WWE Survivor Series HOLT Report
November 23, 2008
Boston, Mass.
Report by John Pitroff

I went to Survivor Series tonight and had couple of random notes here and there. I sat second row above floor seats facing hard camera, so I had a good perspective.

First of all, I read a report online that said Cena was "loudly booed" during a video package before the PPV went on the air. Not true. First, the video wasn't just of him; it was a WWE hype video promoting everything about the company. During this, he got mostly cheers, and a few boos here and there. He got the biggest reaction for wrestlers during the video. Biggest reaction out of the entire pre-show video package was for Barack Obama. Huge boo for McCain. Big heat on McCain. No joke. Sign him.

Lillian announced that TMZ reported that Jeff Hardy would not be wrestling tonight. A huge pop for that. I think most people either misheard her, or were just cheering at the sound of Jeff Hardy's name.

Crowd was real hot early on. People couldn't wait for the show. Not too many signs tonight. A lot of little kids with their parents. Sign of the night: "Triple H fears divorce." Yes, they were checking signs at the ticket area. I don't know how that got through.

The Undertaker-Big Show match didn't go over too well live. It looked like the druids were having a lot of trouble getting the casket down to the ring. Almost tripping over their own feet. Way too many of them. A small "holy s---" chant broke out for the Taker table leg drop on Show. I remember when that chant actually meant something, like Foley falling through the Hell in a Cell.

During the women's match, fans were dying to hear or see something from Santino. Numerous small Santino chants broke out throughout the match, and a lot of people yelling to him. Big surprise he didn't at least take the mic after the match. Why was he not wrestling on this show? He is so over right now. As for the match, it killed the crowd. A few Mickie chants, but nothing else noteworthy.

During the JBL-HBK match, a small "You can't wrestle" chant geared towards JBL started up out of nowhere. Ironically, this happened after JBL had just dropped about 5 elbows in a row. Didn't understand that one at all. A Khali chant actually broke out, something I thought I would never hear in my life. I was ashamed at that point.

Surprisingly, no one cares about Batista. He got a decent reaction when he came out, but I heard nothing chanted towards Batista, positive or negative during the match. His character needs some freshening up, because the crowd as just not into him. Orton, on the other hand, got a big reaction. I'd say 70 percent negative, 30 percent positive during the match, maybe even 60/40. Big pop for the RKO. Orton is very popular. He's almost a Rock type heel now, where he's so good that people just want to cheer him.

Biggest pop of the night was for Hardy's run in, easily. Huge pop live. Most seemed genuinely shocked at Edge's return. Fans were into his win too. A lot of boring chants, boos, and TNA chants in the front section facing hard camera (where I was) during the Triple H match. A few Hardy chants, but nothing seemed to catch on too much. Koslov is a charismatic black hole. No one cared either way.

I didn't care to see him lose or win, just wanted him gone, along with Triple H. Triple H is such a stale character now. I actually think they purposely wrestled a slow paced match to kill the crowd down so that Edge and Hardy would get bigger pops. Honestly, why else would they kill the crowd like that? Fans didn't seem too mad that the match sucked, because the nice ending saved it.

Reaction for Cena was almost entirely positive. A few boos here and there. No hardcore Cena haters like I have seen before. When I went to Raw in Boston a year or so ago, it was total Cena hatred by about 80 percent of the crowd. Tonight, almost all pro-Cena. A few pro-Jericho, but they weren't hating on Cena. I think those video packages about how Cena is a true student of wrestling, how it's his passion, and how he will never leave WWE for Hollywood sold the late-teen to 30-year-old hardcore wrestling crowd which once hated him. Either way, he gets a reaction.

The roof didn't quite blow the roof off the place for Cena, but he got a big reaction. The match was paced well. You could tell fans weren't sure when it would end. A lot of, "I can't believe that isn't the end spot" feel around. It was a good roller coaster ending.

Not sure when they cut off the live feed, but Cena went into the crowd with the belt, then got back in the ring, posed for a bit, then left. He didn't stay too long. Lillian then thanked everyone and that was it.

It seemed as though most people enjoyed the show and had a good time.

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