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WWE Raw TV Taping Report
May 9, 2016
Omaha, Neb.
Report by VIP member Reyal
Post-Raw segment
Nothing was announced for after Raw went off the air.
Once Raw TV ended, Chris Jericho refused to leave the ring and demanded a microphone. Once he got it, he berated the crowd for a bit asking them if he thought this was funny that his jacket was ruined. He then did the Ric Flair routine of calling out people that weren’t there in the audience (“Don’t you crotch chop me, fat boy!”). He talked on about how much he hates Omaha and we only boo because we are jealous that he gets to leave once this stupid night is over. He then spent about two minutes trying to compose himself.
The crowd was booing and laughing endlessly, so he just stood in ring with his eyes closed breathing slowly saying “Quiet. Quiet. Quiet. Quiet.” Very funny stuff. One of the refs was at ringside saying something which broke his routine and yelled to him “Hey ref! Don’t tell me how to get heat! I’ve been wrestling for 20 years!” The crowd laughed hard at this again.
Jericho then said he knew what the crowd was here to see. We wanted two things: to see Jericho live (he held out his arms, threw his head back, and said “drink it in, man”) and to see Dean Ambrose apologize. He then demanded Ambrose come out and apologize to him.
Dean came out to a solid reaction from the crowd. Jericho demanded that Ambrose get his own microphone and not touch his. Ambrose started by saying it must be a pretty hard week for Jericho. Jericho taunted Dean saying “You’re going to get in big trouble for this, you stupid idiot!” He then said that he wouldn’t press charges, but only if Dean apologized and wrote him a check for $15,000 to replace the jacket, plus interest.
Dean said he’d check with Vince because he didn’t have that kind of money. (That Forbes article says otherwise.) Ambrose offered a handshake and after a lot of stalling trying to put the jacket back together, Jericho accepted it. Dean said he’s sorry… for what he’s about to do! He pulled Jericho in and gave him Dirty Deeds while Jericho yelled “NOOOOO!” This ended the show. Incredibly entertaining.
Raw Notes
-It was very awesome seeing the main event segment live. The effect of Ambrose sneaking up on Jericho during the entrance was extremely cool live. Ambrose got a huge star reaction.
-Interesting night as far as the Roman Reigns-A.J. Styles dynamic. Roman was getting significant boos throughout the night during any video package. The first time he appeared on screen live during his interview with Todd Phillips, you could barely hear the Usos because of the heat. I’d say it was 70-30 cheers to boos. Once match time came it was a completely different story. It was about a 50/50 split for Roman.
This may seem like a big win for Roman on his journey to be “The Guy,” but I think there is still a long way to go. Omaha is not a very “smarky” crowd. This is a crowd where the “Cena Sucks” portion of the chant barely can be heard most times. For there to be that audible of a mixed reaction says a lot about Roman because he was booed by a significant portion of his own demographic tonight.
-All of the women’s segments were very hot with the crowd; I hope it came across on TV. There was a reaction for Dana Brooke appearing for the beat down on Becky Lynch immediately when she stepped into frame. Paige got a top reaction of the night as well and the crowd was very, very into the match. The match didn’t need the angle with Shane and Flair, but the crowd ate it up. Not for the entrance of both the guys, as much as for the implication of getting the clean finish.
-Big Cass was over huge. Lots of sing-a-long on his catchphrases. The crowd even did the “and you can’t teach that” before he did during his confrontation with Jericho. During the New Day-Dudleys match, there were some “We want Enzo” chants battling “We want tables.” They didn’t get a lot of steam but were definitely audible.
-Between commercials we got several WWE pat-itself-on-the-back videos about the company’s work with Susan G. Komen, working with the troops, etc.
Biggest Pops
(1) A.J./Roman
(2) Big Cass
(3) Sami Zayn
(4) Dean Ambrose appearance/Shane McMahon
Most Heat
(1) A.J./Roman
(2) Jericho
(3) Flair’s run-in
***
Superstars Taping
(1) Cesaro beat Bo Dallas with the Sharpshooter. There wasn’t a lot to the match, though it went a little longer than I would have expected. Cesaro hit all his spots, and the Social Outcasts (comprised of just Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel) got big heat with the Bo Train. Huge pop for Cesaro ending the Bo Train with a European Uppercut. This match was great for getting the crowd pumped up and Cesaro came off like a star, even if only for the first match of the night pop. Prior to the Sharpshooter, we got the running turnbuckle European Uppercuts on Bo and Axel got one for being on the apron. This led to the Big Swing and then tap-out for the win.
(2) Apollo Crews beat Stardust with the back drop powerbomb. The crowd was fairly muted for Stardust’s entrance, though the “Cody, Cody” chant took off a couple times. Apollo Crews was pretty fun but it does feel like something is missing from his act. Of all the NXT call-ups, he’s getting the least biggest reaction.
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