chants made me jump out of my seat!! I started chanting with them from home...Oh and Ortons face during the chaos was priceless XD

 

[hunterXhunter21]

-"Olay Olay Olay Olay" Soccer Chant

More likely an El Generico chant. http://youtu.be/4OjKITvemYs

Given it was a smart crowd, him being signed with WWE, and the crowd expecting a post WM debut.


I loved the chanting of the Fandango theme. I hope it becomes the new YES!.

 

[nwo1234life]

What a awesome crowd LOL @ Fandango's theme being hummed.

 

[scottyshowman82]

Oh man!! The Randy Savage and RVD chants made me jump out of my seat!! I started chanting with them from home...Oh and Ortons face during the chaos was priceless XD

haha ya. Sheamus and Orton were shocked. No one could prepare for that.

Also forgot, when Big Show trashed Orton and the Raw annonceteam, he threw 2 of those big announce chairs and they almost went into the ring and the crowd chanted "Throw one more chair" and how could I forget the the fans chanting and dancing to Fandango's music. So damn funny.

 

[dkorolenchuk]

2 thoughts

1)This was an unsuspected crowd that really made the show really a lot of fun

2)WWE can really run with this in a huge way,this type of thing could snowball,they should advertise in the city hosting next weeks raw showing clips of the crowd and the chants ect...,kind of challenge the crowd to be better,then continue thi in each city and get as much out of this as possible.

 

[Wolvieaero]

This RAW was better than Wrestlemania and RAW is on TV. I'd give 90% of the credit to the crowd for their energetic chants. At one point, I think I heard them singing Fandango's entrance music. Tonight's RAW really showcased what WWE looks like without our part timer friends other than Taker's 5 minute promo, which was surprising as I was expecting him to go back to Texas and be with his family until next March. I was also shocked at the Shield being run off instead of them writing him off. Ziggler was fun to watch as I was jumping out of my seat rooting for it like most of the crowd. The WWE actually played tonight really well considering The Rock dropped out and there was a major scramble for the script. Looking forward to next week.

 

[SuperTaco]

The crowd absolutely brought RAW to another level tonight. It felt much more like it used to be. Tons of energy, a lot of great chants, and you could clearly tell that they know and love wrestling well.

I loved the respect they gave guys like Edge, Randy Savage and JBL, it was really special. Also, when was the last time you saw a WWE crowd do the wave? They were full of life for most of the night and you could see the wrestlers respond. How about Cena's mimic of Fandango's dance when the crowd was humming his song? Which, by the way, is hilarious and makes me laugh in the most genuine way possible.

The matches themselves were elevated a notch by the energy in the building. The whole sequence with Swagger/Colter vs Del Rio and the ensuing cash in was well done, and Ziggler got a well deserved, huge pop from the local fans. Sheamus/Orton was slow at first, but picked up when the fans got on their case. Lastly, I'm curious to see what happens next week after the ending of RAW...

Overall, the most entertaining RAW in a long time, IMHO.

 

[SportsNation2K7]

2 thoughts

1)This was an unsuspected crowd that really made the show really a lot of fun

2)WWE can really run with this in a huge way,this type of thing could snowball,they should advertise in the city hosting next weeks raw showing clips of the crowd and the chants ect...,kind of challenge the crowd to be better,then continue thi in each city and get as much out of this as possible.

While that may sound good on paper you really cant top a Raw crowd after WrestleMania. I'm guessing 80-90% of the people who attended tonight's show probably are foreigners. I know if I ever buy tickets to WM then I'm going to buy tickets for the Raw the next night and maybe the Smackdown on Tuesday night.

 

[Trill Co$by]

2)WWE can really run with this in a huge way,this type of thing could snowball,they should advertise in the city hosting next weeks raw showing clips of the crowd and the chants ect...,kind of challenge the crowd to be better,then continue thi in each city and get as much out of this as possible.

This actually isn't a bad idea. TNA does this with a lot of their crowds, especially PPVs. I remember at one of the Against All Odds, they were saying that they were looking for a replacement for the Impact Zone, and wanted it to be in hot crowds so we let it explode... especially during Petey Williams vs. Scott Steiner. And ROH is known to do similar things during breaks to help motivate the crowd. Again, this was done at a PPV that they had in NC, and the crowd was chanting "Fuck TNA" while Cornette danced in the ring.

I really love crowds like these. They tend to make shows better. It's almost like they're like "Fuck it, this show sucks so it's up to us to make it better." And honestly, that should be encouraged. Like Show, when he played up the chair throwing. Or Jericho when he played the crowd. Or even Cena dancing to the fans chanting Fandango's music. It's things like that, that separate great fans and wrestlers from the norm.