WWE Raw live report
April 16, 2012
London, England
Report by Steven Greenwood (@steviegreenwood)

First, I would like to start with a concern. After arriving at the taping two hours before the doors were due to open, I found a small queue at the merchandise stand. Unfortunately, the 02 Arena only had one merchandise stand manned by about eight people. The usual merchandise was on sale here. Next to the large stand was a temporary stand manned by four offering the big sellers (Cena t-shirts and hats, and C.M. Punk t-shirts). (There was no "Yes! Yes! Yes!" shirt for Daniel Bryan, though. WWE would have made a killing had they been available.) I decided to go for a pink Dolph Ziggler t-shirt, but as the line worked its way down, that t-shirt sold out. They then replaced it with the new Brock Lesnar t-shirt.

By this point, the queues had grown substantially and formed into one big group of people. Here there was zero crowd management and a lot of people were stuck trying to get into position to get a t-shirt. I decided to give up this line and move onto the smaller stand to pick up a C.M. Punk t-shirt. After waiting patiently for about half-an-hour, I got to the stand and asked for the t-shirt, only to be told they didn't have it in a large size. After waiting so long and so patiently, I gave up and put the £25 back in my pocket. The whole merchandise situation was a mess. If any Torch readers attend a WWE show at the O2, I suggest getting there at least two-and-a-half hours early.

After finally getting in the arena and sitting down, I looked around to notice that six blocks in the top tier above the hard camera were tarped off. The chants then started to go around the arena. The biggest by far was "Yes! Yes! Yes!" although a lot of Wooos went around. Also, a small "We Want Regal" chant and the standard "Let's Go Cena / Cena Sucks." The crowd was about 70/30 against Cena.

Justin Roberts then came out to start the show. He announced that Superstars was due to begin after the following contest.

- Alex Riley's music hit to a loud pop. He seemed to be really over but that could have been due to the fact he was the first wrestler appearing. This was followed by Dean Ambrose. A lot of people didn't know who he was. He told the crowd they had ten seconds to cheer him because he was Dean Ambrose and he was the Hardcore Legend. Again, most people didn't understand this reference and instead chanted "Who are ya." He silenced the crowd after a solid three-minute match pinning Riley after a vicious-looking running knee. One section had a "Let's Go Ambrose" chant going. It didn't catch on, though.

Superstars SPOILERS

- The Superstars taping began after Matt Striker and Josh Mathews joined the commentary table. Kelly Kelly came out to a huge pop. She posed for the crowd before her opponent was announced and Eve Torres came to the ring. They had a fairly solid few minutes before Eve pinned Kelly with a sloppy roll-up.

- Following this match R-Truth came to the ring for what I assume will be the main event. Truth beat Jack Swagger in 12 minutes with the Little Jimmy finisher. A mixed "Let's Go Swagger / Swagger Sucks" chant went around. I don't remember Swagger being so popular! The Superstars taping finished with R-Truth dancing in the ring.

Raw In-person Report

- Raw then began with the pre-tape crowd shot and Mark Henry made his entrance before the show opening. Punk had a huge reaction. Throughout the WWE Championship match, the crowd chanted "Sexual Chocolate" at Henry. This prompted a young child behind me to ask his father if the crowd were chanting for "Actual Chocolate." His father agreed, which made me laugh and the child joined in with his own version.

The finishing elbow looked brutal from the stands. Throughout the match, the "Yes! Yes! Yes!" chants echoed around the arena. The Jericho segment was good with two large chants of "Fish and Chips" going around after Punk referenced them. After the segment ended and they rolled the Brock Lesnar video, Punk took the mic and said to the crowd, "Fish and Chips," with a smile and a shake of the head. During the Lesnar video, they bleeped the word "piss," which made the crowd laugh.

- Santino is very popular over here and the shirt swapping bit went down well. Watching the show back on TV, when he got to the Chelsea shirt, Jerry Lawler said, "Does he not know he is in London?" Chelsea is in London, as is Arsenal. Ironically, the shirt got the biggest pop was the Manchester United shirt. There is a running joke over here that Manchester United fans are all from London. Santino accidentally took off the England shirt and got himself stuck in it. It took him a few seconds to free himself, hence the cutaway during the show. A lot of people in the crowd were excited to see a Cobra. Santino went down very well while Otunga came out to little reaction.

- We never saw the R-Truth as Sherlock Holmes segments. The full Brock Lesnar video went down well and really made Brock look like a beast. A small "We Want Lesnar" chant went around.

- Zack Ryder is popular and had a huge pop. Kane went down well, too. During the commercial break, Kane just stood there waiting to do his pyro. He stood there for a good three minutes as Ryder stood at ringside. This all looked a little silly. The crowd was fairly quiet for the beat down and the promo was met with "What!" chants. Kane shouldn't talk so much. This killed the crowd a little, but they quickly perked up for the Daniel Bryan backstage segment. The "Yes!" chants are awesome. You could tell by the crowd shots how into it all they were. The chants continued into the commercial break.

- John Cena hit the ring to a mixed reaction, and the "Yes!" chants continued during his promo. Cena showed good intensity that came off well, although I question the wisdom of mentioning the end of his era and career in front of a crowd he has never been that popular in front of people chanting "Yes!" all night. Also of note, Lesnar was booed every time his name was mentioned, although I think some of this was due to a lot of people expecting him to be there even though he wasn't advertised. Some people near me were talking about how they wanted him there and thought he would be.

- John Laurinaitis was not popular at all. I could barely hear him over the boos and catcalls coming from my section. Again, the "Who are ya" chants went around as Laurinaitis announced Cena in an Extreme Rules match tonight. After they went to commercial, Cena picked up the mic and said, "If you didn't hear that, I will be in an Extreme Rules match tonight" and impersonated Laurinaitis. It was the same voice he used when he mentioned the fans chanting "Cena Sucks."

- The announcement of Kofi vs. Bryan up next went over very well. Lawler on commentary said that "We have had enough of Daniel Bryan," but I think people in attendance would disagree. Bryan vs. Kofi went over well, especially the crossbody to the outside from the turnbuckle. Again, the crowd chanted, "Yes!" every time Bryan hit any move. Kofi was popular with the kids although his "Boom, Boom, Boom!" was met by a large "No! No! No!" he fans were having a great time during this match.

- The Funkasarus segment seemed like basic filler and didn't go down that well. Vickie Guerrero's character is really hated, though, and Ziggler had a nice pop. After the Jiggling from Brodus against Vickie after the match, Brodus danced a little. He did the Macarena dance that was popular here 15 years ago and now is confined to kids's parties. Brodus and his dancers then made their way to the back. One of the dancers stopped to slap hands with all the fans and as she tried to make her way up the ramp, one of the cameramen refused to let her past. He kept stepping in her way filming her until eventually she nudged past, laughing.

- The Chief Jay Strongbow video aired after the Eve/Laurinaitis segment. An excellent video that was met with a warm round of applause throughout

- We didn't see the final R-Truth segment, but saw the Hornswoggle bit in the library. Then, the Great Khali came out to a surprisingly large pop. He is a monster in-person. Big Show was equally over and is also a monster. These guys looked ridiculous stood next to each other. Rosa looked amazing and I was in the top-tier of the arena. This match seemed pointless and I didn't even noticed AW on-stage until just before he left. Khali stumbling after he delivered the big boot was hilarious, but it didn't come out well on TV unsurprisingly. Big Show's dancing got a laugh from the crowd before they left.

- Cena was a little bit more popular during his second entrance, but they definitely increased the sound during post-production. He wasn't that popular! Lord Tensai was booed when his name was announced. He isn't over at all and sucked the energy out of the room. The match was instantly forgettable.

As Cena was helped to the back after the taping finished selling the eye injury, a segment of the crowd chanted, "Nah Nah Nah Nah, Hey Hey Hey, Goodbye." This slowly picked up momentum until the whole arena was singing.

- After Raw ended, Justin Roberts announced the WWE Title match. Jericho's pyro and music then went off to a huge pop. As he was entering the arena, C.M. Punk attacked him from behind. They brawled to the ring and Jericho took control before the match started.

After two minutes and a Punk comeback, he set up for the GTS. Before he could deliver it, though, he was attacked by Daniel Bryan, leading to the DQ. D-Bryan and Jericho beat down Punk before Sheamus hit the ring. The odds evened before Cody Rhodes hit the ring to restore the heel advantage. This brought out the Big Show, who was followed by Alberto Del Rio, then finally Randy Orton to a huge pop.

During this, Punk and Jericho brawled all the way to the back, through the side of the stage, and behind the curtain. Sheamus then hit Bryan with a Brogue Kick, Big Show hit Cody with a huge chokeslam, and Randy Orton gave Del Rio an RKO. The faces then slapped hands with the fans at ringside to close the taping.

As Justin Roberts was plugging Smackdown from the O2 Arena on Tuesday, two fans jumped into the ring. They started leaping around, jumping on the turnbuckles, and backflipping in the ring. No security was around to stop them and two guys from the TV crew just stood at ringside asking them to leave. They wouldn't, so Justin Roberts hit the ring and they attempted to leave, but not before Roberts nailed one of them with a tackle that Brock Lesnar would be proud of. He then handed them over to the security, who finally turned up, before picking up his mic and continuing his speech.

Overall, it was a great taping with a super-hot crowd that came across great on television at times. Easily the best WWE show I have been to since Rebellion way back in 2000!

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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